Ken Wilson - TESOL France

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Ken WilsonTurning passive

students into activelearners

11/21/09 1



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Ken Wilson TESOL Paris 2009

Sporting Excellence simulation:You chose your name, nationality and sporting ability2 You chose the location and

duration of the Sporting Excellenceconference

3 You introduced yourselves to eachother

4 You arranged to meet later



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5 Someone was 30 minutes late andapologised profusely

6 You said goodbye to each other atthe airport

7 You decided on the location of nextyear’s conference

8 You wrote to the government9 You met the following year



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The Sporting Excellence activity is taken from this book:

Drama and Improvisation (2008) Ken Wilson

Oxford University Press

ISBN 978 – 0 – 19 – 442580 - 3



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A

scary

message

to ALL

TEACHERS…



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You are working TOO HARDand you are takingtoo muchresponsibility forwhat happensin the classroom. My daddy is an

eggsorsted teacher.



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So ...whatis thesolution?



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Give moreresponsibilityfor whathappens in theclassroom tothe majority ofthe occupants…



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Mr Osbourne, may I be excused?



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Mr Osbourne, may I be excused?

My brain is full.



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1 The map of the book

2 Reading texts

3 Exercises



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What do you know about …



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What do you know about … great white sharks?



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American prisons?



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American prisons?

meeting people online?



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American prisons?


Julius Caesar?



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American prisons?


Julius Caesar?

Heath Ledger?



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American prisons?


Julius Caesar?

Heath Ledger?

megacities?



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American prisons?


Julius Caesar?

Heath Ledger?

megacities?

Ian Fleming?



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American prisons?


Julius Caesar?

Heath Ledger?

megacities?

Ian Fleming?

Bethany Hamilton?



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American prisons?


Julius Caesar?

Heath Ledger?

megacities?

Ian Fleming?

Bethany Hamilton?



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2 Reading



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Most ELT reading texts,

up to Intermediate level,

are NARRATIVE

or INFORMATIVE

texts.



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1 A NARRATIVE reading text ….

Doctors

and

Nurses



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At the hospital near where I live, allthe doctors are women and all thenurses are men. When new patientsarrive at the hospital, they always callthe doctors nurses, which makes thedoctors feel quite annoyed. And theyalso call the nurses doctors, whichmakes the nurses feel quite pleased.



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One day at the hospital, a patient (aman) approached a doctor. ‘Excuseme, nurse,’ said the patient. ‘When canI see the doctor?’

‘Listen,’ said the doctor. ‘I’m a doctor,and the man over there that you thinkis a doctor is actually a studentnurse.’



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Oh, sorry,’ said the patient. ‘The lasttime I came to this hospital, thatdoctor --- sorry, that nurse --- thatnurse said that you were a nurse.’

‘Well, I’m not,’ said the doctor. ‘I’m adoctor, not a nurse.’

‘Well, once again, sorry about that,’said the patient. ‘By the way, what’syour name?’



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‘Nurse,’ said the

doctor. ‘Doctor

Nurse.’



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At the hospital near where I live, allthe doctors are women and all thenurses are men. When new patientsarrive at the hospital, they always callthe doctors nurses, which makes thedoctors feel quite annoyed. And theyalso call the nurses doctors, whichmakes the nurses feel quite pleased.



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2 An INFORMATIVE reading text…

Six things you

might not know

about

language



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1 The oldest written language is ... The earliesthieroglyphics are dated 3,100 BC, more than5,000 years ago.

2 The English word with the most dictionarydefinitions is ….

3 There are about 7,000 languages and dialects spoken in the world. About ... of them are

spoken in India.4 .... is spoken as a first language by more people

than any other language in the world. It isspoken by nearly 70 per cent of a population of1.3 billion people.

5 The commonest sound in language is the ...sound.

6 There is an African language which has onlythree numbers. The numbers are ...



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Ken Wilson TESOL Paris 20091 The oldest written language is Egyptian. The

earliest hieroglyphics are dated 3,100 BC, morethan 5,000 years ago.

2 The English word with the most dictionarydefinitions is set.

3 There are about 7,000 languages and dialectsspoken in the world. About 845 of them arespoken in India.

4 Mandarin Chinese is spoken as a firstlanguage by more people than any otherlanguage in the world. It is spoken by nearly70 per cent of a population of 1.3 billionpeople.

5 The commonest sound in language is the /a:/sound, as in father.

6 There is an African language which has onlythree numbers. The numbers are one,

two and more than two.



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Set no longer the longest entry in theOxford English Dictionary!

For many years the verb set has been citedas the longest entry in the OED. But a re-check shows that it has at last beentoppled from this position. The longestentry in the revised edition is the verbmake. However, it is quite possible that setwill regain its long-held position at the topof the league of long words when it comesitself to be revised.



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The longest entries currentlyin the online Third Edition ofthe OED are: make (verb), set(verb), run (verb), take (verb),go (verb), pre- , non-, over-,stand (verb).



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3 Exercises



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…make students feel ... or



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Choose an appropriate future tense

1 (VISIT) We…. my grandparents thisweekend and I’m really lookingforward to it.

2 (LEAVE) What time ….. the nextplane ……… for Toulouse?

3 (LET) I ……………. you know assoon as the doctor arrives.

4 (DO) What .... you ... this time nextyear?



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Some final thoughts…(This is the part

where you can

take notes)



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1

A lot of learning is passive.Students have to spend a lotof time listening to theteacher and/or reading atext.



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Exercise material is particularlypassive. Stimulus sentences areusually written in a way thatmeans reasonably aware students

can do them

in their sleep.



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2A lot of students enjoy

passive learning. They arethe ones who smile whenyou start talking, or lookreally pleased when you tellthem to open the book andread something.



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But the reality is thatthese students mayrepresent only 10% ofthe class, and at most 25 per cent.The other 75-90% will not benefitfrom a diet of mainly passivelearning.



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But the reality is that thesestudents represent AT MOST25 per cent of the class. Theother 75 per cent do notbenefit from a diet of mainlypassive learning.



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3

Learners retain more of what theyare taught when they areactively involved in the learningprocess and statistics suggestthat, if students don’t feelinvolved, an incredible amountof ‘learnt’ material is forgottenvery quickly.



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4Active learning can be fun and funactivities can generate laughter. Thisis a plus - there is a definiterelationship between laughter andlearning. As we say in English,laughter is a great aide memoire.



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5There are teachers who think that

knowledge is power and thatthis means they are morepowerful and more valuable ifthey have ALL the knowledge.

This is a dangerous attitude!



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Allowing students to bemore involved in their ownlearning may mean thatteachers have to give upsome of the power andauthority that they have inthe classroom.



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Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on acamping trip. As they lay down for thenight, Holmes said: "Watson, look up intothe sky and tell me what you see."

Watson said: "I see millions and millions ofstars."

"And what does that tell you?"



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"Astronomically," Watson replied, "it tellsme that there are millions of galaxies andpotentially billions of planets.

“Theologically, it tells me that God is greatand that we are small and insignificant.

“Meteorologically, it tells me that we willhave a beautiful day tomorrow.

“What does it tell you, Holmes?”



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"Someone's stolen our tent."



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"Someone's stolen our tent."



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One

final

thought…



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Thank you for listening…



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http://kenwilsonelt.wordpress.com

[email protected]



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http://kenwilsonelt.wordpress.com



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kenwilsonlondon



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[email protected]



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Ken Wilson - TESOL France