Language Comparison (Unit 11)

Please copy and paste the link below to see my language comparison between English and Spanish! I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.slideshare.net/Elmteach1027/moore-language-comparison-esl-502

Unit 10 Topics

Activity Topic 1

Activity 1: Language Variation in the US

I was curious to hear the different accents for the different states and even within the same state. I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia until I was almost 5. Then my mother and I moved to the Pittburgh, Pa area. Both areas have distent accents and I feel I have inherited a little from each place. The reason I bring this up is because I find accents so interesting and I also think since I had trouble with sounds in the early part of my life I wonder if some of my difficultly is because of the different accents I was exposed to a child.

I really enjoyed playing the game can you guess where my accent is from. I realized early on in the game that I could not tell from the sentence they were reading but more from when they asked the question, “Where is my accent from?” I think that is because that sentence came natural to them where the other was being read.

Activity Topic 2

Activity 1: What would you do?

I am disgusted with how people treat people who are different then them. Being a special education teacher I have been advocating for my children for a long time and will continue to advocate for all children. I think it is important to remember and to remind my co-workers that even if they would like to discuss issues with the parents. (Which I would tell them is wrong and to take it up with the law makers not the people trying to do better for their families) that the children didn’t ask to be here  in the USA and we have a right to those children to educate them!

Another important thing to remember is as an ESL teacher to not favor a certain nationality when working with many other students. I am thinking that an ESL teacher in our district was teasing but it still made me feel uncomfortable when we were drawing names out to win prizes and they were saying yes another Hispanic name. So as much as we stand up for our students make sure we are standing up for all of our students!

Activity 2: Do you speak American?

Sociolinguistics is an interesting topic too. I think it is amazing how certain words, slang, and fads are picked up. I mentioned in my other post about texting and how that language is because very popular and how people are responding to that fad as well. I think we will continue to see changes in sociolinguistics over time. 

Unit 9 Topic 1 Information

Topic 1:

Original Story:

John is a fisherman. He hasn’t had much luck catching fish in the past few weeks. He is hoping to catch more fish tomorrow, but he doesn’t know if it will be any better. He has never been a very successful fisherman; even though it is the only job he’s ever had. If he is able to catch two nets full of fish, he will be able to pay off his debt; however, this hasn’t happened in the past four years.

John would have become a farmer if he could have, but he has never had the money to buy land.

His brother bought land last winter, but sold it to the neighbor when the economy crashed. John loves fishing, but longs to be more successful. When he was feeling down, he painted his boat, “Troubled Waters,” blue and shined it up. John asked his brother what he thought of the new look, but his brother just laughed and said, “You’re always fishing for compliments.”

If John had had more energy, he might have argued with his brother, but instead, he began making more nets, with the hopes of increasing his catch the next day.

1. Re-written part:

John’s brother purchased land last winter but sold it to the neighbors when he didn’t have enough money to pay his bills. John wants to be successfully at fishing since he loves to fish. When John was feeling sad, he painted his boat blue and made it look like new. His boats name is “Troubled Waters”. John asked his brother if he liked the boat’s new look. John’s brother laughed at John and said, “You are always wanting people to say nice things to you especially about the boat.”

If John was feeling better he might have said something back to his brother. Instead, John focus on positive thoughts and starts making more nets in hopes of increasing the amount of fish he will catch when he goes fishing the next day.

2. Some of the areas I focused on switching were:

One of the first things I changed was saying John’s brother instead of his brother. Since you are starting a paragraph off you need to make sure the reader is aware of who his is. In this story it represents John but you need to make sure that is clear. Another area I focus on to change was economy crashed. Although we know this means that money is low, some ESL students might not be able to figure out this figurative language and to decrease confusion I just said he didn’t have enough money to pay the bills. I am sure ESL students have heard their parents speak of paying the bills. Another area I focused on was about him loving to fish and wanting to be successful at it. I just felt that in the original story it was choppy. I switched the words around to help it flow more smoothly. The next area I thought that might be confusing for an ESL learner was the comment about fishing for a compliment. Although I love that pun on the fishing story I think it might be hard for an ESL student to understand and they would be confused since the story is actually about fishing. I changed it to wanting people to say nice things to you especially about the boat. Another word I switched was argued. I am not sure an ESL student would know the meaning of that word so I would introduce it to them as we read the story but switched the story to say something back. I like to remain positive and I feel John is trying to be positive at the end of the story so I added the word positive to help the reader understand that John is trying to feel better and be happy and look forward to the future.

