Inspirational Stories From English Language Classrooms - Flora Debora & Willy Renandya (Eds.)

TEFLIN TEACHER DEVELOPMENT SERIES
Series Editors: Willy A Renandya & Nur Hayati
TEFLIN Teacher Development Series contains short practical resource booklets

for English language teachers in Asia published by TEFLIN (The Association for
the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia) through its
Publication Division. Titles in the series (2020) include:
Introducing Task-based Language Teaching by Rod Ellis

Evaluating, Adapting and Developing Materials for Learners of English as an
International Language by Brian Tomlinson
Cooperative Learning in Language Education by George M Jacobs & Willy A Renandya
Teaching Pragmatics in EFL Classrooms by Nguyen Thi Thuy Minh & Le Van Canh
Implementing a Text-based Approach in English Language Teaching by Helena Agustien
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms edited by Flora Debora Floris &
Willy A Renandya
Feedback in L2 Writing Classrooms by Icy Lee
Instructed SLA: A Practical Guide for Teachers by Eun Sung Park
If you have any queries, please contact:

TEFLIN Publication Division
Email: publication.division@teflin.org
Copyright © 2020
TEFLIN Publication Division in collaboration with Bintang Sejahtera Press
c/o Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Negeri Malang
Jalan Semarang 5 Malang, East Java, Indonesia, 65145
http://www.journal.teflin.org
ISBN: 978-602-1150-41-2
First published 2020

Book Illustrator: Stefany Christiana Dewi
Cover Designer: Himawan Prakosa
Formatting: Ibnuz Zaki
INSPIRATIONAL STORIES
FROM ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS
Edited by
Flora Debora Floris & Willy A Renandya
TEFLIN Teacher Development Series

published by
TEFLIN Publication Division
Teacher training aims to equip teachers with basic knowledge and skills. But to
achieve depth, maturity and teacher wisdom, we need the additional catalyst of
lived experience. This book offers teachers just that – a rich resource of other
teachers’ stories to activate reflection on their own teaching values and
practices. This will be a must for teacher development groups and for individual
teachers to reflect on too.
(Prof. Alan Maley – The C Group, UK)
Through meticulous editing, this volume Inspirational Stories from English

Language Classrooms offers a fascinating collection of 40 stories and classroom
activities written by English teachers from 20 countries. As part of TEFLIN series,
this book has been especially prepared for those who wish to use stories as
motivating and engaging teaching stimuli for a wide range of institutional
contexts. This book will be particularly useful for English teachers, trainees, and
curriculum or materials developers. The professional expertise of the editors has
enriched the book content, ensured by the association, TEFLIN.
(Prof. Utami Widiati, M.A., Ph.D – State University of Malang, Indonesia)
I
t is a great pleasure for TEFLIN to publish this Teacher Development
Series, a series which provides useful and affordable resources for English
language teachers and teacher educators in Asia. The booklets in the
series cover various topics pertaining to ELT and are written by experts in
the field. Teachers and teacher educators will enjoy reading the series as the
booklets are written in a friendly and accessible style.
Throughout more than sixty years of TEFLIN, we have shown our full
commitment towards teacher training and education and teacher professional
development in the field of ELT by means of various programs. We have
organized conferences and academic forums for English language teachers both
nationally and internationally, and collaborated with different organizations to
provide support for teachers in developing their professionalism, such as, by
giving scholarships to attend conferences and conducting teacher training.
Through the TEFLIN Publication Division, we have published volumes of the

TEFLIN Journal, a peer-reviewed journal indexed in Scopus and fully accredited
with an “A” rating by the Indonesian Ministry of Research and Higher Education.
The journal contains both research and concept papers in the field of ELT. This
TEFLIN Teacher Development Series is another project of the division and is yet
another form of our commitment to giving continued support to the
development of English language teaching in Indonesia and in the wider region.
This year we are aiming to launch five books of the series, and are committed to
publishing more titles in the following years to support teachers’ sustainable
professional development.
We are indebted to Dr. Willy A Renandya for sharing with us his brilliant ideas
and for giving his utmost effort and lending his expertise to this project. Without
his capacity and networking, this project would not be possible. We also
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms iii

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Teacher Development Series
gratefully thank all the experts who have contributed to the series. Their
contribution is invaluable.
We hope this series will serve its purpose, to empower English teachers and
facilitate their professional development through quality and accessible
resources.
Joko Nurkamto Yazid Basthomi
President of TEFLIN Coordinator of TEFLIN Publication Division
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms iv

’
T
he TEFLIN Teacher Development Series is a series of short practical
resource booklets for English language teachers in Asia as part of a
collaborative project with the Publication Division of TEFLIN (The
Association for the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language in
Indonesia). The booklets (or modules) are intended to be used by teachers (both
pre-service and in-service) and teacher educators as a learning resource and as
the basis for organizing workshops, in-service courses and various other
purposes of teaching and learning and teacher professional development.
The booklets in the Series are written in an accessible and teacher-friendly style
and cover both principles and techniques and include different topics relevant to
ELT and teacher professional development. Each booklet contains practical ways
for teachers to apply new ideas in their own teaching as well as reflective tasks
that provide opportunities for the users to reflect on their own classroom
practices.
For the second batch of the series, we have had a great honor and pleasure to
work with experts in various areas of ELT. One of them is Flora Debora Floris, a
productive young scholar in the field, who generously shares her knowledge and
expertise in editing and also contributing her own story to this great collection
of inspirational stories from English language classrooms.
We extend our utmost gratitude to Flora Debora Floris as well as other experts
for helping make this project happen. We are committed to publishing more
quality booklets in the coming years in order to meet the needs of English
teachers and teacher educators in Asia. We hope to collaborate with many more
experts in various areas of ELT and bring out booklets that are affordable and
beneficial for the development of ELT and teacher professionalism particularly in
the Asian region.
Willy A Renandya
Nur Hayati
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms v

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms is a collection of
inspirational stories contributed by language teachers working in a wide range of
contexts in different parts of the world. The book is part of TEFLIN Teacher
Development Series, a collaborative project with the Publication Division of
TEFLIN (The Association for the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language in
Indonesia).
This book is for English teachers, trainees, scholars, administrators, as well as
policy makers who are interested in motivating and empowering their students
through short-stories. This book also serves as a resource book for pre-service
teachers who are doing their micro-teaching/practicum or pursuing their higher
degree education.
The book contains classroom stories and suggested teaching/learning activities
that can be used in language classrooms, teacher training and teacher
professional development programs for pedagogical purposes. The stories
brought by 44 contributors from 20 different countries in Asia and beyond are
based on their authentic teaching experiences; and the suggested classroom
activities presented in this book can be used as a model on how these stories
might be used to enhance language learning and teacher learning.
This book originated from a simple idea, i.e., we love telling stories. We become
story tellers and story listeners since young. Narrative conventions such as folk
tales, novels, films, the story of one’s life, or family stories around the dinner table
have always enchanted and fascinated children as well as adults. Throughout the
history of mankind, storytelling has been one of our most innate and fundamental
communication forms.
Geoffrey Berwind, a professional storytelling consultant believes that “stories
powerfully connect us to our listeners” (in Duncan, 2014, par. 6). Stories build
relationships and are very powerful “for reducing the distance among teachers, self,
and peers” (Ling-Chen, 1992, p. 970). Furthermore, sharing one’s real-life stories
enables our interlocutors to “feel that they get to know us as authentic people”
(Berwind in Duncan, 2014, par. 6). Stories bring out genuine human connection
which is a fundamental element in any human interaction.
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms vi

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For the past decades, studies have shown the benefits of the use of stories as a
powerful pedagogical instrument from pre-school through to university level
classrooms. Stories help language learners develop the four language skills of
speaking, listening, reading and writing and activate their thinking skill (McRae,
1991). “Stories allow instructors to teach the four language skills to all levels of
language proficiency and can enhance ELT courses for learners if selected and
exploited appropriately” (Murdoch, 2002, p. 9).
Wajnryb (2003) argues that the content and meaning of stories have impact in
engaging learners in their learning process and developing their target language
skills. Similarly, Wright (in Floris, 2016, p. 112) states “above all stories offer the
language learner an opportunity of experiencing language rather than studying
it”. In addition, other positive values which are embedded in stories “can
contribute a great deal to the socio-cultural, emotional, cognitive and personal
growth of EFL learners” (Pathan, 2013, p. 21).
Our real teaching experiences are stories that may appeal to many students and
teachers as what we have experienced might be relevant and familiar to the listeners
or readers. Our stories therefore have the potential to be used as an instrument to
develop students’ language proficiency and also to help us become more reflective
practitioners.
This book is divided into 5 sections and 40 chapters. As you read the stories in
this book, consider how you might adopt—or adapt—the experience and the
insight that these texts convey for both you and your students. We hope that
this book will inspire you to develop and use your own story as a catalyst or a
springboard for teaching language skills.
References:
• Duncan, R. (2014) Tap the power of storytelling. Retrieved 1 November 2018
from http://www.forbes.com/sites/rodgerdeanduncan/2014/01/04/tap-the-
power-of-storytelling/#74f8abf614ab
• Floris, F. D. (2016) Because everyone has a story to tell: Interview with Andrew
Wright. RELC, 47(1), 111- 114.
• Ling-Chen, Pu (1992) Storytelling in the language classroom. Far East Journal,
20(4), 967-971.
• McRae, J. (1991). Literature with a small 'l'. London: Macmillan Education.
• Murdoch, G. (2002). Exploiting well-known short stories for language skills
development. IATEFL LCS SIG Newsletter, 23, 9-17.
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms vii

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• Pathan, M. M. (2013). Use of short-stories in EFL classroom: Advantages and

implications. An International Refereed Journal of Postmodern Studies, 4(2),
21-26.
• Wajnryb, R. (2003). Stories: Narrative activities in the language classroom.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms viii

W
e would like to acknowledge the help of all the people involved
in this book project.
First of all, we are highly indebted to each one of the book
authors for their excellent contributions. Without their
contributions, this book would not have become a reality.
We also wish to acknowledge the valuable support provided by the Publication
Division of TEFLIN (The Association for the Teaching of English as a Foreign
Language in Indonesia) regarding the improvement of the quality and the
publication of chapters. We really appreciate it.
Our thanks and appreciations also go to our colleagues who have willingly
helped us out in developing the project such as sharing our Call for Chapters or
submitting their proposals. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of
them.
Finally, our acknowledgement would be incomplete without thanking our
families who have provided their unwavering love and encouragement at all
times. Their support was worth more than we can express on paper.
Flora Debora Floris

Willy Ardian Renandya
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms ix

Andriyani Marentek is a lecturer at Universitas Sam Ratulangi, Manado-
Indonesia. She teaches English and ELT subjects to both undergraduates and
post-graduates and does research in the field of Applied Linguistics.
Beatrix Burghardt, a native of Hungary, teaches second language studies at
Indiana University Bloomington. She has extensive experience teaching general
and academic ESL courses and training language teachers.
Benjamin Luke Moorhouse is an Assistant Professor in the Department of
Education Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. He promotes learner choice
in his courses and publications.
Cherie Brown is an Assistant Professor at Akita International University, Japan.
She is co-author of resource books, academic articles and co-winner of NZ’s
International Excellence in Tertiary Teaching Award. Cherie researches teacher
development, vocabulary and classroom collaboration.
Clay Williams is an associate professor at Akita International University, where he
teaches in a graduate-level English language teacher training program and
researches cross-linguistic word identification process development.
Curtis Kelly has developed learner-centered approaches for students with low
ability, low confidence, and low motivation. He has written over 30 books and
made over 300 presentations on adult education, motivation, brain science, and
teaching writing.
Daniel Dusza is a teacher/researcher living and studying in Japan. His research
examines orthographic influences on learning English in Japan. Telling and
writing stories are his inseparable partners.
Dang Arif Hartono teaches English and academic writing at Podomoro University.
He earned his M.A. in TESOL from Michigan State University.
Dat Bao is a senior lecturer in Monash University. His latest book (related to task
design) is Creativity and Innovations in ELT Material Development: Looking
beyond the Current Design (2018).
Erina M. Hunt teaches at Otago University, New Zealand. She is co-recipient of
an Education NZ International Excellence Award and has experience in
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms x

