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Dogmeandthecoursebook ScottThornbury&LukeMeddings (publishedinModernEnglishTeacher) ADogmeapproachdoesntnecessarilyexcludetheuseofacoursebook.Afterall,ifyoufollowthefirstrule ofdogme(Teachingshouldbedoneusingonlytheresourcesthatteachersandstudentsbringtothe classroomi.e.themselvesandwhateverhappenstobeintheclassroom),youcouldarguethat,inmost teachingcontexts,thecoursebookisanaturallyoccurringitemofclassroomfurnitureasnatural,say,asthe blackboardorthecassetterecorder.Lovethemorhatethem,coursebooksareafactof(classroom)life. TobefaithfultothespiritofDogme,however,coursebooksshouldnotbeallowedtobecomethetailthat wagsthedog.Theyaretheprops,andnotthescreenplay,ofthedogmefilm.Whentheuseofthe coursebookeitherdictates,ordistractsfrom,themainactionofthefilm/lesson,thenlearningopportunities arelikelytobeprejudiced. Thisisparticularlythecasewhencoursebooksareallowedtosetthelanguageagenda,especiallyifthe languageagendacomprisesagradedlistofstructuressuchaswillandgoingto,orthefirst,secondandthird conditionals.Thereisnoresearchevidencetosuggestthatsuchlistsmatchthemannernortheorderin whichlanguageislearned.Itismoreprobablythecasethatsuchlanguageitemsemergenaturallyinreal languageuse,throughrepeatedcyclesofexposure,attention,outputandfeedback.(Somewritersnowtalk aboutsecondlanguageemergence,notsecondlanguageacquisition).Thispresentsteacherswhoare usingcoursebookswithadilemma.Dotheyflogawayattheunlearnablegrammarsyllabusdothey abandonthebookaltogetherordotheytryandthrashoutacompromise? Hereisacompromise.Theideaistousethecoursebook,butsparingly,takingitsgrammarsyllabuswitha pinchofsalt.Itdoesnotmean,however,proppingupthebooksweaknessesbybringinginyetmore materialsintheformofphotocopiedexercises,forexample.Atthesametime,theideaistoincludeactivities thatprovideoptimalexposure,attention,outputandfeedback,therebymaximisingthechanceoflanguage emergence.Whatevergrammarworkisdoneisbasedonwhatemergesastheoutcomeofthefollowing planningstrategies. Planningstrategies: Whiletheirprimaryorganisingprinciplemaybegrammatical,coursebooksalsoincludethethreeTs:topics, texts,andtasks.Maketheseyourstartingpoint. Reallanguageisalwaysaboutsomethingi.e.thetopic.Waysofactivatinginterestinthetopic(without bringinginaloadofothermaterials)andatthesametimeproducinglotsoflanguage,includethefollowing: Questionnaires/surveys:Letssaythetopicofacoursebookunitisshopping.Studentsingroupsof threeprepareasurveytoaskothermembersoftheclassaboutshopping.(Givethemsomesample questionsifnecessary).Typically,asurveycanfocusonthreeaspectsofanytopic peoplesknowledge(WhatisthatbigshopinLondoncalled?)

