Saturday, August 30, 2014
!!! Interview with Alan Maley: Exploring Creativity in the Language Classroom : ELTWorldOnline.com
Creativity
... In his words, creativity does not have to be a major, epoch-making change. Creativity can simply mean “do the opposite,” as proposed by John Fanselow in his book Breaking Rules (1987). “These may be quite small things. If we usually allow students always to sit in the same places, we can ask them to sit in a different place in each lesson, and see what happens. We can vary the way we take the attendance register, the way we set homework, etc. There is an infinite variety of ways to be creative which does not require us throw out the whole curriculum; and this includes ways of adapting the material in the course book.”
What is more interesting is the fact that creativity shall be developed within constraints. In teaching creative writing, for example, the constraints may come in the form of word-limits (for example, a mini-saga is a story told in exactly 50 words) or in the formal constraints of a particular form of poetry (for example, the haiku, which traditionally, has to have 3 lines, of 5, 7 and 5 syllables). According to Alan, “these constraints also scaffold and support the learner, because they impose limits on the language needed.”
...
The Aesthetic Approach
... The Aesthetic Approach is more an attitude of mind, which favors certain kinds of materials and ways of doing, within a certain kind of atmosphere. It has three areas for implementation: The Matter, the Methods and the Manner.
The Matter, according to Alan, concerns the content. The Aesthetic Approach advocates a wider use of images from art, moving images, music and song, a wide range of non-referential texts from literature and elsewhere, and student-made input. “This is the art,” he says.
The Method involves both art and artistry. In this case, Alan suggests teachers to “use more project work, ensemble work (for performance, etc.), more autonomous engagement by students, more multi-dimensional activities engaging all the senses, problem-solving and critical thinking, and playfulness through exposure to humour, games and creative writing.”
The last area is Manner, which needs all the artistry that can be mustered. This involves “the need to create a learning atmosphere encouraging ‘flow’ states, an attitude of openness to experiment and risk, offering choice, and developing a learning community bound together by mutual trust and support.”
...
Teacher training courses... Alan recommends strongly modifying the existing programmes to offer novice teachers more enormous help in two particular areas. “The first would be to include components to do with the content and skills needed for a creative approach, for example, training in using drama techniques, the use of the voice, story-telling techniques, using images, using music and song, etc. The other would be to develop sessions to help teachers become more skillful at improvisation and spontaneity.”
...
Alan further explains that classrooms are an arena of unpredictability, but he continues by stating that what pre-service teachers often receive is a set of toolkit of knowledge and skills supposed to work in most circumstances. In other words, novice teachers receive no training to meet the unexpected...
Alan further explains that classrooms are an arena of unpredictability, but he continues by stating that what pre-service teachers often receive is a set of toolkit of knowledge and skills supposed to work in most circumstances. In other words, novice teachers receive no training to meet the unexpected... (A) cooperative and non-threatening training atmosphere would successfully transform teachers’ reluctance into enthusiasm and willingness to try using creative works in their classrooms.
ELT: The past, present and future...
In those days, Alan also had the privilege “to have a ringside seat as the so-called designer methods broke cover: The Silent Way, Suggestopoedia, Community Language Learning, Psycho-drama, Total Physical Response, and so on.” Recently, Alan has seen the rise of the Dogme Approach, the development of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and the expansive introduction of technology as a necessary component of ELT.
... what he calls as ‘control culture’ in education, which is the result of “a results-oriented, measurement-driven system of education, obsessed by ‘objectives’ and driven by examinations, tests and assessment.”...
... there is no necessary connection between research and teaching, that there are few instances where research is of any practical use, and even when it is, it is routinely ignored by administrators, that doing research for a PhD rarely if ever improves the teaching quality of the candidate, and that most teachers are not well-equipped to carry it out anyway.”
In the future, Alan would like to see more teacher development programmes focusing on creativity and that teachers be given more opportunities to exercise their initiative and creativity. Alan also wishes that teachers would eventually move back from an excessive addiction to testing and conformity.
Current projects
In 2003, Alan set up The Asian Teacher-Writer Group...
Some of the materials and resources developed by the group are available at http://flexiblelearning.auckland.ac.nz/cw/...
In 2013, at The 48th Annual International IATEFL Conference, Alan introduced The C Group (Creativity for Change in Language Education), a group of ELT professionals with a shared belief in the value of greater creativity. The group exists to give support and encouragement to teachers who have creative ideas of their own... to foster independent initiatives coming from the membership, not to impose solutions on them...
The C Group’s manifesto states as clearly as possible what the group is about (refer to http://thecreativitygroup.weebly.com/). “This group is open to membership to anyone who feels comfortable to subscribe to these points..
… and beyond
... Teachers, in his opinion, should read about things that are over the “ghetto wall of ELT” because this will open their minds...
Recommended readings & video
- Maley, A. (2012). Creative writing for students and teachers. Humanising Language Teaching, 14(3). Retrieved from http://www.hltmag.co.uk/jun12/mart01.htm
- Maley, A. (2009). Towards an aesthetics of ELT. Part 1. Folio: Journal of MATSDA,13(2).
- Maley, A. (2010). Towards an aesthetics of ELT. Part 2. Folio: Journal of MATSDA,14(1).
- Underhill, A., & Maley, A. (2012). Expect the unexpected. English Teaching Professional, 82.
- Underhill, A., & Maley, A. (2013) From preparation to preparedness (Video File).Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIBhUVhmYOo
References
- Asian Teacher-Writer Group. (2012). Creative writing: Asian English language teachers’ creative writing project. Retrieved fromhttp://flexiblelearning.auckland.ac.nz/cw/
- Fanselow, J.F. (1987). Breaking rules: Generating and exploring alternative in language teaching. New York: Longman.
- The C Group. (2013). Creativity for change in language education. Retrieved from http://thecreativitygroup.weebly.com/
...
Friday, August 29, 2014
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Monday, August 25, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Monday, August 18, 2014
Facebook - Do you want to be able to draw cats, dogs or birds on the board?
Facebook - Do you want to be able to draw cats, dogs or birds on the board?
Paul Millard from the British Council shows you how to draw them quickly and easily
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Friday, August 15, 2014
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
The hazy line between lexis and grammar | Richmond Share
The hazy line between lexis and grammar | Richmond Share
It was called “Current Events” and it focused on conversation, listening and vocabulary. There was no coursebook (for obvious reasons), so the more laissez-faire nature of the course meant that I was free to build up the syllabus as we went along, dealing with emergent language and extracting useful lexis from newspapers, magazines and video clips. I am using lexis here in the broadest possible sense, to encompass words, collocations, fixed/semi-fixed expressions and formulaic language.
...
So I’d like to suggest that it makes sense to try to move:
From lexis (in the broadest possible sense of the word) to grammar rather than the other way around.
From concrete to abstract.
From synthesis to analysis.
Or, to borrow Michael Lewis’ terminology:
First, grammaticized lexis, then lexicalized grammar.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Monday, August 4, 2014
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Facebook - Lots of great reading activities on BCouncil website
Facebook
LearnEnglish Teens – British Council
Do you like reading? We've got lots of great reading activities on our website to help you - everything from stories and poems to science and technology!
1) Stories & Poems UK - http://goo.gl/JZK1eN2) Read UK - http://goo.gl/cb88ZV3) Easy Reading - http://goo.gl/umpHyu4) Reading Skills Practice - http://goo.gl/CSOZAy5) Magazine - http://goo.gl/MKtbEn
Neil
Friday, August 1, 2014
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