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journalism, bi-literacy, teacher training, curriculum development, resource

writing and multi-media education.
Flora Debora Floris is a senior lecturer at Petra Christian University, Indonesia.
Her main interests include language teacher professional development, teaching
English as an International Language, and technology-enhanced language
learning.
Francisco Perlas Dumanig is an Assistant Professor at the English Department,
University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hawaii, USA. His research interests are in TESL,
World Englishes and Discourse Analysis.
George E. K. Whitehead is an assistant professor in the Graduate School of TESOL
at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea. His main research
interests include language teacher education and development, language
teacher leadership, critical second language pedagogy, and the development of
context-specific language teaching and learning practices.
George Jacobs has authored many publications on education and other social
change topics. Many of these publications can be read at http://
georgejacobs.net.
Grant Eckstein is an assistant professor of Linguistics at Brigham Young
University. He teaches graduate courses in ESL teaching and L2 language skills.
He researches L2 writing, pedagogy, and curriculum.
Hanna Juliaty is a lecturer at the Department of English, Universitas Kristen Krida
Wacana, Jakarta. Her passions include language teaching, writing and
conducting research. In her free time, she also enjoys working with children.
John Sivell is an emeritus professor of Applied Linguistics at Brock University
(Canada). He has taught EFL, ESL and TESL Methodology in Canada, Europe, the
Middle East, and Asia.
Malu Sciamarelli has been a teacher and teacher trainer since 1993. Currently,
she is the coordinator of The C Group and a graduate student at the University
of Oxford.
María D. García-Pastor is Professor in TEFL at the University of Valencia. Her
research interests are within TEFL and SLTE with a focus on learner and teacher
identity and foreign language anxiety.
Maria Heron is a practising teacher and teacher trainer with 30 years’
experience. She is a Senior Trainer at NILE in the UK and a member of the
Creativity Group.
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xi

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Maya Khemlani David is an Honorary Professor of the Asia-Europe Institute,

university of Malaya, Malaysia. She has special interest in discourse analysis and
minority languages.
Moonyoung Park is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the
Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research has focused on aviation English,
CALL, TBLT, and teacher education.
Nguyen Thi Thuy Loan is an English lecturer at Kalasin University, Thailand. Her
research interests include genre-analysis, English written-discourse, second
language writing instruction and research, citations and reporting verbs.
Paul Hullah has authored EFL materials, poetry, and literary criticism. He
received the 2013 Asia-Pacific LIP Award for Paramount Contribution to the
Education of Students in Asia.
Péter Medgyes is Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics and Language
Pedagogy. He was a plenary speaker in over fifty countries and author of
numerous books and papers.
Phil Chappell is a language teacher educator and Applied Linguistics and TESOL
researcher at Macquarie University, Australia. He spent many years teaching and
managing English language programs in Southeast Asia.
Radhika De Silva is senior lecturer in the Department of Language Studies at the
Open University of Sri Lanka. She obtained her PhD in language education from
University of Reading, UK. Her research interests include writing strategy
instruction, language testing, open and distance learning, and teacher education
Richard W. Hallett is a professor of linguistics at Northeastern Illinois University
in Chicago. His areas of specialization include second language acquisition,
world Englishes, and the discourse of tourism.
Rob Waring is an acknowledged expert in Extensive Reading and second
language vocabulary acquisition. He is an Executive Board member of the
Extensive Reading Foundation.
Sakae Onoda is a certified Oxford Teachers’ Academy trainer and frequently
conducts seminars with secondary school teachers. His research addresses
English teacher education, speaking fluency development, and self-regulated
language learning.
Shakina Rajendram is a lecturer at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education,
University of Toronto, Canada. Her teaching and research focus on supporting
multilingual learners through translanguaging and multiliteracies pedagogies.
Sharlene G. Gotico teaches English and media arts at Central Philippine
University, Iloilo, Philippines. She taught Tagalog at Stanford University as a
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xii

a
Fulbright Fellow and English at Korea University of Media Arts as an exchange

professor.
Soe Marlar Lwin teaches courses on discourse analysis and TESOL Methods in
the undergraduate and postgraduate applied linguistics programmes. Her
research interests include Asian folktales and the use of stories/storytelling for
language teaching.
Spenser Edward Lemaich has worked in ELT in Indonesia since 2010. His research
interests relate to culture instruction in the language classroom, non-native-
speaker teachers, and the use of learners’ mother-tongue in class.
Stefanus Angga B. Prima is currently teaching at Podomoro University, Jakarta.
With Fulbright scholarship, he obtained his M.A. in TESL from Minnesota State
University, Mankato. He has been teaching EFL classes since 2008.
Stephen J. Hall is Professor and Head, Centre for English Language Studies,
Sunway University, Malaysia. He has been involved in TESOL for over 40 years
and is passionate about teaching and learning in this digital time, as an ongoing
learner.
Susi Pearson has been a teacher and teacher trainer for over 20 years, working
in both the UK and abroad. She is currently a Senior Trainer at NILE, Norwich,
UK.
Theresa Tan has been teaching in the primary level in Singapore since 2000. She
is passionate about children’s literature and early literacy. She also believes in
the magic of stories.
Thi Ngoc Yen Dang obtained her PhD from Victoria University of Wellington and
is a Lecturer at University of Leeds. Her research interests include vocabulary,
corpus linguistics, and English for Academic/Specific Purposes.
Weiyu Zhang is a Ph.D. candidate in applied linguistics at Nanyang Technological
University (NTU), Singapore. She has many years of experience in teaching
English as a foreign language at university level.
Willy Ardian Renandya is an experienced language teacher educator currently
teaching at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore. He maintains an active language teacher professional
development forum called ELT in Asia and Beyond
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/ELTAsia)
Yin Ling Cheung is Associate Dean, Outreach and Engagement at the National
Institute of Education, NTU. She is an applied linguist who specializes in
academic writing and writing instruction.
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xiii

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Yu-Hsiu Liu received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio,
USA. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and
Literature at Huafan University in Taiwan.
Zinonos Vasiliki is a PhD holder in Curriculum and Instruction with
specialization in ESL. She currently works as an EAP and Language
Teacher to BA & MA international students at the University of
Sheffield UK. She also works as MA TESOL supervisor and her research
interests revolve around ESL listening comprehension, EAP and ESL
teaching methodologies and ESL proofreading.
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xiv

Foreword from the Publisher ................................................................................ iii
Series Editors’ Preface ............................................................................................ v
Notes from the Book Editors ................................................................................. vi
Acknowledgments ................................................................................................. ix
Contributors ............................................................................................................. x
Table of Contents ...................................................................................................xv
SECTION 1 Becoming a Professional English Teacher

CHAPTER 1 You are the Professional .............................................................. 1
Péter Medgyes
CHAPTER 2 Standing at the Crossroads: Teacher Dilemmas......................... 5
Clay Williams
CHAPTER 3 The Makings of a Language Teacher .......................................... 8
George E.K. Whitehead
CHAPTER 4 A Life-Changing Experience: Ornela’s Story ............................. 10
Maria Heron & Susi Pearson
CHAPTER 5 When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do ..................................... 13
Nguyen Thi Thuy Loan
CHAPTER 6 Life is Like a Box of Chocolate ................................................... 17
Weiyu Zhang & Yin Ling Cheung
CHAPTER 7 My Way is not the Only Way ..................................................... 20
Yu-Hsiu Liu
SECTION 2 Building Rapport

CHAPTER 8 I Love My Family and Friends.................................................... 22
Sharlene G. Gotico
CHAPTER 9 Do Not Let Your Circumstances Change Who You Are ............ 26
Daniel George Dusza
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xv

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CHAPTER 10 Do Not Jump into Conclusion ................................................... 30

Andriyani Marentek
CHAPTER 11 I Can Make a Difference ............................................................ 33
Willy Ardian Renandya & Flora Debora Floris
CHAPTER 12 The Power of Language ............................................................. 37
Maya Khemlani David & Francisco P. Dumanig
CHAPTER 13 Keep Reading ............................................................................. 40
Theresa Tan
CHAPTER 14 Do Not Let Others Bring You Down .......................................... 43
Zinonos Vasiliki
CHAPTER 15 Little Things Go a Long Way ...................................................... 47
Radhika De Silva
SECTION 3 Learning from Others’ Culture

CHAPTER 16 Holding up a Mirror to International ESL Student-Teachers ... 52
Beatrix Burghardt
CHAPTER 17 Intercultural Understanding: Inspiration from a Pet Sound .... 55
Dat Bao
CHAPTER 18 Changing Perspective ................................................................ 59
Hanna Juliaty
CHAPTER 19 Sharing the Joy of Literature ..................................................... 62
John Sivell
CHAPTER 20 Courage (My Quiet Star) ........................................................... 65
Paul Hullah
CHAPTER 21 Student to the Rescue: Teaching Vocabulary with Care .......... 68
Phil Chappell
CHAPTER 22 Critical Teaching Reflection on the “N-Word”.......................... 72
Richard W. Hallett
CHAPTER 23 Positioning Students as Language Experts through
Multilingual Storytelling Activities ............................................ 75
Shakina Rajendram
CHAPTER 24 In Our Country ........................................................................... 79
Soe Marlar Lwin
CHAPTER 25 Easy for Teacher, but Not for Students ..................................... 82
Spenser Edward Lemaich
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xvi

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SECTION 4 Engaging Students in Meaningful Activities

CHAPTER 26 Practice before Speed ............................................................... 86
Grant Eckstein
CHAPTER 27 My Students Always Sigh when I Assign Homework ............... 90
Benjamin Moorhouse
CHAPTER 28 Facing Disruptive Behaviour ..................................................... 93
María D. García-Pastor
CHAPTER 29 Impassioning Reluctant Writers ................................................ 96
Erina M. Hunt
CHAPTER 30 Why don't You Like That Task? .................................................. 99
Thi Ngoc Yen Dang
CHAPTER 31 The Most Important Homework of the Year .......................... 101
Rob Waring
CHAPTER 32 Fake It till You Make It ............................................................. 104
Cherie J. Brown
CHAPTER 33 Speak Up .................................................................................. 107
Stefanus Angga B. Prima & Dang Arif Hartono
CHAPTER 34 Understanding Learners’ Innermost Feelings ........................ 110
Sakae Onoda
CHAPTER 35 Yes, You can Doodle................................................................. 113
Malu Sciamarelli
CHAPTER 36 Facing Up to Your Digital Footprint......................................... 117
Stephen J. Hall
CHAPTER 37 Time to Rethink Our Use of Technology in the Classroom .... 120
Moonyoung Park
Section 5 Going Beyond the Classroom

CHAPTER 38 Shakespeare and Stereotypes................................................. 124
Cherie J. Brown
CHAPTER 39 Why Is It So Hard To Say “Thank You”?................................... 127
George M. Jacobs
CHAPTER 40 Seeing through Different Eyes ................................................ 131
Curtis Kelly
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xvii

Becoming a Professional
English Teacher
CHAPTER ONE
YOU ARE THE PROFESSIONAL
Péter Medgyes
Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, Hungary
My career as a teacher of English began in the late 1960s at a secondary school

in Budapest. Since I found the one and only compulsory course book terribly
boring, I supplemented it with Geoffrey Broughton’s Success with English, a
much more inspiring and entertaining series. With time, I sent the compulsory
book to the top shelf to gather dust, and Broughton became our staple food.
One day an elderly colleague warned me that my unlawful practice had come to
the knowledge of ministry officials and, as a consequence, I might have to face
disciplinary measures. After some hesitation, I decided to go to the school
principal and make a clean breast of my disobedience. After listening to my
report, he asked, “Are you sure that that British book is better than the
compulsory one?”
“Much better,” I replied.
“Well, you’re the professional, Péter. It’s your responsibility to decide what
works best for your students – and not mine. So feel free to use the book of
your choice.”
“But…but what about the ministry?” I stammered.
“That’s my responsibility. I’ll deal with it, if necessary.”
Whether it was necessary or not, I have never found out. However, emboldened
by my principal’s support I continued to teach from Broughton and other
excellent books for many more years. And most of my students graduated from
secondary school with flying colors in English.
Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 1

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Objectives:
1. To consider the limits of professional freedom.
2. To draw attention to the close relationship between responsibility,
professionalism and decision-making.
3. To reflect upon the advantages and disadvantages of homegrown versus
imported course materials.
Procedure:
1. In your country, are teachers obliged to use compulsory course books? If
they are, what happens to the teacher who decides to get round this law?
2. What do you think of my ‘rebellious behavior’? Do you agree or disagree with
it? Why? Argue for and against in small groups.
3. Suppose you were my school principal, how would you respond to my
report?
“I would:
a. downright forbid you to use any book other than the compulsory one in
the future.
b. insist that you use the compulsory book as the main course material, but
permit you to supplement it from ‘illicit’ sources.
c. warn you that you should face the consequences if you were caught
adopting this illegal practice.
d. encourage you to break this ‘stupid’ law.
e. do as your principal did.
Having considered the alternatives, choose the one with which you agree
most and the one that you would certainly reject. Perhaps you have some
other option? Discuss your choice in small groups and then report back to
the whole group.
4. The compulsory book I referred to had been written by Hungarian authors
whereas my preferred book by a British author. In your experience, are
imported books generally better than homegrown ones? Jot down the pros
and cons of both options.
There will be two teams facing each other: the members in Team A are in
favor of imported books, whereas Team B rather supports homegrown
materials. Join the team whose opinion you find closer to yours. Members
can voice their views at any point in the course of the debate.

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5. My school principal used three words: professional(ism), responsibility and

decision-making. How would you define these words in a teaching context?
In what way do you think they are linked? Discuss with a partner and then
report back to the whole group.

