Improve your academic English vocabulary – and help the world’s poorest poor!

Play the free academic English vocabulary building game at www.freerice.com , learn new words, review for standardized tests, and help feed the world’s poorest poor. Designed by computer programmer John Breen, the creator of The Hunger Site, www.freerice.com donates 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program each time you correctly answer a vocabulary question.
The vocabulary has been drawn from a test bank of words used on a wide variety of standardized exams such as the SAT, GRE, TOEFL, and MCAT. Each time you answer a question correctly, you are given a more difficult vocabulary word. “Freerice.com is an international, viral sensation. Folks from Thailand to Germany and India are just as enthusiastic . . . improving thousands of lives, all with a simple, collective, click of a mouse” reports CBS Evening News. Check it out!
You can learn more about the site by reading this short, yet informative Washin gton Post article titled What’s the Word? We Can Feed the Hungry published back in November 2007. You can find additional information on this project at excellent fact checking website Snopes – Free Rice . The project is just a tiny drop of assistance into an ocean of need, but some drops add up and help some hungry people.
As 2007 ends and we prepare to create even more satisfying personal lives in 2008, let’s also remember the more than 1 billion people who continue to live on planet earth on less than $2 a day. Will the next year bring some overdue help to people living – literally – hand to mouth, often without clean water, or a roof over their heads? Many outstanding organizations battle hunger on a daily basis such as the Heifer Society and Oxfam to UNICEF and Wateraid. They all deserve our support.

We can at least click on a few keys on our computer and send a few grains of rice. Can’t we?

Besides, playing word games is fun!

Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.compellingconversations.com

EFL version of recommended books

It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness.

 

Here’s a list of quality ESL books that I’ve enjoyed using as a teacher in community colleges, IEP programs, adult education classes, and university courses over the last dozen years. What books have you enjoyed reading and using?

Writing

 

Writing Academic English, by Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue,  provides practical techniques for students planning to attend community college or university. I think the latest version is the fourth. I’ve used it in several programs with considerable success.

 

In Focus: Strategies for Academic Writers by Myra Ann Shulman, however, is my current choice for intermediate ESL students. The clear, detailed exercises allow students to learn academic writing by actually writing short, focused pieces.

 

Reading English News on the Internet: A Guide to Connectors, Verbs, Expressions, and Vocabulary for the ESL Student by David Petersen.   This practical book allows students to understand the many news stories on the internet, deciphers confusing idioms, and provides short quizzes and tests to document student progress. Smart, savvy, and timely.

 

Finally, for advanced ESL students and international graduate students, I strongly recommend Academic Writing for Graduate Students, 2d ed.: Essential Tasks and Skills (Michigan Series in English for Academic & Professional Purposes) by John M. Swales and Christine A. Beer Feak. I teach two courses using this textbook at USC, and students make clear, significant progress by completing bite-sized writing exercises and analyzing short journal readings. The teacher’s guide, called Commentary for, also deserves to be on your list.

 

Any Longman Dictionary – For whatever reason, Longman dictionaries seem much more accessible and practical in their design than other series.  I’m particularly impressed with their Business Dictionary for English Language Learners.

 

Speaking Skills:

Giving Academic Presentations, by Susan Reinhart, stands heads and shoulders above the other ESL textbooks for public presentations. Students learn how to give clear, systematic oral presentations including problem-solution and process descriptions.

 

Communicating in Business by Simon Sweeney -Yet another outstanding Cambridge title, this Business English textbook includes helpful materials on negotiating and socializing as well as presenting.

 

Speak English Like an American by Amy Gillet. This fine book, which includes a strong CD, introduces over 300 American idioms in context. Engaging and informative, the book  is almost perfect for an idioms class.

 

Last, but not least, I naturally recommend Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics, by Toni Aberson and Eric Roth, as a supplemental text for advanced ESL classes, conversation clubs, and tutors.  I co-wrote the book for my conversation and writing classes at Santa Monica College.

 

Other special interest ESL books of quality.

Film is Content: A Study Guide for the Advanced ESL Classroom by Julia A. Williamson and Jill C. Vincent- This underappreciated University of Michigan textbook deserves a much wider audience. Although slightly dated, students learn critical thinking skills, academic vocabulary, and modern film.

