A look at the mother-tongue-based multi-lingual education (MTB-MLE) curriculum in the Philippines

The new Philippine President recently mentioned the need to revert to English as a medium of instruction (EMI), which essentially necessitates a complete review of the mother-tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) curriculum.

In language learning, we published several reasons that MTB-MLE has adverse consequences in learning the English language, as follows:  (1) The teaching of English is not the sole responsibility of the English teacher in an English class - English Across the Curriculum (EAC), (2) The mother tongue is to be used merely as an auxiliary (supplementary or supporting) language in teaching, (3) The children are adept at learning a second language at a young age, (4) The learning of English in the Philippines is in an English as a second language setting, and (5) The language acquisition theories underscore the learning of English at an early stage.  

These findings indicate that there is a need to re-evaluate the MTB-MLE in the Philippines. Numerous studies have revealed that learning English is enhanced by using the language at a young age. With these discoveries, the MTB-MLE largely impedes the mastery of the English language. The teaching of English is not the sole responsibility of the English teacher, but also in the English class. Hence, the utilisation of the native language in teaching the other subjects makes the effort
The English teacher's efforts are futile since they prevent the learner from using the English language.

Please see the complete study at https://www.erudio.ub.ac.id/index.php/erudio/article/view/398. 

Would parents risk allowing their children to attend face-to-face classes?

Several universities in the Philippines were granted permission to hold face-to-face classes. However, at this time when there is a spike or surge in the virus infections, it may be difficult to convince many parents to send their children to the university. Moreover, while these universities have made extensive preparations to ensure the safety of the students on campus, there are still concerns regarding the students' protection while in their lodging houses or while commuting to the university. Parents would prefer online study for their children or other modes of out-of-campus study, like a blended approach. A blended method allows the students to study independently through modules and virtual classes (if possible – Zoom, Google Meet, MS Teams, Facebook Group Video Chat) and require the students’ presence in the university only during the major examinations or laboratory tests.  These modules could be sent to the students’ email addresses, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc. Just like the MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), university professors can utilise the features of Google Classroom or Moodle for free. These learning management systems (LMSs) can be used to send quizzes and other course activities.    

Hence, these universities that have been granted authority to conduct face-to-face classes have to plan alternative ways if college students still refuse to take the risk and attend in-campus classes.

Guidelines for Designing Effective English Teaching Materials

 

Guidelines for Designing Effective English Teaching Materials

1: English language teaching materials should be contextualised

2: Materials should stimulate interaction and be generative in terms of language

3: English language teaching materials should encourage learners to develop learning skills and strategies

4: English language teaching materials should allow for a focus on form as well as function

5: English language teaching materials should offer opportunities for integrated language use

6: English language teaching materials should be authentic

7: English language teaching materials should link to each other to develop a progression of skills, understandings and language items

8: English language teaching materials should be attractive

Howard, J. & Major, J. (2004). Guidelines for Designing Effective English Language Teaching Materials. 

How can students learn easily? Neuroscience may have the answer.

 The question facing many educators is "How can my students learn easily?" 

Dr Marial Hardiman may have the answer. With the principles of neuroscience in mind, Dr. Mariale Hardiman, a former school principal and who is now professor at Johns Hopkins, developed a teaching framework designed to help teachers, teach the way the brain learns. She recommended that if educators teach the learners based on the process that the brain learns, then learning can be greatly enhanced. The author wrote the following steps in teaching based on how the brain learns: (1) es⁵tablish the emotional climate for learning, (2) create the physical learning environment, (3) design the learning experience, (4) teach for mastery, (5) teach for extension, and (6) evaluate learning.  The author further explained that “learning only occurs when the student can connect new information to old information." Recently, Eric Jensen and Liesl McConchie wrote a book entitled "Brain-Based Learning: Teaching the Way Students Really Learn (2020)" which explores the role of neuroscience in learning. 

(I presented this study at the 3rd Annual Teaching and Learning Conference held at Sohar University, Sohar City, Oman on September 14, 2017.)

Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Risk Management

Should there be one Risk Management Committee to identify all the risks and opportunities?

