Schlagwort: Teaching

One of the most commonly reported problems in EFL classrooms in Japan is that students switch to Japanese during a task, especially when they want to say something that is important to them. While it is good to see that students are so motivated in a task that they really do wish to communicate, it would be even better if they were equally motivated to say that same thing in L2 (English). After all, while we always want our students to be motivated, the purpose of an EFL class is generally to learn and practice English, and not to use L1 (Japanese) to have interesting conversations. One interesting approach to responding to this issue that we have considered recently is to apply Robert Dilts’ model of Logical Levels. In this model, any behaviour can be viewed at six levels. These are shown below with questions which are useful for thinking at each of the logical levels.

Environment Where and when is the behaviour taking place?
Behaviour What specifically is happening in this behaviour?
Capability What other behaviours are possible?
Beliefs and Values What does the person believe that supports this behaviour? What is important to the person that supports this behaviour?
Identity Who is the person when they are carrying out the behaviour?
Spirit What bigger systems is the person part of and contributing to?

Change can be achieved at any of these levels. Below, we give some simple examples of how this particular behaviour could be changed. Although we have simply sketched out some possibilities for each level, you may find yourself considering many more possibilities. It is especially useful to remember that you can think about each of the levels by thinking about how it is relevant to the Teacher or to the Student. For example, at the level of beliefs and values, what beliefs and values does the studenthave that causes them to switch into Japanese? And what beliefs and values does the teacher have that permits/facilitates this behaviour?

Environment

Move students to a new location in the classroom.
Have students work with a new partner.
Use L2 background music, a change in lighting, open windows, a rearrangement of desks, or something else to create an ‘English environment’. Reinforce to students that only English should be used at these times.
Put interesting L2 peripheral stimuli in the room – posters of L2 speaking countries, books, art etc. Let these be an indirect influence.
Take students out of the classroom and get them speaking L2 in another area of the university. On a sunny day it can be pleasant to be outside speaking with a partner. This subtly suggests to students that the L2 exists outside the classroom and it is ok to use it outside the classroom.

Behaviour

Consider closely what is happening in this behaviour. What are the triggers that cause students to change into L1? Can these triggers be changed?
Consider Teacher behaviour. Does the teacher speak Japanese? If so, when? And what percentage of the time? Find ways to stay in L2. Use easy to understand L2.
For the sake of student confidence, correct minimally and respectfully.
When introducing new vocabulary explain in L2 and put in a context that students will understand e.g. if the new word is sneakers point to a students wearing sneakers and ask is she wearing sneakers now? It’s very likely one or more students in the room will know the answer and be able to respond. Use simple yes or no questions to activate learning and understanding of new vocab.

Capability

People are always capable of doing alternative behaviours and you can also teach students strategies to extend their capabilities so that they can respond in a different way than switching to L1.

Teach circumlocution techniques such as “How do I say …”
Teach techniques for gaining time such as: “Just a moment”
Encourage students to call on you for assistance if they have difficulty saying something.
Show students that they are a resource for each other by putting them in pairs and having them practice questions like “How do I say [Japanese phrase] in English?”

Beliefs and Values

Consider ways that you can help students to install beliefs and values that will support their language learning. Also, critically examine your own beliefs and values as a teacher to consider how your expectations are shaping the actual performance of the students. It is probable that your students believe things such as: “It is unnatural for Japanese to speak English to each other.” You can begin to identify these limiting beliefs and to challenge them. Often the best way to challenge them is to use a metaphor. Or alternatively, you can use an older student as a role-model. If you can get a video of the older student talking about how he/she learned English, the younger students can unconsciously model the beliefs and values of this successful English user. Some beliefs that can support students staying in L2 include:

“I always talk to my friends in Japanese and when I talk to them in English, I can learn even more about them.”
“This English class is a wonderful opportunity to practice speaking English.”
“It’s ok to make mistakes because that allows me to learn more.”

Identity

At this level, we ask the question, “Who is the student” or “What role is the student playing during this activity?”.

Role plays: e.g. Imagine that you are a German and your partner is Italian. You need to use English as a common language. Use regalia (props) to create a fantasy based on a new identity for the students.
In depth students can generate a whole new character for themselves imagining they are a person from the L2 country. They can have a new name, job family, hobbies, age etc and you can have a cocktail party for them to relax and enjoy in their new identity. On any level creating a new character will help penetrate the barriers of social conditioning.
Limiting “English Time” to a specified length of time and “pretending to be a foreigner.” You can also consider your own identity within the teaching context. As a teacher, who are you? What is your role?