Unit 9 Topic 2 Information

 Topic 2

3. Timelines:

1. John is a fisherman. (Simple Present)

I_______________X______________________I

Past                             Now                            Future           

2. His brother brought land last winter…… (Simple past)

I________X________I______________________I

Past                             Now                            Future           

3. …….with hopes of increasing his catch the next day (Simple future)

I_________________________I______________X___________I

Past                                         Now                                          Future           

         

4. Thoughts of the TESOL Grammar Video

I guess it would be safe to say before I viewed the video I thought we could acquire grammar from those around us. Not saying I thought the grammar would be perfect but I figured it would be acceptable. After listening to Betty, Keith and Michael I would have to say I totally disagree and think grammar needs to be taught to L1 and L2 students. I think my thought about it being acquired is due to what is happening at my school. We do not teach grammar. We touch on it throughout lessons but we don’t teach it. The reading teachers have expressed their concern but we are told there is not time and we need to focus on reading and math. I guess now after the video I feel a way to strengthen their reading is to help them understand the grammar that goes with the language. I liked Betty’s comment about the two being a hybrid that works. I think it is very 21^st century and a great way to look at it. We need both to make it work. I also liked how she said grammar can be integrated but we need to do that to help them be fluent in grammar. I also liked how she said she doesn’t have all the answers and students won’t have grammar mastered after our classes but more of an understanding. I think that is another important piece you don’ t to teach them every piece of grammar but some will eventually lead to more. Keith’s statement about being able to do something with the grammar we learn and not just saying we covered it made me think. I remember learning grammar pieces in school but I still struggle with certain grammar rules and theory. I might have covered it but being able to use it would be much more beneficial for me. I also really liked that he said to have multiply ways to teach grammar in case the students needs it presented in another forum. I think that is important….not everyone learns the same way. Which brings me to Michael’s comments about we should be focus on what our students need and how we will reach each of them. I think it is important to know that each student is different and may required different levels of grammar to be focused on for them to be a better student. In closing, I will quote Michael and say we need to be realistic and know that our students need to be taught grammar and although some people might thing there are 3 golden rules to grammar they are not being realistic and they need to regroup and focus on what the students needs. Second language learners will not just inherit grammar skills. Grammar needs to be taught! 

Moore Mini Grammar Lesson in pieces.....but posted :)

After calling friends and searching for answers on the computer I can finally say I have decided to post my slideshow in the News forum. I was not able to post it all at once due to the size so you will see four part there. Sorry, but I am so excited I figured out how to get the sound included.

Have a great day!

Moore Mini Grammar Lesson - Past Tense Continuous

I tried to post the power point to the forums but discovered that the size of the file was 115 MB. I tried to email the file, but it was too big. I tried to add the file to slideshare....they told me it was too big. So I deleted a few slides and got the size down to 92.5 MB. I was able to save it to slideshare but now I don't hear me talking....ugh! I am still posting it for now but am trying to figure out the detail. Sorry!

Hope you enjoy the slides :) You might have to copy the address and open a new window.
Thanks,
~Elizabeth

http://www.slideshare.net/Elmteach1027/moores-paste-tense-continuous-mini-lesson

Miscommunication Dialog - Mr Smith & Mohammed

The dialog I chose to use is:

#2 Your homework (Mr. Smith is Mohammed’s Teacher)

Mr. Smith: Do you know what to do for your homework?

Mohammed: Yes, I think so

Mr. Smith: So you understand how to do it?

Mohammed: Yes, sir

Mr. Smith: Ok, great, I look forward to seeing your answers tomorrow.

Mohammed: Yes, thank you

You notice right away Mohammed answers are always yes and then a comment. So Mr. Smith is assuming Mohammed is sure of his homework, understands what needs to be done & how to do it, and it will be done tomorrow & the answers will be complete. The problem is from me reading this dialog I think Mohammed has no clue what to do on his homework. So where is the different opinions coming from since we are hearing the same dialog from Mohammed?

