Using Stories, Readers, Handouts, Drama & Arts/Crafts in EFL
Why Use Stories and Readers in the EFL Classroom?
What Can Stories and Readers Offer?
They provide an ideal introduction to foreign language learning in a familiar and engaging context. Stories are:
- Motivating and Fun: They foster a positive attitude towards the foreign language.
- Imagination-Boosting: They encourage learners to exercise their imagination.
How Can Students Be Personally Involved in a Story?
Students can:
- Identify with characters
- Interpret the narrative
- Interpret the illustrations
How Can Stories
Read MoreIntroduction to Phonetics: Articulation and Sounds
Phonetics
The general study of the characteristics of speech sounds is called phonetics. Our main interest will be in articulatory phonetics, which is the study of how speech sounds are made, or articulated. Other areas of study are:
Acoustic Phonetics
Deals with the physical properties of speech as sound waves in the air.
Auditory Phonetics (or Perceptual Phonetics)
Deals with the perception, via the ear, of speech sounds.
Voicing
- When the vocal cords are spread apart, the air from the lungs passes between
Elizabethan Poetry: Spenser’s Faerie Queene and New Poetic Trends
Pre-Elizabethan Poetry
In the sixteenth century, one of the most important developments in Renaissance English literature was the evolution of the lyric poem, shaped in particular by English translations and adaptations of Italian verse, notably Petrarch.
New Metrical Forms
- The Sonnet: Popularized by Petrarch and brought to England by Wyatt and Surrey. It consists of three quatrains and a final couplet with the rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg.
- The Blank Verse: Introduced by Surrey in his translation
Study Skills Guide: Schemes, Summaries, Mind Maps & More
1. What is a Scheme?
A scheme is a graphic representation of the central ideas of a text. It’s like a summary but more visual and organized, presenting information clearly and accurately.
2. Three Advantages of Using Schemes:
- Develops analytical skills.
- Allows practice in identifying key information and improves reading comprehension.
- Serves as a valuable tool for review.
3. Stages in Developing a Scheme:
(Content not provided. Please add the stages involved in developing a scheme.)
4. Different Types of
Read MoreThe Life and Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: America’s Beloved Poet
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Early Life and Education
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine (then part of Massachusetts) on February 27, 1807. He was the second son in a family of eight children. His mother, Zilpah Wadsworth, was the daughter of a Revolutionary War hero, and his father, Stephen Longfellow, was a prominent Portland lawyer and later a congressman.
Longfellow was a dreamy boy who loved to read. He was fascinated by the stories of sailors speaking Spanish, French,
Read MoreA Comprehensive Guide to Literacy Teaching Methods
Traditional Methods
Synthetic Methods
Synthetic methods are focused on the process, not the outcome. They initially address simple linguistic structures (grapheme, phoneme, and syllable) and then merge them into larger and more complex structures (word and sentence). An educator who used these systems was Montessori.
The types of synthetic methods are:
- Alphabetic or Graphemic: Teaching reading by the name of each individual letter and its phonetic value. These are then combined.
- Phonetic: These are most