Course Description

[Peter]

Kyungbuk Office of Education TEE Camp. January 2010. Keimyung University

Authentic English Activities – 8 hours (4 x 2 hour classes) Instructor: Peter Daley

Course Description:

In this class we will explore the pros and cons of using authentic materials in the classrooms for various levels and ages and examine ways in which authentic materials can be incorporated into the classroom. In particular we will explore using authentic materials with respect to listening activities, use of the Internet (including reading resources), and videos.

In order to make this class as practical as possible, I will also use 2 textbooks used in Korean high schools and middle schools and explore ways in which authentic materials can be used to supplement various chapters in those texts. In our final class participants will present a lesson from the 2 Korean text books supplied with supplementary authentic material. Participants may use chapters from their own textbooks if they wish.

While I will present ideas, materials, and resources for discussion and review, it is my hope that we can learn from each other’s experiences and share ideas that both have and haven’t worked in our classrooms. I’d also like to expand our focus and spend time sharing ideas about successful activities in general. We will also explore explaining activities to our students using English and the challenges that presents to teachers and students. I think that is one of the most difficult aspects of running an English-only classroom.

While I hope this class will provide you with some new ideas and resources for your classrooms, the reality is that because of strict schedules to follow and important exams to prepare your students for, many of the activities and ideas we will examine in class may not be easily applied to your teaching environments. While I acknowledge that, I believe that as teachers we are always learning (and hopefully improving) and with that in mind I hope to we can explore activities and ideas with the view to perhaps utilizing them one day or simply altering existing activities you do use with more authentic materials where appropriate.

Course Objectives:

The main objectives of the class are:

1)  to provide teachers with ideas and resources for using “authentic” English in their classroom.
2)  to provide participants with the opportunity to prepare and present lesson ideas
3) to create an open and relaxed environment where participants feel comfortable expressing their opinions and sharing their ideas with fellow participants and the instructor.

If you have any questions about the class, please feel free to contact me at petedaley@gmail.com.

Resources:

Copies of relevant sections from these books will be distributed in class. At the time of writing I am still awaiting delivery of 3 of the texts:

•   Teaching Listening Comprehension by Penny Ur
•   The Internet and the Language Classroom by Gavin Dudeney
•   Using Authentic Video in the Language Classroom by Jane Sherman
•   Second Language Teaching & Learning by David Nunan
•   Five-Minute Activities by Penny Ur and Andrew Wright
•   High School English
•   Middle School English 2