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peoplesexperience(Haveyouevershoppedtillyoudropped?)and theirfeelings(Doyoufeelguiltyifyoutrysomethingonandthendontbuyit?). Monitorthequestionwritingstage,feedinginideasandvocabulary.Noteanypersistenterrorsfora laterreviewstage.Regroupthestudentssothateachnewgroupincludesonerepresentativeeachof thequestionplanninggroups.Youcandothisbygivingeachstudentinthegroupanumber(1,2,3) andthengroupingallthenumber1stogether,allthenumber2stogether,andallthenumber3s together.Theysurveyeachother,makingnotesoftheiranswers.Theythenreturntotheoriginal grouptoreporttheirfindings.Theycanwritethisupintheformofashorttext(Tenoutoftwelve studentsreallylikeshoppingetc).Theypresenttheirreporttotheclass.Younote,andgive feedbackon,anyinterestingerrors.Theresultsofthesurveymaytriggeramoregeneraldiscussion aboutthetopic. Teacheranecdote:Telltheclassapersonalstoryorpointofviewonthetopic:Ihateshopping.IfI havetobuynewclothesI....ThelasttimeIwentshoppingwas...Inordertocapturethelanguage, askthestudentsingroupstowriteasummaryofwhatyousaid.Oneortwocanputtheirgroups summaryupontheboardandthenyoucancorrectit,withhelpfromtheclass.And/orrecordyourself atthesametimeasyouaretellingyourstorytotheclass,andusethisatthecorrectingstage,so thatlearnerscancomparetheirsummarywithyourexactwords.Dealwithanyinterestinglanguage pointsthatemerge. Studentsstory:Interviewoneofthestsaboutthetopictheirknowledge/experience/attitudes. Otherslistenandthenwriteuptheinterview,includingthequestions.(Theguineapigdoesthe same).Monitorandcheck.Thentheyintervieweachotherandreportbacktoclass. CLL(CommunityLanguageLearning).Studentssitinacircleandhaveaconversationaboutthe topic.Aftereachcontributionisconstructedandcheckedbytheteacher,itisrecorded.Theteacher actssolelyasalanguageconsultant.Thentheconversationisplayedbackandwrittenuponthe board.Languagepointsthatemergearehighlightedandcommentedon. Paperconversation :Thisislikeonlinechat:studentswritetheirconversation(onthetopic)in pairs/groups,passingasheetofpaperbackandforth.Thishelpsslowuptheirlanguageprocessing, allowingtimetopayattentiontoform.Italsoallowsyoutomonitorandcorrect. Freediscussion :Generateanopenclasschataboutthetheme(usingyourbestdinnerpartyhost skills!).Drawstudentsout,andkeepthefocusoffheavycorrection.If/Oncethediscussiongetsgoing letitrun.Thenputthestudentsintopairs/threestowriteasummaryofwhatwassaid,e.g.asifforan absentclassmember.Monitorandcorrect.Dealwithanyinterestinglanguageissuesthatemerge. Reallanguagealwaystakestheformoftexts.Languageacquisitionbeginsandendsintext.Exploitthetexts thatthecoursebookprovides,especiallythosethathavegenericfeatures(i.e.asampleletter,postcard,joke, newsreport,conversationalanecdote,partypoliticalbroadcastetcetc).Someideasforusingthecoursebook texts: Gostraighttothetext(whetheralisteningorreadingtext).Situateit(Whatkindoftextisit?Where wouldyoufindit?Whoisitaddressing?Whatisitsfunction?).Givestudentstimetoengagewithtext. Letthemrespondtothecontentofthetext:Dotheyagree?Dotheysympathise?Isit funny/sad/unusual?etc.Treatthetextfirstasavehicleofinformationi.e.askquestionsaboutthe

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content,goingfromtheverygeneraltothemuchmorespecific,withaviewtohelpingstudents formulateamentalschemaofthecontent.Forexample,ifitsastory,dotheyhavetheeventsin order?Thismayinvolveexplainingunfamiliarwords.Inamonlingualclass,itmayevenmean translatingthewholetextorpartsofitintotheirfirstlanguage. Then(whencompletelysatisfiedthatstudentshavegottheirheadsroundit)focusonthetextasa linguisticobject.(Ifrecordedtext,givestudentsatranscript.Ifawrittentext,readthetexttothem aloud).Focusontheoverallorganisationthebeginning,middleandendbeforehominginonhow thetextisheldtogether(linkers,useofpronounsetc),andactualdetailsofsentencestructure,e.g. tense,noungroups,articleusageetc.Askthestudentstosearchthetext:e.g,tocountthenumber ofmodalverbs,underlineallphrasalverbs,circleverbnouncollocationsetc.Respondtoquestions aboutfeaturesofthetextthatinterestthem.Then,studentsingroups/pairscancoverupthetextand attempttoreconstructit(orpartofit),beforecomparingitwiththeoriginal.Tohelpthemdothis,at somestageyoucouldextractthekeywordsofthetextontotheboard. Havingdoneatextinthewaydescribedabove,askstudentstowrite/speaktheirowntext(e.g.the samegenre,and/orthesametopic,butfromapersonalpointofview).Monitortheirwriting,notingany interestingerrorsforclasscorrectionanddiscussion.Studentsthenexchangeandreadeachothers texts. Givethestudentsthetitleandgistofthetextinasummarisedformbeforetheyread/hearit.Establish thecontext,thetexttype,itsfunctionetc.