Journal 2

Journal 2 Discuss reading skills that you have learned in this class, but have rarely used in your reading. Do you think they are really necessary ones for better reading? Why or why not?:::::

According to the book, skill is goal-directed, well organized behavior; it is an acquired ability though practice or training. Through effort, skill is performed unconsciously. There are various kinds of skills in reading. Reading skills in general can be categorized into four separable skills; word attack skills, comprehension skills, fluency skills, and critical reading skills. These four skills need to be harmoniously balanced.

I went to an American International school when I lived in China. Everything was taught in English only, and my high school English subject teacher had his own principle to teach us in his own specific way. For most of the class hour, we spent time in silent reading, individual writing, and discussing our reading and writing as a whole class discussion. Therefore, when I was taking that teacher's class, I did not have much chance to learn bottom-up skills, especially word attack skills. I was shocked because it was a very different teaching method from all the other English teachers, but as time went by, I realized that through silent reading and writing, I could improve word attack skills somewhat unconsciously. I already had the basic knowledge in bottom-up skills. Still, my skill in decoding the units of language is somewhat poor compared to other students who learned in the conventional method in Korea. Word attack skills are necessary for better reading, because without basic language skills, reading can be difficult and boring. Teachers teach such skills because without having bottom-up skills, when students encounter more difficult texts, they would have a hard time decoding, and also studying such texts.

Skills can also be categorized in hierarchical order, from lower-level skills to higher-level skills. Lower-level skills include bottom-up skills such as recognizing the details and main ideas, and recalling of comparison and character traits. As the skills move toward higher-level skills, they involve more thinking of the whole chunk of text, such as judging of appropriateness, giving an emotional response to the content, and reacting to the author's use of language.

When I was studying in International school, especially in high school, I spent much time in higher-level skills due to my English teacher's unique method of teaching. However, we did not had much time interpreting figurative language. Actually, I did not read many poems or literature because they were more difficult to read and understand. I regret not reading many literature such as Shakespeare's sonnets or Jane Austen's books. I highly recommend teenagers to read literature and discuss the figurative language and the implications because literature would help them learn to appreciate others' minds and to have 'empathy'. Many teenagers go through a difficult time of emotional crisis, thinking about their identity, which is one of the reasons for school violence or even suicide. I think teaching them literature is one way to help solve such problems. If students learn to have 'empathy', they would think twice before bullying another human being. Therefore, interpreting figurative language and giving emotional response to the content, thinking about literature or any text, and giving reactions to the author's language are all necessary ones for better reading.

Journal 1

Journal 1 • Suppose your younger brother, nine year old, did not read in English yet, so your mother decided to send him to Hakwon. But 3 months later he ended up feeling that English was simply nightmare. He hated doing phonics workbook and memorizing words. He didn't want to go to Hakwon anymore. Your mother was now anxious and worried about her son. Your mother asked for your help. How would you help your brother enjoy reading in English?::::


Learning phonics is one of the basics in English learning, and that is why many private institutes in Korea teach English beginning with phonics. However, even though learning phonics can improve English, it should not be forced to students who do not wish to learn them. If English starts to feel like "hatred" and "nightmare", it is not a good sign since we are surrounded by English for our whole lives. My younger brother is just a nine year old boy. If he does not want to go to Hakwon anymore, I think he should not be forced. Even though English is the key for survival in the Korean society, and I understand that mom is worried his son will be left behind in English studying, I think he should first enjoy English before begin to "study" phonics and vocabulary.

I think the supporting atmosphere is important, that everyone is supporting him. I would help him improve his reading using the four principles designed by Williams (1986). I think language-focused learning, which focuses on form, strategy, grammar, and functional expressions, can be taught later, and perhaps gradually while other principles are put to use. For meaning-focused input and fluency development, because he does not yet know how to read in English, I think shared reading and guided reading can be effective techniques. Me as a story teller, I can read him stories from blown-up books while showing him the pictures and written words. He probably has just begun to read Korean books, so I do not want to pressure him to reading a brand new information in English. Maybe reading him the translated story from the Korean version could be helpful. This is shared reading. When he begins to understand some English words, guided reading can take place, which he reads silently or reading aloud to me or other members of the family. I think complements goes a long way. It may seem like his English is not improving, but he is just looking at the pictures. However, I think for his age, a lot of exposure to English is helpful, and this is a way which does not pressure him.

