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3 reasons why I hate Weird Al’s “Word Crimes” (and 3 videos to watch instead)

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Weird Al Yankovic is here to educate you in the proper use of language. Well, actually, he’s here to sell you his record, but his “Blurred Lines” parody focuses on English and its improper use. My linguistically-minded friends love it. My English teaching friends love it.
I hate it. Here’s why – and here’s what I suggest language lovers can watch instead.

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English (Spanish, Chinese…) as a Magical Language

english phonetic pretty womanBilingual motivations have evolved, as foreign languages became more and more mainstream things to do and use. With some languages, though, curious side effects can be seen. This post is a curious look at the role of certain languages in cultures – and an invitation to discuss some polyglots’ more esoteric approaches. Don’t take it fully seriously – but do join in if you’ve got inspired by it!

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How Sugata Mitra Annoyed English Teachers (& why I care)

shocked face What is the role of good teaching? Why does learning sometimes happen on its own? Is there something children cannot learn independently? These were some questions brought about by Saturday’s morning plenary talk at IATEFL – an international English language teachers’ conference. For foreign language learners, the debate which ensued can be quite inspiring. Let’s dive in, but be warned: strong opinions will follow.

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10 Reasons to be happy about the TOEIC / TOEFL fraud in the UK

Today’s news report on BBC Panorama uncovered something rotten about the language tests needed in the UK for visa purposes. Fake sitters, bribing your way to guarantee a pass, even bank account scams – it seems that “shocking” is truly the only possible description. I want to suggest ten different shades of silver lining to this whole kerfuffle. See if you find consolation in any of that; I did, and I’m the first to say that for UK language learners, this is not a happy situation.

1. When testing outshines learning, expect despair

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(Skip to 12m 45 sec for the bit about testing)

Language learning is not about being correct or incorrect. It’s not about endless rows of multiple-choice questions. It’s not about outsmarting the system. Polyglots are smart enough to get on in life. But if you lead them to fully believe that language learning has become a series of standardized tests – all language students will be reduced to boredom, despair and willingness to “trick” the system.

2. In UK Universities, money talks (too loud)

International students pay lots of fees. It makes sense for universities to spend marketing budgets on overseas marketing. A UK University diploma becomes a coveted, desirable thing. There are entire countries where the mention of “Oxford” turns careers, businesses and economies around.
Exposing the test fraud scandal shows the obvious: the tests don’t really measure language proficiency. They measure the level of desperation of a given person to get into UK University study.

3. It happened in Great Britain!

Oh, I just love this one. It wasn’t documented in some far away country. There were no bizarre customs to lay the blame on, no failed democracies to fuel corruption. This was London. This here green and pleasant land. And no matter how the media are going to play this, I’m still going to cherish this thought: this mess was proudly Made In the UK.

4. Border Security? What Border Security?

All the rules that Home Office so carefully set in place to make sure only the right, bright and rich people get the right visas…all those systems and structures, meticulously built (and instantly back-logged to the point of bursting at the seams)…all the checks and balances…500 quid says they’re worthless.
Here’s why it’s a good thing: the systems may have worked for some people, at some point. But they caused legal paralysis, wrong decisions and, ultimately, home-grown corruption. Now it’s obvious. We need good systems in place.

5. Test, Inspect, Repeat

This is a crisis for the industry, and a serious flaw in the system that was already considered imperfect. Solutions will need to be found, now that media are on the money. Government must be seen doing something.
So they will do what comes naturally: more tests. More inspections. More restrictions. Another set of hoops for language schools to jump through. Another set of paperwork to satisfy the administration. With ticked boxes, HB pencils and paper mulch, the gap will be (allegedly) stopped.
And the reason it’s good news…

6. This is more strain on a super-strained elitist learning system

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Take a look at Daphne Koller, as she explains how the cost of higher education skyrocketed (and its value went way down). Listen to her carefully. For language learners – English or any other language – higher education used to be the higher echelon, the place where languages were deemed to lead you.
Now this place, in the UK, becomes a super-pricey, strained and hustling mechanism. The veneer of “an esteemed university” is cracking and peeling off. If the allergic reaction to the testing fraud will be more testing, then in the long run, it will encourage more people to seek more meaningful learning.

7. Bring the language back into language learning

The most popular English language tests today are designed to get you into a university. Next year, Cambridge First will drop the “story” from its Writing paper. People just don’t need to write stories any more when they’re at Uni, do they?
This stopped being about language a long time ago. Take a look at a TOEFL prep book. This is about jargon. A particular variety of a foreign language, shaped to be super-useful in college or corporate life, and super-useless anywhere else.
It’s a strong statement, but one I will make and defend: UK dropped two highly specialized language tests from the agenda. This is good news, because it may…

8. Introduce non-academic language proficiency tests

How about a foreign language proficiency test that didn’t revolve around university entry? How about leaving well enough alone (there are plenty of academic language tests already, some of them are actually great) and ensuring some balance?
Face it: you need different kind of smarts on Oxford Street in London than on Oxford University. You talk, listen, read differently. You react differently. The texts, stimuli, interactions, registers, strategies – it is all different. And yet the money has traditionally gone into promoting tests that will ensure you get by at Uni (or, as it turns out, into circumventing those tests).
Maybe it’s time to acknowledge that those who get tested are likely to spend some time outside protective campus walls.