(Alternatively,makeatranslationofthetextandreaditoutto them).Theythenhaveagoatwritingthetextbeforeseeing/hearingit.Theycomparetheirversion withtheoriginal,andrespondtoquestionsaboutlanguagefeaturesofthetextthatmightbedifferent fromtheirown. Usestudentgeneratedtextse.g.thosederivedfromthetopicbasedactivitiesmentionedabove surveyreportsCLLpaperconversationsetc. Thesuccessfulmanagementoflearninginvolvesprovidingasenseofpurposeinclassroomactivities:thisis achievedthroughthesetting,monitoringandcheckingoftasks.Moreover,reallifelanguageuseisalways purposeful.Thebestclassroomtasksarethosethatincorporateelementsofreallifelanguagepurposes e.g.towinanargument,toreachaconsensus,tofinaliseanarrangement,toconfirmanintuitionetc. Coursebooksoftenhaveactivitiesthatcanbeturnedintolanguageproductivetasks,iftheyarenotinthat formalready.Allowstudentstouseallandanylanguageresourcestheycommand,andpushthemtoextend themselvesbya)repeatingthetask(withdifferentstudentsforexample)andb)goingpublicreportingon thetaskprocessandoutcometothewholeclass. Somegenerictasktypes: Survey(seeabove)setapurposee.g.findoutthepersonintheclasswhoisthemost careful/carelessshopper... Consensus:studentsproducearankedlistatfirstindividuallyandtheninpairs/groupsthey negotiateaconsensus.E.g.thefivebestdepartmentstoresintheirtown,plusreasons.Ultimate purposecouldbetoincludethisinatouristinfobrochure. Alibistype:studentsinpairsdevisescenarioe.g.alibi,UFOsighting,greencardtypedomestic arrangementsandaretheninterviewedseparatelytoseeiftheirstoryholds.Couldbe,forexample, ajointshoppingexcursion.

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Spotthelie:similartoabove:studentsindividuallypreparesetofstatements,opinions,experiences etc.andtellthemtoneighbourideaistospotthedeliberatelie Quiz:studentspreparegeneralknowledgequiz,andthentesteachother Interviewtheteacher:studentspreparequestionsrelatedtothetopictoasktheteacher,andthen writeuptheinterviewasapieceofjournalism.Onevariantonthisistohavestudentssubmit questionsonslipsofpapersaythreegroupsteacherwritesansweronpaper(butonlyifthe questioniscorrectlyformed)andthen,afterwards,eachgroupusestheirquestionstowritea connectedpiecethatisthenreadbyothergroups. Showandtell:studentstelltheclassabouttheirinterest/hobby/object/favouritefilmwithaview, perhaps,topersuadingotherstudentstotakeitup,getone,seeitetc.Thiscanbepreparedfor homework,butshouldbespoken,notreadaloud.Listenersaskquestions.Talkcouldberecorded. Thepresentationcanalsoberelatedtothecoursebooktopic,ofcourse. Designtypetasks:wherestudentsinpairs/groupsdesignsomething,takingintoaccountrelevant factors,andthenpresentittotheclass.E.g.designadaysshoppinginyourtownfortheclass,sothat ittakesaccountofeveryonesneeds,tastes,budgetsetc.Otherdesigntypetasks:layoutofzoo turningtheclassroomintostudentclubweekendexcursionforclass.etc Materialfreeroleplays:e.g.shoppingforaschool/packageholiday/flatmatehalfclassareclients, otherhalfareschools/agencies/ownersetc.Eachserviceproviderispairedupandinterviewedbya client.Theythenmoveroundone,untileveryonehastalkedtoeveryone.Clientsthendecidewhich servicetheywillchooseserviceprovidersdecidewhichclienttheywouldprefer. Nondirectivelistening:thefocushereisonbuildingagooddynamicasmuchasonlanguage practice.Studentsaregroupedinthrees,takingturnsasspeaker,listener,andobserver.Thespeaker tellsthelistenerfacts,experiencesand/oropinions,relatedtotopic.Atimelimitofthreeminutesis monitoredbytheobserver.Thelistenereitherduringorafterlisteningreflectsbackwhathe/she understandsthespeakerhassaidandthespeakerconfirms/disconfirms/clarifiesetcasnecessary. Afterwards,short(2minute)discussionledbytheobserverontheprocesstheyhavejustengagedin wasiteasy,difficult,fluid,comprehensible,accurateetc.Theteachercanmonitordiscreetly. Remember:ifthestudentsareengagedinarangeoflifeliketasksaboutarangeofreallifetopicsand using/producingarangeofreallifetexttypes,theywillbecoveringallthegrammartheyneed.Yourjobis touncoverthisnaturalsyllabusi.e.letitemerge,shapeit,beforelettingitsubmergeagain,intheinterests ofautomaticityandfluency.

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