#3 Discuss how the topics in sociolinguistics will affect your practice in TESL and other relationships.
This Sociolinguistics class covered a variety of topics, and has proven very enlightening about communication styles and political attitudes in the United States concerning language education and very practical in how to deal with communications between cultures and genders. Continue reading
Definitely a book worthy to be in the hand of every language teacher — Keep Talking by Freiderike Klippel. Klippel brings together a wonderful culmination of exercises and teaching techniques and ideas which should be practiced in many a classroom.
This book contains 123 activities all organized and categorized to be of maximum use for the teacher. For convenience, the activities are listed so a teacher can look up an activity which will fit her classroom needs specifically. There are three major headings for the activities: Questions and answers, Discussions and decisions, and Stories and scenes. Each activity is categorized by topic, language level, type of student organization needed whether from groups to individuals, amount of preparation involved, and time in minutes for the exercise to be completed.
“Collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter Observed by the NASA Infrared telescope Facility” was written by a board of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientist as a report on their observations of the collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter as observed from July 12 to August 7, 1994.
The article described how this particular telescope allows scientists to attach three different measuring and/or recording instruments to help in observations. The scientists chose to attach a camera with a low-resolution spectrometer, an Array Camera, and a high-resolution spectrometer. These instruments let the scientists record their findings and obtain extensive information about each impact.
The scientist took measurements of the reflection of Jupiter on its moons Io and Europa to see how much of the impacts explosions were reflected onto the moons. According to this article little or no reflection of the impact was recorded. Continue reading
Learning about Carl Learning English
April 28, 1999
The subject of this case study is a male Vietnamese student at Oral Roberts University. For the sake of anonymity I will refer to the subject as “Carl”. Carl is 40 years of age and has been in the United States for 23 years although he has been studying and practicing English over a period of 26 years. His English studies began in seventh grade while still in Vietnam. Carl is right handed and worked very intently on the tests I asked him to take. He seemed very systematic and patient with the material even when he did not understand part of it. At the time of our interview, he had his watch set 10 minutes faster than real time. Yet, despite his apparent attempt to be on schedule he arrived about that many minutes late to our meeting. In this case study I will discuss Carl’s learning styles and strategies, his personality factors contributing to learning, and sociocultural factors involved in learning. Continue reading
Michael P. Shead
Senior Paper
International Community Development
Oral Roberts University
Tulsa, Oklahoma
December 7, 1999
A comprehensive documentation of the needs and suggested solutions for any people group would probably fill volumes. This document is not, by any means, an attempt to address all the needs of the Navajo people but to identify specific leadership issues and present a possible solution in this area.
This project is an effort to contribute an organized leadership training program for young Navajo men. Its purpose is to train up young leaders who know Jesus Christ as Savior and friend and who will be able, honest, and wise leaders in every area of Navajo life. This project will take on several stages before completion: analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation and empowerment.
Michael Shead
Tulsa, 1999
Michael P. Shead
Senior Paper
International Community Development
Oral Roberts University
Tulsa, Oklahoma
December 7, 1999
Community development is a process. Development is a long-term process of helping people to help themselves. It is said, “Give a man a fish and you will have fed him for a day, but teach him how to fish and you will have fed him for a lifetime”. This is the concept of community development–to empower people to care for and improve themselves.
In his book, Two Ears of Corn, Roland Bunch
Community development includes many different areas: agriculture, economics, literacy, hygiene, and others. No matter what area in which the development is taking place it is important to remember that the purpose is to empower the people within their own society and culture so that changes are coming from within the culture and from the people, not merely because an outside influence is changing them.
