DIDACTICS I
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Newsletter
7 21st
June 2001
_____________________________________________________________
Instituto
Nacional Superior del Profesorado de la Universidad Tecnológica
Nacional
Cátedra
de Didáctica Especial del Primer y Segundo Ciclo de la EGB
Profesores:
Omar Villarreal, Fernando Armesto, Claudia Alvarez.
&
Adriana Lauri.
Instituto
Superior de Formación Docente Nro 41 de la Pcia de Buenos
Aires.
Escuela
Normal Superior "Próspero Alemandri" de la Pcia Buenos
Aires.
Profesor
: Omar Villarreal
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"Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible and
suddenly you are doing the impossible."
Saint Francis of Assisi
____________________________________________________________________________
Dear
All,
Hello!
No time no see !!
Here
we are again with some contributions and some news you were probably waiting
for,
I
guess the next few weeks will be weeks of intensive reading and preparation for
the BIG DAY of the first half of the year.
In
the meantime do not hesitate to send us your queries and questions
which will be duly answered by the teachers and assistants.
A big hug to
you all
Omar
Villarreal
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DATES FOR THE PARCIAL AND MAKE-UP
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We have requested permission from the authorities at
INSPT -UTN to postpone the dates for parcial Nª 1 and its Make-up to
ensure a longer period of clarification and consolidation.
The new dates are the following:
Parcial : Monday 16th July from 8:00
through 10:00 hours. (Morning and Afternoon Shifts)
Publication of results: Wednesday 18th July (please
consult Mr Villarreal both morning and afternoon
shifts)
Make-up: Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th
August usual times for Morning and Afternoon Shifts
Material to be included : The whole of Fichas de Cátedra
Number 1 and Number 2
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Some Noes from our dear Adriana Lauri
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Richard Amato,
Patricia.1996. The Natural Approach: How
it is Evolving.
1. The
four principles of the NAtural Approach. Discuss.
(Amato:128)
·
Comprehension
precedes production.
·
Production must
be allowed to emerge in stages.
·
The core
syllabus is based on communicative goals.
·
The activities
must be planned to lower the
affective filter.
2.The
natural Approach is used in conjunction with many other methods and activities.
Discuss.
(Amato :128)
3.What
would be the characateristics of a well integrated
programme?
4.What is
a rich environment? How could a teacher help foster a rich environment?
5. The comprehension Stage :
Amato
proposes the following extensions for the N.A. activities. Could you think
of others to enlarge the
list?
·
Where does it
belong? (classification exercise)
·
Put it on!
(description and T.P.R. activities)
·
Getting around
(locations, labelling and discovering)
·
The People in
Our School (descriptions)
·
Classifying
Objects
·
Following a
process (recipies, puppets, maps. It includes demonstration and
T.P.R.)
·
Matching
(pictures and words, puzzles)
The early speech production
stage
·
Charts (
description, y/no questions, wh
questions)
·
Murals
·
Open ended
sentences
·
Matrices
(especially for specific
situations,e.g. On the phone, At an Office)
·
Asking fro facts
(using ads, newspapers and other realia)
The speech emergence stage and
beyond
·
The People Hunt
(find someone who...)
·
Cartoons
(without bubbles)
·
Draw
this
·
Shopping
spree
·
Whose name is
it? (personal information)
·
Following the
written direction
·
Map
reading
·
Classroom
library
·
Writing
memos
·
Pen
Pals
6.What
are the three limitations that Amato discusses in relation to the N.A:?
(Amato:151)
Richard Amato, Patricia. 1996. Jazz Chants, Music, and
Poetry.
1.What
important elements do chants, music and poetry provide?
2.
Discuss the relevance of prosodic
elements, redundancy and ' thoughtless' repetition in second language
learning.
3.What
innovation does this use of language bring if we consider the use of the same activities within
the audiolingual method?
4.How
could these activites be anchored in meaningful
experience?
5 Below
you will find a short summary of the main advantages of Jazz chants, music and
poetry as exposed by Richard
Amato.
Jazz chants:
·
they can be used
to internalize matrices.
·
they can
reinfroce specific vocabulary.
·
they have two parts: question/response;
Command/response; provocative statement/response.
·
they have a
strong cadence.
·
they have to be
followed in certain steps to work.
·
they foster a
sense of community through the use of rhythm.
·
they can be
orchestrated: males against females, 'tigers' against 'birds',
etc.
Music:
·
it reduces
anxiety and inhibition.
·
it is a great
motivator.
·
it is memorable
experience
·
it creates
awareness of the prosodic elements of the language.
·
it has a
unifying effect among people.
·
tunes can be
easy to learn.
·
it has a
repetitive, basically simple and conversation like vocabulary, esp, in the case
of pop songs.
Poetry :
·
It is generally
concise, emotionally charged and in some cases 'simple' to
learn.
·
it can be
introduced at all levels.
·
it can appear in
different formats.
·
it can be made
personal and relevant.
·
it puts in
'black and white' human and universal emotions such as love, happiness,
loneliness, etc.
