Interactive Quiz - Are you a Good Language Learner? By Marisa Constantinides

You are going to do a quiz to discover how good you are at learning a language.

Discuss

• Are you good language learner?
• Could you be better?
• Try a quiz to find out how good you are.

Quiz
This quiz is copied directly from Marisa Constantinides' TEFL Matters blog here. All thanks are due to her for compiling the quiz questions.
All I have done is turn it into an interactive quiz for users of this blog.

Please read Marisa's original post here

Now try the quiz.



When you have finished your score should be visible below the title of the quiz.

Your Score
Quite obviously, the more a answers you have managed to collect, the closer you tend to be to the ideal profile of the Good Language Learner. Most Good Language Learners average a score of about 70%.  If you have scored more than 90%, well then, you are a rare creature indeed!

If you did not score high
If your score is less than the Good Learner average, identify the areas of difficulty and plan a course of action for yourself.

For instance, if you answered B for Question 23, make it a point of training yourself to be a better listener by listening to more tapes, switching regularly to watching English speaking TV  channels, You Tube videos and films, listening to TED talks on topics of interest.
 - Marisa Constantinides





More
Teaching and Learning Styles - What makes a good teacher? How do you like to learn? Advanced, Intermediate, Listening, Quizzes, Reading, Teaching and Learning Styles, Upper Intermediate, Writing

What's the point of university?

You are going to

• listen to people comparing university education with work experience
• do 2 listening comprehension exercises
• discuss and write about education

1) Discuss

• What is the value of a university education?
• Is it a means to an economic goal, a route to a better job?
• Is it an end in itself, learning for the sake of learning?
• Does having a lot of qualifications mean you will be good at your job? 
• Is it better to leave school and learn the skills needed for work a while working?
• Does / should a university education prepare you for life?
• Is going to university the best option for you? Why?

2) Listen - Why some18-year-olds are shunning university.

On this clip from Radio 4 Quentin Letts talks to A-level students about where they see their futures and if they see university as the best option.

• What advantages do they give for going straight into work?
• What advantages do they give for going to university?

Listen and find out.

Vocabulary

A-levels =  A-level exam courses are studied over a two-year period and are recognised as the standard for assessing the suitability of applicants for academic courses in English, Welsh, and Northern Irish universities.

Shunning = avoiding, turning away from

listen to ‘Why some 18-year-olds are shunning university’ on Audioboo


From http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01lt45k

Listen again and answer the questions below

3) Discuss

• Is it possible to succeed in life with going to university or having academic qualifications?
• Do you know anyone who has done so?

4) Listen - Jon Snow: There is life after A-levels

Jon Snow

You are going to listen to Jon Snow (born 28 September 1947). Jon is a British journalist and presenter, currently employed by ITN. He is best known for presenting Channel 4 News in the UK. 
He was not a very succesful student at school but says "there is life after "A" levels".
Listen and find out.

• What does he think you have to do to be successful in life?

listen to ‘Jon Snow: There is life after A-levels’ on Audioboo

Listen again and fill in the gaps in this summary.

Vocabulary

Graft = hard work

Read again

• Do you agree with Jon when he says "people have different ways of achieving what they want to do"?
• Do you think the advice he gives in the 3rd paragraph is good advice?

Printable worksheets here

5) Discuss / Write (IELTS)

Choose 1 of the questions below. 

• Discuss how you will write it with a partner. 
• Discuss the points you will make, you introduction and your conclusion.
• Make a plan of the points you want to make and write your answer.

1) Some people believe that studying at university or college is the best route to a successful career, while others believe that it is better to get a job straight after school.
Discuss both views and give your opinion. 


2) Some people think that universities should provide graduates with the knowledge and skills needed in the workplace. Others think that the true function of a university should be to give access to knowledge for its own sake, regardless of whether the course is useful to an employer.
What, in your opinion, should be the function of a university?

More

Teaching and learning styles - What makes a good teacher? How do you like to learn?
http://efllecturer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/teaching-and-learning-styles-what-makes.html

The listenings contain several conditional forms. Can you find them?
Practise more conditionals here.
http://efllecturer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/what-would-happen-if-2nd-conditional.html

and here
http://efllecturer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/what-would-have-happened-if-10.html

Discussion / Listening / Writing - Is smacking a child ever justified?

