JoshEsl Blog about EFL in Korea

Involve the Parents and Reap the Rewards!

4/9/2019

I’m back with another post - AWESOME!

This one is all about involving the parents (or caregivers) in a child’s education. So without further ado, let’s get this show on the road (Put your hand up if you love clichés.).

Oh, and to make it a little easier for you, I have made this blog post a simple Q & A format. Enjoy!

1. Why should we involve the parents? Well, involving the parents not only makes our life easier (Really? Sign me up!), but also helps ensure our students achieve better outcomes. Two birds, one stone (Put your hand up if you love idioms and clichés.).

Time and time again research has produced evidence showing that higher levels of positive (and I do stress POSITIVE) parental involvement in a child’s education is directly related to higher levels of academic success. Yes, that’s right; if you get the parents involved (in a positive way) their children will attain better learning outcomes.

2. What does positive parental involvement entail? Now this sounds like a simple question, but it is actually a complicated and dynamic issue. In short, positive parental involvement requires parents and teachers to work as a team in the pursuit of positive social, emotional, and educational outcomes for the student/child.

Although covering separate domains, parents and teachers are required to respect boundaries and personal beliefs, aim to have open and honest communication with each other, and, within reason, place the needs of the child/student first.

For teachers, achieving positive parental involvement requires you to provide the parents with well-thought-out advice and timely feedback on their child’s progress. It also means listening to the parents’ ideas, concerns, and/or feedback and showing the parents you are there for them and their child.

For parents, it means treating the teacher with respect and listening to their honest feedback and advice.

3. How can we get the parents involved? This is a good question. It is more than having parents attend parent-teacher meetings or sending memos or e-mails to parents (although these both help).

To truly get parents involved, I believe that the first step teachers need to take is to empower and encourage the parents to do so. After all, we are the professionals, and a little bit of advice and support from us can positively impact the parents’ beliefs about the role they have to play in their children’s education.

4. What if parents don’t want to get involved – or are reluctant? Well, this is not an easy question to answer. Of course we can’t make parents get involved (although reports suggest that the majority of parents want to get involved in their children’s education), but what we can do is offer them ample opportunity to do so.

For example, teachers can offer seminars on how parents can help their children (just make sure you are up-to-date with current best practices), have open door policies (during certain hours), e-mail parents activities to do with their children, and invite parents to open classes (and even get them to participate). In fact, there are a myriad of ways we can actively encourage parents to get involved in their children’s education – we just need to offer them the chance.

Yes – it might be viewed as extra work, but, in the end, it does make our job easier and it really does help our students.

5. How does getting the parents involved help our students? According to the research, children with parents who are actively involved in their education in a positive way (see my post on What Parents Can Do To Have A Positive Impact On Their Child’s Education) are more likely to:

Earn higher grades and do better on their exams at school
Attend school regularly
Enjoy school
Develop positive social skills
Display patterns of good behavior
Go on to post-secondary education
Have better job prospects in the future

With all of that said and done, I hope you take the time to foster productive, enjoyable, and honest relationships with the parents and caregivers of the children you teach.

Thanks for reading and have a great day.

Josh

Keeping English Real!

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자녀의 영어교육을 도와주는 7가지 방법

12/4/2018

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부모님들이 평소 저에게 가장 많이 물어보시는 질문 중 하나는 바로 “어떻게 하면 제가 자녀(들)의 영어교육을 도와줄 수 있을까요?” 하는 것입니다.

그래서 이번 포스트에서는 영유아 자녀(5세 이하)의 영어(혹은 제2외국어)를 공부할 때 반드시 알아야 할 7가지 중요한 사항을 알아보려고 합니다.

자녀의 영어(또는 제2외국어) 교육을 도와줄 7가지 팁

1. 직접 도와주기: 부모님들이 항상 주지하셔야 할 것은 바로 부모님들 자신이 자녀를 도울 충분한 능력이 있다는 사실입니다. 먼저 좋은 롤모델이 되어 (언어 공부를 직접 하시면서요) 자녀들을 지지해주세요. 긍정적인 교육환경도 제공해 주십시오. 무엇보다 자녀들이 좋은 습관을 들일 수 있도록 도와주세요. (그러기 위해서는 부모님들께서 먼저 이러한 습관을 들이는 게 중요하겠지요. 예를 들어, 자녀가 영어 숙제를 하고 있다면 함께 앉아서 공부를 하거나 본인의 일을 해보실 수 있겠네요.)

2. 한시라도 빨리 시작하기: 영어학습은 어리면 어릴수록 좋습니다. 언어 교육에 있어서 비전문적인 블로거들이나 그 밖의 많은 사람들이 제 2외국어를 배우기 전에는 꼭 모국어를 마스터 해야한다는 식으로 부모님들에게 조언하곤 합니다. (물론 이 역시 하나의 방법이 될 순 있겠지만, 가장 효과적인 방법은 아닙니다.)