·
concrete poetry
is especially helpful for young learners as it combines words and
forms.
·
it comes in
structures which can be 'reproduced' and in that way might be improved.
·
Tankas, Haikus
and word cinquains are some of the verse forms which can be introduced.
·
it provides the
impetus for writing for 'special' occcasions with true communicative value,
e.g.marriages, holidays, greetings.
Richard Amato, Patricia.1996. Storytelling, Role Play and
Drama.
1.How
could drama help facilitate oral communication?
2.Some of
the characterisitcs of drama as discussed by Richard Amato are the
following:
Drama:
·
it can help sts
to increase their capacity for empathy.
·
it can heighten
sts' self esteem and spontaneity.
·
it can help sts
to acquire the nonverbal nuances of the language.
Storytelling:
·
the same story
can be used in different
ways.
·
students can
participate before they can actually produce ( see story
experience)
·
they can be
adapted
3.
Storytelling activities, below are some of the activities suggested by Richard
Amato. Could you enlarge the list with more proposals?
Storytelling
activities:
·
story experience
(students become, through acting, the key words or actions that are presented in
the story)
·
sound
Effects (sts put the sound to the
story as in the old radio theatres)
·
Identifying
objects in stories ( with the help of visuals)
·
Story Act out
(sts can pantomime in silence and impersonate the characters in the story).
·
What's the
title?
·
Spinning Stories
(with a stimulating picture sts can create characters and invent the plot using
several actions).
·
Group story
·
Silly Stories
(the teacher or a volunteer offers the first part of a sentence and in turns sts
volunteer to finish it). In spanish it is known as 'cadaver exquisito'.
·
Finish the Story
(sts can compare different versions of a suspense story)
·
Oral History
(stories told by parents or grandparents or friends, they could be true stories
or fictional) .
4. Role
Play. Below are some characteristics of Roleplay as presented by Richard
Amato:
Role Play:
·
it allows sts to
put themselves in another person's shoes for a while.
·
it can be just
play, or it can have social implicatons as in sociodrama.
·
the enactement
is open ended.
·
it centers
around a clearly stated conflict that is relevant to the sts.
·
it is student
oriented rather than teacher oriented, Scarcella (1983)
·
it comes in
steps (adaptation of Shaftel and Shaftel, 1967):
introducing the topic
stimulating student interest
presenting the necessary vocabulary
stopping
the story at the climax
discussing the dilemma
selecting sts to play the role
preparing the audience to listen and then to offer
advice
acting out the rest of the story
discussing alternative ways of dealing with the
problem
replaying
the drama using new strategies if necessary
5.Drama.Below are some of teh characteristics
of Drama as analyzed by Richard Amato:
Drama:
·
It includes
activities with roles, plots and
dialogues that are written down in play form to be memorized and acted out ont the
stage or read aloud.
·
students can be
introduced to simple emotions involving dramatic action from the very
beginning.
·
It helps students recognize and model varied emotions such as joy, anger,
fear, sadness, doubt.
·
Students are
involved personally with familiar elements used in different contexts as with
the 'The Prop Box' .
·
Some of the activities involve pantomime, puppet making,
flannel borad characters, readers'
theatre.
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A very short
contribution by Lidia
Frumento
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Amato, Patricia. Making it happen. Interaction in the second
language classroom.
The total physical
response.
What are imperatives designed to bring about?
Imperatives are designed to bring the target language alive by making it
comprehensible and fun.The process of language acquisition is facilitated by the
movements of the body the students make to follow imperatives.
I am Lidia
Frumento, from 1st year afternoon course.
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A contribution from
Amelia Mauroni
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THE TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE
1. What's the importance
of physical involvement in the classroom?
The students are asked to act with
their bodies as well as with their brains - in other words, with their total
beings. Thus, the cognitive process of language acquisition is syncronized
with and facilitated by the movement of the body.
2- What does the TPR
method consist of?
The method involves the giving of commands to which the
students react.
3- What are imperatives designed to bring about?
The
imperatives are designed to bring the target language alive by making it
comprehensible and, at the same time, fun.
4 - What attitude should the
teacher have when giving the commands?
She should give the commands in an
easy, nondemanding manner.
5 - According to Asher, what kind of learning
does TPR use?
According to Asher, the studies clearly indicated that TPR
training produces generally better results than the audiolingual method.
He attributes the success to the fact that TPR utilizes implicit learning,
whereas the audiolingual approach relies on explicit learning. These two
concepts roughly parallel Krashen's acquisition/learning distinction. However,
Asher suggests that an alternative model of teaching might begin the instruction
in the implicit mode and end it in an explicit mode. At later levels he feels
that a student's skills may be advanced to the point at which teaching rules and
correcting errors may be beneficial.
6- Commands can be given to the hole
class, to small groups or to individuals. What sequence should you choose to
keep a lighthearted and relaxed atmosphere in the classroom?
The sequence I
would choose to keep a lighthearted and relaxed atmosphere in the classroom
would be:
First, the whole class for basic commands and for them to feel at
ease and relaxed.
