How Languages Are (and Aren’t) Learned
By David Shaffer Language learning methods are not always as effective as they might at first seem to be. Here we will take a somewhat deeper (though admittedly brief) look … Read More
Tag: language
Misbeliefs About Second Language Learning Methods
By David Shaffer Beliefs are formed in large part by the experiences that we have. And misconceived beliefs are often construed by not having had the opportunity of experiencing a … Read More
Never Bored with Board Games!
Think about your education, if you can remember back that far. Kindergarten was full of games and songs to teach you how to do things. I can remember Grade 1, when my teacher made sitting up straight to answer questions in class fun and exciting. She taught us to behave and be quiet through games like this. I even remember us crowded around each other, trying to barely breath so we could hear a pin drop. I swear I heard it. When did we stop making class and learning a good time?
Learner Journals and Portfolios for Language Improvement
This article reports on a quite successful, combined journal-portfolio project with 76 university students over a one-semester period. Its purpose was to determine satisfaction with the project, its effectiveness in improving autonomous learning program design, and its effectiveness in improving autonomous study habits.
Gwangju as an Exchange Student – Expectations Versus Reality
That is what I came looking for in Gwangju: the traditions and culture that South Korea is currently evolving from. Gwangju is not the increasingly global society of Seoul; a foreigner here can still get the experience of alterity that should go with any real travel. People can still be surprised here with your altogether “otherness,” be it the way you dress, the way you talk, or the color of your eyes. One Korean friend, in fact, told me that the blue or green color of the eyes of some of his Occidental acquaintances was what struck him the most when meeting them.
Gwangju Peeps, KOTESOL Peeps: Where Are They Now?
Expats are a quite transitory group. Many are very active in their adopted community, and then one day they are gone. You lose touch with them, and as the saying goes, “Out of sight, out of mind.” Well, what we have done is contact a number of former Gwangju residents who were also active members of the Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL Chapter and asked them what they are up to now and how their experience here, including their KOTESOL experience, may have helped them in life after Gwangju.
Peace Linguistics and Its Connections to TESOL
We are all familiar with the terms linguistics, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics. But peace linguistics may not be so firmly seated in our lexicons. To find out more about this, we turned to Jocelyn Wright for an interview.
Teaching Content Courses in the Students L2
When we think of teaching lessons in English in Korea, we immediately think of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) and, most often, of the instructor being an expat, native speaker of English. However, what has been trending in recent years, especially at the tertiary level, is teaching content courses (e.g., engineering, history, mathematics) in English. To understand better this aspect of teaching, we have sought out Phillip Schrank, a university professor in our Gwangju community, for this interview.