9. If testing is broken…

It’s so hard for me to see the good news here. I work for a language learning publisher. People buy books to prepare for those tests. Sometimes they buy our books. Sometimes it’s important for them to take this test and to prepare.
It must be horrible to learn tonight that the test you were studying for will now get you nowhere. And it must be painful to feel that the TOEIC score you got through hard work, you could have bought somewhere for a few grand.
But from this whole omnishambles (it’s telling that UK came up with a brilliant word like that – we did it! Us!), a good thing to learn is this: testing is broken. Education hooked on testing is broken.

10. …then we may be getting closer to learning

I can just about imagine the reaction that’s opposite to point 5 above. The alternative to an ever-increasing hegemony of one system, one controlling organization, one test to rule them all – could be individual test regimes introduced by colleges and universities themselves.
There are probably as many ways this could go wrong as the current system: fraudulent colleges, dozens of methods, scores, and confusing reports as students wander from one university to another. But the current system shows us where it’s rotten: at the level of single agencies and test providers.
In a set-up where higher education institutions set up their own ways of ensuring language proficiency of visa candidates, three good things happen:
– The universities go to greater lengths to check that they’re getting learning and paying students (because getting any other students will cost them),
– The “rotten” colleges, when found out, don’t corrupt an entire testing ecosystem, and
– The criteria for establishing and measuring proficiency are closer to the college’s mission and the learner’s attainment.
It’s a pipe dream – to have language learning tests throughout the UK that get students to arrive and learn at the Uni of their choice.
Soon, this might be something worth trying.

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How to be an ELT (English Language Teaching) Writer – an #ELTChat summary

8020851980_6a0602af45_bThis is a summary of an hour-long Twitter chat that took place on Wednesday, 27 November. ELTChat is a pow-wow for teachers of English – and each week, two chats are held on a variety of language-related topics. Even if you’ve never taught or learned English, grab a strong coffee (tweets fly fast, stay sharp) and jump in. Click through to find out how: here’s the main page and here’s the Facebook community.

Disclosure: The topic of this chat was “How to be an ELT writer.” I work for one of the publishing companies mentioned during the chat. For the sake of clarity and just to be OK with the whole topic, most names of ELT publishing companies are missing from the summary. Go & check out the transcript to find out more (well worth a look). Right. With all the preambles done…

1. Where to begin? Useful starting points for ELT writers

We’ve been fortunate to have a few chatters around who write, used to write or supported writers in some way. This meant that tips for starting out and accessing useful resources or platforms were shared easily. In recent years, there has been more and more support for those who want to start out with their big ELT writing idea. Here’s just a handful:

IATEFL Materials Writing SIG (Special Interest Group) – this community supports and brings together ELT material writers. Suggested by @SueAnnan, but well-loved by many #ELTchatters.

English Teaching Professional or OneStopEnglish – both platforms accept lesson ideas and resource submissions, and can become useful springboards for the illustrious writing careers we all dream of. Suggested by @teflerinha.

ELT Teacher 2 Writer – a database for teachers who want to write. Big publishers signed up and reportedly use the database for their talent search – can you afford not to take that chance? Suggested by @ShaunWilden.

“How ELT Publishing Works” – @JoeMcVeigh reviewed and suggested this book.

2. What does it take to be a writer?

This was much harder to explain, and difficult to summarize – again, the transcript is brimming with ideas. A few key points to mention here:

Knowledge of rubrics and levels at which vocabulary items are likely to be used – this, suggested by @teflerinha, sounds like a technical and demanding skill that inexperienced ELT writers could struggle with.

– “Imagine materials used in settings other than your own by teachers other than you.” – @JoeMcVeigh and a statement you can’t disagree with.

A good relationship with the team around you – we spent quite some time discussing the great (and not so great) editors, as well as the joys and pains of working in a profit-driven team whose members you often don’t meet for a lot of the time.

3. Questions and doubts

For all its splendor and irresistible allure (okay, go with me on this one), ELT writing does raise a few issues and we certainly didn’t hold back here. Just a selection of the more interesting questions – feel free to tackle them in the comments below:

Are non-native speakers good enough to write ELT materials? – @HanaTicha asked and #ELTChat responded with a resounding yes. This is where experienced editors help you out…

Should you aim for big, global publishers, or use your experience in local contexts? – The situation described by @naomishema – and the resources mentioned by @Marisa_C – both seem to work well in the regions / settings where they were prepared.

– How do today’s aspiring writers prepare for the future in a long-term planning industry? – This is what I really wanted to know. Assume that the idea you have today will be published in 2015 (if you’re lucky and persuasive). What will have changed by then? (A quick un-related blog post to give you the idea of what I mean)

4. Famous last words

I’ll just leave them here. Reflect, respond and make sure you make the next #ELTChat – there are two every Wednesday.

– “Publishing is a business and operates with business principles. Sometimes a shock to the system for those of us from educational background”

– “You will learn a lot with every job you do. That’s one of the pleasures.”

 

(Photo credit: eltpicssome rights reserved)

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Vocabla is a lean, mean, English vocab machine

vocabla.001The best thing a foreign language learner can hope for is a helpful system that helps her learn. And the worst thing for a future polyglot? Too many learning systems! Vocabla could have been just another vocabulary training app – but it manages to be more than that. Read on for my quick review.