Teacher Discussion Forums

[MelissaQ]

I just wanted to know what current teachers thought about meaningful learning vs. rote memorization. Are there any words/phrases that you always encourage your students to memorize? We know that students end up learning more when they are learning the language to gain both skills and knowledge. Since the topics regarding meaningful learning are usually more interesting, the students are even more motivated to learn! So I just wanted to know how much time is spent on rote memorization in the classroom.

[longshikong]

From Day 1 you should be introducing classroom language and language for routines. If presented well, they'll readily pick this up and eventually begin using it themselves. You can facilitate this process, for example, by asking volunteers to do things like close the door, hand out workbooks, etc.

Yesterday, I Skype-interviewed with a school that's halfway between traditional ELT and CLIL (immersion-rich English). The problem I find with many traditional methods and schools for kids is they severely limit language input and practice and by doing so underestimate the intelligence of children to pick up language in a more natural way. Young children don't study--they either learn or they don't. Drill and kill ensures they can repeat a phrase on cue but not that they understand it which is what Longman's Superkids author discovered to her disappointment.