과학적으로 증명된 사실에 따르면, 영유아(생후 9개월 이하)들은 다양한 언어의 소리들을 구별할 수 있으며, 여러 가지 언어를 한꺼번에 배울 수도 있다고 합니다. 또한 안타깝게도 아이들이 나이가 들어가면서 언어를 구별하는 능력은 점차 떨어지게 되고, 이 때문에 언어 습득은 점점 어려워지죠. 따라서 최대한 어렸을 때부터 영어를 시작해야 된다는 사실은 과학적으로도 증명된 분명한 사실입니다.

3. 영어책 읽어주기: 가능하다면, 자녀에게 영어책을 읽어주세요. 만약 직접 읽어주기 어렵다면, 오디오 파일이 있는 책을 이용하세요. 더 많은 시간을 자녀와 영어책 읽기에 할애하신다면 보다 좋은 결과를 기대하실 수 있습니다. 또한, 자녀와 함께 영어책을 읽으면서 상호간에 심리적인 유대감을 형성하실 수도 있습니다. 심리적인 유대감을 형성하는 건 그 어떤 언어 습득보다도 훨씬 중요한 일이겠지요.

추천 드리는 책: 미스터 맨(Mr. Men and Little Miss, 귀여운 캐릭터와 간단한 스토리를 가지고 있는 시리즈물), 닥터 수스(Dr. Seuss books, 간명한 문장 구조들과 라임이 있는 문장들로 구성되어있는 책), 리틀 골든 북(Little Golden Books, 다양한 관심사와 이와 관련한 다양한 이야기들이 상존하는 책)

아, 그리고 책을 읽어주실 때 부모님의 영어실력과 발음은 완벽하지 않아도 됩니다. 자녀를 위해서 최선을 다한다면 그것으로 충분하니까요.

4. 대중매체 현명하게 이용하기: 맞아요, TV를 너무 많이 보는 것은 좋지 않습니다. 인터넷을 너무 많이 하는 것 또한 좋지 않은 일이죠. 핸드폰을 가지고 노는 것 역시 마찬가지라고 해야겠네요. 그렇지만 대중매체를 현명하게 이용할 수 있다면 언어 교육에 굉장히 좋은 영향을 줄 수 있습니다. 아이들이 배우고 있는 언어에 더 많이 노출될수록(특히, 좋은 품질의 컨텐츠를 접할수록) 더 나은 결과가 수반될 것입니다. (특히, 한국처럼 일상생활에서 영어를 쓸 일이 없는 곳에서는 더더욱 말이죠.) 그러니 매일 혹은 매주, 자녀들이 영어 프로그램이나 영화를 보는 시간을 설정해 두시길 바랍니다.

개인적인 추천: 세서미 스트리트(Sesame Street, 2세이상– 많은 아이들이 좋아하는 애니메이션), 수수께끼 블루(Blue’s Clues, 3세 이상 – 배우고 교감하는 프로그램), 위글스(The Wiggles, 3세 이상 – 음악을 좋아하는 아이들에게 추천), 니나의 세계(Nina’s World, 3세 이상 – 여자 아이들이 특히 좋아 하지만, 남자 아이들에게도 추천합니다)

5. 교감이 핵심: 굉장히 많은 부모님들이 반복적인 문법∙단어 암기가 언어를 공부하는 데 있어서 가장 중요한 요소라고 생각하고 있습니다. (아마 많은 학원들이 아직도 이러한 구식 방법을 여전히 쓰고 있기 때문이겠죠.) 물론 단어와 문법에 대한 교육이 필요는 하지만, 우리 모두가 알다시피 원어민을 만나서 영어로 교류하는 편이 더욱 효과적입니다. 하지만, 항상 원어민과 공부하기란 쉽지않습니다. 특히 한국에서는요. 만약 여러분이 이와 같은 상황이라고 해도 너무 스트레스 받지 마세요. 유아들에게는 책을 읽으면서 책 속의 내용과 교감하고(예: 책에 나온 사진을 보고 단어들을 읽기) 노래를 부르거나 간단한 영어 게임을 하는 교육 방식이면 충분합니다. 아이들이 더 나이가 들었을 때는 원어민과 실제로 만나서 영어로 대화하는 어학원을 이용하셔도 좋습니다.

6. 아는 만큼 활용하기: 방금 말씀드린 것처럼, 영어를 습득하는 데 있어서 가장 좋은 방법은 영어로 소통하는 것입니다. 핑계는 이제 그만! 셰익스피어가 되실 필요는 없습니다. 간단한 단어나 관용구들을 이용해서 자녀에게 영어라는 언어의 소리에 익숙하게만 해주시면 됩니다.

