Another Funny English Headline

Today my husband set aside a page from our local newspaper because of a very funny headline. This one got by the editor(s), but there must have been numerous readers who called in about the error in word choice/word form.  The headline in the paper edition was

"Day Two of Furious Turkey Demonstrations" 

I looked for the link online before photographing the newspaper.  The online edition had been correct(ed) as you can see here.  

Do non-native speakers understand why the original headline is so hilarious or strange?  Do you know the bird "turkey," which Americans eat at Thanksgiving?  This headline seems to be announcing that turkeys are furious and demonstrating for the second day.  I wonder if UT San Diego will make a formal apology since the above use of English error makes the reader start off laughing about something serious.  

No Shortcuts to Competence in Vocabulary

A while ago (12/13/12), an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal (paper version) grabbed my attention.  The title was "Vocabulary Declines, with Unspeakable Results." The article by E.D. Hirsch, Jr. can be viewed at the above google-cache link (although I don't know for how long).

The reason I read the article was that, just the day before it was printed, I had had a conversation with a high-intermediate TOEFL student who wondered why our English language school doesn't place students by level according to a vocabulary score.  I didn't have a good answer to his question.  How important is vocabulary to mastery of English?  Can we rate an ESL student's ability level by the vocabulary that (s)he can command in reading, listening, speaking, and writing?  How would we create a measurement/scale for that?  Do test-makers rate every word used in their exam by level?

The focus of the Hirsch article is on native speakers of English - on the American educational system and how it fails to equip its public-school students with appropriate academic and formal vocabulary so that they can function as well-spoken adults.  Hirsch points out that "Vocabulary building is a slow process that requires students to have enough familiarity with the context to understand unfamiliar words.  Substance, not skill, develops vocabulary and reading ability - there are no shortcuts." 

I totally agree with Hirsch that there are "no shortcuts" to learning vocabulary.  It is unlikely that a student can quickly grow his/her lexicon without simultaneously expanding her/his knowledge of various subjects.  In other words, vocabulary is best learned and remembered within a subject or topical context.

Some readers may disagree with the view that "all verbal tests are, at bottom, vocabulary tests." However, as Hirsch says, research has "shown that ...verbally weighted scores are good predictors of income level.  Words are twice as important as math scores..."  My students can attest that what holds them back the most in achieving the scores that they need on the IELTS or iBT (TOEFL) is a lack of vocabulary. The TOEFL is designed to test a non-native speaker's ability to comprehend and use language that would allow them to function in an American college.

How can we teachers ensure that students are well equipped vocabulary-wise for college and university or for the business world.  Will studying vocabulary lists work?  When a test asks a student to figure out the "gist" or general meaning of a reading or listening passage on the iBT, can a student consistently choose the correct answer if (s)he is totally unfamiliar with the topic being discussed or written about. The test-makers (ETS) claim that all the information a student needs to correctly answer a question on the iBT is contained in the reading or listening passage.  They do not need to be knowledgeable about any particular subject matter.   

Recently, one of my students (Chinese) in a low intermediate preparatory iBT writing class scored 40 out of 120 points on the iBT.  He was very ashamed that he got a "0" on the listening part of the exam. He said that he had no familiarity with what the speakers were talking about, so he couldn't guess enough answers to score even a few points out of the 30 possible for the listening section. I was somewhat incredulous that he scored so low, too, because he was very good at recognizing individual spoken words and to orally give synonyms for the majority of vocabulary words that we had learned from a list in our textbook.  What went wrong when he had to listen to lectures and conversations in English where all the vocabulary was contextualized?  (It is important to note that he had trained for listening and speaking for the iBT, but, according to the student, the topics covered in the listening passages on the exam had not been covered in his practice sessions.)  Is there any way to ensure that all potential academic topics discussed on the iBT can be covered in a ten-week preparatory course? 

The WSJ article and my own observations of ESL students continue to reinforce the notion that much more attention needs to be given to vocabulary development both in public schools and ESL programs.  For teachers, this means that we must be more creative and attentive to the multiple meanings of single words in both common, everyday speech and in more restricted academic contexts. Teaching a love of words could go a long ways toward making students delight rather than cringe at the thought of learning vocabulary.  

Verb + ing

Recently I realized that telling students that prepositions are usually followed by nouns or gerunds (= verb+ing) confused them.  Why?  There are lots of structures in English that have the pattern of verb+ing. What are they?  In addition to the gerund, we have the present participle that is used in the progressive tense (e.g., "I am singing a song now.") with the verb "to be."  We also use it as an adjective form in the participial adjectives like interesting, fascinating, compelling, frustrating, demanding, and so on.

It is important that students understand what words do - that words play different roles in a sentence.  Verb+ing can act as an adjective (He is simply dazzling, isn't he?); be a part of the progressive or continuous form of a verb (Now look at him.  He's dazzling people with his ability to dance.), or function as a noun (Dazzling people is easy for him.).  Teachers, the next time you talk about Verb + ing and see a lot of hands go up or puzzled faces, these several uses of the structure verb+ing could be the reasons your students are confused.  Anticipating such areas of possible confusion always helps me feel like I'm at least two steps ahead of my students in the classroom.

