The ‘other’ in ESOL: Is it really about othering?
ESOL stands for English for Speakers of Other Languages. Some are calling it outdated and ‘othering’, but I there’s more to othering than the word ‘other’!
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Only Connect: My Ideological Stance in Content Area Instruction
I present my ideological stance in content area instruction by first providing background information about the students and their goals and challenges regarding attaining proficiency in academic literacy practices. I then briefly summarize my ideological stance regarding teaching students in content area instruction, followed by describing three pedagogical approaches to integrate academic literacy into my…
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The truths about teaching English
In preparation for a new course with the MAT TESOL program, I read the first three chapters of James Crawford’s “Educating English Learners: Language Diversity in the Classroom“. I was at first overwhelmed with the various programs and acronyms for teaching English to immigrants in America, but soon I grew curious about the assumptions and…
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Navigating a new world of e-learning
Learning points from eLearning Forum Asia 2011 I just finished a 2-day conference (8 – 9 June 2011), the eLearning Forum Asia 2011, held at the National Technological University (Singapore). While there was a variety of topics, my main interests were on e-learning and using social media for teaching. For e-learning, my takeaway was that we…
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The Apprentice – a lesson on resourcefulness, respect and responsibility
In anticipation of a 9 am Monday morning lecture, I started to look for YouTube clips that could rouse the interest of potentially sleepy and clueless students. The subject is Events Management and I wanted a short but impactful clip that could convey the essentials of event planning. Search results from key phrases like “event…
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From Zero to Hero – How I Learned Chinese
I stared at the textbook in front of me, mechanically reading the Chinese characters that appeared on the page, or rather, parroting whatever the tutor said, even instructions on what I was supposed to do. At 7 years old, I started Chinese tuition, and like many of my peers, stuck to it until I cleared…