I feel Mohammed is saying yes to the teacher for several reasons. One reason might be because when a person speaks to you that have power or authority like a teacher in another country you are to show respect. One way to show respect is to say yes and then add your comment. For example in the army the cadets are taught to responded with yes first and then the comment. (Yes sir, yes). Another reason Mohammed might be saying yes is because maybe in his culture it is rude to say no to people especially people like teachers and other adults. A third reason Mohammed could be saying yes is because it is to acknowledge another person is speaking to him. Many countries it is a formal way of being acknowledge. In our country yes means you understand the items being asked of you or that you are in agreement with the items being asked of you at the time. That is not true for other cultures and countries.

To help prevent Mohammed from being confused or the teacher from being disappointed the next day when Mohammed’s work is not completed the correct way the teacher could do the first one with the class or with Mohammed to make sure he understands. I usually always do the first problem with my students of their homework. I do this for two reasons: 1. So they know what is their homework 2.If they have questions hopefully they ask them then.

Mr. smith should explain to Mohammed by answering yes to the questions that he thinks Mohammed understand everything. Hopefully helping Mohammed be aware of this miscommunication will help him in the future in other classes. 

Grice's Conversational Maxims Assignments u08a2

Maxim of Quality:

I purchased flowers to plant in our flowerbed at home a few days ago. This is the conversation my husband and I had in regards to the flowers:

            My husband: Why did you buy flowers to plant?

            Me: I am hoping to do it tomorrow and I was passing the nursery.

            My husband: Yeah you’ll plant flowers during the week and monkeys will fly.

The Maxim violated is Quality.

The reason it is violated is because my husband is saying something completely untrue. Monkeys can’t fly. By adding the word yeah to his comment that is not true he is stating that the flowers won’t be planted in the flowerbed this week. J I will now set out to prove him wrong!

Signaled: Sake of humor and tone of voice. My husband was expressing how he would of appreciated me not buying the flowers until I was ready to plant them since I am really good at killing flowers.

Maxim of Manner:

I had to help interview candidates for an office coordinator position last week. My husband asked me the following question and I responded:

            My husband: When will you be home tonight?

            Me: I will be home after the last interview and the officers say it is okay for my presentence to be dismissed from the premise.

The Maxim violated is Manner.

The reason it was violated was because I used unnecessarily words to answer a simple question. I was trying to be confusing.

Signaled: Tone of voice, I am sure it came across as rude because he asked me a simple questions and I answered back with a long confusing answer.

Maxim of Relation:

My sister was being goofy and said something crazy. This is what we said to her:

My little sister: I need to drive my car to the park across the street to workout.

            Me: Good thing you are the pretty sister!

The Maxim violated is Relation.

The reason it is violated is because I went off topic. My little sister is saying something crazy like driving over to the park across the street to work out. Why not just walk or run over there and then workout. I was talking about it is a good thing she is pretty because her idea was crazy. So I was talking about her looks instead of her idea to drive over.

Signaled: Sake of humor and tone of voice. I didn’t want to tell my sister she was being lazy to drive over to the park to workout. When she could of just walked over.

Maxim of Quantity:

I started teaching summer school the other day and I asked my students to think of questions to have me answer. One student asked me the following question:

            My one student: Do you have any pets?

            Me: I have two tiny baby dogs.

The Maxim violated: Quantity.

The reason is it violated is because you need to say your strongest statement first. The way I answered it is it that I have two pets or do I have two tiny baby dogs. I should have said I have two dogs and a fish.

Signaled: I do not think I signaled for this one. I think there was no signal because I was just answering a question.