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Reflection:
With hindsight, I realize that my principal let me use the book I thought was
better, because he trusted my professional judgment. His advice and support
strengthened my self-confidence and filled me with an overwhelming sense of
freedom. However, it also made me aware that freedom comes with a price:
once you are granted full rein, the burden of responsibility can no longer be
shared – it is on your shoulders alone.
I often wonder how I would have responded if my school principal had been less
permissive and less trustful. The more I think about it the more I am convinced
that I would have left the classroom a long time ago and chosen a profession
offering me more breathing space.
As a teacher and teacher trainer for many years, I have endeavored to pass on
the message I learnt as a young teacher: only free-spirited and responsible
teachers are capable of turning young people into free-spirited and responsible
citizens. This is what I mean by empowerment.

CHAPTER TWO
STANDING AT THE CROSSROADS:
TEACHER DILEMMAS
Clay Williams
Akita International University, Japan
The young teacher’s cheeks burned with righteous indignation as the scope of
the problem became clear. Mr. Smith had just realized that nearly three quarters
of the class were complicit in a sophisticated cheating scheme. Thoughts of
retaliatory possibilities filled his head. Stop! Breathe! In… Out… The signs were
there, but why? What had caused so many students to resort to malfeasance?
At this moment, Mr. Smith stood at a crossroads that all teachers will arrive at
from time to time. Is it more important to take swift disciplinary action or to
identify the root cause of the widespread cheating in order to intervene by
giving students the skills to avoid the temptation to cheat in the future? While a
responsible case could be built for either option, Mr. Smith decided to choose
the second one.
Over the next two weeks, he conducted interviews and one-on-one
examinations with the learners in his class, and to his surprise, he determined
that the core issue that his university students were struggling with was an
almost complete lack of English word decoding skills which had made his written
exams nearly impossible for most of the students to decipher. While he was
aware that this class already had a reputation for being difficult and poor
students of English, he was amazed and chagrined by the revelation that,
despite lacking such foundational skills, the students had been passed along
from one teacher to the next. Instead of confronting the problem by reviewing
basic reading skills, one teacher after another had simply tagged them with the
label of “poor learners.”
Mr. Smith stood at another crossroad. This cycle stops here! Mr. Smith resolved
that his students would finally receive the remedial literacy instruction they had
been deprived of for so many years.

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Objectives:
To develop awareness of the impact of situational ethics in the teaching
dilemmas, including:
1. The interplay between classroom management (i.e., discipline) and
pedagogical effectiveness.
2. The factors impacting the extent to which curricular reform and pedagogical
interventions can be undertaken as necessary (e.g., how much class time can
be dedicated to filling in learning gaps if the class is legally mandated to
cover a certain amount of material within the term).
Procedure:
1. Have the students read the story aloud in class and discuss:
a. Have you ever been at a “teaching crossroads” as a teacher/learner?
What was the situation? How was it resolved?
b. In such a scenario of wide-spread cheating, when would it be more
important to take disciplinary action, and when would it be incumbent
upon the teacher to focus more on root causes and pedagogical
intervention? Is there a clear divide between the two responses?
c. What would have been the probable results if Mr. Smith had taken
disciplinary action instead of the action he chose? How do you think this
impacted his decision?
d. Once the underlying problem of poor literacy skills was exposed, Mr.
Smith was at “another crossroad.” Why would it possibly be a difficult
decision to embark on a corrective teaching plan to review and reteach
skills that should have been mastered by students long before?
• How do you think Mr. Smith’s decision impacted his syllabus and
schedule?
• How do you think students who were already competent readers
might have reacted to Mr. Smith’s change in focus?
• Can you think of any problems which Mr. Smith might face at an
administrative or departmental level in implementing his corrective
course of action?
2. As a homework, have the students devise a 1 month teaching plan (with two
75 minute periods per week) featuring an intervention of the sort in the story
(i.e., teaching a basic skill in the context of a more advanced class). Make
sure to try to balance the needs of high and low skill learners, as well as to
not delay the basic pace of normal activities in your class while still
attempting to introduce and reinforce the basic skill. Try to be creative in

a
combining new and old skills. You can use lesson plans from your in-service
class, if applicable.
Reflection:
The teaching profession is replete with difficult decisions over what to do in
response to specific problems. While most of us would like to say that beneficial
learner development is the first and last consideration impacting our
pedagogical choices, all too often, our options are complicated by a host of
other factors, such as time and resource availability.
In the above story, Mr. Smith is faced with the question of how to respond to
widespread cheating in his class. While he would have been justified in
disciplining students for the academic infraction, in-so-doing, he would have
never realized the learning deficit which afflicted his students. Still, diagnosing
the problem, as well as any attempt at remediation, would entail substantial
sacrifice from Mr. Smith as measured by time and other resources invested, and
might create more problems down the road.
This problem of balancing conflicting aims while confronting teaching dilemmas
is a familiar problem to practicing educators. The classroom discussion and
homework in this section are designed to initiate reflection by teachers-in-
training, leading then to formulate their own philosophies regarding how to
handle such teaching dilemmas in the face of competing classroom and life
priorities.

CHAPTER THREE
THE MAKINGS OF A LANGUAGE TEACHER
George E.K. Whitehead

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea
When I was 21 years old, the career path I was on took a significant turn. I was in
my second year of college in pursuit of a degree in Kinesiology; a major that I
had chosen because of future earning potential in the field. Feeling stressed out
about my studies, I decided to take a trip to Japan during the winter break to
visit my uncle and clear my head. I never knew how much that 3-month stay
with him would affect my life.
His 500-year-old house was located amidst beautiful green tea fields in the
mountains just outside of Tokyo. The house did not have internet or cable and
was heated by kerosene heaters (which I feared was either going to burn the
house down or poison me in my sleep). My uncle had been in Japan for many
years working as a textile artist as well as an English teacher in his own small
one-room school next to his house. About a month into my stay I was already
running low on money. It was then that my uncle suggested earning some extra
cash by taking on some of his English classes with local residents during the
evenings. I agreed.
I remember the first day of teaching. My uncle walked me to class, quickly
introduced me to the students, handed me a book, and left. I stood there
blankly staring at four elderly women as they eagerly stared back at me. I
remember being at a complete loss about what to do and how to start the
lesson. It was then that one of the ladies shyly smiled at me and said, “Would
you like some tea?” This broke the ice and was followed by an hour of casual
questioning from the four ladies who were very curious about me and my
background. From this class on, my life would never be the same.
We met together for an hour every evening for two months learning and
laughing, while at the same time building lifelong memories and positive
relationships. That is what made me fall in love with teaching language: the
interaction with wonderful people, and the bridging of cultures, backgrounds,
age groups, and understandings. The experience impacted me so strongly that I
changed my major from Kinesiology to Linguistics when I returned to Canada.
Having been in the language teaching field for nearly 20 years now, I can
honestly say that the reasons why I initially fell in love with language teaching
continue to drive me today. What drives you?

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Objectives:
1. To develop and foster self-awareness of career choice.
2. To develop personal narrative writing skills.
Procedure:
1. Have the students read the story.
2. Ask the students to interview 2 or more of their peers and write down what/
who influenced their choice to become a language teacher.
3. Ask the students to watch the TED Talk “How Great Leaders Inspire Action”
by Simon Sinek (especially the first 6 minutes focusing on the golden circle).
4. Discuss the video with students, ensuring they have a clear understanding of
the Why, How, and What.
5. Discuss with them how this relates to career choice and job satisfaction.
6. Get the students to think and write down their ‘Why’ in relation to becoming
a language teacher.
7. Wrap up the class by discussing important things to consider other than
money when choosing a career.
8. Explain to the students that the ‘Why’ writing reflection is something that
they can reflect on and revise throughout their careers.
Reflection:
Many people these days work in jobs that they really don’t like. Some even
dread waking up in the morning to go to work. This is often because the job they
are doing does not align with their own passion or personal interests. By
stepping back and reassessing one’s career or future career, one may be able to
find deeper fulfillment in their job or discover alternate routes that lead to a
more personally rewarding occupation.
Reference:
• Sinek, S. (2011). Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take
action. London: Penguin.

CHAPTER FOUR
A LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE:
ORNELA’S STORY
Maria Heron
Norwich Institute for Language Education, UK
Susi Pearson
Norwich Institute for Language Education, UK
Ornela was a young primary teacher from Chile who came to our institution in
the cold winter of 2018. She was sent to the UK for five weeks to improve her
English and to learn how to teach her subjects in English. She was practically a
complete beginner when she arrived. Ornela was part of a group of sixteen
other Chilean subject teachers with a similar level of English.
In the first couple of weeks Ornela kept a very low profile in the classroom. She
was a willing participant in pair and group work but was usually very reliant on
her partner, never said anything in open class feedback and she looked
frightened and worried despite our best efforts to create a safe and comfortable
environment in the classroom and encourage everyone to contribute.
Suddenly in the fourth week, Ornela started to change. She was more
forthcoming, making a real effort to communicate her thoughts and feelings in
the class, and managing to share some simple but moving experiences of her,
both as a person and as a young teacher.
Ornela told us that her time with us had been a complex and challenging
experience and as a result, she became a different person and a different
professional. She felt she had gained in confidence, stopped being afraid of
making a fool of herself, improved her vocabulary considerably and was
motivated to continue to learn and develop. When asked what had caused this
change in her, she said it had been the warm atmosphere in the classroom, the
engaging lessons, the patience and understanding that her teachers had shown
and their commitment to education.
Ornela hopes to take this experience with her back to her educational
community in Chile.

a
Objectives:
1. To raise awareness of how low level students can feel in a classroom.
2. To think of ways to engage and support this kind of learner.
3. To reflect on the use of reading tasks which develop cognitive skills.
Procedure:
Pre-text work
1. Ask the trainees:
a. How would you feel if you arrived in a country far from home and you
didn’t speak the language?
b. What issues might you have?
c. What strategies you would use to deal with these issues?
2. Elicit/provide an example.
3. Give individual thinking time, then peer sharing and finally whole class
feedback in plenary.
Focus on the text

1. The trainees read Ornela’s story and answer these questions:
a. In what ways has Ornela changed as a person and a professional as a
result of this experience?
b. What do you think Ornela meant when she said that her teachers had
shown a “commitment to education”?
2. Peer share and then whole class feedback in plenary.
3. Ask the trainees to think about these questions:
a. What kind of thinking skills do the questions require? Is there a
right/wrong answer?
b. What might be the advantages of these kinds of questions following a
text?
4. Show Freda Mishan quote:
Mishan (2010b, p 357) talks about “the substituting of ‘content-laden’
questions, that is, the classic language teacher wh-questions … and polar
questions (such as true-false or multiple-choice options) with questions that
stimulate thought processes”.

a
Methodology reflection
1. Divide the trainees into two groups.
2. Each group is required to make a poster to answer the following question:
a. Group A: Think about A0 or low A1 learners, what elements would they
need to make their learning fun and engaging?
b. Group B: Think about A0 or low A1 learners, how can we make these
students feel comfortable and supported in the classroom?
3. Each group makes a poster on their topic and presents to other group. This is
followed by plenary discussion after each poster where other groups can
suggest further ideas, and the teacher feeds in his/her own suggestions.
4. Instead of the presentations, the trainees could do a gallery walk. The
trainees are asked to display their posters. In each group, half the trainees
stay to explain the posters while the other half walk around and listen (and
make notes on the ideas). They then swap roles. At the end, they get back
into their groups and discuss which they think were the most effective ideas
(for both questions). The teacher then leads a plenary discussion and feeds
in his/her own suggestions.
Reflection:
Affect is important and key to successful learning. Our story reflects this and we
hope that by using this story and the accompanying tasks we will promote
reflection on this key aspect of language learning and raise awareness among
the trainees of some strategies to promote engagement and offer support to
low level learners.
As Briony Beaven, teacher trainer, says: “Telling stories of professional
experience can be a powerful form of development for teachers and teacher
educators. It can help teachers to understand and make more informed
decisions about their classroom practices” (2016, par. 1).
References:
• Briony Beaven – Teacher Stories. (2016, 11 August). Retrieved on 17/4/18
from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/briony-beaven-teacher-
stories-0
• Mishan, F. (2010). ‘Withstanding washback: thinking outside the box in
materials development’. In B. Tomlinson & H. Masuhara (eds.) Research for
materials development in language learning evidence for best practice (pp.
353-368). London: Continuum International Publishing Group.

a
CHAPTER FIVE
WHEN IN ROME, DO AS THE ROMANS DO
Nguyen Thi Thuy Loan

Kalasin University, Thailand
A Vietnamese lecturer of English was assigned to teach a paragraph-writing

course to four groups of third-year English-major students at a university in
Thailand.
Due to their class-time constraint, low-level of English proficiency and
unfamiliarity with English writing, the students were required to prepare the
lessons in the coursebook and write paragraphs at home, and then submit them
to the teacher in the following class. For those who did not do their homework,
1% was deducted from their final summative score, and a zero was given to a
late submission.
To avoid such punishments, several students in each group kept inventing
excuses for their late submission or not completing their homework. Although
the teacher patiently reminded them to be more responsible for their study and
that using such excuses would not help them progress academically, the
students kept using this strategy. This led the teacher to a direct approach to
stop them from being lazy by replying “I-don’t-care!” whenever the students
resorted to an excuse for not doing their homework.
That tactic would work, the teacher thought, as she didn’t hear any excuses
from her students since then. Appallingly, however, she was dismayed at the end
of the course on receiving the result of the students’ evaluation on her
performance. It said that she did not understand Thai cultures, and she was
rude and heartless saying those bold words to their faces, and those proved that
she did not meet a certain code of ethics for teachers in Thailand; she should
not be allowed to teach in Thailand.