You are going to

• listen to a discussion and do a gap-filling exercise
• practise verbs used to report speech
• discuss parenting and children's behaviour
• prepare and write an IELTS task 2 question on this theme

Discuss

• What's the best way to educate children?
• What's the best way to teach children about right and wrong?
• How should parents discipline children when they do wrong?
• Do you think it is ever right to smack a child who has done wrong?
• What is the law in the UK with regard to smacking?
• What is the law in your country?
• How does the education of children affect society? 
• How did your parents raise you?
• Are you a parent? How do you / will you raise your children?

Listen
You are going to listen to a short discussion from the BBC Radio 4 Today programme
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/default.stm

David Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham and former minister, sparked controversy when he said parents in his constituency were confused about the law on smacking.
Cindy Butts, adviser on the Metropolitan Police's Operation Trident, and Sunny Hundal, Guardian writer and editor of left wing blog Liberal Conspiracy, discuss whether smacking is ever justified.


Listen to the discussion

1) Who says the following? Cindy Butts or Sunny Hundal?

• some families don't understand the law
• was beaten as a child
• people are more willing to ignore authority nowadays

Click play to listen





2) Listen again and fill in the gaps with a verb from the drop-down menu.

Printable version available here

Grammar - Reported Speech

Look at the text again.
The verbs in the gaps in the summary can all be used to report speech. We can also use Say and Tell but the test of good English is being able to use varied vocabulary.
What other verbs in the text are used to report speech?
Highlight for answers = dispute, maintain, claim, consider

Practise reported speech here
http://www.englishcafe.com/blog/reported-speech-reporting-verbs-27093



Discuss

• The law in the UK states that a parent can smack a child without reddening the skin. Do you agree that the law is fair and sensible?
• What are the alternatives to smacking?
• Do you think parents should have training to raise children?
• Are people more willing to ignore authority nowadays? Is this good or bad? What are the causes?
• Do you agree there has been a breakdown in discipline in young teenagers?
• How much are parents responsible for the actions of their children?

Writing

Choose one of the following IELTS questions

• Some people think it would be a good idea for schools to teach every young person how to be a good parent. Do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Describe the skills a person needs to be a good parent.
• Firm discipline is a necessary part of teaching children. To what extent do you agree or disagree
• In some countries children have very strict rules of behavior, while in other countries they are allowed to do almost anything they want. To what extent should children have to follow rules? Give Reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
• Behaviour in schools is getting worse. Explain the causes and effects of this problem, and suggest some possible solutions.

More Practice
More reported speech
http://www.englishcafe.com/blog/reported-speech-reporting-verbs-27093

Reporting verbs lists
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/rep7.cfm
http://academicenglishcafe.com/ReportedandQuotedSpeechVerbs.aspx

Game  http://academicenglishcafe.com/HotChocolateCoolQuotesBetaRV.aspx

Reading
Daily Mail - Labour MP: Smacking ban led to riots because parents fear children will be taken away if they discipline them
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2093223/Labour-MP-David-Lammy-Smacking-ban-led-riots.html

More BBC Radio 4 Today stories on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/thetodayprogramme

Achievements - Laura Dekker: a heroine for our times?

You are going to

• Review past tenses
• Read and analyse a text about Laura Dekker
• Look at vocabulary and expressions to describe personality
• Discuss keeping diaries and blogs
• Discuss and write about an achievement using a variety of past tenses
• Discuss and write some IELTS style questions

1) Introduction
A) Who is Laura Dekker?
What do you know about her?

• Where is she from?
• How old is she?
• What is her achievement?
• How long did it take?
• Why did the authorities try to stop her?

 

B) Watch the news report to check your answers

C) Watch again, listen and fill in the spaces in the gap-fill exercise with a verb

D) Grammar - Look again. What are the tenses in each sentence?

2) Discuss

Look at the map below

• Would you like to sail around the world on your own?
• What skills do you think you need?
• What kind of a person do you need to be? Think of some adjectives or expressions.
• Do you agree with the Dutch authorities that Laura was too young to do the trip?
• What do you think Laura learned from the trip?

3) Reading

3a) Read the text below quickly and put these paragraph headings into the correct spaces in the text. Each heading describes the paragraph which follows

   A) She is determined

   B) She is a reluctant superstar

   C) She is good with cockroaches

   D) She was born to sail

   E) She becomes the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe

Read the text again and find the answers to these questions.

3b) What expressions or adjectives are used to describe Laura?
3c) What did she learn from the trip?

4) Vocabulary

Check / Guess / Find out
What do these underlined expressions from the text mean? Try and guess from the other words in the sentence.