 

Reading English News on the Internet: A Guide to Connectors, Verbs, Expressions, and Vocabulary for the ESL Student by David Petersen.   This practical book allows students to understand the many news stories on the internet, deciphers confusing idioms, and provides short quizzes and tests to document student progress. Smart, savvy, and timely.

 

The Business Writer’s Handbook:   This practical classic of business communication works for  international business professionals working in English as a second language. The concise, clear entries explain topics, provide model documents, and cover an impressive range of alphabetically arranged materials.

 

While the new 9th edition features orange highlighted text, more weblinks, and a stronger section on visuals, budget conscious consumers can find plenty of value in this 8th edition.

 

The Creative Classroom: Teaching Language Outside the Box, by Hall Houston, contains dozens of bite-sized exercises to spark authentic language and creative discourse, This slim book, published by Lynx, should especially appeal to ESL students with a background or interest in engineering, science, and the arts.

 

Academic ESL/intensive English programs

Cambridge Vocabulary in Use series – An excellent supplemental text, especially for the more academically inclined. The self-contained two page format allows students, teachers, and tutors to pick and choose materials.

 

Cambridge Grammar in Use series – This series is the only grammar series that I’ve ever felt comfortable using in the classroom. Again, the accessible, clear format with self-contained lessons allows both self-study and effective use as a supplemental text.

 

What books would you add to the list? Why?

 

Ask more. Know more. Share more.

Create Compelling Conversations.

Visit www.CompellingConversations.com

Choosing to Learn English Opens More Doors

Many students have chosen to speak English because it opens more doors. Language schools and English teachers should help students realize their ambitions, support their dreams, and avoid judging their motives. Students want to learn a language; not receive a morality lecture.

For better or for worse, knowing English makes life easier and better. For instance, the ability to speak English allows individuals to communicate with millions of other people from around the world. Some globalization critics and ethnic nationalists, especially in smaller countries, have attacked English as subverting national and group identities.

This criticism is misguided and counter-productive. Speaking English fluently allows managers to supervise an international staff, waiters to collect bigger tips at better restaurants, and salespeople to talk with a larger group of clients. Individuals, pursuing their own life goals, deserve support as they embark on a difficult, challenging task.

Other critics fear that learning English increases the divisions between rich and poor, and express concerns about social justice. It’s true that English speakers tend to be the more educated, more affluent, and more successful individuals in several developing – and developed – countries. Bilingual speakers, of course, often earn even more because they can share their intelligence and display their creativity in two great languages.

The financial advantages that speaking both Spanish and English bring apparently offends many people. They criticize seeking worldly success, money, status, or an international spouse as elitist. They also worry that private language schools and elite tutoring systems allow a small minority unfair advantages.

Again, these critics are both correct and deeply misguided. Money does talk too loud in our society today, but people should be encouraged to pursue knowledge, including learning English.

Live and let live. Let people choose their own destiny, develop as they want to develop, and spend their own time and money as they please. Bilingual speakers holding unfair advantages, but the solution remains better public schools with higher educational standards for all students.

Unfortunately, the current public educational system fails too many students. Therefore, students often have to pay money to learn skills, including English, at private schools and with private tutors.

I’d prefer to believe that learning English allows individuals to choose from a wider menu of life options. English, one of the major international languages, can be seen on television and billboards, heard on the radio, and read, seen and heard on the internet!  The internet, I’d suggest, has provided users with an exceptional amount of freedom to grow, explore, and learn. Freedom still sounds like a good word – in any language, including English!

You will also find a rich literature on the use of English in advertisements in non-English speaking countries for the same reasons. Modern technological products and companies, such as LG, advertise in South America, Asia, and Europe in English their message that “Life is Good”. The clear implication is that buying their LG product makes “Life Good” and as does speaking English since only English speakers can understand their ads. Hence, English has also become a symbol of modernism and stylish consumerism across Europe, South America, and Asia. LG is a Korean company!

Attacking the prevalence of English remains popular, and questioning the “morality” of choosing to speak English even fashionable in some academic circles. This obsession seems misguided and ironic. As English teachers and tutors, we need to carefully assess the full range of aspirations and skills that our students as we choose and develop materials. But assessing does not mean judging them! A good English teacher should support the goals of their students.