Watching his favorite movie, for example 'Harry Potter', is also effective, for him to enjoy English. I myself watched 'Harry Potter' movie almost every day for one summer until I memorized the words. Then, I was excited and wanted to read the original version, the Harry Potter books. Even though I could not understand many vocabulary, I just read the book aloud to my family. Recording the voice of reading is also helpful, and this recording could be played during dinner time which all my family members can hear and see that I improve every day. This is one of the meaning-focused output strategies as it involves reading, listening, and speaking. I myself used the similar strategies and found myself love English and want to read more challenging books. If he is active, he can role play some of the scenes from Harry Potter with me, using English. This can improve his pronunciation and intonation as well. There is nothing to worry about at his age. English is not learned in one month. It needs time to make it in my own. When he feels that he wants to learn more English, he will be willing to go to Hakwon now.

Reflection on the final project

My reflection on the final project
I think it must have been a very difficult project for every one in sophomore because we did not have any chance to do a micro-teaching before.
At first, I had a vague idea on how to do it, and we planned our lesson, but the lesson plan was denied by the professor. This made me confused on what exactly we should be doing. Now, I was confused. I did not know what to do or what not to do. Luckily, professor helped us in misery. After listening to her, it was everything we needed. Now, the goal was clear. It was not just criticizing the traditional classroom lesson. It was figuring out how to make the lesson better. It was very hard at first, but after the professor's help, we were on the roll.
It was very hard project, but after having a chance to design a newly made lesson, now I have somewhat more confidence on teaching.
Preparing for the project took a lot of time, energy, and effort.
After watching other group's presentation, it made me think everyone has great ideas, and that I should learn more.

Eating Bibimbap

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Week 12 Speaking

< Discussion Questions>

1. What is a goal to teach speaking? How can English teachers to achieve this goal?
-Communication process (effectively)
-Deliver message to others, listen and react in English appropriately
-Balance between input and output
-Comfortable atmosphere

2. Explain the following terms and types of speaking activities
*content-oriented vs. form-oriented input
-Content-oriendted: focus on information (lectures, weather report, news, movies)
-Form-oriented: ways of using the language (vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar, read aloud, intonation, fluency, My Words, spoken accuracy, grammar chants and songs, tong twister)

*communicative vs. structure input(output)
-Communicative output: fluency, meaning-based, message, less attention on errors
-Structure output: correct forms, specific structure, fixed dialogue, repeat, make students comfortable, accuracy

*information gap
-at least two people
-meaning negotiation actively involved; more meaningful
-two different roles
-communicating to get the information from another person
-zigsaw

*picture narrating vs. picture describing
-picture narrating: based on several sequential pictures; Students are asked to tell the story taking place in the sequential pictures by paying attention to the criteria provided by the teacher as a rubric

-picture describing: give students just one picture and having them describe what it is in the picture; fosters the creativity and imagination, public speaking skills

*role play vs. simulation
-role play: students pretend they are in various social contexts and have a variety of social roles; fixed; use imagination

-simulation: more elaborate; create a realistic environment; dramatic

Speaking tools

Chat robots could be good tools for students to practice speaking. These could easily be done by homework or also class time. Some useful sites for chat robot includes Alicebot, Fake Captain Kirk, and Voki.
For example, 'Alicebot' site includes chatbox with a robot computer program called Alice. If students go to this site and click 'chat with Alice', students will see the robot Alice and a blank which says 'you say:'. Here, students can freely ask questions to 'Alice' and practice some English forms and vocabularies with her. Students will be 'human' and when they ask her questions, Alice will reply. It is automatic replies but students can have fun. She is not real but it feels like real because some of her questions are funny and some serious. These days, students are really into computer games and like doing something with the internet, this resource could be an excellent tool for students to practice both reading, writing, and speaking. Because the answers Alice provides are the same for all 'humans', the teacher can give homework such as 'find out Alice's interests or hobby' by make them use certain forms they learned during class.

For 'Fake Captian Kirk', the same things reply. Good aspect of this site is that students can hear Captain Kirk's reply through headphones. Also, his character seems like from the space, so many boys would probably enjoy talking to him about their curious questions about the outer space. Many teenage boys are fascinated by outer space.

For 'Voki', students can create their own character, and it is always fun to make your own imagination character. After making one, students can type in the blank some sentence they want to hear from, their own character will say outloud for them. For speaking practice, it will be fun because they get to hear from their own creative image and not some automatic voice mail.

2pm English Interview

Key Expressions:

+Way to go- 훌륭한데, 대단한걸
+We have been on a diet.- 열심히 다이어트를 했습니다.

+do exercises