Paragraph 1

a trip her father had hoped would "cure her wanderlust"

Paragraph 2
She took on six-metre-high waves and extreme weather
heading into the Cape of Good Hope
her storm jib (a sail used in storms) got jammed
Another of her sails ripped completely
She dodged near-collisions with cargo ships
Not in the least squeamish, she had to rescue live flying fish that had flung themselves into her cabin, and scrub the stinking remains of decomposing squid from the deck
the ants and cockroaches that had stowed away in her cabin.
Paragraph 3

she set off

in the meantime

Paragraph 4

Dekker has just pipped the previous youngest

Now do the exercise

5) Grammar

Tenses. Look again at part 1D. What were the tenses?
How many tenses can you find in the reading text? Give one example of each.

• Find a past simple =   She survived weeks at sea...
• Find a past continuous =
• Find a present perfect =
• Find a past perfect = 
• Find a conditional = 
• Find a passive = 

6) Discuss

• What do you think of Laura's achievement?
• Do you think she is a heroine?
• Was she right to follow her dream or was she too young?
• Were the Dutch authorities right to try and stop her?
• How much do you think she learned on the trip?
• Would she have learned as much at school?

Look at Laura's blog http://www.lauradekker.nl/English/News.html

• Why do you think she kept a diary / blog?
• Do you keep a diary or blog?
• What are the advantages of keeping a learning diary or blog in English?

Think of an achievement in your life and talk about it eg learning to drive, learning English, entering a competition, doing a course...

• Why did you decide to do it?
• Describe doing it. Was it difficult? How did you feel during and after?
• What did you learn from it?
• What did you learn about yourself?

7a) Writing

Now write about your achievement
Organise and plan

• Paragraph 1 - Introduce the achievement. Say why you wanted to do it. Use past tenses  - past simple and continuous / past perfect

• Paragraph 2 / 3 - Describe doing it - preparation, difficulties, your feelings. Use past tenses - past simple and continuous / past perfect. Use some adjectives to describe the activity and your feelings.

• Paragraph 4 - What have you learnt from doing it? How has it changed your life? How have you changed? What are the benefits? Would you recommend the activity to others? Try and use a variety of tenses; past simple and continuous / past perfect / present perfect / conditional / passive

7b) Writing (IELTS)

Discuss and prepare to write about one of these questions

• Should parents be obliged to send their children to school? Or should they have the right to choose how to educate them?

• Some people believe that governments have a duty to make sure all their citizens are healthy, safe and well educated. Others say that this can lead to state interference and infringes on the freedom of the individual to choose how to live. Discuss both views and give your opinion

• “Not everything that is learned is contained in books.” Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

8) More reading

• Laura Dekker's website http://www.lauradekker.nl/English/About_Laura.html
• Laura Decker: A heroine for our times by Emine Saner.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/23/laura-dekker-sailing-heroine-times
• Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089989/Laura-Dekker-Dutch-girl-16-youngest-sail-world-own.html

Ex 3 and 4 - Printable version here 
Other answers - Highlight below

1C Answers
1) has. 2) arrived, set. 3) had. 4) were, was 5) were, wanted, wanted. 6) had, have. 7) has.

1D Answers 1) Present Perfect. 2) Past Simple. 3) Past Perfect. 4) Past Simple, Past Passive. 5) Past Simple x 3. 6) Past Perfect, Past modal - should. 7) Present Perfect Passive.

3a) Answers
She was born to sail
She is good with cockroaches
She is determined
She becomes the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe
She is a reluctant superstar

3b) Answers 

stoic, a cool head, wanderlust, not in the least squeamish, determined, experienced solo sailor, values solitude and a proximity to nature, has a deep appreciation of the beauty the world has to offer, "mostly I simply enjoy the endless silky blue ocean and the quiet peace that it brings,"  "At sea, I feel comfortable and I come to rest."

3c) Answers
 - To prepare for the trip Dekker had done training in first aid and sleep management, and had become a more experienced solo sailor,
 - Sailing around the world, navigating difficult port approaches, storms, dangerous reefs, and the full  - responsibility of keeping herself and her boat safe
 - Learned to value and appreciate nature


5) Answers
past simple - She survived weeks at sea...
past continuous - Her Dutch parents were living on a yacht...
present perfect - Her mother has said...
past perfect - ... flying fish that had flung themselves into her cabin
conditional - If Laura had drowned people would have accused us of not doing enough to protect her
passive - Dekker was placed under state guardianship by a Dutch court

Teaching and Learning Styles - What makes a good teacher? How do you like to learn?