I believe we use body language a lot more then we even realize it so I am sure there was body language involved in all of these conversations as well. J

Freeman and Freeman Chapter 5

Word:	Meaning:	Etymology:
Man Friday	Noun: A man who is an efficient and faithful aide to someone.	After Friday, a character in the novel Robinson Crusoe (1719) by Daniel Defoe. Crusoe named him Friday because that was the day they met. Crusoe often referred to him as his man Friday. By extension, the term girl Friday is used for a female. Earliest documented example of the word used allusively: 1809.
Barmecidal	adjective: Giving only an illusion of something; unreal.	After Barmecide, a nobleman in the story "Barber's Sixth Brother" from the collection "One Thousand and One Nights" (also known as "The Arabian Nights"). In the story, Barmecide pretends to host a lavish feast for a beggar. The beggar plays along, pretending to enjoy the food and wine. He then pretends to get drunk and knocks Barmecide down in the process. In the end, Barmecide is pleased with the beggar for going with the joke and offers him a real feast. Earliest documented example of the word used allusively: 1844.
Maw	noun: 1. The mouth, throat, or stomach of an animal, especially a carnivore. 2. A gaping hole.	From Old English maga. Earliest documented use: 1150.
Mephitic	adjective: Poisonous or foul-smelling.	From Latin mephitis (foul smell).
Jejune	adjective: 1. Dull; insipid. 2. Lacking maturity; juvenile. 3. Lacking in nutrition.	From Latin jejunus (empty, hungry, fasting, meager). A related word is jejunum, the middle part of the small intestine. It was so called because it was usually found empty after death.
Captious	adjective: Having an inclination to find faults, especially of a trivial nature.	Via French from Latin capere (to seize). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kap- (to grasp), which is also the root of captive, capsule, capable, capture, cable, chassis, occupy, and deceive. Earliest documented use: 1380.
Soubrette	noun: 1. A maidservant or lady's maid in a play or an opera, especially one who displays coquetry and engages in intrigue. 2. A young woman regarded as flirtatious. 3. A soprano who sings supporting roles in comic opera.	From French soubrette (maidservant), from Provençal soubreto, feminine of soubret (coy), from soubra (to set aside), from Latin superare (to be above). Ultimately from the Indo-European root uper (over) which is also the source of over, sovereign, super, supreme, sirloin, soprano, somersault, and hyper. Earliest documented use: 1753.
Callow	adjective: Inexperienced or immature.	From Old English calu (bald, featherless). Earliest documented use: before 1000.
Pariah	noun: An outcast.	From Tamil paraiyar, plural of paraiyan (drummer), from parai (drum, to tell). Because the drum players were considered among the lowest in the former caste system of India, the word took on the general meaning of an outcast. Earliest documented use: 1613.
Anomia	noun: The inability to recall names of people or objects.	From Latin a- (without) + nom (name). Earliest documented use: 1900. Don't confuse the word with anomie.

Phonetic Demand	Semantic Demand	Etymological Demand
Pin	Bomb/Bombard	Avalanche
Sat	Hymn/Hymnal	Kangaroo
Dog	Rag/Rage	Ocean
Fish	Sag/Rage	Negotiate
Cup	The/Their	Sapphire
Huff	Get/Together	Vacuum
Mess	Crumb/Crumble	Mortgage

The Letter G and It’s Rules:

*The letter g has a hard /g/ and soft /j/ sound.

*The letter g has a soft sound /j/ when it followed by an: E, I, or Y.  Some examples are the following words: gentle, ginger, algebra, gem, origin, and gym.

*Also if the /j/ sound for g is followed by a short vowel sound it is usually spelled with dge. A few examples of this are: ridge, dodge, edge, budget and gadget.

* When a ‘hard’ pronunciation is wanted, but the following letter would make it ‘soft’, we sometimes add  ‘u’ after ‘g’ (as in ‘guest’). Alternatively, the following letter is doubled (as in ‘outrigger’).

*Of course there are always exceptions to spelling rules in English: These mostly involve giving ‘hard’ pronunciation to words where the rule indicates the ‘soft’ sound.

*Some expectations words to the rule with g are:

gear, get, gelding, give girl gift tiger, celt

*Another exception might be: present participles of some verbs that end with ‘g’, such as ‘banging’ and ‘ringing’.

* Other exceptions are foreign words that have been adopted into the English language, such as: gestalt and geisha

Some information in the above post was gathered from the following websites:

http://esl.about.com/od/speakingintermediate/a/hardsoftcg.htm

http://wordsmith.org/awad/archives.html