Teacher Discussion Forums

Tigertiger - it was so obvious really - issues we chatted loosely about in the staffroom I put into a more formalised setting and added some of yours on antagonsim. So much came out, not all of it complimentary unsurprising really, but at least it is a platform on which to build. I think we underest...

What to do with old colleagues from different cultures who have been around for an age and are reluctant or hostile to change? For example a reluctance to use IT or less teacher centered methods. Yes, the title is loaded but there is a gap in the staffroom here causing some ructions not least in exp...

Ho ho ho. How easy to impicitly mock a 'thick' sports star. Hmm - I know wealth, fame success and a fair amount of ability aren't everything (but they help?) but why the need to point out intellectual failings of someone who has never claimed anything in the brain department? Seems rather petty and ...

Yes, useful tips - some of which are gently touched on in the staffroom. There is a need for some crossover. We are coming from two completely different expectations of teaching and teachers - I don't think it is possible to marry the two. As for Cousin Yank in post 2 - modest as you are, there are ...

Am finding training days a bit of a problem. Western teachers dominate and 'know' everything. Local teachers conforming to Asian 'passive' stereotypes 'let' them. These are deeply unsatisfying - any suggestions to getting around this to help make them useful and learning and reflective. By the way e...

Many thanks for the useful leads. It seems, from the little, I have garnered an incredibly theoretical area but for that reason one worth following. Language acquisition I find an amazingly interesting area not least because so much of it is bound up in scienctific research rather than subjective op...

Anybody aware of connectionist theory in relation to SLA?

Beating or passsing are the usual ones. Skinning him if the opponent is really huniliated by it. If the player with the ball puts it through the opponents legs and continues the other side - that's a nutmeg. Difficult to do but really good when it comes off.

I go with your final point about it being a matter of pride to explain however, when do the words ask and forgiveness ever get used by business folk?

I would say that yes, it is normal to be annoyed when students don't listen but you have to ask yourself why they are not listening. For example is it anything you may or may not have done? Is it the end of the day? When you can answer the question as to why they are not listening then you can do so...

I would say 'ask for' as in ask for + noun although the ask forgiveness form could be idiomatic. However, I wonder firstly out of simple interest, if there is a difference in usage between the US and British or Aussie usages and secondly does it really matter as both of them are grammatical and not ...

Another British Indian programme if you can get it, is the BBCs Goodness Gracious Me - comedy, stereotypes and accents - a great combination.

Does anyone have any good brain gym ideas for the ESL classroom? A lot of the ones I have sourced on the net seemed to be aimed at either focussing the very young or calming teenagers.

They didn't even to seem to think it was necessarily written in stone that it was the bestest thing!

What is their take? That a range of methods suitable to one's context is? Or that it's fluid? Or work out what's best for you and your groups? Or dare I say do what works.

Many thanks for the replies and the links - which I haven't had too much time to look at yet. Certainly, there does seem to be a link with my experiences of Japanese students (and Indonesian ones too) with those of lolwhites. A lot of deafening silence as one of you said. It would also seem, to me a...