a
Objectives:
1. To raise awareness of different socio-cultural expectations.
2. To get prepared for possible socio-cultural differences.
Procedure:
Warm-up activities
1. Have the students think of any difficulties/problems they may have if they
work as a teacher in another country and then share them with friends in
class.
2. The teacher then chooses the suggested difficulties/problems related to
socio-cultural differences and ask the students to think of specific ways to
deal with them.
Main activities
1. Have the students read the story carefully and discuss the following
questions:
a. Was the teacher in the story unqualified as claimed by the students?
Why/Why not?
b. Do you think the teacher was rude to her students?
c. What should the teacher have said to stop her students from justifying for
their laziness instead of “I-don’t-care”?
d. If you were the teacher in the story, what would you do to make your
students serious about their study?
e. In your opinion, what made this teacher choose to say that to her
students?
f. What do you think her students expect her to say in that case?
g. Why did these students quietly hold grudges against their teacher rather
than letting her know that these words didn’t sound right to them?
h. What should this teacher have prepared to function better in Thailand?
Post-activities
1. As homework, the students are asked to choose one foreign country where
they would like to work in the future, and then find out about their potential
students’ expectations which stem from their own cultures. Then, compare
them with those in their own country.

a
2. Make a list of suggestions on what to prepare for students who would like to
work as teachers in that foreign country, so they may teach and
communicate more effectively with their future students.
3. Search for stories about students’ misunderstanding/mis-interpreting of their
foreign teachers’ intended instructions and suggest what to do for each case.
4. Share the stories and suggestions for further recommendations/solutions to
the stories.
Reflection:
When teachers and students come from different cultures, many perplexities
can arise. This could be due to many factors, one of them is that visiting
teachers often bring their own teaching-cultures to the host environments. The
teacher in this story is a good example for that. Although Thai and Vietnamese
educational systems share the large Power-Distance culture in which teachers
are highly-respected, and students are expected to be compliant, obedient and
deferring to their teachers, subtle differences between these two systems exist.
As stated by the Teachers Council of Thailand (Khurusapa, 2005, p. 6), teachers
“shall care for, be merciful to” their students, and this client-centered ethics
matches with the femininity aspect of Thai cultures which stems from Thai-
Buddhist views (Wisadavet, 2003). Accordingly, teachers in Thailand are
expected to use soft, gentle and polite words while their Vietnamese
counterparts could act as students’ parents to reprimand their children with
strong language. Despite being used with a mere-intention of making them
more responsible for their study, “I-don’t-care” went against these Thai
students’ expectations, and consequently the teacher was considered
unqualified.
Furthermore, forcing the students to complete every assignment before class
tended to contradict the Buddhist-principle of not attaching strongly to things,
which is believed to make Thai students quite flexible and pragmatic in their
study (Wisadavet, 2003). Conversely, Vietnamese students appreciate their
teachers’ orders which benefit their study.
This story thus shows the influence of a nation’s culture on students’ learning
styles and expectations. To function well in another culture, educators should
understand how difference is produced and eliminated within unequal power-
relations because the more they know about cultural differences, the better
they are at teaching and communicating with students.

a
References:
• Khurusapa. (2005). Regulation of the teachers council of Thailand on
professional standards and ethics. Retrieved on 1 December 2018 from
http://teachercodes.iiep.unesco.org/teachercodes/codes/Asia/Thailand.pdf
• Wisadavet, W. (2003). The Buddhist philosophy of education: Approaches
and problems. The Chulalongkorn Journal of Buddhist Studies, 2(2), 1-30

CHAPTER SIX
LIFE IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATE
Weiyu Zhang
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Yin Ling Cheung

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Anne has been teaching English at a university for over six years. As a language
learner herself, being proficient in the English language opens many doors for
her. She has great enthusiasm for language teaching. She hopes that all her
students can master the English language skills and exploit the amazing
opportunities they will bring.
However, no matter how hard she works to make the lessons relevant and
interesting to students, not all of them can achieve satisfactory performance.
This makes her feel a lack of accomplishment. She gets a little disheartened and
starts to question herself. She considers it a failure that a language teacher
cannot help the students improve their language proficiency.
The bad feeling of Anne does not last long though. She occasionally receives
emails and phone messages from her students to ask for advice, to share
feelings, to talk about their life and work experiences. She feels that the
students do not just think of her as someone who teaches them English, but
someone who can also motivate and help them in other aspects of life. Some
students confess that they are still bad in English after the lessons, but they
become more motivated and willing to spend more time and effort. Some said
that the inspirational language learning stories shared by Anne inspired them to
pursue their own interest, not necessarily learning a language.
The words from the students make Anne realize that the impacts teachers can
make on students are not restricted to the subject they teach. This gives Anne a
great sense of accomplishment and motivation to language teaching.
It is just like what the quote says, “Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know
what you’re going to get.” While you will not always get the flavor you want, you
may get some new delights that you did not expect.

a
Objectives:
1. To encourage students to appreciate the different flavors life offers us.
2. To develop students’ speaking and writing skills.
3. To develop students’ ability to produce multimodal texts.
Procedure:
1. Ask students to read the story and discuss the following questions in small
groups. This is to exploit the educational and linguistic benefits of the story.
a. How do you interpret the quote “Life is like a box of chocolate, you never
know what you’re going to get”? Can you think of any alternative
interpretation?
b. Have you experienced similar situations where you did not get what you
wanted but something equally pleasant instead?
c. How can this story inspire you or other people?
d. Can you think of a similar story that you can share?
e. Make a list of useful vocabulary and linguistic structures in the story.
Compare the list with your group members and discuss how to make use
of them to form new sentences.
2. Ask students to think of one story with a similar theme, either real-life or
imaginary, and write it up. The writing product will serve as the script for a
digital storytelling project. The story writing will follow the writing process
including the following five stages:
1) Pre-writing: discuss purpose, audience, context, and culture of the story.
2) Drafting: write up the first draft of the story.
3) Revising: revise the story based on teacher- and peer feedback.
4) Editing: correct spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors.
5) Publishing: share the story using a free online application.
3. Ask students, in pairs or small groups, to come up with a digital storytelling
project using free online application such as Storybird or UtellStory. The
purpose of the project is to develop students’ digital literacy, which has
become increasingly important in modern day communication via digital
technologies. Through the project, the students will not only be able to
practice speaking, writing, and thinking skills, but also the creation of
multimodal text, which is a combination of various modes of communication
such as speech, written text, and image. The project will include the
following:

a
a. A workshop for students to learn about the potential digital tools available
to complete the project.
b. An oral presentation section for students to share their plans of how to
integrate multiple modes in telling their stories and to receive feedback
from teachers and peers.
c. Students creating and editing their stories.
d. A session for students to share their final work. Their digital storytelling
projects will be evaluated by their teacher and peers.
Reflection:
Life may not always turn out the way we expected. We cannot decide what
inside the box of chocolate life offers. But we can try to make the best out of it.
While Anne’s hard work in teaching does not make her what she considers to be
a successful language teacher, she unexpectedly succeeds in becoming an
inspirational life tutor. This unexpectedness is part of the beauty of life, and we
should learn to appreciate it.

CHAPTER SEVEN
MY WAY IS NOT THE ONLY WAY
Yu-Hsiu Liu
Huafan University, Taiwan
Mr. K., a native speaker of English, was a new instructor teaching English to
university students in an urban area of Asia. He believed that he had a sense of
humor and decided to bring laughter to his class, making learning more fun for
his students. In his conversation classes, he would present various topics for
class discussion and encourage his students to express their opinions in class.
His humorous comments would then follow after the students’ presentation of
their ideas.
At the end of Mr. K.’s first semester of teaching, he received his students’
written feedback on his teaching. Despite some positive feedback, many
students indicated that they, sometimes, didn’t understand his humor. Several
students even pointed out having been offended by his jokes.
Discouraged and uncertain, Mr. K. told his colleagues about the students’
feedback. He wondered whether he should follow his teaching philosophy, or
just make some changes instead. Is it true that his way was not the only way for
his students?
Objectives:
1. To build cross-cultural awareness through reading jokes written in English.
2. To develop joke writing skill.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students to read Mr. K.’s story and then have them discuss the
following questions:
a. Have you had experiences similar to Mr. K.’s students?
b. What are the problems facing Mr. K. and his students?

a
c. What would you do if you were Mr. K.?

d. Is it easy to understand jokes of other cultures?
e. What prevents us from understanding and appreciating those jokes?
2. Have the students read a collection of jokes written in English.
3. Form the students into several groups and ask each group to (1) interpret the
jokes in their own words, (2) rate the jokes based on funniness and
comprehension difficulty, and (3) explore factors preventing them from
understanding and appreciating the jokes.
4. Have each group share their discussion results with the class.
5. Explain to the students that humor appreciation is culturally specific and that
they need to be aware of the role culture has played in cross-cultural
communication.
6. As a homework assignment, have the students write down the best joke they
have ever heard or, if they prefer, invent their own jokes in English.
Reflection:
The trend of globalization has made it imperative for teachers to help students
develop cross-cultural awareness as they interact with citizens outside their
community. The “My Way Is Not the Only Way” story timely addresses this need
and further shows culture as a shaping force in the way people understand and
appreciate humor (Schmitz, 2002).
Engaging in discussion and reading activities, students can learn to be respectful
of other cultures. The follow-up joke writing and sharing activities help students
understand that humor appreciation is subject to individual and cultural
differences (Andrew, 2010) and that, in most cases, our way is not the only way.
References:
• Andrew, R. (2010). Intercultural communication and the essence of humour..
Journal of the Faculty of International Studies, Utsunomiya University, 29, 23-
34.
• Schmitz, J. R. (2002). Humor as a pedagogical tool in foreign language and
translation courses. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 15(1),
89-113.

Building Rapport
a
CHAPTER EIGHT
I LOVE MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Sharlene G. Gotico
Central Philippine University, Republic of the Philippines
In an English class at a university in South Korea, the teacher, Prof. Anne, asked,
“Why do you want to learn English?” Almost two-thirds of the 34 students in
class replied about English being useful to them in their future careers.
“I will be a flight attendant in an international airline in the future, so I need to
speak English to the passengers,” Park Yu Jin said. This was the same answer
given by some 15 others.
“I am majoring in production design, and I want to work in Hollywood,” was Lee
Jin Ju’s answer.
Apparently, there were at least five students in class who were majoring in
media-related studies - cinematography, photography, broadcasting - and so
they had similar answers. They wanted to learn English because working in
international media calls for being proficient in the said language.
The remaining one-third of the students have plans of studying in Canada,
Australia, or the United States either for post-graduate education or short-term
enhancement courses.
“My dream is to study film in the US,” was Lee Sobin’s eager answer. She’s
majoring in production and direction and wants to become an independent
filmmaker someday.
“I want to take my post-graduate studies in Canada,” Cho Min Hyuk said.
One student, Yeo Se Rin, interrupted this eager class discussion by saying, “I am
learning English so I can communicate with my younger brother who was
adopted by an American family. I miss him.”
This declaration silenced the entire class, including Prof. Anne. Suddenly, no
other reason for learning English became more important than Yeo Se Rin’s
answer.

a
Objectives:
1. To develop awareness on the value of family relations and friendships.
2. To develop skills in personal correspondence.
Procedure:
1. Prior to the class, each student would be asked to draw their family. Students
form pairs and share their output with one another. Some students may be
asked to share their work with the whole class.
2. Let students read the story and discuss the following:
a. What are the students’ reasons for learning English? What about you?
b. What are the students’ future plans? What are your plans for the future?
c. What do you think are Yeo Se Rin’s feelings when she spoke about her
brother?
d. Do you have family members, relatives, or friends whom you have not
seen for a long time? Where are they? When was the last time you saw
them?
e. How do you feel about not seeing them for a long time? Do you miss
them? Do you communicate with them? How often do you communicate
with them?
f. How important is family to you?
3. As a homework, students may be asked to do any one or both of the two
activities, depending on the availability of materials/technology, their
language ability, or the macro-skill that the teacher wants to develop:
a. Option 1:
This activity is aimed at developing students’ writing skills. Each one is
given a postcard (or an e-card). The task is to write a note (in English) to a
relative/friend/loved one who is living abroad. The note may be short, but
it should contain what they want to tell the recipient. The note should
also allow them to share a little update about their lives. The actual
postcard may then be mailed to the recipient.
b. Option 2:
This activity is aimed at developing students’ speaking skills. Each one will
be tasked to create a short video greeting (in English) for a
relative/friend/loved one whom they have not seen for a long time. The
video may be 30 to 60 seconds long. Students may then be asked to send
the actual video to recipient via any social media platform.

a

a
Reflection:
In almost all cultures, the family is an integral part of an individual’s life. We all
value our parents and siblings, and whenever they are away from us, or we have
not seen them for a long time, we miss them, and we feel the need to
communicate with them. The reading on this lesson reminds us of the value of
family and our inherent emotional need to connect with our loved ones.
The activities in the lesson, including the discussion questions, are personal in
nature and thus encourage students to share about themselves and their
relationships with their family and friends. Students tend to be more open to
sharing (and therefore use the target language) when topics are about personal
experiences and emotions.