Spirit

You can ask the students, either directly or through metaphor questions like “What is bigger that you, that you are part of, and that you contribute to?” Japan is a group-oriented society and people are very aware of the needs of the whole group. With careful framing, you can use this to encourage the students to stay in L2.
You could say something like, “So we have created a lovely learning community here. And it is up to each one of you to play your part in this community. When you switch into Japanese, your partner and the other students are losing out, so it is good to stay in English and both you and everyone else can really improve.”
You could remind students that English will be part of their future and all the opportunities that it will open up.
If students focus on their Japanese identity so much that they are unwilling to speak English, you can utilize this by suggestion that “English will give you an opportunity to tell people all around the world how wonderful Japan is.”

Have fun thinking about and exploring the logical levels as your students improve their English. The ideas that we present here are very much a work in progress and we welcome all comments and feedback in order to take these ideas to a higher level.

Schlagwörter Ben Backwell, Teaching

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PRESENT Model

I was working with my students today to help them develop better presentations and came up with the PRESENT model which incorporates a lot of important NLP ideas and presentation tips in an easy-to-remember mnemonic. Below, I have given a simple initial description of this model. Later, I hope to develop it in more detail and to use it as the basis for helping students and other people to make more effective presentations.
Perceptual Positions
As you practice and carry out the presentation, think of it as you see the audience and room out of your own eyes (first position). Also, think of how your audience perceives you (second position). Finally, imagine that you are standing at the side of the room watching both yourself and the audience (third position). Notice what you learn from each position that can help you to make a better presentation.
Rapport with the audience
Create strong rapport with your audience right from the beginning. Creating rapport with a group can be done in several ways. You could mingle with the group members and do an activity with the group in which you are taking part as a participant. Or if this is not feasible, try to identify the rapport leaders in each section of the audience and mirror/match their behaviour. All groups have natural rapport leaders that other people unconsciously follow. If you can create rapport with these rapport leaders, then the whole audience will come into rapport with you. You can test whether you have created solid rapport by trying to lead the audience in some way. For some example, when you nod your head, do they all nod along with you?
Express in VAK
This is the biggest item in the list. Of course, the words that you use should appeal to people in the audience no matter what their representational system is. So, you can use visual language such as ‚picture‘, auditory language such as ‚listen‘, and kinesthetic language such as ‚feel‘.
You should also consider all representational systems in the non-verbal behaviours of your presentation. For visual, be sure that you are suitably dressed and that you are using clear pictures or graphs or similar. For auditory, talk in a clear loud voice at an appropriate speed. Vary your voice to match and enhance the content of your talk. For Kinesthetic, use gestures to organize the space around your body in ways that match your content. For example, you could anchor concept 1 on your left hand and anchor concept 2 on your right hand. You can also set up spatial anchors in the room to anchor states such as curiosity, agreement, etc.
You may also like to use the charisma pattern (starting in K, moving to A, and then moving to V) which will ensure that you reach all of the audience effectively.
Stories
Stories are a great way to liven up a presentation. People are interested in your personal stories and it can be a great way to get their attention right from the beginning. You can use metaphors to support or exemplify the content of your presentation or to induce appropriate states in the audience. You can also use split stories (embedded metaphors) to embed your content within a story or to create a trance state in the listeners if that is appropriate.
Eyes Up
As you walk onto the stage, the audience is already watching you. Be sure that you have your eyes up and are watching the audience from the moment they can see you. Then walk confidently out onto the stage, take a pause, look around at the audience, ensure you have their attention, and only then say your initial greeting. Unless you are specifically trying to get another effect by using your eyes, keeping your eyes up throughout the presentation can be the most effective.
Notes
Too many presenters read from a script or even from their own slides on the screen. Make sure that you have made simple notes that you can speak from to reproduce your presentation. Practice with these notes until your presentation is perfect. This will make your presentation far more natural and spontaneous, and you will also feel much more confident.

‎Your notes don’t have to actually be ’notes‘ in the traditional sense. While keywords or a list of phrases might be most appropriate for one presenter, another presenter ’notes‘ could also perhaps mean physical anchors used as memory aides or perhaps visual anchors in the form of pictures, graphs, a mindmap, and so on. One advantage of visual notes is that a lot of complex information or relationships or large amounts of information can be shown more concisely than using words. Try different kinds of notes to learn what is best for you.

Timing
Make sure that your presentation fits into the allotted time period by practicing with a stopwatch or timer in advance. If there is a questions and answers section after your presentation, be sure to have included that in your timing.

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This is just a brief introduction to the PRESENT model. Feedback is welcome! And here it is again:
Perceptual Positions
Rapport
Express in VAK
Stories
Eyes Up
Notes
Timing
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©Copyright by Dr. Brian Cullen 2011