You are going to

• discuss teaching and learning
• watch 2 video clips and answer some questions
• read about learning styles and do a quiz to find what kind of learner you are
• think and write about the characteristics of a good learner / teacher / worker / boss

Discuss

• What do / did you like studying at school?
• What are / were you good at?
• What aren't / weren't you good at?
• What do you think are the characteri​stics of a good student? Think of some adjectives to describe a good student
• What do you think are the characteri​stics of a good teacher? Think of some adjectives to describe a good teacher
• Do teachers affect the way you learn? How?

Watch the clip. According to these students what are the characteri​stics of a good teacher? Make a note of their answers. Do they have the same ideas as you?



Answers - highlight below

good communicator

inspirational

sense of humour

friendly

enthusiastic

firm, but fair

respectful

personal involvement

consistency

approachable
responsive

Discuss learning

• How do you like to learn?
• What activities do you like doing in class?
• What activities don't you like doing?
• What are the best ways for you to learn or remember something?

Watch this clip. How do these students like to learn? Make a note of the class activities they like. Do they have the same ideas as you?



Answers - highlight below

powerpoints you can annotate

discussion

making notes

group work

videos

films

kinaesthetic (moving) learning - ie field trips

being shown how to do things

copying notes

presentations

acting

doing things

revision

active learning

games

interactive lessons

helping others

Look at the list again
Discuss which ones you like doing and put them in the order of importance for you.
What is your favourite learning activity?

Do you think you have a prefered learning style?
Read below to find out.

Reading - Learning Styles

Everyone has a learning style which suits them for understanding new information. Most people actually use all learning styles, depending on the specific type of learning they are doing.

There are three basic styles;

1. seeing or visual, 
2. hearing or auditory
3. movement or kinesthetic / tactile (touching).

1) Do a questionnaire and find out what your learning style is.
It may help you to know what kind of learning style is best for you. These questionnaires will help you discover what kind of learner you are. Choose one and answer the questions.
http://www.brainboxx.co.uk/a3_aspects/pages/vak_quest.htm

http://www.ldpride.net/learning-style-test.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/keyskills/extra/module1/2.shtml


Find out more about learning styles here
http://www.campaign-for-learning.org.uk/cfl/yourlearning/whatlearner.asp



2) What can you do to improve your English study skills?
Read the following ideas for being a good language learner.
Follow the instructions and compare with another student and discuss them.

Becoming a more effective learner 
Look at these 21 ways of studying and learning from Total English Upper Intermediate portfolio (free download below)

Select the methods that

• you use
• want to try in the future
• don’t work for you.

Discuss

• How many do you already use?
• Choose the most important 5 you want to try in the future.
• Why do you think it will be a good idea to try them?

This is from Total English Upper Intermediate Portfolio page 12
You can download it for free here
http://www.pearsonlongman.com/totalenglish/pdfs/cef/upper-intermediate.pdf
Can you think of any more ways of studying?

Find out more about language study skills here
The good Language Learner  http://esl.fis.edu/parents/advice/good.htm
Do you agree?

Writing

Write about the activities you like doing in class and say why you think they are useful for you. Also talk about what you do to remember and practise what you learn in class. (100 - 150 words)



Relevant IELTS questions on teaching, learning, good qualities and characteristics (choose one).

1) People learn in different ways. Some people learn by doing things; other people learn by reading about things; others learn by listening to people talk about things. Which of these methods of learning is best for you? Use specific examples to support your choice.

2) As computers are being used more and more in education, there will be soon no role for teachers in the classroom.
• You should give reasons for your answer using your own ideas and experience.
• You should write at least 250 words.
• You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

3) We all work or will work in our jobs with many different kinds of people. In your opinion, what are some important characteristics of a co-worker (someone you work closely with)? Use reasons and specific examples to explain why these characteristics are important.
• You should write at least 250 words.
• You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. 

4) What are some important qualities of a good supervisor (boss)? Use specific details and examples to explain why these qualities are important.
• You should write at least 250 words.
• You should spend about 40 minutes on this task

Are People Who Speak More Than One Language Smarter?

You are going to 

• watch a video and do a true / false comprehension exercise
• write about learning a foreign language

Discuss

• Are people who speak more than one language smarter? 
• What do you think? Is it true?
• Why would people who speak more than one language be smarter?

Watch the clip and find out.






Now do this true or false exercise

Writing

Choose 1

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning a foreign language?

• Learning a foreign language offers an insight into how people from other cultures think and see the world. The teaching of a foreign language should be compulsory at all primary schools. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this view? (IELTS)