If students need a certain score on a standardized exam (TOEFL, TOEIC, citizenship), English teachers need to choose appropriate materials to meet their immediate goals – including active skills like speaking and writing. The new TOEFL, by the way, is a huge improvement over the old, grammar-focused one used for decades. Speaking has finally been recognized as a vital life skill. Language schools and English teachers should tailor instruction to match student goals and challenges in English.

Yet language schools and teachers also need to help students develop authentic English language skills that transcend immediate test scores. Many administrators, for understandable reasons, attempt to force all instruction toward standardized tests. Many English instructors feel that standardized test scores have displaced traditional educational goals, including broader humanistic ambitions.  Students also need a chance to develop their conversation skills – in and out of the classroom. Listening and speaking remain essential skills so students can express themselves – even be themselves – in English.

English, an optional language for a majority of the globe, remains a smart choice for millions of business professionals, workers, students, and immigrants. They have chosen to be English language learners. Society should help Spanish speakers achieve their personal goals in English classrooms.

Speaking English opens many doors. Naturally, some doors seem more attractive or honorable than others. Yet other doors seem more attractive, necessary, or honorable to others. Live and let live.

Can you think of a door you would like to open in the English-speaking world?

________________________________

Ask more. Know more. Share more.

Create Compelling Conversations.

Visit www.CompellingConversations.com

Chapter 7 :: Being Yourself

“I want freedom for the full expression of my personality.”

Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948), Indian political leader and philosopher

 

Sharing Perspectives

From consulting charts and reading palms to taking personality tests and reading self-help books, people love to describe themselves.

1. Which three adjectives would you use to describe your personality?

2. Are you shy or outgoing? When are you most outgoing?

3. Are you daring or cautious? In what ways?

4. Are you usually patient or impatient? Can you give an example?

5. Are you quiet or talkative? When are you most talkative? Least?

6. Would you call yourself a leader or a follower? Why?

7. Are you generous or selfish? Are you too selfish or over generous?

8. In what ways are you rigid? In what ways are you flexible?

9. In what ways are you traditional? In what ways are you modern?

10. If pessimistic is 1 and optimistic is 10, what would your number be on the scale? Why did you decide on that number?

11. On a scale of 1-10, how assertive are you?

12. Is your personality more like your mother or your father? In what ways?

13. Which color would you use to describe your personality?

14. Which animal would you use to describe yourself? Tiger? Mouse? Why?

15. Do you believe in astrology? Which sign are you in the zodiac? Does the pattern of this sign match your personality?

16. Which animal year are you according to Chinese astrology? Does this fit?

17. Have you ever taken a personality test from a magazine or online? Was it helpful? Was it fun? Was it accurate?

18. Which season of the year best describes your personality? In what ways?

Vocabulary

 

Please circle the words that you know. Ask your partner or teacher for the meanings of the other words.

character……………………………………………………………………………………….

patient…………………………………………………………………………………………..

talkative…………………………………………………………………………………………

generous………………………………………………………………………………………..

rigid………………………………………………………………………………………………

flexible…………………………………………………………………………………………..

autumn………………………………………………………………………………………….

zodiac …………………………………………………………………………………………..

accurate…………………………………………………………………………………………

optimist…………………………………………………………………………………………

pessimist………………………………………………………………………………………..

nurture………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES…

 

1. Do you think our personalities are set when we are born?

2. Can we change our personalities? How?

3. How has your personality changed in the last ten years?

4. Which three words would you use to describe the personality of your best friend?

5. How are your personalities similar? How are your personalities different?

6. Why do you think opposites are sometimes attracted to each other?

7. Some cultures define personality in terms of the elements: Would you say you are primarily air, water, fire, or earth? Why did you choose that element?