7. 강요하지 않고 이끌어주기: 영어를 배우는 건 쉽지 않은 일이죠. 더군다나 강요를 한다고 해결되는 문제도 아닙니다. 물론 좋은 의도를 가지고 계시다는 건 잘 알고 있습니다. 자녀를 생각하는 마음인 것도 알고 있죠. 그렇기에 자녀를 최고로 만들고 싶은 마음 또한 이해합니다. 하지만 제 말을 믿어주세요. 자녀에게 강요하는 건 좋은 방법이 아닙니다. 옆에서 지지해주고, 좋은 가이드가 되어주세요. 강요하는 것보다 좋은 결과를 얻으실 수 있을 거예요. 물론, 이 말은 아이들을 영어 수업에 그만 보낸다거나, 영어 숙제를 그만하게 하라는 말이 아닙니다. (혹시나 이렇게 생각하셨다면, 이건 최악의 방법이 될 거예요). 제 말은 단어 시험이나 문법시험에서 백 점을 받아 오길 강요하지 마시라는 이야기입니다. (물론 5세 미만의 친구들은 아직 시험이 없겠지만요.) 그건 그냥 시험 점수에 불과하니까요. 단순히 시험지에 적혀 있는 점수가 영어의 전부가 아닙니다. 영어는 세상과 소통하고 경험하는 데 도움을 주는 수단이라고 생각하세요. 자녀 스스로 영어를 공부하는 페이스를 만들 수 있도록 도와주세요.

위 내용에 대해 좀 더 자세히 알아보고 싶다면, 하단의 비디오를 참고해주세요.

여기까지 읽어주셔서 (그리고 영상을 시청해주셔서) 감사합니다.

살아있는 영어학습을 위해!
조쉬 웨드락 드림

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7 Ways To Help Your Children Learn English

9/13/2018

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One of the most frequently asked questions parents ask me is this: How can I help my child/children learn English?

In this post I am going to try and break down 7 of the most important things to keep in mind if you are trying to help you child learn English (or any foreign language) from a young age (i.e. before the age of 5).

7 Tips To Help Your Children Learn English (Or Any Second Language)

1. You Can Help: The main thing parents need to be aware of is that they have the ability to help their children. Be a good role model (by studying a language yourself). Be supportive. Create a positive learning environment. Help your child form good habits (by having good habits yourself – e.g. sit down with your child when they are trying to do their English homework and do your own work or study).

2. Start Young: The younger your child starts learning the better. Too many blogs and well-intentioned people with absolutely no background in language education try to advise parents to let their child master their own language before learning a second language (sure, this is one way, but it might not be the most effective way).

What science does know is this - young children (under the age of 9 months) can discriminate between the sounds of various languages and are able to learn multiple languages at once. Unfortunately, as children get older, this ability to naturally differentiate between languages decreases, thus making language learning more difficult. This being true, the younger your children start learning English, the better.

3. Read To Your Children: If possible, read to your child in English. If you can’t read, then use read-along books. The more time you and your children spend reading, the better results you will get. Furthermore, the very act of reading to your child helps form all-important emotional bonds between parent and child – bonds which are so much more important than any language learning benefit you may gain from reading.

My suggestions: Mr. Men and Little Miss (a series of books that have cute characters and simple stories), Dr. Seuss books (books that rely on rhyme and simple sentence structures), and Little Golden Books (a range of different stories for all interests)

Oh, one more thing. Your reading and pronunciation does not need to be perfect – all you need to do is try your best.

4. Use Media Wisely: Yes, too much time watching TV is bad. Too much time browsing the internet is bad. Too much time playing with your cellphone is bad. But, using media wisely can be very good for language learning. The more (good quality) language input a child can get (especially in the Korean setting where English is not commonly spoken in day-to-day interactions), the better results they will get. So, set aside some time each day or each week for your child to watch English language programs or movies.

My favorites include: Sesame Street (2+ years of age – a favorite for many children), Blue’s Clues (3+ years of age – learn and interact), The Wiggles (3+ years of age – for children who like music), and Nina’s World (3+ years of age – great for girls, but also for boys).

5. Interaction Is Key: Too many parents think that grammar lessons and rote learning vocabulary words are somehow the most important things in language learning (probably because a lot of private language institutes use this outdated method). The thing is, we all know children need to learn words and grammar, but this is often more effectively achieved by using English to interact with other English-speaking people. Of course, this is not always possible – especially in Korea. If this is the case, don’t stress. With young children you can read and interact with books (e.g. point at the pictures and say the words), sing songs, and play simple English games. As children get older, find language institutes that encourage face-to-face interaction and communication.

6. Use What You Know: As we just learned, one of the best ways to help your child learn English is to just interact with them in English. Yes, that’s right! Stop making excuses! You don’t need to be Shakespeare; you just need to use the words and phrases you know so your child can get used to the sounds of English.