After having taught very advanced-level students for a decade, it is stimulating to be teaching intermediate levels again.  In many ways, questions from intermediate-level students are fundamentally more challenging because they focus on structures that are similar in appearance but whose functions are quite different.  What I love most still about teaching English is how much I learn about my native language from my students.

Online Vocabulary Quiz #4

To Intermediate Vocabulary Students:
Finally, I succeeded in putting together another online quiz for you to practice before tomorrow!  Yay!
Also, I eliminated extra credit vocabulary as you were tested on this in the previous quiz.  As always, you can do this online quiz as many times as you like.  It is set to change the order of questions every time.  In that way, each time you test yourself, it will feel like a new quiz.  Good luck!  Have fun!  You're welcome. ;-)

If you have any questions or problems with the online quiz, you can post your comments below.

Online Vocabulary Quiz (#3)

To Intermediate Vocabulary Students:

Here's another online Practice Vocabulary Quiz (3).  There seems to be a slight glitch in the matching sections of the quiz, so if YOUR answer and the ONLINE answer match, you can consider your choice CORRECT (even though the site says "incorrect" and takes off points).  I will contact the hosts of this site to see if there is something I'm doing wrong to create the errors.

You can take these online quizzes as many times as you like and get a certificate of completion.  You will get extra credit for taking the quiz by printing out your score/certificate and bringing it to class.

Have fun!  Hope this helps you prepare for the next quiz!

Online Vocabulary Quiz (#2)

After a wonderful free training session on Friday afternoon at OTAN with Barry Bakin from LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District), I have created my first online practice quiz for my intermediate vocabulary students.  This example is primarily posted here for the benefit of my students, but you are welcome to check it out.  To take the quiz, you need to type in a name (any name will do). When you finish it, it will ask for your e-mail, but you don't need to give it.  Just click the "x" to close the box, and you should get your results.  It will display your correct and incorrect answers (unfortunately, it won't explain why they're incorrect) and display a certificate that you can download or print out as evidence of your success.

As a graduate student and ESL instructor, I am continually growing my skills.  When I have another block of time, I will post more information about how to use the ProProfs site for creating online quizzes. It is pretty straightforward if you have worked with other online testmakers.  I have struggled to create my own quiz with Hot Potatoes software.  ProProfs is so much easier for me.  You should also visit OTAN (the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network) as Mr. Bakin taped the online training session so that you can view it on your own at a convenient time.  The advantage, however, of actually attending a session is that you can ask questions of the trainer as you are trying out the site.

Online Teacher Aides to the Rescue

Are you a creative teacher who wants to customize an integrated language arts or math lesson?  Then, you need to check out Lesson Writer and NiceNet.  These are free websites that allow teachers to create lesson plans using their own materials or using articles they find online.  And for teachers who are assessment conscious - who isn't these days?, there is a truly convenient Easy TestMaker.  All you have to do for any of these sites is sign up with a valid e-mail and create a password.  Voilà!

Here's an example of a page (downloaded first as a pdf) that I transferred to a Word Document, so that I could join it up to other test pages created in Word.  TestMaker is a huge timesaver.  You can do multiple choice, cloze, true-false, and matching tests, format into a single column or multiple colums as you like.  It will create an answer key for you, too.

On the other hand, if you're having one of those days when your mind is on hold and you just want someone to hand you a lesson, check out Teachers First.  These lessons are primarily designed for K-12 students, but there's endless material for ESL instructors here.  Again, this is a free website.

The V(owel)-C(onsonant)-silent "e" Rule

One of the most frustrating features of English is pronunciation because it isn't clearly related to spelling. There doesn't seem to be any logic to spelling and pronunciation - no matter if you're a native speaker or a non-native speaker of English. So, are there any rules that we teachers can pass on to our students about how to say unfamiliar words?

The simplest rule that most native speakers follow - even if they don't consciously know it's a rule - is the (V)owel - (C)onsonant - Silent ("e") pronunciation pattern V-C-e at the end of a word.  The easiest way to illustrate is with words: gate, late, mate, state, fate, date, rate, relate, debate and so on. In these words, the "a" in the "-ate" part sounds like [e] in the phonetic alphabet, "e" sounds like [i], "i" sounds like [ay], "o" like [oʊ], and "u" like [yu], with a "y" sound in front of the "u", as in "cute" [kyut] or without the "y" sound, as in "dude" [dud] or "flute" [flut].

kite       vote       cute           complete
trite       dote       mute          delete
cite        tote       flute           compete

bite       mode     fume          

mite      pole       perfume       
site        mole      assume          
lime      sole        crude              
mime     hope     attitude        
crime     cope     dude
fine       dope      rule
wine      mope    mule
line        rode      cube
         
As you can see, there are a lot more words ending in -aCe, -iCe, -oCe, and -uCe than -eCe.  I suspect that that probably means there are alternate spellings for the long "e" sound in English. And, of course, remember that the above "rule" (V-C-e) is only a rule of thumb.  In other words, there are several exceptions to the rule, such as the irregular past participles, done and gone, whose "o's" are pronounced differently in each word and differently from lone, which does follow the rule.  

