Topical news stories are a great source of teaching material. This article presents different ways to exploit news reports in the classroom and focuses on raising the level of involvement and participation that the students have in the lesson.

• Selection criteria

• Before reading

• First reading

• Second reading

• Language focus

• Follow up

• Sources

ادامه دارد.....

Abstract

In general, eclecticism in language teaching holds that although no single language teaching method manages to meet all the teaching and learning needs, many methods have valuable insights that should be drawn on. But it has been criticized for its lack of principles. Thus principled eclecticism and teaching by principles have been pursued. This study investigated the attitudes and perceptions of the College Englishteachers in China towards eclecticism and principled eclecticism in their teaching inthe intensive English language program, and the methods or approaches and teachingtechniques they employ; and, through a case study, it probed whether the real teachingpractice of principled eclecticism was as eclectic and principled as the proponentsdescribed at the theoretical level. After analyzing the questionnaire from 155 teachersand 51 students, a 12-week classroom observation, and person-to-person interviews, the authors find that eclecticism does exist and is widely practiced by College English teachers and is warmly welcomed by the students. 

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A Faircloughian approach to CDA: Principled eclecticism or a method searching for a theory?

Abstract

For researchers wanting to take up critical discourse analysis as an analytical tool, Norman Fairclough’s (1989) early work provided a stepby-step approach that he called ‘a guide not a blueprint.’   In response to calls for a more explicit theoretical justification, Chouliaraki and Fairclough (1999) attempted to theoretically ‘ground’ CDA and to spell out its underpinning theories ‘explicitly and systematically’.  Their recommendation for a ‘shifting synthesis’ of theoretical sources, however, has been criticised, raising significant questions about the extent to which this work is method-driven and theoretically-framed.   This paper explores some of the issues, considerations and advantages that surfaced as the author drew on a Faircloughian approach to CDA, its theory and method in researching literacy learning.

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Toward Principled Eclecticism in Language Teaching:The Two-Dimensional Model and the Centring Principle

J. Dean Mellow
Simon Fraser University

Abstract

To achieve the goal of principled eclecticism (coherent, pluralistic language teaching), the paper proposes principles for categorizing, selecting, and sequencing teaching/learning activities. Activities are categorized in relation to the Two-Dimensional Model, four quadrants that result from the intersection of the dimensions of language and learning. Language is categorized as form or function. Learning is categorized as construction or growth. The centre of the quadrant is characterized as contextualized attention to signs. The Centring Principle (CP) constrains selection and sequencing: Activities within a lesson should (i) maintain coherence by consistently focusing upon the same formal and/or functional units, and (ii) be sequenced so that, by the end of the lesson, learners have engaged in activities that require contextualized attention to signs. Revealing a fundamental similarity across different approaches, lessons consistent with the CP are illustrated. The paper provides directions for evaluating the CP in relation to teacher thinking and learning outcomes.

 

A Review of Online Reading Sites for ESL Students

Summary

In this article, the authors try to find suitable online sites for reading as supplementary material for ESL students. They choose their recommended site based on three criteria:user-friendliness, support and interactivity, and effects of media.The first category, user-friendliness, refers to the extent of usability of online reading materials.Support structure, such as dictionary, glossary, concordance and thesaurus, made available to users is the second category.The final category of evaluation criteriaincludes not only the quality of audio and video clips, but also our consideration of how well different forms of media integrate for effective learning, the reading speed of the audio clips and technical compatibility.

Among the eleven sites that they reviews, the top five sites recommended based on their students’ needs are as follows:

1. VOAnews.com
2. English Listening Lesson Library Online (elllo)
3. literacynet.org
4. Adult Learning Activities
5. onestopenglish
6. Unfortunately, onestopenglish(The Guardian Weekly )requires the students to subscribe, so the cost may be a deterrent.

Learner-Centered Methods

So arguing, Newmark (1966) adopted the view that complex bits of language are learned a whole chunk at a time rather than learned as an assemblage of constituent items. He declared that language-centered pedagogy with its emphasis on sequential presentation, practice, and production of isolated linguistic items “constitutes serious interference with the language learning process” (p. 81)

Language-Centered Methods

97and sequencing of content, and presentation with the aims and activities of

classroom teaching. As early as in 1936, Palmer, West, and their associates

selected and graded a vocabulary list, which was later revised by West and

published in 1953 with the title, A General Service List of English Words. The

list consisted of a core vocabulary of about 2,000 words selected on the basis

of such criteria as frequency, usefulness, and productivity and graded for

complexity...

CONSTITUENTS OF LANGUAGE TEACHING

METHODS

A variety of labels such as approach, design, methods, practices, principles,

procedures, strategies, tactics, techniques, and so on are used to describe var-

ious elements constituting language teaching. A plethora of terms and labels

can hardly facilitate a meaningful and informed discussion in any area of

professional activity. In this section, I attempt to tease out some of the termi-

nological and conceptual ambiguities surrounding some of the terms and

concepts used in the field of second- and foreign-language teaching.

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                                                                          "  محمد علي نديمی"

انسان ها موجوداتي فكور،‌ خلاق و توانا هستند كه باهوش سرشار و خلاق خود توانستند براي جبران ضعف در حس هاي پنج گانه خود در مقابل خطرات طبيعي جهان اطرافشان مانند جانوران درنده، سرما و گرما و ... ابزار سازي كنند. انسان ها از بدو تولد موجوداتي اجتماعي بوده اند آن ها ابتدا براي رفع گرسنگي از گياهان، ريشه گياهان و ميوه هاي وحشي و ... استفاده مي كردند بعد حيوانات كوچكتر از خود را شكار مي كردند و سپس با تركيب سنگ هاي تيز و چوب توانست سلاحي بسازد سپس به صورت گروهي توانستند حيواني بسيار بزرگتر از خود «ماموت» را شكار كنند. و اين امر انقلابي در زندگي بشريت بود، تعدادي از مردان و زناني كه توانايي بدني داشتند گروه شكارچيان را تشكيل مي‌دادند انسان ها در گروه هاي كوچكي در حدود هزار نفر و در كمپ هايي با هم زندگي مي كردند. عده اي هم كه بيشتر از زنان بودند، مسئوليت مراقبت از سالخورده گان و خردسالان را به عهده داشتند و ... تا بعد از كشف آتش كه عده اي هم براي نگهداري آتش مسئوليت هيزم كشي را داشتند.......