While working as assistant coordinator of our department's quality assurance committee, I finished the internal auditor course (ISO 9001:2015) with SGS Oman. In 2018, I then conducted research comparing the processes in ISO 9001:2015 with the audit being conducted by the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA). One of the findings of the study revealed that our university/college has a distinct and separate Risk Management Committee/Unit for each of the departments. These committees are tasked with identifying the risks and opportunities of each department. However,  ISO 9001:2015 has adopted the "risk-based thinking" and "risk assessment is a main component of the process at each level of the system." 

The study then recommended that each process in the department of the university/college identify its own risks and opportunities. For example, the "Exam Committee" identify its own risks and the other committees also identify their own risks. Risk-based thinking requires companies to evaluate risk when establishing processes. As such, one committee should not identify all the risks and opportunities in a department.

(I presented the results of this research at the Smart Education and Technology Symposium (SETS) 2018, held at Ibra College of Technology, Ibra, Oman, on March 27, 2018.)

Can we teach the English language using the native language of the place?

 Can we teach the English language using the native language of the place? 

Yes. One of the techniques in teaching the English language is the Grammar-Translation Method (GTM). In this method, "the meaning of the target language is made clear by translating it into the students’ native language. The language that is used in class is MOSTLY the students’ native language." [Larsen-Freeman, D. & Anderson, M. (2016). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.]. The extent of the use of the native language in teaching also depends on the previous exposure of the learners to the target language. So it doesn't mean that the native language will be used as the SOLE language in teaching the English language if the learners have some experience with the target language. In this case, the native language is merely used to make the meanings of the English words or phrases clear if the beginning learners are having difficulty in comprehension. For example, I want to learn Arabic. At the start, my teacher will teach Arabic to me in English since I am a beginning learner. Eventually, the use of English in teaching Arabic decreases as I become proficient in the language. The goal of the GTM is to enable the learners to read and translate words/phrases/sentences from English to their native language, since it is believed that one of the signs that the learner understands the target language is to be able to translate it to his/her native language.  

Cart before the horse: Integrating Technology in the Classroom.

Simply put, "putting the cart before the horse"  means doing things in the wrong order.  

The cart represents "technology" and the "horse" represents "pedagogy."  The figure above illustrates how some people tend to decide first the kind of technology to be used for teaching rather than the reason or purpose for using the technology. Instead, pedagogy should dictate how to use the technology and what kind of technology to use in online learning.  For instance, the first consideration in online learning is how to put the following processes in into online teaching:

Face-to-face Learning	Online Learning	Technology to be used (What technology can be used to electronically send/deliver the files/activities to the students?)
Syllabus/Delivery Plan   (The hard copies are given to the students.)	How should the materials be given/delivered to the students online?	email?
Books/Hand-outs/Worksheets (The hard copies are given to the students.)	How should the materials be given/delivered to the students online?	email?
Classroom Teaching	How should teaching be done? fully online? blended?	MS Teams? Google Classroom? Zoom?
Quizzes and Examinations	How should quizzes or tests be administered? fully online? blended? How to prevent plagiarism?	MS Forms? Google Forms? Moodle?  How to prevent plagiarism?

(The author has presented this study at the 20th Oman International ELT Conference last October 14-15, 2020. The author hopes to publish the full paper/research.)

Paano ang tamang paggawa ng powerpoint?

5 M's of Management

5 Ms of Management
1.  Men
2.  Material
3.  Machines
4.  Method
5.  Money

from:  http://www.a4lsd.in/sml.aspx

Japanese 5 "S" Discipline: The key to Keeping our workplace neat everyday

Do you want your table/office to look like this even at the end of a busy day? The Japanese has some advice how to do it.

The Japanese are known for their discipline and they have recommended the FIVE "S" for  "good housekeeping techniques" to maintain a clean workplace. 

Japanese 5 “S”

1. seiri (sort)

2. seiton (stabilize, systematic Arrangement, set)

3. seiso (shine)

4. seiketsu (standardize)

5. shitsuke  (sustain)

At the end of the day, you leave your workplace clean and be ready to start the work fresh for the next day. 

Are you preparing teacher-made instructional materials? Here's a guide

Preliminary Considerations in Designing Teaching Materials

(by Howard, J, et. al., Christchurch College of Education, New Zealand[1])

Preliminary Considerations

1. Contextualization

a.  The teaching material is aimed at a specific group of learners or a particular cultural or educational context.

b.   Resources – Teachers should consider the use of the best resources available in their teaching context.