Word Formation Organizer for Vocabulary Students

This is a graphic organizer (Blank Word Formation Sheet) for my intermediate vocabulary students. They can download it as a Word Document (under the File menu) and type in different word forms along with an example sentence for any target vocabulary. Teachers can also fill in the sheet themselves, print it out, and refer students in the future to this page to download additional sheets. (If you're like me, I'm trying to save myself having to print out lots of copies for every student that loses his/her original copy or wants additional copies to add to.) 

I also teach my students how to use index cards for reviewing vocabulary, but the word formation sheets are another way to review language, especially for exams which focus on being able to transform words into their correct parts of speech.  

Cambridge Practice Word Formation

I have noticed, using Blogger Stats, that many people who visit this site are looking for Cambridge Exam practice. For those of you looking for word formation practice, two years ago, I created 10 crossword puzzles which cover 180 different word forms from the Cambridge exams (FCE, CAE, CPE).

To get the most from these crossword puzzles, drill yourself and see how fast you can fill in the squares (if you're familiar with the words, for example). There is a timer below the crossword puzzle so that you can see how fast you're able to come up with the 18 word forms. When you finish the crossword, click on the "pause" button at the bottom of the page to see your time. Also, if you click on the wrong letter to answer the crossword, no letter will be printed in the crossword. In other words, if you keep hitting the same key and no letter is printed in your puzzle, it means that you haven't chosen the correct letter.

Are you ready to play? To bring up all the pages having to do with word forms or word formation, click here -> word formation or on the blue "word formation" label below this post. Hope you find these puzzles helpful and a fun way to practice word forms. Good luck!

Online Word Formation Crossword #10

One last crossword puzzle for anyone test-prepping. The Cambridge exams are only a week away for my three classes. We are planning our end of session breakfasts or dinners, and this year, a school-sponsored Cambridge farewell party at the Cove. Let's hope there's lots of sunshine on Friday afternoon.

Here's the link for Word Formation Crossword #10. Enjoy! Watch the clock at the bottom of your crossword, and try to beat your last time!

Online Word Formation Crossword #9

Ready for the next online word formation puzzle? Here is Number 9. I hope my students and others preparing for the CAE find this a useful activity. So far, none of my students have been able to do the puzzle in less than two minutes. How about you?

Online Word Formation Crossword #8

Drill, baby, drill! I'm still trying to get a large variety and number of word forms into my students' brains. For anyone else, trying to practice word formation for the Cambridge exam, as promised, here is the eighth online puzzle. With this 8th installment, we're up to 144 different words. If you see any errors, please let me know.

Online Word Formation Crossword #7

My goal is to get ten Online Word Formation puzzles up, which would translate to 180 different words that you could review here in preparation for June's CAE exam. Onward to word forms No. 7

Online Word Formation Crossword #6

If you're getting ready for the Cambridge exam and liked the first five word formation crosswords, here is the next one in this series. As before, the 18 words in this crossword are different from the ones found in the previous puzzles. Good luck, and have fun with No. 6!

Online Word Formation Crossword #5

This is the fifth in a series of online crosswords for practicing word formation for the FCE and CAE Cambridge Exam Use of English (Paper 3). There are SO many words that could occur on the exam, students often ask if there is 'a list.' Unfortunately, no.... However, the words that I have included in these puzzles are ones that I've taken from previous exams and exam prep books, going back to 2001 when I began teaching these exam preparatory courses. Each of my crossword puzzles has 18 different words or parts of words in it. By the time you finish this fifth puzzle, you will have practiced 90 different words.

***Oops! There's one error in this crossword. The clue to #4 Across is 'adj of ambition.'

Online Word Formation Crossword #4

Are you ready for another word formation crossword? Are your skills improving? This approach to learning word formation is to have some fun reviewing and rethinking these forms. Try testing your speed at completing the crosswords if you've done this one or the previous ones. Practice makes perfect!

Online Word Formation Crossword #3

Here is another challenging word formation puzzle. Good luck!

Online Word Formation Crossword #2

Here's the second online word formation crossword. If you do the first one and the second, you will have reviewed 36 different words. Please drop a comment, and let me know if these are helpful, and I'll continue. I've added a new feature to this blog - a reaction strip. This is a quick anonymous way to give feedback to me about what you think of a particular post. Thanks for your feedback.

Online Word Formation Crossword #1

The word formation section of the FCE and CAE Use of English paper is always challenging. Here is my first online word formation crossword puzzle for reviewing for the FCE, CAE, or TOEFL exams. I've abbreviated the word forms because of letter limits: n = noun, adj = adjective, v = verb, adv = adverb.

The neat thing about this online crossword puzzle is that you can time yourself (see how long it takes you to complete the crossword), and you can get a percentage score for how well you do each time. Hope you find this addition to the blog useful!