8. Which three qualities do you think of as yin (feminine)?

9. Which three qualities do you think of as yang (masculine)?

10. Can you name one yin quality and one yang quality which describe you?

11. How might being raised in poverty influence someone’s personality?

12. Do you think being born in extreme wealth would change your personality? How?

13. If you had been born in another country, do you think your personality would be different? How?

14. Can you think of somebody with a good personality and bad character?

15. What is the difference between one’s personality and one’s character?

 

Remember…

Be encouraging

Make good mistakes

Be yourself

Q u e s t i o n s  A n d  Quotations  On  Ti m e l e s s  To p i c s

 

16. Are you primarily an extrovert or an introvert? Why do you say that?

17. Do you think nature (biology) or nurture (our circumstances) are more important in shaping our personalities? Why do you say that?

18. What are your best qualities?

 

Quotations

Circle the quotations you like.

1. “Know thyself.”—Socrates, Greek philosopher (470–399 B.C. E.)

 

2. “The man of character bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.”—Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.), Greek philosopher and scientist

 

3. “This above all: To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.”—William Shakespeare, playwright (1564–1616)

 

4. “Character is much easier kept than recovered.” —Thomas Paine (1737–1809), writer and revolutionary

 

5. “It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.”—Oscar Wilde (1856–1900), English playwright

 

6. “Some people with great virtues are disagreeable, while others with great vice are delightful.” —Duc de la Rochefoucauld (1613—1680), French philosopher

 

7. “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” —Carl Jung (1875–1961), Swiss psychiatrist

 

8. “The Doc told me that I had a dual personality. Then he lays an $82 bill on me, so I give him 41 bucks and say, ‘Get the other 41 bucks from the other guy.’ ”—Jerry Lewis (1926–), American comedian

 

9. “I am what is mine. Personality is the original personal property. —Norman O. Brown (1913–2002), American scholar

 

10. “Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.”—Erich Fromm (1900–1980), American psychologist

 

11. “I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward. The example of great and fine personalities is the only thing that can lead us to fine ideas and noble deeds. Can anyone imagine Moses, Jesus, or Gandhi with the money bags of Carnegie?”—Albert Einstein (1879–1955), Nobel Prize winner in Physics

 

12. “Generous people are rarely mentally ill people.” —Karl Menninger (1893–1990) American psychiatrist

 

ON YOUR OWN:    What do you like about yourself?

Write a postcard to a stranger who celebrates yourself and your strongest traits.

 

Ask more. Know more. Share more.

Create Compelling Conversations.

Visit www.CompellingConversations.com

Making Accurate, Sound Comparisons in English Conversation Classes

ESL teachers, especially working with oral skills and pronunciation, face a difficult task. Is there a single, correct form of English that should be taught? Should all English speakers sound like Americans or British? What if EFL students plan to study in Australia or Canada? The question is far more complicated than many English pronunciation instructors admit.

How do you say that again? Which is correct? What is a sound comparison?

English teachers and linguists might also find website www.soundcomparisions.com worth a visit. Focusing on the many different dialects of English across the world, it implicitly challenges the notion of a “correct” or “accurate” pronunciation of English. The sound files come from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, North America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, India, and Singapore. Some accents, for this American listener, require significant effort to understand. All dialects, however, successfully function within their local areas. People are able to communicate with their neighbors, co-workers, and customers. The language, in short, works.

Of course, context matters. If international students plan to study at an American university, it behooves them to listen to North American dialects – and make sure that their pronunciation is clear and comprehensible to American listeners. If they hope to attend a Scottish university, students might want to try out that accent as the target sound. Being audience focused, after all, is part of effective communication and good manners.

That is also why I focus less on “correct” pronunciation if I can understand the students and friends. I certainly note the gap between what I heard and standard American pronunciation when giving feedback, but I try to avoid using judgmental words like “wrong” if the word is comprehensible. This issue, as one would expect, often comes up with Indian speakers of English with their fast tempo and sometimes sing-song patterns. Perspectives differ, but I prefer to focus on comprehensibility.

Among international friends and if asked, I will also gladly observe the standard “American” pronunciation and repeat what I have  heard. Yet focusing, perhaps even obsessing, on “correct” pronunciation can often block English language learners from communicating ideas and being themselves in English. Let’s keep the focus on comprehensibility and ideas – and remember the wide, wonderful world of English accents!

 

Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com

Proverbs Provide Perspective in Our ESL Classrooms

Proverbs Provide Perspective in Our ESL Classrooms

By Eric H. Roth

“Well begun is half done,” goes the Greek proverb.