2.   2. Individual Needs

a.  Modern teaching methodology increasingly emphasizes the importance of identifying and teaching to the individual needs of learners.

b. Teacher-designed materials should be responsive to the heterogeneity inherent in the classroom.

c.   In addition, teacher-prepared materials provide the opportunity to select texts and activities at exactly the right level for particular learners, to ensure appropriate challenge and levels of success.

3.  3.  Personalization – The teaching material should tap into the interests and take account of the learning styles of students.

4.  4.  Timeliness – Teachers should design their own materials to respond to local and international events with up-to-date, relevant and high-interest topics and tasks.

5.  5.  Organization

a.  The teaching materials should be organized around an identifiable principle and follow a discernible pattern throughout while this can be rather dull and boring. However, without some overall organizing principle, materials may be piecemeal and can result in poorly focused activities lacking clear direction.

b.  Physical organisation and storage of materials – Without a clearly thought-through and well-organised system, teacher-produced materials may be difficult to locate for ongoing use, or may end up damaged or with parts missing.

6.  6.    Quality – The materials should not contain errors, be properly constructed, clear in layout and print and durable.

7.   7.  Time – The teachers must passionately believe in the materials.

8.  Pilot Testing (Trial Period) - The materials are pilot-tested before they are used by all the teachers and the learners.  

(*Note: I added number eight.)

---

[1] Christchurch College was a college of education founded in 1873 located in Christchurch, New Zealand until it was amalgamated with the University of Canterbury and formed a new Faculty of Education with the university’s School of Education.

News Writing: Bringing Life to the Lead

Breaking the Monotony: Summary versus Feature Lead

            Usually, journalistic writing often uses the summary lead (5 Ws - what, who, when, where, why) in writing the Lead of the news story. This type "leads" the reader into the story right away. But there should also be variety to avoid being too “straight” or being too “hard” in writing the Lead. To break this predictability, but still using the 5 Ws, we can also use the Feature Lead, which brings some imagination and life to the story.

For example, this is the initial information about the news:

What – Hurricane Ike

When – Tuesday

Where – U.S and Mexico

So, the summary lead may be written this way:

“Hurricane Ike hit the U.S. and Mexico on Tuesday killing thousands.”

            But using the feature lead, CBS News wrote:

“Hurricane Ike moved into the warm waters of the Gulf and took aim at the U.S. and Mexican coasts Tuesday after bringing down ageing buildings in Havana and tearing through western Cuba's tobacco country.” (September 9, 2008)

            Another example, the information is as follows:

Who – Two American Astronauts

When – July 20, 1969

Where - landed on the moon

            A summary lead may be written, thus: 

                      “Two American astronauts landed on the moon on July 20, 1969.”

            But the New York Times, using the Feature lead, wrote:

“Men have landed and walked on the moon.

Two Americans, astronauts of Apollo 11, steered their fragile four-legged lunar module safely and smoothly to the historic landing yesterday at 4:17:40 P.M., Eastern daylight time.” (New York Times, July 21, 1969)

News Lead: Which style would better "lead" the readers to the story?

Fact:   A serial killer terrorized a town

Lead 1

The people of Townsville are living in fear after a seventh victim of the Townsville Terror was found Monday night at Smith Grade School.

Lead 2

Charlene Simpkins used to be the kind of mom who let her kids walk to the bus stop. She used to leave her front door unlocked so friends could drop in and go for quiet walks alone after dinner. But that all changed when the killer dubbed the Townsville Terror struck in her community.

