Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
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Claims
Teachers of English need to study a lot of English.
They dont.
Therefore, the overall language level of Brazilian teachers is very low.
ELT ignores this.
From www.luizotaviobarros.com
So what is it?
What must teachers study?
Grammar (how to use, describe and name it)
Vocabulary (use, register, pronunciation, frequency)
Phonology (individual sounds phonemes , intonation, stress in
words and sentences, connected speech)
Discourse (how language is used, appropriacy)
Cultural aspects of the language
Methodology(ies) and techniques
A simple question
Facebook post, April 15: I've just heard a journalist on BBC say 'Police
stations have been being seized...'. How does that sound to you?
http://www.screencast.com/users/HigorCavalcante/folders/Jing/media
/c4aecfdc-288f-4165-b6ff-08ab262178b8
Grammar
Is it possible to use will in the if-clause of a conditional sentence? E.g.
If you will, I will.
Is using could or be able to for ability in the past interchangeable?
Whats the difference between who and whom?
Do we always put the verb one stage back when using reported
speech?
I recommend she be promoted. Is this correct?
Whats inversion? Non-finite clauses? When can you omit the relative
pronoun in a relative clause? etc.
Phonology
Pronunciation can be an overlooked area of language teaching,
partly because teachers themselves may feel more uncertain about it
than about grammar or lexis, worried that they dont have enough
technical knowledge to help students appropriately. However, when
teachers take the risk, they are often surprised to find that it makes
for very enjoyable and useful classroom work.
Scrivener, J. (1994)
Phonology
As you listen to Jason Mrazs song, consider what happens to the
parts in bold in the lyrics.
People get ready, get ready (elision)
Cause here it comes (elision)
A beautiful light (linking)
She told me (elision)
do it right (intrusion - /w/)
You can always (linking)
Phonology
Weve come a long way to belong here (linking, flap, elision)
Just know(elision)
Every road is a slippery slope (flap, linking, linking)
a hand that you can hold on to (assimilation)
inside of you (linking, vowel reduction)
get back home
Phonology
What are the sounds // and //. How are they different?
How do you pronounce the regular verbs in the past?
How do you pronounce the s in plural words, third person singular
and genitive case?
How do you count syllables in English?
Are there rules for word stress?
Whats sentence stress? Whats unstress?
How does intonation work in English?
Vocabulary
Whats collocation? Idiom? Phrasal verb?
Studying language
Studying language
Why unproblematized?
the feeling is, perhaps, that non-native speaker teachers should
need no special treatment, and to offer it might be seen as insulting."
a famous ELT writer, via email (April 30, 2013).
"I think the sad reality is though that for a very large number of the
world's teachers their English is barely above A2! B1 to be generous."
a famous course book writer, via Facebook (April 30, 2013).
My opinion
Its too important an issue to overlook;
We owe it to ourselves;
We owe it to our students;
Its at the very least as important as everything else.
Book
Research (interviews, surveys etc.)
Thank you!
Bibliography / e-references
About Language, Scott Thornbury
The Practice of English Language Teaching, Jeremy Harmer
How to Teach Grammar, Scott Thornbury
How to Teach Vocabulary, Scott Thornbury
English Phonetics and Phonology, Peter Roach
How to Teach Pronunciation, Gerald Kelly
www.luizotaviobarros.com
www.bbc.co.uk
Contact information
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