7. Guide, Don’t Push: Learning English is not easy, and pushing your child does not make it any easier. I know you have great intentions. I know you care about your child. I know you want the best. But believe me; pushing your child is not the answer. Being a supportive guide will yield much better results than pushing them. Of course, this does not mean you stop sending them to classes or making them do their English homework (that would be a terrible idea). What I mean is this – stop pushing your child to get perfect scores on their grammar tests and English tests (although children under the age of 5 probably aren't doing tests, yet). These are just scores on paper. English is so much more than a score on a paper. It is a way of communicating and experiencing the world. Let you child develop at their own pace, and limit your pushing to an occasional gentle nudge.

For more on the above thinking points please check out the following clip.

Thanks for reading (and for watching),

Josh
Keep English Real!

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Teaching English Fluency

8/2/2018

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Defining fluency in language is not easy, however, in spite of this, teachers still need to be aware of what it is and how we can help our students develop it.

To learn more, please watch the following presentation specifically aimed at helping EFL and ESL teachers understand a little bit more about how we can tailor classes and activities to help our students develop their language knowledge and performance in our quest to help them become more fluent in English.

I hope you enjoyed the talk and can see how knowledge (i.e. grammar, syntax, vocabulary, etc.) and performance (i.e. speed, tone, intonation, rhythm, naturalness, fluidity, etc.) conspire to give us fluency.
Thanks for reading

Josh
Keep English Real!

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Tips For EFL Teachers: Helping Our Students Learn

6/8/2018

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Understanding how to help our students learn a language more effectively and efficiently should be a goal for all language teachers. Therefore, in this post I am going to provide a list of research-based tips aimed at helping teachers help their students learn a language with more efficacy.

The following tips should help you develop strategies that can best facilitate language development for your students (or for yourself).

Tips For EFL Teachers!!!
1. Formulaic expressions and sentence structure drills can help students build confidence with using the language. This being true, it is important that beginner level students be afforded the opportunity to not only learn some basic expressions, but also be able to access and use them when needed (this is where drills come in handy).

2. It is important to get the level of input right. In short, for language learning the input should be easy enough to understand, but challenging enough to facilitate learning. To increase fluency, teachers are encouraged to select materials that are within the reach of their students, or even slightly below the student’s current level, and then have them focus on speaking fluency (i.e. correct speed, correct intonation, free from errors, and smoothness of speaking) or listening skills (i.e. the ability to understand and process in real time). Finally, if the level is too hard for your students then you run the risk of students not understanding, and consequently, not learning.

3. Have students focus on the general meaning of the text (i.e. spoken words or reading passage) instead of specific words. This will help them gain the ability to understand. In addition, there should be portions of your class devoted to encouraging students to focus on communication as opposed to accuracy. This is because language is a communication tool – and students need to master this skill, not just focus on syntax and lexis. .

4. When you teach a class, try to provide copious amounts of examples. Examples allow students to hear and/or see what they are learning, thus aiding implicit understanding. Of course explicit instruction is important, but just teaching grammar rules is usually not enough to facilitate language development. Examples and interaction with the examples solidifies the rules and allows students to get a feel of how a certain structure or lexical item is used.

5. Aim for the development of implicit knowledge (and the ‘feel’ of English). This can be achieved by having your students engage and interact with the language for enjoyment and communicative purposes. Encourage your students to watch, listen to, and read English materials that are at their current level (or below). This reduces the cognitive load and allows students to develop deep levels of implicit knowledge. Also, don’t forget to encourage your students to talk and interact as often as possible.

6. Staying motivated is one of the biggest challenges facing English language learners. Teachers need to really focus on having fun, engaging, and interesting classes. They also need to understand the benefits of helping their students develop robust mental images of how they will use English, and who they will be in English, once they master this new skill. Finally, teachers need to be aware of how both internal and external motivation is important to language learning.

7. Effort Equals Results! If you want to be a good teacher, then you need to make an effort (feel free to watch my TED talk on teaching and education).

8. Get your students reading! Reading is often a lot easier for students than listening as it allows the student time to process the information. This being true, reading is often a great way of helping students develop their vocabulary, as they can look up each word in a dictionary and then write it in a diary with example sentences.

9. Keep your lessons interesting and relevant. (I think this is pretty self-explanatory.)

10. Have fun and take responsibility. You must take charge and inspire your students. No one likes a boring class void of care. So don’t be that go-through-the-motions teacher – because that teacher makes the rest of us look bad.

Please click on the link to watch the slide show I have prepared – 10 Tips Language Teachers Should Know.

Thanks for reading

Josh
Keep English Real!

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Involve the Parents and Reap the Rewards!

자녀의 영어교육을 도와주는 7가지 방법

7 Ways To Help Your Children Learn English

Teaching English Fluency

Tips For EFL Teachers: Helping Our Students Learn

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