ELT & English Essay - week 10 // Research Report: Survey on the Purpose of Learning English.

Introduction

More and more people around world begin to learn English. Since it is crucial for future English teachers to understand the students’ purpose of learning English, it was decided to investigate (1) how important English is in students' opinion, and (2) why they learn English.

 

Method

In order to find out the students’ awareness on English language, an 8 item survey was designed. The first two questions collected the basic information such as responders’ gender and age, and the following two questions asked about when they began to learn English and how they evaluate their own English proficiency level. Rest of the questions were about their purpose of learning English and the necessity of English education. The questions were provided in various types including multiple choice, checkbox, Likert scale, and paragraph.

 

Students' Importance on English

It turned out that average students think English is important in their real life. Also, all the responders gave 8 points or more out of 10 on the question asking if they think English education is necessary. In contrast, they showed the different choice in self-evaluation on English proficiency. It means they think English is important regardless of their English ability.

 

The Purpose of Learning English

All the responders included the option "to communicate with foreign people," in their answer to the question asking about the reasons they learn English. Other options were marked 2 times each except "to travel," which was selected only once. There is possibility that to communicate with foreigners is the best reason because it has wide range of meaning; however, there is no doubt, at least, they consider English as a language rather than a mere method for a certain goal.

Conclusion

To sum up, English learners are interested in English as a language rather than a tool, and they all agree that English is important even though they are not very good at English. This can be a good reason for the need of practical English education.

ELT & Enlgish Essay - week 6

     “The Chinese Grandmother” is one of the four literatures dealt with in the class. 16 students of both the morning and afternoon class chose the poem, “To a Daughter Living Home,” as the best educational content for high school students. Though the students who liked the story, “The Chinese Grandmother,” were a half of the ones who preferred “To a Daughter Living Home,” still it is a good text for English teachers. According to the blog posts of 3 students among 8, the story is adequate for high school students because the message in it is beneficial for them, and it has abundant linguistic resources.

     The bloggers agree that the story contains valuable message for high school students. Jinsu Hwang writes, “it teaches the students one of the social issues, which is the cultural/age distinct,” and “it will help students to overcome the difficulty when facing a stranger or in this kind of situation shown in the text” (Hwang, 2014.10.7). Similarly, Jihee Shin believes that the students will “have the comprehensive culture understanding by learning such a diverse material” (Shin, 2014.10.9). Perhaps we can agree that dealing with cultural issues will benefit the students.

     They also feel that the story is written in appropriate language. Hwang points out that it consists of “simple and clear words” rather than difficult vocabulary items. He thinks the students would learn that the good writing is not always about using difficult words (Hwang, 2014.10.7). Another point that Shin finds is that it is written in sequential order. She says that there are many tenses in one passage, which is “helpful for teaching grammar” (Shin, 2014.10.9). In addition, Haneul Joh suggests that through this story, the students would learn about rhetorical devices such as simile and metaphor, and it will motivate them to study literature (Joh, 2014.10.11). It seems all of the points are well describing the potential of the story.

     In summary, these three bloggers give a fine defense of using “The Chinese Grandmother” in a high school literature lesson. The story not only conveys valuable moral lessons but also is filled with abundant linguistic features.

References:

Hwang, Jinsu (2014.10.7) “EEE Week 5 Assignment” [Web Log Post] Retrieved from http://hjshjs360.blogspot.kr/.

Shin, Jihee (2014.10.9) “The benefits of using some prose for English class at high school” [Web Log Post] Retrieved from http://tongtongyi3.blogspot.kr/.

Joh, Haneul (2014.10.11) “Week 5 Assignment of ELT & Essay ” [Web Log Post] Retrieved from http://2012103026.blogspot.kr/.

ELT & English Essay - week 5

    Picking up appropriate educational contents is one of the main concerns for English teachers. Sometimes, a success of the lesson depends on the contents because they directly influence the learners' motivation, which is often regarded as the most important factor in successful education. There are various types of repertoire, and one of the ways English teachers favor is using a good story such as “The Chinese Grandmother.”

    If a story is to be used in the lesson, it should meet at least two conditions: a) it should convey good message, b) it should contain appropriate language. “The Chinese Grandmother” is a story about a Chinese woman who has grown up in North America and met her grandmother. When she saw her, she found there was a huge difference between her and her grandmother. Nevertheless, she could feel that she was somehow connected with her. Generation gap is becoming more and more wider these days, and through this story, the students would learn to admire their ancestors rather than underestimate their profound life-long experience.

    When it comes to the language, “The Chinese Grandmother” consists of language of appropriate level, neither too difficult nor too easy. Since it is a story rather than a poem for example, it is written in understandable grammar structure unlike diffuse sentences of poems. Also, it gives such useful expressions like "as if" that the learners can get familiar with those. In addition, there are sufficient rhetorical examples such as simile and metaphor.

    Using a good story like this would be a great choice for English teachers because it has power of moving and inspiring people, and changing their lives. If you are looking for an adequate content for your lesson, why don’t you try this one?