Short and memorable, proverbs often capture a point of view in vivid words. We learn proverbs our entire lives – from our relatives, our teachers, our friends, the media, and our literature. They contain folk wisdom gathered through time and experience. They often capture a common human experience.

Yet I like to use proverbs in ESL classes for several reasons.

1. Students can share proverbs from their own countries. In ESL classes where you have students from many different countries and numerous first languages, proverbs allow students to affirm the insights and experiences of their native culture. “Home is where the heart is.”
2. Students can easily memorize proverbs. Using the right proverb at the right moment gives students a tremendous sense of competency and fluency in English – something that immigrants often struggle to achieve. “No pain, no gain.”
3. Studying proverbs from around the world helps create a more global education, and counters the fears of English displacing the insights and words of other tongues and times. “The sky is blue everywhere” and “birds return to old nests.”
4. Sharing proverbs shows a respect for tradition and the past while students expand their vocabulary in a new, modern language. Many immigrants, particularly older ones, have very mixed feelings about their new lives in an English speaking nation. “Old habits die hard.”  et “you’re never too old to learn” gives hope.

 

For instance, an older immigrant from rural Korea learning English in Los Angeles might find themselves also learning to live in modern, culturally diverse city for the first time. While the formal subject may be English, immigrants are also discovering new ways of living and thinking in the school. Proverbs seem to affirm the concept that “the more things change, the more they remain the same” and “the unexpected always happens.”

—————————————————————————————————

Eric Roth has taught ESL for over 15 years and is co-author of Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics. Visit CompellingConversations.com for free lesson plans with proverbs.

Conversation Book Helps English Teachers/Tutors

Teaching ESL provides many pleasures, and becoming an author of an ESL conversation book has added another layer of satisfactions. This week I will be posting some of the 20  5-star reviews that Compelling Conversations has attracted from English teachers, ESL tutors, and English learners here. I’m quite pleased that what began as supplemental  worksheets for advanced ESL students in a conversation class at Santa Monica College have gained a larger, global audience.

So far, Compelling Conversations: Question and Quotations on Timeless Topics  has been used by teachers in classrooms in over 40 countries. From an adult education center in Rwanada and a senior center in Peru to an international high school in Vietnam and a Russian call center and English tutors across the United States, the conversation book has helped spark and sustain satisfying conversations.

“A gold mine of resources” –Jenny Bruner “Language lover”

I first tried this fantastic textbook with a high intermediate student that I tutor. I was amazed from the start at how naturally the conversation flowed. We were only halfway through the first set of questions when she decided to buy her own copy. Each of the 45 chapters includes a vocabulary section and list of around 12 to 15 classic quotations, along with between thirty and forty questions. The chapters can be used in any order, but I recommend starting with chapter one as it orients the students to the textbook and shows them how to get the most out of subsequent chapters. Either in the classroom or one on one, it’s accessible to intermediate students and challenges advanced students. The quotations, from Socrates to Shaw and from Picasso to Pete Rose, are all identified by name, when they lived, and what they did. This book is truly a treasure.

 

Please visit www.compellingconversations.com to download free chapters and learn more. Or visit Amazon reviews.

 

Read more Amazon reviews.

Buy Compelling Conversations on Amazon today.

Class sets are available too.

Gratitude can be a heavenly word

A bright college student asked a simple vocabulary question that threw me this week. “What is the opposite of jealous“?

What is the opposite of jealous? Generous? Selfless? Confident? I found myself discussing various possibilities with students adding in situations. The simple vocabulary building exercise (create 25 pairs of opposite adjectives) took a more philosophical turn. We had a lively, if a bit wandering, class discussion. I apologized for my memory lapse, urged them to check a dictionary, and promised to get back to students with a better answer.

In the teacher’s room, a fellow teacher noted “The world jealousy includes the word lousy.” We shared a laugh. That’s a good answer. How did he instantly come up with that? Why couldn’t I do that?

I felt discontent, dissatisfied, and displeased with my weak classroom answers. Perhaps the opposite of “jealous” is content, satisfied, and pleased.

