Teaching English With Interactive Fiction

Computer-based interactive fiction offers teachers and students fresh and exciting ways to improve their thinking and reading. I hope that http://ifdb.tads.org/ will encourage teachers and kids to use this remarkable but largely ignored resource. New works of interactive fiction appear almost weekly, and many are suitable for use with students aged eleven through eighteen.
     
        I suggest you start with "The Sleeping Princess". 

     It is a very interesting game with unfailing good humour. This is actually the first IF game I wanted to complete. Though puzzles are simple they, in fact, motivate players to play. Your input commands are clear and sensible and without arrogance, and you have a great enthusiasm for everything you do.
     Also of note, this game adds to the joy of life and optimism. Some games may indeed be more pleasant to play, just as some seem more exciting and others nastier.
     All this game lacks is a romantic description for the last episode like kissing the beauty on the head. Will you be able to kiss the Sleeping Beauty?

 

A few insights into lesson planning for young learners.

    Successful teaching comes from having a sound plan but also comes from being prepared to adapt that plan. The plan should be learners focused rather than material focused. It seems that one simple task for a lesson is enough, so keep and develop simple activity. It is always better to stretch the material rather than add different tasks; try to think sideways rather than vertically.

   

     1. Prepare a simple task.

    2. Divide your lesson into three separate blocks which shouldn't be longer that 10 minutes: A. Preparation; B. Main Task; C. Post Task. Be more focused on the sensory channels (sight, sound, touch, action). The main task should be a single activity. If you got difficult language keep the task easy, if the language is easy create a more challenging task.

    3. Leave kinaesthetic part to the end of the lesson otherwise you won't be able to bring kids' energy level down to complete the task.

    My last piece of advice would be... keep it simple!

Webinar “Listening: Issues and Debates”

was held at Oxford on 3rd August 10.00 – 11.30, presenter Mark Bartram, an expert in ELT.

Brief Summery

     Sharing experience, giving task examples. Current theory and best practices don't always coincide. Interesting point: try grade the task not the test, short tests may come helpful. Also of note, give a quiz (where listening gives answers), ask questions pre-emptive what characters will say. Another important point, think while you're listening. After listening ask students how they arrived at this or that conclusion. The slide presentation was simple but effective.

     Don't be discouraged! Even native speakers make mistakes: 'as a pose to' = as opposed to, and remember the word Thames does not rhyme with the word 'fame'.

The British National Corpus (BNC)

The British National Corpus (BNC) was originally created by Oxford University press in the 1980s - early 1990s, and it contains 100 million words of text texts from a wide range of genres (e.g. spoken, fiction, magazines, newspapers, and academic). Simply Sign up for their service!