Use of Native Language in Teaching English

Yes, some methods and techniques in language teaching allow the use of the native language (like Arabic) in teaching English.  In the Grammar-Translation Method, where the students are taught to translate from one language to another, the language that is used in the class is mostly the students' native language. Likewise, the native language is used in the Silent Way to give instructions when necessary to help a student improve his/her pronunciation. It is possible that the sounds in the students' native language are similar or identical to sounds in the English language. In Dessugestopedia, native language translation is used to make the meaning of the dialogues clear. Moreover, in Community Language Teaching, literal native language equivalents are given to the transcribed target language to make their meaning clear. [Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. Second Edition. Oxford University Press]

The SQ3R Reading Technique for Beginners

SQ3R (survey, question, read, recite, review)

1. Survey (read the title, sub-titles, heading, sub-headings)
2. Question (formulate questions about the reading text-Who, what, when, where, why, how)
3.  Read (first reading) (read and MENTALLY try to answer the questions in b)
4. Recite (second reading) (ORALLY answer the questions)
5.  Review (go back to the questions or recall other important details)

ESL vs EFL

ESL versus EFL

What's the difference between English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL)? ESL is used when non-English speaking people learn English in an English-speaking country. EFL is used when non-English speaking people learn English in a non-English speaking country. English-speaking countries include those countries where English is an official language or is widely spoken. Hence, teaching English in the Philippines is ESL but it is EFL in the Sultanate of Oman. How is this important in the teaching of English? ESL and ESL require very different teaching strategies to meet the aims and objectives of the students.

USEFUL VOCABULARY IN DESCRIBING A GRAPH (IELTS)

USEFUL VOCABULARY IN DESCRIBING A GRAPH (IELTS WRITING TASK 1)

(Note:  The candidate should use at least 150 words in describing the graph.)

1.      INTRODUCTION (FIRST PARAGRAPH) (ONE SENTENCE)

Introduction

This graph shows ...

The diagram outlines ...

This table lists ...

This pie chart represents

This line chart depicts ...

This chart breaks down ...

(Note: In the OVERVIEW and the BODY, describe the TRENDS in the paragraph)

The four basic TRENDS are :

 

•  upward movement 
•  downward movement 
•   no movement 
•  change in direction

2. OVERVIEW (SECOND PARAGRAPH)  - ONE GENERAL TREND IN THE GRAPH (ONE SENTENCE)

3. BODY (MAIN PARAGRAPH) (GRAPH INTERPRETATION) (DESCRIBE IMPORTANT TRENDS)

• Indicating upward movement

Verbs		Nouns
Transitive	Intransitive
(to) increase	(to) increase	(an) increase
(to) raise	(to) rise (rose, risen)	(a) raise (US), a rise (UK)
(to) push/put/step up	(to) go/be up	(an) upswing
	(to) grow	(a) growth
(to) extend, (to) expand	(to) extend, (to) expand	(an) extension, expansion
	(to) progress	(a) progression
	(to) boom/soar/climb	(a) boom
	(to) jump, (to) skyrocket	(a) jump
	(to) reach a peak, (to) peak	(a) peak
	(to) reach an all-time high

• Indicating downward movement

Verbs		Nouns
Transitive	Intransitive
(to) decrease	(to) decrease	(a) decrease
(to) cut, (to) reduce		(a) cut, (a) reduction
	(to) fall (off)    (fall, fell, fallen)	(a) fall
	(to) plunge, to plummet	(a) plunge
	(to) drop (off)	(a) drop
	(to) go down	(a) downswing
	(to) decline	(a) decline
	(to) collapse	(a) collapse (dramatic fall)
	(to) slump, (to) go bust	(a) slump
	(to) bottom out

• Indicating no movement

Verbs		Nouns
Transitive	Intransitive
(to) keep ... stable	(to) remain stable
(to) hold ... constant	(to) stay constant
(to) stabilize	(to) stabilize	stability

• Indicating a change of direction

Verbs		Nouns
Transitive	Intransitive
(to) level off	(to) level off/out, to flatten out	(a) levelling-off
	(to) stop falling/rising	(a) change
(to) stand at	(to) remain steady
	(to) stop falling and start rising
	(to) stop rising and start falling

 

• Indicating the DEGREE or the SPEED of change

 

SAMPLE SENTENCES

1. INTRODUCTION

            The graph shows that….

2. OVERVIEW AND BODY – TRENDS - (DESCRIBE THE GRAPH)

• Indicating upward movement

       There is a dramatic increase in ….OR

      The _____ increased dramatically from ___ to ___. 

• Indicating downward movement

     There is a quick decline in…   OR

     The _____ sharply declined from ___ to ___.

• Indicating no movement

    The ____ remained stable.

    There is stability in ____.

• Indicating a change of direction

    The ___   stopped falling in _____ but started rising on _____ .