CHAPTER NINE
DO NOT LET YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES
CHANGE WHO YOU ARE
(Inspired by The Monk and the Scorpion)
Daniel George Dusza

Kanda Gaigo Gakuen, Japan
One day, a seasoned teacher was having trouble motivating her students to
complete their assignment task, an email exchange. The students were given
examples, explicit instructions about writing emails and the marking rubric, and
ample supervised practice. However, as the deadline approached, it was evident
that many students were only half interested in completing the task.
Desperate to remedy the problem, she asked some teachers what they did in
previous years. Some said, “Just warn the students they will fail.” Others advised
her not to worry because it is only worth 15%. A few suggested lowering the
expectation and providing a model for students to follow. Some warned her,
“You might get a bad student rating. So, don’t bother yourself.”
Not satisfied, the teacher asked her husband for advice. He told her a story
about a priest, who was trying to cross a river. While wading waist-deep in the
torrent, he noticed a scorpion drowning in the water. He tried to help the
scorpion, but each time it would sting his hand.
His friend yelled, “Why bother? Let it drown. You’ll only get hurt.”
Eventually, however, the priest made it to the other side, and, with his hand
swollen from poison, he carefully let the scorpion down.
His friend asked, “Why didn’t you just let it drown?”
In pain, but still smiling, the priest replied, “It’s my nature to help, and the
scorpion’s to sting. We can’t change what we truly are.”
The following day, the teacher returned to work and collected the assignments,
many were poorly attended to.

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Objectives:
1. To develop awareness of proactive teaching methods.
2. To develop assessment methods that encourage students’ critical-thinking
skills.
3. To develop a framework to promote student self-assessment.
Procedure:
Introduction
1. Tell a story of a similar experience from your past, explaining what
motivational methods you tried, or wished you knew, at that time.
2. Introduce the main story.
3. Have the class relay-read the story in small-groups.
4. Check for meaning and understanding, asking about
a. the characters and their roles,
b. the sequence of events in the teacher’s story, and
c. the moral of ‘The Priest and the Scorpion.’
Discussion
1. Draw attention to the link between the priest’s story and the teacher’s
actions (i.e. her (priest) nature was to try to help the (scorpion) students,
regardless of their attitudes or the advice she got from her (priest’s friend)
workmates).
2. Ask the groups, to discuss what she did after gathering the assignments.
3. Have the class discuss their pedagogical solutions and write them on posters,
or some other collaborative feedback device.
4. Allow the groups to see and discuss each-other’s solutions.
Learning from assessment

1. Introduce the general-concepts and benefits of student self-assessment
(refer to Sanchez, et al., 2017).
2. Discuss with the groups, how to teach students to analyze rubrics so they can
reflect and give informed and honest self-assessments.

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3. Explain the importance of the self-assessment and partner’s assessment

Likert-grading scale, making connections to the story (i.e. not blaming your
partner for their shortcomings).
4. Explain the qualitative feedback section. It requires about 10-minutes to
complete. Students may write in their native language. It asks questions like:
a. What did you learn about email writing?
b. What improvements could be made in the future?
c. How do you feel about your effort in this course so far?
5. Explain the importance of students believing that this feedback will help
improve this activity for future students.
6. Show some examples of student feedback to the groups and how student
performance improved in subsequent assignments.
Reflection:
The moral behind the teacher’s story reflects that of the priest’s. Both stories
illustrate how many people react adversely to adversity. When we don’t know
what to do, who doesn’t succumb to panic, complain, blame, or search for a
quick fix? The parable of the priest and the scorpion reminds us that whatever
the circumstance, there is always something that is the best thing to do.
The resulting action of the teacher was to do the best thing. She designed the
self-assessment activity, which transformed the painful task of just receiving a
grade, into a collaborative activity that became a valuable student learning
experience.
The students learned that every action yields a result. Working through the
reflection as a group activated not only their meta-linguistic awareness of
content and language, but also an awareness of their social and cultural place in
the learning community.
The supervised self-assessment activity, which stands at the pedagogical core of
this story, provides an ideal framework for both task-based and content based
learning instruction. It provided adequate opportunity for scaffolding and time
to focus on vocabulary and form. Using an online survey device for reflective-
feedback gave students the feeling of autonomy and anonymity.
The technology provided a buffer between the teacher and students’ emotions.
It also provided information that students and teachers could both use for
reflection and corrective actions in the future. The student self-assessment and
partner assessment bolstered their appreciation of being part of a learning-
community, not in assessment-competition.

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In the end, the best thing to do was inspired by ‘a bit of magic’, namely, a well
told story (Spaulding, 2011).
References:
• Sanchez, C. E., Atkinson, K. M., Koenka, A. C., Moshontz, H., & Cooper, H.
(2017). Self-grading and peer-grading for formative and summative
assessments in 3rd through 12th grade classrooms: A meta-analysis. Journal
of Educational Psychology, 109(8), 1049.
• Spaulding, A. E. (2011). The art of storytelling: Telling truths through telling
stories. Lanham, MA: Scarecrow Press.

CHAPTER TEN
DO NOT JUMP INTO CONCLUSION
Andriyani Marentek
Universitas Sam Ratulangi, Indonesia
A second year student, Aditya, came hurriedly into a class where Ms.
Morindenga was teaching a written English subject. Worryingly, he said to her,
“Good morning, Ma’am. I’m very sorry for being late again, but may I still join
the class?” Looking a bit upset, Ms. Morindenga replied, “You have been coming
late for three consecutive meetings, Aditya. Last time you said it was because of
the traffic jam. The other time it was due to a family problem. I wonder what
your excuse will be this time.” With a sad face, he said, “Ma’am, may I talk with
you about this later?” Realizing all his classmates were staring at them, she said,
“Okay, we need to talk about this after the class. Please have a seat now.”
After the class Aditya did see Ms. Morindenga and told her what had actually
happened. It turned out that Aditya had a full-time job as a shop attendant in a
bookstore. This was due to his single parent/mother, a seamstress, who could
not provide for him and his siblings anymore because of her illness. Other
families were reluctant to help out; therefore as the oldest child, he felt
compelled to find a job. However, his job required him to work full-time, but at
the same time he still wanted to continue his study; he promised his father
before his passing that he would finish his study and be the first graduate in his
family.
Upon hearing this, Ms. Morindenga almost burst into tears as she had thought
how lazy and indifferent Aditya had been and had prepared for some discipline
towards him; she had jumped into conclusion about him. Since then, Ms.
Morindenga had become more lenient towards Aditya and even tried to talk
with his employer to give him more time to be more focused on his study.

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Objectives:
1. To cultivate empathy towards others;
2. To promote critical thinking towards a particular situation;
3. To develop students’ English writing skills by telling an authentic story.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students to answer the following questions before reading the story:
a. Have you ever misunderstood a person for what they did to you? What
was it?
b. What did you do when that happened?
c. What did you do when you knew the real story?
d. What did you learn from the situation?
2. Ask the students to read the story and answer the following questions:
a. Who is Aditya and why did he look worried?
b. Who is Ms. Morindenga and why did she feel upset with Aditya?
c. What was the cause of Aditya’s situation?
d. How did Aditya handle his problem?
e. How did Ms. Morindenga feel when she knew Aditya’s real situation?
Why?
f. How did Ms. Morindenga resolve the problem?
g. Did Ms. Morindenga do the right thing? Why?
h. What would you do if you were in Aditya’s situation?
i. What actions would you take if you were Ms. Morindenga?
j. What can you learn from the story?
3. Ask the students to write their own story when they misunderstood or was
misunderstood. If they haven’t experienced one, please ask them to
interview someone who has such experience. In their writing, the students
need to include the following details:
a. When it happened and what the real problem was;
b. How they felt about it;
c. How the other person reacted to the situation;
d. How they resolved the situation;
e. What moral lessons they learned.

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Reflection:
This story is a reminder that teachers in the classroom face students from all
different backgrounds, sometimes very different from their own. Empathy—the
power to understand other’s perspectives— should become an essential skill to
master and an important set of teaching strategies that teachers should focus
on because empathy builds positive classroom culture.

CHAPTER 11
I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
(inspired by Starfish story)
Willy Ardian Renandya

National Institute of Education, Singapore
Flora Debora Floris

Petra Christian University, Indonesia
A young female English teacher, Ms. Hana Lee, was walking by a classroom and
saw a more senior teacher, Mrs. Kyung-Ja Kim, tutoring a student.
Ms. Lee knew the student, Young-Hee, who was also in her class and was known
to be falling behind. She had tried to help him and then gave up because he did
not seem to make any progress. So she thought that she'd better pay more
attention to the brighter students in her class. She said to herself, “It is a waste
of my time. There is no way I could make a difference to this student; and there
were many students like Young-Hee in the school”.
The next day, she ran into Mrs. Kim in the corridor and said to her, 'Mrs. Kim, I
hope you don’t mind me saying this, but I think you are wasting your time. I
know the student you are tutoring. He is hopeless and you're just wasting your
time. Also there are so many students like Young-Hee in the school. You cannot
possibly make a difference."
The senior teacher listened patiently and then said calmly, "I know I cannot
possibly make a difference to every student. But I can make a difference to
Young-Hee, Ms. Hana Lee."

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Objectives:
1. To develop awareness of pro-social behavior.
2. To develop story writing skill.
Procedure:
1. Have the students read the following quote “Be kind. It is hardly ever the
wrong thing to do” (Unknown) and thought about how one kind act could
bring positive effects and make a difference to one person.
2. Ask the students to read the story and answer or discuss the following
questions:
a. Do you know anyone like Young-Hee? Or Mrs. Kyung-Ja Kim?
b. Have you ever experienced a situation like Young-Hee, a weak student
described in this story? How did Young-Hee (or you) feel – afraid,
hopeless?
c. What or who helped you to feel different?
d. How did it/she/he made you feel different?
e. Why would Mrs. Kyung-Ja Kim want to make a positive difference in the
academic life of her weak student?
f. What can you do to make a difference? How can you be ‘Mrs. Kyung-Ja
Kim’?
g. How do we create more ‘Mrs. Kyung-Ja Kim’ in our community? Please list
several ideas for acts of kindness.
h. Can you think of a specific person you can help? How are you going to
help him/her? How will it impact his/her life? How will it personally
impact your life?
i. Do you have your own I can make a Difference (Starfish) story?
3. As homework or out-of-class assignment, have students work in pairs and
come up with an animated video story sharing one of their I can Make a
Difference (Starfish) stories. The aim of the video is to share one’s real
experience and to remind us all that there is the power within each of us to
make a difference to someone else's life even in small ways.
a. The animated videos are made using a free online application such as
PowToon.
b. Each video consists of 2 parts: 1) the story and 2) the reflection.
c. The story should be in the Past Tense and the reflection is in the Present
Tense.
d. Each pair is asked to develop a video script first.
e. Each pair needs to meet the teacher regularly to consult their script.
f. Upload the animated videos on YouTube to reach a wider audience.

a

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Reflection:
In today’s world, it is easy to be discouraged and to question the extent to which
we can make a difference in the life of another especially if we feel that we are
not rich or smart enough to act. The story I can Make a Difference is actually a
reminder of the important role we play in our lives. It is a reminder that we
should help each other whenever we can even in small ways.
The classroom discussions encourage the students to take their time to
remember that they have made and they can keep making small changes in
their own context. The activity of making an animated video aims to offer the
students opportunities to practice writing a short story that might inspire their
classmates, teachers and people outside their classroom.

CHAPTER TWELVE
THE POWER OF LANGUAGE
Maya Khemlani David
Asia-Europe Institute
University of Malaya, Malaysia
Francisco P. Dumanig
University of Hawaii at Hilo, USA
Even though this event occurred years ago, it remains very fresh in my mind and
I recollect this incident as if it just occurred yesterday.
I had just completed my English for Specific Purpose (ESP) class for the final year
undergraduates at University of Malaya and was walking out of the classroom
and down a steep flight of stairs when I heard someone rushing after me and
calling out to me.
I stopped and looked around. It was Ahmad Mosdeen one of the quietest boys
in my class who seldom spoke. He stammered and asked me desperately - “Will I
ever pass?” I wondered what had brought on his need to ask this question.
I paused for a while reflecting on his question. And then responded that if he
had been studying and coming for all the classes he would surely pass. “Why do
you ask me this question?” I asked.
His response shocked and upset me. He said my predecessor had called him
stupid.
My response was swift. “You are definitely not stupid. You will pass your exams if
you come for classes regularly, pay attention and do your homework,” I said in a
calm voice and walked away briskly, as I did not want to reveal or disclose my
annoyance at the previous teacher.