Stress comes naturally when driving in Los Angeles, and my commute back home fit the pattern. Many words popped into my head that captured negative feelings, including jealous. Could I be jealous of bus riders? Really? I started to visualize a bus ride home from UCLA, sitting – no, probably standing up, for 40 minutes next to exhausted strangers. Memories of less pleasant commutes on subway rides in New York from 20 years ago returned. No, I didn’t envy or feel jealous of the bus riders.

I eventually arrived home. Boomer, my dog, barked to announce my arrival and licked my face as I entered the front door. He’s great. “Dogs are our link to paradise,” wrote Milan Kundera. Absolutely.

Gratitude. That’s the opposite of jealousy. Gratitude. Why didn’t I think of that in class? Next time.

“Gratitude is heaven itself.” Who said that? Blake? Yeah, William Blake. The great poet-painter-mystic man. Remember that quote the next time an English student asks, “what is the opposite of jealous?”

Teaching English, especially to bright international college students, helps keep me focused and clear. This week I learned the opposite of jealousy and rediscovered a favorite quotation. Consider me satisfied, content, and grateful.

Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit http://www.CompellingConversations.com

Interesting Words: Lifequakes can be really intense!

What is a lifequake? Is that a real word?

Earthquakes remain a concern for people living in many places, including my home in Southern California. This awareness, and fear of sudden shaking and buildings falling, enters into many conversations.

I recently read a wonderful term and vocabulary word: lifequake. What does it mean? An event that suddenly changes your life – a car accident, being laid off, terrible illness, or getting divorced – in the same dramatic way that an earthquake might destroy a building.
Now I have a new way to ask friends to share more about awkward situations.

* How did you deal with that lifequake?
* What lifequakes have you survived?
* How will you manage that lifequake?

Is lifequake a real word? Can educated English speakers use it? Absolutely. New words and slang terms enter English dictionaries all the time, partly because our world continues to change and evolve. Lifequake clearly describes a common experience. It’s pithy and practical. While I would might hesisitate about using the term on a TOEFL or TOEIC test, I plan to incorporate into my daily vocabulary with family, friends, and students.

A fellow ESL teacher and longtime California resident believes that “lifequake” was a widely used term in the 1970s among “young, hip people.” Perhaps. Whether old hipster slang or a new Californian term, lifequake conveys an understanding that sometimes life can shock and hurt. Lifequake is a fast way to communicate a harsh reality. Lifequakes happen.

Don’t you agree?

Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit http://www.CompellingConversations.com

Raising the volume – it matters in personal conversations!

Student conferences, especially with shy students worried about their grade or academic performance, can often be a bit awkward for both the professor and student. ESL (English as a Second Language) students, sometimes insecure about their pronunciation or vocabulary, can feel particularly anxious. ESL and other English teachers have to find ways to reduce student anxiety, provide a safe place for English students to speak, provide feedback on student work, and uphold academic standards.

In general, I find student conferences very productive and satisfying because you get a chance to really work with a college student on their writings and assignments. I often feel that I learn as much as I teach in these 20-30 minute student conferences.

Sometimes, however, I have awkward conferences. If the student has plagiarized, then this can’t be avoided. Those moments, which I dread, can not be avoided. So it goes.

Yet sometimes, as occurred last semester, an ESL (English as a Second Language) student is so shy, so timid, and so unsure that they speak so softly that I can’t even hear. Sometimes I lean forward and ask them to please speak a bit louder. If a student continues in the same low volume, I might apologize for my poor hearing and again request they speak up. What does one do on the third request?

“Please speak a bit louder so I can hear you.”

Was this too direct? I wanted to say, “If I can’t hear you, you will be misunderstood. I want to understand you. Speak up!!”

Patience, this time, paid off. The student raised her voice to an audible level, and replied, “okay.”

“Good to hear you,” I replied. We proceeded to have a productive end of semester conference.

English and ESL teachers at all levels, from elementary school and high school to adult school and university, need to emphasize the importance of student speech being comprehensible. That includes speaking loud enough that conversation partners, classmates, and instructors can hear.

Bottomline: students must speak up in conversations, conferences, and class discussions. Volume matters.

Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit http://www.CompellingConversations.com