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?