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Objectives:
1. To develop awareness of the power of language.
2. To develop listening and responding skills.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students to read the quote by Nelson Mandela “If you talk to a man
in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his
language that goes to his heart.”
2. Provide at least 10 minutes discussion about the quote and ask students
about their thoughts about it. Ask the students the following guide
questions:
a. What does it mean, when we say, “If you talk to a man in a language he
understands, that goes to his head”?
b. Can you think of any situation that can help you to illustrate the
statement clearly?
c. What is the difference between the first statement, “If you talk to a man
in a language he understands, that goes to his head,” and the second
statement, “If you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart”?
d. Can you think of any situation that can help you to illustrate the second
statement clearly?
3. Group the students with three (3) members in each group and ask them to
read the story silently.
4. After reading, ask the students to discuss the story with their group
members using the following guide questions:
a. What do you think the student had in mind when he asked the teacher,
“Will I ever pass?”
b. Do you think the student asked the question because he was afraid to fail
or because he wanted assurance that he was not really stupid?
c. Do you think it was appropriate for the teacher to respond to the student
with this question; “Why do you ask?” Why?
d. Why do you think the teacher did not answer the student immediately?
e. If you were the student, will you also seek assurance in this manner?
f. If you were the teacher, how would you respond to the question?
g. Based on the teacher’s answer, what will the boy think about himself?
h. Will the teacher’s answer encourage the student to persevere with his
studies?
i. How does the use of language impact on someone else?

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j. Do you think that the way you listen to and react to a person’s question
can affect him positively or negatively? Explain.
k. As a student teacher, do you think that the way you listen and respond to
your students can influence their lives? Explain.
5. After the students’ discussion, each group must present in class the
conclusions they reach at the end of their discussion.
Reflection:
Language has power. What we say and how we say it has the potential to
destroy or uplift the spirit of our students.
As teachers or student teachers, we must be careful in how we express
ourselves because what comes out from our mouth will either build or damage
our students. What comes out from our mouth is the product of our thinking
and what we think is the result of how we interpret the message that we
receive. Therefore, it is essential to listen carefully to others and we should
carefully pause and reflect before responding.
Teachers must give students the opportunity to express what they feel about the
class, the subject matter and problems that affect themselves and their studies.
When teachers listen, they can figure out how to best respond to each student
and to resolve issues that may occur.
It is important that before saying anything, teachers must think first what words
will be used and how they will be structured to benefit those students who
listen. This means, as a teacher our main objective is to help students to get
over from whatever issues or problems they have encountered. Encouraging
and motivating words will build the students’ confidence.
It is good to inculcate on our minds what Nelson Mandela said, “If you talk to a
man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his
language, that goes to his heart.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
KEEP READING
Theresa Tan
Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School, Singapore
Coming up the flight of stairs and onto the walkway, I could see Miss Sukanya, a
student-teacher I had mentored earlier in the year, in her Primary One
classroom. She had her six and seven-year-olds gathered on the floor in front of
her. Their eyes were glued to the book she was holding up. It was a scene which
gave me a tender fuzzy feeling. I strolled past her class with a smile on my face. I
couldn’t help it.
A day later, I met her as she stepped out of her classroom. I told her about that
happy scene I had witnessed the day before.
With a bright smile and a twinkle in her eyes, she said enthusiastically, “You
know, that’s my favourite part! But I still have a lot I want to learn from you.
You’re really knowledgeable about authors and I think that really gives the
children a lot more.”
I nodded and gave her a knowing look. “I know… that really helps to engage the
children, doesn’t it? Don’t stop reading to your kids, okay? Don’t get too caught
up with the main curriculum. This is where we bring our love for books and
reading to the children. Keep that up!”
As I walked away, I felt really good knowing that this young teacher has caught
on the passion of early literacy and has allowed herself to take off with it.
Objectives:
To nurture the love of reading in young learners through high-interest picture
books.

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Procedure:
1. Ask the students or the student-teachers to read the story above and answer
the following question: What seemed to be the author’s purpose in creating
this text?
2. Ask the students or the student-teachers to share their reading experience:
a. What was your favorite book or story when you were a kid?
b. Who was your favorite character?
c. Who asked or encouraged you to read?
d. Is it important for children to learn reading in the early years of school?
e. What did your teacher do to encourage his/her students’ love of reading?
f. What do you do in your classroom to encourage a love of reading?
g. What has worked for you to nurture a love of reading in your students or
children?
3. Ask the students to come up with some plans to make reading fun and to
cultivate the students’ love of reading. The following lesson plan might serve
as a model.
Start with a ‘hook’. It could be a nursery rhyme, a jingle, a song or even a

question. It should be a trigger to tap on the children’s prior knowledge of
the content or theme in the selected book.
Introduce the story by reading the title, the author and illustrator’s name,
the book blurb etc. Ask the children to predict what they think the book is
about. The visible thinking strategy, see-think-wonder, is a great strategy to
use at this stage.
Read the story aloud using appropriate tone and expression. Stop and ask
more predictive and interactive questions along the way to elicit responses
from the children. This helps to engage them and sustain their interest too.
At the end of the reading, ask the children to reflect and share their
thoughts about the theme/story. Create a space in the classroom for the
children to revisit the book later for independent reading.
If the book has been made into a movie, screening a short extract of the
movie can also increase interest. Encourage the children to watch the movie
and invite them to compare the book with the movie.

a
Reflection:
Early literacy starts with stories. A teacher who loves books and stories can make
a tremendous impact on her students. This is especially true for reluctant
readers.
In today’s busy classroom where the curriculum is rigorous and there is a strong
emphasis on achievement, it is often easy for the teaching of the English
language to be relegated to mechanical grammar worksheets or meaningless
comprehension passages. It does not have to be that way but teachers have to
have the courage to sometimes defy the odds and read books that are not in the
syllabus.
My story is a reminder to adults, who love reading as a child, to bring that love
into the classroom. It is the best gift you can give to any child. There are so many
things children can learn from stories; and a good story does bond people
together. This is my appeal to all language teachers: keep reading!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
DO NOT LET OTHERS BRING YOU DOWN
Zinonos Vasiliki
University of Sheffield, English Language Teaching Centre, UK
“Sophie, can you help us with the reading today please?” Miss Tania asked.
“Yes, Miss.”
Laughter broke out in the background.
“Pfff… we are going to take ages again!” Bob exclaimed.
“Can we sleep now?” Jen whispered to her classmates sitting at the back having
a laugh with them.
“We never understand what she reads. It is better someone else reads, Miss”
Khaled said bluntly.
“It’s okay Miss” Sophie rushed to say, “Someone else can read. I don’t want to
make the lesson boring. I’m not good they’re right. My reading and accent is
terrible”.
“Everyone stop talking immediately! Your behaviour is offensive and improper!”
Miss Tania instructed angrily.
“Sophie please go and wait in my office until the bell rings for break and I’ll talk
to you then. Listen children, you need to understand that this is unacceptable
behaviour. Do you know what this is? This is called bullying and it has serious
consequences! I’ll give you an example. Bob and Jen say you’re bad singers and
you were asked to sing in front of the class and someone suddenly jumps in and
says ‘Oh my God our ears are going to hurt now, can we use earplugs?’ And the
class laughed at you. How would you feel? Would you like that?”
“No, Miss!” Both said lowering their heads.
““Okay then, why do you do something to someone, when you wouldn’t want it
to be done to you? Wouldn’t you feel incompetent, sad and ashamed?”
“Yes, Miss!” the whole class replied.
“Alright then. Listen children, bullying -either willingly or unwillingly- is wrong
because it is intimidation of someone who is vulnerable. This can destroy the

a
emotional world of the person being mocked, which may lead to delinquency,
dropping out of school, leaving home or even suicide.”
“Aaah….” everybody responded shockingly as a sign of realization.
“Would you want something bad like this to happen to Sophie?”
“No, way Miss”
“Okay then. So, let’s all try something different. Instead of putting her down,
let’s try to encourage her with her reading skill. I’m sure that you will all see
great improvement in her after your support. Please remember we rise only by
lifting other people up and not the contrary”.
Objectives:
1. To raise students’ awareness that bullying can exist in the language
classroom due to pronunciation difficulties of students learning English as a
Second Language.
2. To raise awareness about the problems that students of different ethnical
backgrounds might face with the language barrier.
3. To raise awareness that more focus should be given to teaching
pronunciation in the class in terms of phonetics and phonology.
Procedure:
1. Have the teachers read the story aloud and discuss the following questions:
a. Have you ever come across such a situation as a teacher? What happened
and how did you deal with it?
b. In such occurrence, what is the best route a teacher should follow:
discipline students, provide pastoral support or both?
c. Which route will have more effect and why?
d. If Miss Tania had not reacted the way she did (excusing the bullied
student and advising the students by example) what do you think would
have been the aftermath?
e. Do you think pronunciation skills are an area where most language
learners feel less confident about?
f. Should second language curricula focus more on this aspect of language?
If yes, what should change in the language curriculum?
2. Have teachers prepare questionnaires for their students to fill in, gather the
results and make a brief presentation of 7 minutes in class with their findings
and thoughts, asking them the following questions:

a
a. Rate your reading skills from 1-5 (1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest)
b. Rate your English pronunciation skills from 1-5 (1 being the lowest, 5
being the highest)
c. Have you ever felt bad about your accent or your reading? Yes/No
d. Have you ever being made fun of your accent or reading? Yes/No
e. Do you understand the pronunciation of your English teacher?
Yes/No/Pretty much
f. Do you understand the pronunciation in your listening exercises?
Yes/No/Pretty much
g. Would you like your teacher to show you ways you can improve your
pronunciation? Yes/No
h. Would you feel more confident if your improved your accent? Yes/No
3. As an extra activity, have teachers read the following extract and write a
reflection of 300 words on how important accent and pronunciation is to
facilitate comprehension and how important it is to avoid bullying in the
classroom. Additionally, make suggestions of how this aspect can be
improved and what methodologies can be used to facilitate pronunciation
and comprehension, which in turn will help avoid bullying.
Goh, (1999) states that “accented speech, has been picked out as the factor
most contributing to unintelligibility or comprehension difficulty (p.61).
Accent constitutes an incredibly significant variable in listening
comprehension. There is research that favours the idea of listeners
benefitting when they are familiar or share the accent of the speaker
(Abeywickrama, 2013, p. 61). Specifically, a study by Gass and Varonis (1984)
showed that familiarity with speaker’s accent facilitates comprehension
(p.71).
Reflection:
Bullying is a widespread phenomenon. Bullying with regards to pronunciation
and reading abilities is often not perceived or ignored in the second language
classroom. Most students feel ashamed and incompetent to perform in this
aspect; that is why they choose to be silent. Teachers should be aware of this
issue and try to help students whose native language is not English to overcome
it. One way is to suggest incorporating in the curriculum teaching phonetics and
phonology, which is often disregarded. In this way both reading and
comprehension abilities will be improved and students’ confidence will increase
so that they are not made fun of for their reading performance.

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Conducting small surveys will help them identify the extent of the issue at hand
and realise that action should be taken. Reading the extract gives the teachers
the awareness that research for the pronunciation of English in second language
curricula is an issue which concerns a lot of scholars and that maybe we, as
teachers are ignorant of it. Reflecting on the extract provides the teachers with
the stimuli to find ways to improve their teaching methodologies in this aspect,
so that students build their confidence and are not being bullied .
References:
• Abeywickrama, P. (2013). Why not non-native varieties of English as listening
comprehension test input? RELC Journal, 44(1), 59-74.
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0033688212473270
• Gass S., & Varonis E. M. (1984). The effect of familiarity on non-native
speech. Language Learning, 34, 65–89. https://doi:10.1111/j.1467-
1770.1984.tb00996.x
• Goh, C. (1999). Teaching listening in the language classroom. Singapore:
SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
LITTLE THINGS GO A LONG WAY
Radhika De Silva
Open University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
Ranga was a Grade 10 student in a big school in a city. He was a child from a
broken family and his mother had gone abroad leaving Ranga with his
grandmother when he was three years old. Ranga’s grandmother paid little
attention to Ranga as she had to do all household activities by herself.
At school, Ranga preferred to sit at the back of the class and he neither listened
to teachers when they taught in class nor did any activities assigned by them.
Ranga’s behaviour was very unpredictable, so the teachers did not like to keep
him in the classroom. They often sent him out of the class and made him kneel
down in the corridor. Some male teachers who passed by teased him by hitting
him on the head or squeezing his ears and the students in nearby classes made
fun of him.
One day, when he was kneeling down in the corridor, his teacher of English
passed by. She stopped for a while and caressed Ranga’s head and left a picture-
story book near him and walked away without uttering a single word.
Next day in class, the teacher asked for a volunteer to tell a story and to her
amazement, Ranga was among the few students who raised their hands. The
teacher gave Ranga the first chance. Ranga narrated a story with great interest
and enthusiasm. That was the story in the book which his English teacher left
near him while he was kneeling down in the corridor, the previous day.
A few weeks later the school had its English Day Competitions. The English
teacher could not hide her tears when the presenter announced, “The best
speaker award in English goes to Ranga Perera of Grade 10.”

