Teacher Discussion Forums

Wow! :shock: It almost sounds like some high school classrooms are a waste of time ! How unfortunate that a very few ( surely it can't be more than a few ) misbehaving students have created this state of affairs. How unfair it is to other students. How unfair it is to teachers who, I feel certain, ...

Hope this helps. -EH It helps lots. 8) Your examples quite clarify the essential point, namely that there are at least two sounds (perhaps more) that are not only acceptable, but are used regularly by English speakers. I agree that the schwa sound is the most common in ordinary context, at least he...

Zirta is quite correct, Mark , But just to look again at your original sentences: 1. I am Mexican. We are Mexican. We are Mexicans. 2. I am an Engineer. We are Engineers. In the first group, I am Mexican contains a predicate adjective after the verb. Adjectives, by way of reminder, do not take plur...

Hello Iliwer , Your instincts are most definitely right on the money. :D Your daughter's teacher may be a fine teacher in most respects. However, I'm afraid it's rather common for teachers of English who have learned the language not as a native speaker to be somewhat stubborn in their belief of cer...

Hi Stephen, and welcome,

I think you must be an experienced and careful teacher. Nothing in your post I wouldn't agree with. Sounds like you have a few years under your belt.

Larry Latham

Roger and John , I don't really think there's an arguement here. There doesn't seem to be much difference in your respective positions, except, perhaps in your points-of-view. Permit me, however, to make a small observation. You both are native speakers, judging from your posts, and as far as I can...

Indeed, Roger,

That's why I simply copied Prof. Leblanc's work.

So, what with all the challanges you run up against in China, how do you do it? What are you doing in your classroom that promotes "good teaching" in the sense Mr. Leblanc has described?

Larry Latham

Hello to all, I just ran into this on the web while following a lead provided by Norm Ryder of Canberra, Australia. Thanks Norm! 8) I'm afraid I haven't secured separate permission from Professor Leblanc to reproduce his ideas here, but since I found them on the web, I hope he won't be upset that we...

Hello Stephen , and welcome, Thanks for your thought provoking post. I do indeed agree that one of the potentially most fruitful yet often overlooked and, as you've pointed out, undervalued aspects of our task as educators (regardless of what subject we may teach) is to help our students learn how t...

Hello Noonlite , Thanks for taking time to add to this topic. I'm going to take you up on your offer! 8) You know they are progressing when they can do what you taught them to do. Perhaps it is just this simple. But it begs the question: "How do I know that I'm teaching the right stuff?" (Remember, ...

Hi, Celeste , Good to have you in this thread. One problem that I have found with textbooks for "beginners" is that they seem to hit the ground running Although I understand your point, it doesn't bother me so much because I so rarely find a true beginner in my classes. What bothers me much more is ...

Strider , Alas, I concede your point! :cry: But don't you think we teachers ( at least those of us who care about this ) owe it to our students and to our profession to, at the very least, bring up this issue in places and at times where it matters? Otherwise we run the risk of perpetuating a fossi...

Hey, Norm , it's good to hear from you. I'm afraid I've never heard of Manfred Pienemann, nor of Malcolm Johnson. Perhaps that's because I'm not in Oz ( although I've done some reading of some of the Australian thinkers in this area of language acquisition--Christopher Candlin springs to mind ). I h...

...some students see that as a weakness in an authoratitive figure and don't respect the class or the teacher thereafter. Yeah, Ann, That's what people in Asia were telling me. But I just don't buy it because it doesn't square with my personal experience. Teachers in Asia, in particular, are suppos...

Is it terrible if a teacher apologizes? Heavens no!!! :shock: It's even hard for me to imagine why you ask, to tell the truth, Ann. Having lived and taught in Asia for several years, I recall hearing this, or some varient of it, from people there, but I never bought into it, and apologized many tim...