Page 276 - Beyond Methods

264 Ensuring social relevance
11.1.5 Use the consolidated response as the basis of a discussion in class. Highlight the differences between management of talk at home and at school, and the need for transition.
11.1.6 Think about strategies and activities that will not only raise their consciousness about talk at home and talk at school, but also lessen their inhibitions to express their fears and discomforts, and to share their preferences and predilections.
11.1.7 Rather than forcing change, think about how you can be sen- sitive to the learners’ interactive styles and expectations and move them gradually to do what is expected of them in the classroom context.
11.1.8 Reflect on other ways of involving your learners in the pro- cess of bridging the gap between home language/culture and school language/culture.
11.1.9 Take any one unit of lesson from the textbook prescribed for your class and see how you can modify some of the exercises or ac- tivities to make them more sensitive to learner preferences and expec- tations.
11.1.10 Finally, think about how you can tap the print media (such as newspapers) and the electronic media (such as the Internet) to col- lect materials that would help you ensure social relevance in class.
Project 11.2: Tapping Electronic Resources
11.2.0 As demonstrated in several chapters of this book, electronic media offer unlimited possibilities for teachers to transcend the limi- tations of predetermined curricula and prescribed textbooks. One such possibility is to subscribe (it’s free and flexible!) to a so-called listserv. “Listservs are simply electronic discussion groups which allow ESL/EFL professionals all over the world to share ideas. When you subscribe to a listserv, you receive through your e-mail account, all of the messages posted by subscribers to that group. You will be able to post your own messages as well and participate in any ongoing discussions” (Christine Meloni, 1998, p.19). Here’s how you can use this resource for designing your own microstrategies. I have drawn ideas from Meloni to inform the “technical” part of this exploratory project.
11.2.1 In order to find out what is available and to choose one that most suits your needs, try the Web site called “Liszt” (http://www.liszt