a
Objectives:
1. To develop awareness of good teacher qualities
2. To enhance students’ (or teacher trainees’) language skills i.e. dialogue
writing skills, essay writing skills, debating and their ability to act out a short
play.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students to read the story. Get them to discuss about the following in
groups.
a. What do you think are the reasons for Ranga’s disruptive behavior in
class?
b. Do you agree with the punishment given by teachers?
c. What do you think of the English teacher’s action?
d. What may be the reason for leaving the book with Ranga without saying
anything?
2. Get the students to work in pairs. Distribute cards with one of the following
situations written on them. Instruct the pairs to develop a dialogue.
a. Ranga meets his English teacher after the award ceremony.
b. Ranga and his grandmother on the day he received the story book.
c. English teacher and the Math teacher discussing about Ranga’s unruly
behavior in class.
d. Ranga meets his English teacher 10 years later.
3. Get the volunteers to act their dialogues out in front of others. The students
select the best dialogues and produce a short play. This is done as group
work. The groups meet the teacher regularly and get their scripts refined.
The best play is staged on the Activity Day.
4. Ask the students to write an essay on the topic of “A teacher is a life
changer” in 500 words. Ask the students to include at least three examples of
such situations in their school life.
5. Group students into two groups. Give them the topic “The main duty of a
teacher is to teach the relevant subject right.” Do you agree/ disagree?” They
discuss the position given to them in their groups and select a team of 5
members for the Debating Team. The debate can be made open to teachers,
teacher trainers and principals.

a

a
Reflection:
Schools around the world are becoming more and more exam-oriented and the
main expectation of teachers is to produce good results at examinations. Some
teachers believe that their job is to keep the classroom quiet and to teach many
lessons as possible so that they can complete the syllabus early and prepare
their students for examinations. They may satisfy the needs of a few studious
students in the classroom, but there are students who come to school with
other needs and expectations as well.
A story like “Little things go a long way” is a stimulating and inspiring story for
teacher trainees as it makes them understand the value of a teacher who can be
a life-changing agent of her/his students. It also shows the importance of a
simple act of kindness like the one done by the English teacher in the story in
transforming the life of a neglected child.
The suggested activities aim to develop a range of skills in teacher trainees. The
trainees learn the characteristics of a good teacher and they understand the role
of a teacher as a changing agent and a facilitator. Since there are pair and group
activities, co-operative and collaborative learning takes place. Language skills of
the trainees such as speaking, essay writing, and debating are developed as well.
The plays produced by teacher trainees may be sources of inspiration for
students, parents and especially for both current and future teachers.

Learning from
Others’ Culture
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
HOLDING UP A MIRROR TO
INTERNATIONAL ESL STUDENT-TEACHERS
Beatrix Burghardt
Indiana University Bloomington, US
Once, I was an international student in the US. Today, I am international faculty.

I teach students preparing to become language teachers. In my classes, I often
share stories of my learning experiences. I have always hoped that this common
international background will one day allow me to connect with my students
beyond teaching them ESL methods.
Juansi and Wenqin are only two of my international students, who have
frequently come to office hours to discuss assignments since their first year.
This year, though, I noticed that they often stop by just to chat and laugh.
During their recent visit, I jokingly asked why they keep coming back. Juansi
quickly replied, “I trust you a lot.” When I asked what she meant, she said, “It is
a personal feeling. Closeness.” Wenqin added, “You know how it feels to not
know. Because English is your second language and you had difficulties, too.”
Wenqin also mentioned an example: “I came here with a purpose. I need to
work. […] when I was working on my paper, I had no idea about the topic. But
you said “I will teach you” and that’s what happened. You trusted me before.
You gave me the feeling I could do it.”
At this moment, I realized the power of my stories. Sharing my stories allowed
them to see that I have walked in their shoes. I also came with a purpose as an
international graduate student and I had to overcome the same obstacles that
they are facing now. Such empathy may lead to trust, which in turn may
empower my international students to uphold the image of future success and
further motivate them.

a
Objectives:
1. To identify possible motivational roles of language teachers.
2. To practice motivational strategies in language teaching.
3. To explain the relationship between L2 motivation-related concepts by
utilizing research skills.
Procedure:
Pre Stage
1. Students find a partner and discuss the demographic traits of their future
class.
2. Ask the students to do free-writing for five minutes using the following
prompt:
Do you think it is the teacher’s job to motivate their students?
3. Ask the students to define the following words in their own teaching context:
a. international student,
b. motivation,
c. trust,
d. empathy,
e. office hour.
Whilst Stage
1. Ask the students to predict what the story is about by reading the following
statement: “Once, I was an international student in the US. Today, I am
international faculty.”
2. Ask the students to read the story and answer/discuss these questions:
a. What is the central idea of this story?
b. Where does the story take place?
c. What do you know about the author of the story? Identify all possible
roles and traits.
d. What do you know about the students of the story? Identify all possible
roles and traits.
e. What is the teacher’s attitude towards language teaching and learning?
f. What is the students’ attitude towards language teaching and learning?
g. What does Juansi mean by the word ‘trust’?
h. What does Wenqin mean by saying “You know how it feels to not know”?
Post Stage
1. Ask the students to find out the meaning or the message of the story.

a
2. The author claims that “my stories allowed them to see that I have walked in
their shoes.” What do you think the author’s stories were about?
3. Ask the students to imagine that they are interviewing the author. Prepare 4
questions to ask during an interview.
4. Ask the students to choose one of the following options as their homework.
a. Group work: Find two motivational strategies utilized in language
classrooms. Prepare a video recording in which you explain the strategy
and demonstrate it through an activity. Share your video with the class.
b. Individual work: Think of a teaching situation (formal or informal) that
motivated you or that you created to motivate someone else. Prepare a
video recording in which you explain the motivational strategy and its
impact on you, and explain how you can use it in your future language
teaching practice. Share you video with the class.
Reflection:
The story is inspired by Dörnyei’s (2009) model of the L2 motivational self-
system. It is an authentic story describing the author’s practice based on her
diary notes. It aims to raise awareness of how non-native speaker ESL teachers
in particular can evoke the L2 ideal self in their students by sharing their own
academic experience across academic cultures (Taguchi, Magid, & Papi, 2009).
Dörnyei’s work is applicable not only to studying L2 learner motivation, but it
also allows for reflection by ESL practitioners. The before-reading activities
prime teachers to motivation-related concepts specific to the L2 instructional
context. The during-reading activities ask teachers to discover the social aspects
of the language classroom and the role of language in building relationships
while teaching language. The after-reading activities offer an extension by
personalizing the topic, directing teachers to discover the literature and trying
out motivational strategies specific to L2 language teaching.
References:
• Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The L2 motivational self-system. In Z. Dörnyei & E.
Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 9-42).
Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
• Taguchi, T. Magid, M., & Papi, M. (2009). The L2 motivational self-system
among Japanese, Chinese and Iranian learners of English: A comparative
study. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and
the L2 self (pp. 66-97). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING:
INSPIRATION FROM A PET SOUND
Dat Bao
Monash University, Australia
It happened in one of my lessons where students are of international

background. Class members come from 14 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and
Australia. While discussing the language-culture relationship, one student raised
the question why the sound of dog’s bark is described so differently in different
languages, and why we humans cannot create a common word that represents
the actual barking made by dogs. When each student shared how dog barks in
their mother tongue, we discovered that dog’s bark is transcribed as ‘woof-
woof’ in English, ‘wang-wang’ in Mandarin, ‘hund-hund’ in German, ‘gae-gae’ in
Korean, ‘eey-eey’ in Somali, and so on.
When I asked the class which sound they think most resembles a dog’s real
bark, everyone answered that their language had the most truthful sound and
the barking sound from other languages felt so strange that it made them laugh.
This response somehow demonstrates the reality that the human mind tends to
view what they are familiar with as the most important reality that makes most
sense; while the perspectives of others tend to be ‘weird’ and ‘it was hard to
figure out how dogs sound like that!’
Objectives:
1. To develop intercultural understanding.
2. To raise tolerance towards differences.

a
Procedure:
1. Bring into class a box of oranges. Invite each student to take one and go back
to their seat, study it carefully and then put it back into the box after making
sure that they can later recognise their orange and will be able take it out
when they search for it from the box. This activity raises the awareness that
everyone is important and unique, and this fact may be unknown to
outsiders of the language and culture. The fact that only the owner of the
orange recognises it means that subjectivity, familiarity, observation, and
understanding play a part in the acceptance of others.
2. Read the above story. Ask students to think of an incident in their life, a
conversation from someone from another culture, or an observation when
they watch movies, or even a speculated example, to show that what they
see as natural, important, and polite in their culture, seems to mean very
little to someone from another culture. Some examples would be wearing a
headscarf, giving a name card with both hands, not opening a gift in front of
the giver, and so on.
3. Ask students to share their examples and discuss why people have different
views of what shapes good manner, politeness, respect, and normal
behaviour. Explain that such differences come from the history of living
together and developing specific ways of getting along in each society.
4. Present the following dialogues and have students choose the best response
in their culture. One interesting way to do this could be showing only the first
line of each dialogue and invite students to come up with the most
appropriate response in their thinking. Once the class has offered a few
responses, the teacher then begins to show some options.
Dialogue 1
Guest: Your food is just delicious!
Really? Please have some more
Not at all! I’m still learning how to cook
Thank you
(Do you have another response?)
Dialogue 2
Classmate: You’ve done so well in your test! I just don’t know how to catch
up with you.
No. You’re kidding again!
You’re doing just fine!
Thank you. I think I just perform well this time.

a
I didn’t know what I was doing then.

(Other responses?)
Dialogue 3
Friend: You haven’t changed a bit. You still look so young!
No. I’ve aged a great deal!
Neither have you.
Is it you who have not changed a bit!
Really? Thank you.
I don’t believe you!
(Other responses?)
5. Invite individuals in the class to come up with a line that potentially evokes
various responses from different culture. Then invite the rest of the class to
shout out their responses. Such lines may be ‘thank you’, a compliment, a
comment on appearance, a personal or controversial question, etc.
Reflection:
The way we communicate often reflect our own, specific culture, whether we
can see that clearly or not. When we speak, the listener will find out many
aspects of our culture such as beliefs, values, behaviour, lifestyle, world view,
emotion, and status.
For example, in England, Liverpool accent is considered ‘less noble’ than London
accent and many people from Liverpool cannot get jobs in London unless they
change their accent. The same thing happens in the US, some people from
South Carolina who went to Boston to study were judged as ‘less intelligent’
simply because they do not sound like Boston people. All of these perceptions
are in many cases built upon subjective habits and individual bias.
One important achievement in English learning is to become generous and
tolerant towards other cultures. Instead of laughing at others for being too
different, we can learn to walk in their shoes to understand and adapt to new
ways of communicating. Much of language competence has to do with such
intercultural flexibility.
According to Hall (1973), the meaning and value of a message may be decoded
or interpreted in different ways depending on individuals’ sociocultural
background and experiences. He maintains that collectively, many members of a
society might be capable of changing the commonly accepted meaning of a
message. In fact, identity is shaped by the relationship between the individual
and society. It is important to temporarily modify our identity when we step
beyond our own culture when communicating with others.

