Fab and Groovy Links
Free Home Pages - Angelfire
The Guardian - check out
ESL ideas, lessons, and more!
Internet banking and ethical investments
Funny talk about serious money
You may have been wondering why Bart Simpson's face is shown above. If you've ever watched "The Simpsons", then you'll know that at the start of every program Bart is writing on a blackboard. Having done something wrong, he has been told to write something like "This classroom is not my bedroom" or whatever, repeatedly until the bell goes.
From a teacher's viewpoint, Bart is a "bad" student. Yet perhaps he is disruptive because the lessons are don't interest him. Who knows?
Do you teach writing or English composition? I teach a class called "Written Communication" at Tohoku University of Art and Design, in Japan. As I was planning the syllabus, I consulted a number of published textbooks. Looking at most of them, students might be forgiven for becoming Bart Simpsons. Too many teach grammar, or practice fixed sentence structures. There is a place for this kind of lesson in a fully rounded ESL program, but without a chance to put such learning into practice, students will not really learn anything.
Essay writing is all about trying to express yourself. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, an essay is
a literary composition of moderate length, dealing in an easy, cursory way with a single subject, usually representing the writer's personal experience and outlook. The form was invented in the late 16th century by the French writer Michel de Montaigne, who to chose the name essai to emphasize that his compositions were attempts or endeavors...Encyclopaedia Britannica 19?? Edn. Macropaedia, Vol 4, pp.562-3
This emphasis on trying is essential. Composition classes based on creating individual sentences according to fixed patterns may help students attain grammatical precision, yet they are unproductive. A project, such as researching and writing an essay, allows students to use what they know. While it is commendable to study for the sake of study, letting students actually do something with their knowledge can be a great motivation. Indeed, the end result - a complete, typed essay with the student's name on the front - gives great satisfaction, both to student and teacher.
I studied history at university, and the bulk of my MA in the Humanities involved historical research and writing. Of the history I have studied over the years, it is oral history which really stands out. Background reading, followed by interviews, gives great insight into subjects which often appear rather "dry" in textbooks. Though a cliche, it is true to say that through oral testimony, history comes alive.
Donald Ritchie, in one of the best books available on the rudiments of oral history, answers this question succinctly:
Simply put, oral history collects spoken memories and personal commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews. An oral history interview generally consists of a well-prepared interviewer questioning an interviewee and recording their exchange on audio or videotape.
Donald Ritchie's book, Doing Oral History is available through Amazon.com, ISBN 0-8057-9128-0.