In 1973 Dale Kietzman presented a definition of community development to the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL). He said, “Community Development is the process of helping to strengthen a community (and its leadership) so that it can resolve, through its own initiative, the problems which face it” (Yost & Yost, 1999). Continue reading
The tomb of the unknown soldier. (Image from Wikipedia commons)
The poem, “The Unknown Citizen (To JS/07/M/378) This Marble Monument is Erected by the State”, (By Wysten Hugh Auden) is more than merely the thoughts of a reflective visitor at the grave of the Unknown Soldier. It is a poetic comment on the state of namelessness the United States society creates for its citizens. Wysten Hugh Auden uses sarcastic irony to comment on the binding attitude society has taken–the attitude of a society that refuses to see anything wrong with itself. Continue reading
Definitely a book worthy to be in the hand of every language teacher — Keep Talking by Freiderike Klippel. Klippel brings together a wonderful culmination of exercises and teaching techniques and ideas which should be practiced in many a classroom.
This book contains 123 activities all organized and categorized to be of maximum use for the teacher. For convenience, the activities are listed so a teacher can look up an activity which will fit her classroom needs specifically. There are three major headings for the activities: Questions and answers, Discussions and decisions, and Stories and scenes. Each activity is categorized by topic, language level, type of student organization needed whether from groups to individuals, amount of preparation involved, and time in minutes for the exercise to be completed.
Obviously, Klippel did not merely throw a bunch of activities together but he systematically organized them so teachers could use them most effectively. Although this book was not intended nor should it be used as a complete lesson plan for learning it is an excellent source for a teacher to supplement into a lesson plan to add excitement, encouragement, and action for the students.
One thing I really admire about this book is the author’s emphasis on communication. Language is communication and learning a language means learning to communicate. Klippel emphasizes this concept by promoting the need for achieving meaningful sharing of concepts and thoughts in a natural way in the classroom. This includes interaction between the teacher and students and students to other students in meaningful questions, conversations, interviews, games, etc.
In this book Klippel wrote,
“Traditional textbook exercises –however necessary and useful they may be for pre-communicative grammar practice — do not as a rule forge a link between the learners and the foreign language in such a way thatthe learners identify with it.” (p.5)
Just as Klippel points out, I too feel that it is extremely necessary for a speaker to find an identity within there new language. A teacher can help instill this identity and a better understanding of a language by getting beyond the basic ideas of many texts and teaching the students to express their feelings and personal ideas in the language. Granted, the basics must be taught but by using activities like many of the ones Klippel describes the students will be able to use the basics for something productive and something they identify with.
I would suggest, however, that these works best in a second language situation where the learner is submerged within the language most of the time. But these concepts can also be used in foreign language classrooms if the teacher uses them to the advantage of the students along with other meaningful classroom practices.
In my own experiences in learning a second language, I have found that most of the exercises are not very practical in communication. Yes, I have learned some skills in communicating in the L2 but I see the value in Klippel’s ideas because they teach how to express feelings, ideas, and more abstract thoughts than the basic information I have learned. I want my students to get beyond the learning of a language into the learning of communication via a different medium — the medium of a second language. Continue reading
The movie, Mr. Holland’s Opus, is a good example of how a teacher grows by learning from his own successes and failures. Not only did he grow from the mistakes that he made at school, but also those he made at home. His experiences taught him to develop a good balance between family and career — something every teacher must learn because teaching requires such dedication.
Mr. Holland needed a vision or idea where he wanted to lead his students. His first day began with the usual nervousness and somewhat bewilderment that assaults anyone on a new job. However, he lacked a long-term vision which would have given him an immediate focus and desire to dedicate himself to leading his students. Continue reading
Fall 1996
I have enjoyed my experience as a staff photographer for Oral Roberts University’s The Oracle. This semester provided an opportunity for me to gain experience in diverse photojournalism techniques and situations from close-up shots at dinner to impersonal parking lots. My time spent as a staff photographer has been well spent. When I joined the staff, my purpose was to gain a reason to be continually involved in photography and learn any new photojournalism techniques that would present themselves over the semester.
Toward the end of this semester, I was asked to go to The Oracle offices on Monday mornings and read over the headlines. This may be a small job, but I am now able to take a part in making The Oracle just a little better. Besides, I am gaining experience that will assist me later if I turn in a job application to my hometown newspaper over the summer. I had previously written and taken pictures freelance for The Fort Scott Tribune, but now I have a semester of experience which I can put in my resume`. Continue reading