Second, individuals for a bit more complex commands because
if the teacher's command is, for example, "point to the door", all the students
can do it at the same time, but if she says "walk to the window and open it", it
is impossible for all of them to do it together.
Third, small groups or pairs
when the requests gain complexity.
7- How much time would you devote to
this method in your classroom? When -beginning, middle or end of the lesson-
would you use this method?
Definitely I wouldn't devote the whole class to
this method, but part of the class, especially at the beginning and may be as an
introduction to what I have planned to do for the rest of the class.
8-
The TPR method lacks intrinsic sequencing. What does this mean?
If the method
lacks intrinsec sequencing, it means that it does not have a logical sequencing,
therefore it is probable that students, particularly those who are operating at
the high beginning levels and up, will lose interest in the activities unless
some sort of logical sequencing of events is present in the commands.
9-
What are the drawbacks of this method?
The drawbacks of this method are :
a) The teaching of words representing abstract concepts.
b) The lack of a
logical or meaningful sequencing.
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A contribution from Silvia Cordi and Graciela
Bilbao
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The Audio-Motor
Unit
1. What is the novelty that the AMU adds in relation to the TPR?
(Amato123).
Kalivoda, Morain, and Elkins
try to add meaningful sequencing
to the TPR method and
suggest alternative ways of combining commands, for example using a 10-minute
tape on which a native speaker issues a series of commands for twenty actions,
all centering on a single topic. The teacher make the actions comprehensible and the
pupils are then invited to comply
with the commands.
2. What is an audio-motor unit?
Kalivoda, Morain, and Elkins
call this particular
sequence of commands an audio-motor unit, and besides the explanation offered
above about its use it might include pantomimed or real
sequences,too.
3. What are the drawbacks of using a
tape?.
A disadvantage may be that
by recommending the use of a tape to give the commands, they take away some of
the personalization and flexibility that seem to be an integral part of the
Asher method
4. Create a sequence of
six actions around a specific context; e.g. going out, making an omelette.
Remember that an AMU has a beginning, a middle and an end.(Use the first person
singular and concrete verbs. Curtain & Pesola:
111-114)
Making chocolate
truffles
1. I crumble chocolate biscuits in a
bowl.
2. I mix the biscuits, the ´dulce de leche’ and the milk.
3. I make balls with my
hands.
4. I roll the balls in grated coconut,
chocolate powder or icing sugar.
5. I put the truffles on a
plate.
6. I eat them!.
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Some Answers to Richard Amato (1996) from
Graciela Cordi
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3. Do you think that direct error correction
leads to greater accuracy?
What factors should you
take into account?
If we correct written mistakes directly
filling the student's papers with red ink or interrupt them while speaking
without focusing on meaning as opposed to form, and we don't discuss errors in a
meaningful way, we are not giving the student the opportunity to find his own
mistakes, correct them and what is more important, understand why. We have to
take into account if the mistakes are systematic (appear with regularity) or
random (caused by a memory lapse,inattention...)
We also have to consider if
they are increasing (the st. is regressing)
if they are decreasing (so he is
learning) or if they are stationary
(the student's language is
fossilizing).
4. What is "interlanguage"? (Amato
44)
Interlanguage and interaction are the same
thing and they mean
"Communication" between the teacher and the pupil. Each
student through interaction progresses from his actual developmental level
to his potential developmental level. That is Krashen's i+1 concept.
It is
also important to be careful while correcting mistakes. If the teacher is always
interrupting the pupil's attempts to communicate, he won't want to do it again,
but she must pay attention to these errors so as to correct them
indirectly.
5. Name some of the strategies used in regular
teacher talk.(Amato 45)
Some of the strategies used are exaggeration
of pronunciation and facial expression, decreasing speech rate and increasing
volume, frequent use of pause, gestures, graphic illustrations, questions, and
dramatization, sentence expansion and rephrasing.
6. As opposed to direct correction, the
teacher in interaction uses modeling or indirect
correction in the form of restatements. This process of
collaboration is called adjustment (Ellis in Amato 46) .
Discuss the example given on page 46.
The dialogue is an example of negotiation of
meaning in a one to one communication situation. It's a collaboration between
St. and Teacher or St. and a more advanced peer.
The teacher speaks near the
St.'s i+1 and provides scaffolds upon which the student can build. The dialogue
is about the inmediate environment. The vocabulary is simple. Repetition are
frequent. Acting out is used. All in response to the feedback. The focus is on
the meaning as opposed to the form. The teacher corrects mistakes indirectly or
modeling so the student realizes that he is makinga mistake and changes the
situation.
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News for Instituto Superior de Formación
Docente Nro 41 , Adrogué and Escuela Normal Superior
Próspero Alemandri, Avellaneda.
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Monday August 6th (for both ISFD 41 and
ISFD 100)
Make ups - during the ordinary Make-up periods
at the end of the year.
Material to be included the whole of Fichas de
Cátedra 1 & 2
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As I said before elsewhere. Let us make this
D-Day into a V-Day.
The ball is in your court. Count on our
help.
A big hug
Omar
Villarreal