Early learners and writing in English

Adult learners in an English class are often eager to begin writing as soon as they star their oral lessons. While younger learners may not have the same urge, often their parents have it for them! So how does the TESOL teacher introduce writing with an early learner which is both appropriate and does no harm?

Prepositions of place and of time

Non-English speakers often struggle with the uses of in / at / on. As soon as they think they have an understanding, they come across something which does not make sense.

Start-up - A boy-friendly school

I met with parents who were unhappy with their sons' US elementary public-school experiences. It quickly emerged that their sons' were being labeled as "problematic" when they were really just having trouble sitting still and quietly for long periods of time. Further discussion revealed that teaching and learning approaches placed the boys in situations where they would be seen as causes rather than consequences of the "problems".

Start-up - Language-immersion for a Native American tribe

The Council Chair of a Native American tribe was concerned. As he looked at his people, he saw the language dying and the culture disappearing. The former was being replaced by English, the latter by US popular culture. Only the tribal elders maintained both and the gulf between them and the children was growing wider by the day.

Start-up - An educational program embedded within a residential counseling program

A non-profit organization specialized in helping women recover from addiction through a residential program with intensive counseling. The organization's leaders quickly became aware that many of these women were mothers with young children, and they needed also to provide services for the children. They then discovered a need for the same type of addiction-recovery program for older children and teens.

Program - Re-launching the overall direction

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Program - the English Problem

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Dissertation - the Use of Humor in TESOL

This graduate student is an adult TESOL teacher in a non-English-speaking country. She noticed that when she made jokes in class, specific students participated more fully in oral activities such as discussions and role-playing. She decided to investigate this as a teaching strategy, and to what extent it might be effective, by comparing two of her learner groups. One group would have lessons straight from the coursebook, and she deliberately attempted to minimize the incidence of humor both planned and spontaneous. The other's lessons would be accompanied by planned humor on her part and deliberate attempts to provoke spontaneous humor.

Dissertation - Contraceptive use in Sub-Sharan Africa

This researcher had conducted a meta-study of contraceptive use and availability in Sub-Saharan Africa. She had spent so much time on her research and had so much data that she developed writer's block. Actually, it was more like writer's reverse as she was virtually running away from her project and the submission deadline was looming.