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Reference:
• Hall (1973). S. Encoding and decoding in the television discourse. Paper for
the Council of Europe Colloquy on Training in the Critical Reading of Television
Language. Birmingham: Centre for Cultural Studies, University of
Birmingham, 507-17.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHANGING PERSPECTIVE
Hanna Juliaty
Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana, Indonesia
In an international classroom in England, university students from different

countries were having an English Reading and Writing class. Earlier, the lecturer
had introduced a classic children story titled The Three Little Pigs to the class
through a short movie clip. Since the story is very popular worldwide, most
students admitted that they have read or heard about the story a few times and
were familiar with its content.
“Which one is the antagonist in the story?”, asked the lecturer at the end of the
short movie.
“The Wolf”, the students answered in unison.
“I will now give you another version of the Three Little Pigs story as told by the
Wolf himself,” said the lecturer. “You need to read the short story carefully, and
once you are finished, tell me whether or not you change your mind about the
antagonist.”
Many students showed an interested expression on their face. It was very clear
to the lecturer that the students had never read or heard The Three Little Pigs
story being told in another version than the original one. A while later, when the
students had finished reading the story, the lecturer asked the question again.
“Which one is the antagonist in the story?”
To everyone’s surprised, the class was now divided into two big groups: a group
who thought the Wolf was the antagonist and another group who thought the
Wolf was innocent.
Later after the class just ended, a student walked up to the lecturer and said,
“Today’s reading is very insightful for me. The simple story wasn’t only
engaging—it also raised my awareness to be critical and reflective when looking
at text while reading.”
The teacher smiled and replied, “I’m glad you learned something valuable
today.”

a
Objectives:
1. To develop awareness of critical reading.
2. To develop writing skills using poster as media of communication.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students to read the story and discuss the following questions:
a. Why did the students at first agree that the Wolf was bad, but at the
second time, half of them thought he was innocent? What could possibly
make this group of students change their mind?
b. If you have a chance to read the other version of the Three Little Pigs as
told in the Wolf’s perspective, would you change your mind about the
antagonist? Why or why not?
c. The story shows how people may respond differently to the text they
read. What do you focus on when reading different types of text (e.g.
descriptive, narrative, persuasive, or argumentative)?
d. Do you think it is important to consider a text from different perspectives?
Why or why not?
e. How can you be critical when reading? What aspects do you need to
consider when reading in order to be critical?
f. Share one text that you have read recently. What is it about? How would
you respond to it? How would your peers respond to it?
g. The lecturer in the story used children’s literature to teach critical reading
skills. What other media can you use to practice critical reading skills? Do
different media offer different benefits? Why or why not?
2. As an assignment, the teacher can have the students practice applying
critical reading skills and organising written information for poster
presentation:
a. Ask the students to work in small groups (3-4 people).
b. Assign each group to find three different short texts (150-300 words) of
the same specific topic (e.g. news or magazine articles that report or
discuss the same local, national or international trending issue).
c. Ask the students to work together in their group to analyse the texts by
identifying the writer’s intention and bias (including the use of writer’s
language, tone and mood), along with the evidence shown or implied in
each text.
d. Ask the students to draw a conclusion from their group analysis and share
their personal perspective and response to the texts.

a
e. Ask the students to report their findings in a digital poster presentation

using a free online application (e.g. Canva or Piktochart) and share it with
the class.
Reflection:
In this modern era, people have more freedom to express their opinions, be it
through spoken or written words, or through other kinds of expressions.
Especially with various digital platforms that can be accessed and used easily,
freely and immediately, more people now have the opportunities to display
information, share ideas and express opinions to a much wider audience than in
the past. On the one hand, this may result in various positive impacts, but on
the other hand, this could trigger irresponsible and unreliable productions of
overly-biased judgments, as often manifested in misleading information and
fake news.
It is very important for students in higher education to learn evaluating
numerous texts and sources they read, online and printed, critically. The story
Changing Perspective gives us a peek into a university classroom where students
learned to employ critical reading skills in learning and how it impacted their
perspective not only on the text they were reading, but also on their overall
daily reading practice. The discussion questions and assignment are also
designed to facilitate students to raise awareness of the importance of critical
reading in everyday life.
Reference:
• Scieszka, J. (1989). The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! New York: Viking
Penguin.

CHAPTER NINETEEN
SHARING THE JOY OF LITERATURE
John Sivell
Brock University, Canada
A teacher from Britain was working at a Syrian university. Although he knew that
many British students were unconfident with literature, his Syrian students
seemed to be different. For example, they always went to public readings of
Arabic poetry. Perhaps that enjoyment could include English literature, too.
Through careful trial and error, he learned that short stories in English were the
best choice. His classes especially appreciated Hemingway’s “A good café in the
Place St. Michel.” That story describes a youthful American author writing all
alone in a Paris café. A beautiful young woman catches his attention, but he
focuses only on his work. When he finally looks up from his notebook, the
mysterious girl is gone.
Hemingway’s picture of a famous and faraway city fascinated the Syrian
students. One group of classmates even joined together to translate it. They
hung their work in the corridor for fellow students who did not know English.
Above the title they added (in both English and Arabic): Please read this story –
We LOVE it!
Before returning to Britain, the teacher left a forwarding address. However, that
was in the 1970s. Email and social media did not exist. So, he feared he would
lose contact with his students, and at first nothing reached him. Then, after
three years, he found a postcard in his mailbox. Its stamp had been cancelled in
Paris. The message was from one of the Syrian students who had read
Hemingway in his class. She began by saying, “I’m writing this card to you from a
good café in the Place St. Michel…”

a
Objectives:
1. To develop inferential reading skills, leading into discussion and writing.
2. To enhance intercultural understanding and appreciation through literature
and the Internet.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students to read this quote: “Books transported her … all over the
world while sitting in her little room in an English village” (Dahl, 1988, p. 15).
Invite them to think about how literature can open up the whole world; ask
them to name a novel, story or poem that had this effect on them, and
explain why.
2. Ask the students to write a 50-80 word description of the impact of that
novel, story or poem, also indicating how to locate a copy in a library or
online.
3. Invite small groups to exchange the above descriptions and talk about the
power of literature to inspire readers’ imagination about other places or
cultures.
4. Based on that discussion, have the same small groups compile a list of
recommended literature titles with a one- or two-line explanation of the
appeal of each and with information on how to find a copy. Upload those lists
to a blog site.
5. Ask the students to read the above story and respond to the following
questions:
a. How do you think the British teacher felt when working in Syria?
b. Why do you think that teacher was interested in his Syrian students’
enjoyment of poetry? Do you also enjoy poetry or other literature?
c. Why do you think those students were attracted to Hemingway’s story
about the young author in Paris?
d. Back in Britain, how do you think the teacher felt when he saw the stamp
on the postcard? Why?
e. Why would the Syrian student begin her message with, “I’m writing this
card to you from a good café in the Place St. Michel…”?
f. What does this story show about the power of literature? What makes
you say that?

a
6. As homework, assign the students to:

a. read Hemingway’s entire story (1,637 words) or the shorter, self-
contained segment from paragraphs 5 to 10 inclusive (“It was a pleasant
café … But I felt sad.” – 499 words) (available at http://fadedpage.com/
books/ 20141111/html.php#ch01).
b. compose an approximately 500-word summary (or 250 words for just the
segment) to reflect what they believe are the most meaningful details.
c. upload their summaries to the blog site.
d. read each other’s online summaries and add their own comments.
Reflection:
Today’s students are exposed to more powerful intercultural influences than
ever before. That impact comes largely from access to the Internet, which can
be fine although Internet communication is not always deeply reflective. By
contrast, Sharing the Joy of Literature foregrounds the special potential of
literature to evoke imaginatively rich understanding of others, not only by
depicting events and situations experienced by culturally different individuals,
but also by creating a community of readers who exchange ideas about what
they have read. In that context, sharing on the Internet can expand the reading
experience in highly constructive ways. This set of activities begins with two
traditional elements: discussion and composition about literature. But then it
expands the students’ engagement by encouraging them to use an online
platform to display their insights and to comment on the views of others
(Alrubail, 2015).
References:
• Alrubail, A. (2015, March 16). Blogging for English-Language Learners.
Edutopia: George Lucas Educational Foundation. Retrieved on 1 December
2018 from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/blogging-for-english-language-
learners-rusul-alrubail
• Dahl, R. (1988). Matilda. London, UK: Penguin.

CHAPTER TWENTY
COURAGE (MY QUIET STAR)
Paul Hullah
Meiji Gakuin University, Japan
Yūki arrived at class before anyone else, and always sat alone. He didn’t say
much, but, when he spoke, his contributions were original, imaginative and
insightful. Yūki reacted to poems — I taught poetry to a class of Japanese
university English majors — in an instinctive way. He would quickly find
messages, deep meaning in everything we read. He expressed his thoughts
vividly and freely, and I encouraged that. “You have a gift, Yūki,” I said. “Use it!”
Yūki was my star pupil: my ‘quiet star’. “You’re a still river, running deep!” I once
said in class. When I explained the meaning of that English saying, we all agreed
that it described Yūki perfectly.
His classmates liked Yūki. His thoughtful comments inspired them. “He is a
poet!”, they laughed. They told me the character used for writing Yūki’s name
means ‘courage’ in Japanese. They said they thought that was kind of poetic
too.
Yūki had a dream. After graduation, he wanted to live in an English-speaking
country. I told him he was gifted, could achieve whatever he wanted. I urged him
to aim high, follow his dream. The day he graduated, top student in his year, I
shook hands with him at the graduation ceremony. It was the last time we
spoke. ‘Follow that dream!’ I said. ‘I will,’ he replied.
A year later, a postcard arrived. It was from Yūki, and postmarked ‘London’. “I’m
living in the UK”’ he wrote, “six months here now! I’m so happy. My dream came
true! Your poetry class changed my life, gave me courage to express myself.
When I speak to people now, they do not just hear that I can speak English. They
do not just see that I am blind. They know who I am.”

a
Objectives:
1. To develop self-awareness and self-confidence by fostering attentiveness to
and empathy with the actions and circumstances of one’s self and of others.
2. To develop linguistic awareness and expressive competence by fostering
confidence in recognising differing registers and skills in using different
varieties of language.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students to read the story and answer or discuss the following:
a. Yūki wrote: “They know who I am”. What does it mean?
b. Yūki means ‘courage’. Does your (or a friend’s or pet’s) name have a
meaning? In what ways does that meaning suit you/him/her, or not? If
you could choose a different name for yourself, what name would you
choose, and why?
c. Describe a situation in your life where you wish you had expressed
yourself better, and explain how you would handle it differently if you had
another chance.
d. Using a maximum of 100 words, explain what impact this teacher’s class
had upon Yūki.
e. Is it always important to ‘aim high’? Why, or why not? Give examples from
your own experience to support your opinion.
f. Share a story (either an episode from your own life, or a story you have
heard) in which ‘courage’ plays an important part.
g. Yūki made his dream come true. What’s your dream? How will you
achieve it?
h. Yūki inspired others, and changed the way they thought. Who has
inspired you, or changed your way of thinking? Share a story of someone
who inspires you with your classmates.
2. Ask the students to work in groups to discuss these questions:
a. Do you think Yūki’s English class influenced him as it did because it was a
poetry class, or might other kinds of class have produced the same effect?
Why?
b. What study materials and methods are good for learning English? Which
materials and methods are not so good? Why?
3. Poetry finds deeper meanings or ‘messages’ in ordinary scenes and
situations. Using ‘rules’ for ‘haiku’ writing (3 lines, of 5, 7, and 5 syllables
respectively), have the students compose haiku that take an everyday scene
or occurrence and bring out its deeper meaning. Have them present their
haiku out loud, then invite comments from classmates.

a
4. Ask the students the meaning of ‘You’re a still river, running deep!’ If the
students do not know or cannot guess, explain that describing someone in
that way indicates that we perceive hidden depths beneath their calm
exterior. This figurative expression uses a visual image to illustrate an
impression.
5. Have the students guess and consider the meaning of some other common
English figurative expressions that describe a person’s personality (‘wet
blanket’, ‘down to earth’, ‘social butterfly’ etc.).
6. Ask the students:
a. Do you know any similar expressions (in English, or in your own
language)?
b. Explain how they work, and give examples of these expressions in use.
Reflection:
This story encourages us to pay attention, not only to people and things around
us, but also to the language we use to describe these people and things and
how we think and feel about them. Delving deeper than surfaces, we see the
world more fully, more clearly. Yūki’s disability (his blindness) makes it tempting
for people to ‘read’ and react to him in a certain way, but the story reminds us
that we shouldn’t ‘judge a book by its cover’. We need to look at life more
carefully.
Just as persons we encounter in our daily lives might have hidden depths and
talents, language also works on levels that are all too easily overlooked. Words
do not simply signify objects; the particular words and phrases we choose to use
in any given situation simultaneously communicate an attitude and convey our
feelings about the topics we describe and discuss.
The story of Yūki also deals with modes of expression. Control of expressive
utterance (building confidence in mastering style as well as content) affords
speakers greater control over self-presentation, impressions made on others,
and thus identity itself. Exposure to and consideration of figurative ‘poetic’
aspects of everyday phrases/expressions attunes us to potencies of language
beyond basic communication.
We can express the same idea in different ways, and the realization that how
something is said can be just as important as what is said is a vital stage in
becoming an empowered language user. Being adept at choosing words to best
suit a situation is a skill that proficient language learners should be encouraged
to acquire and develop at secondary and university level.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
STUDENT TO THE RESCUE:
TEACHING VOCABULARY WITH CARE
Phil Chappell
Macquarie University, Australia
This is a story about an Australian English language teacher teaching English in a

language school in Bangkok, Thailand. That person is me. The story is set in my
first year of being a teacher. I was working six days a week at the school,
thoroughly enjoying myself, meeting so many wonderful students, developing
my skills and knowledge alongside many great teachers. I was finally at that
stage of a new teacher's career where I was writing brief lesson plans in list
form, rather than the comprehensive ones that I had learned to use on my initial
training course. I was learning to be more spontaneous, to respond to the
students, rather than focusing on what I was doing up there in front of class.
One morning in a two-hour class of university students taking summer holiday
English lessons, I had assigned a reading task about home remedies for common
ailments.
Garlic and honey for a sore throat.
Cucumbers for tired eyes.
Vinegar for bee stings.
Vinegar. That word to this day takes me back to that lesson.
_________________
A hand goes up: "Teacher, what's vinegar?"
Not having been asked this before, my mind starts racing.
What's the best way to teach this word? Should I mime it? Draw it? Explain it?
It's kind of like wine, so I'll start there.
I then proceed to explain that vinegar is like wine. I draw casks and pipes on the
board. I am getting into fermentation and all kinds of concepts. The students
(they are all listening and watching by now) just look blank. Nothing I say makes
any sense.

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Then a voice to my right.

"Nam som sai choo."
Everyone smiles, laughs, nods in understanding. I smile at the student.
"What did you say?", I asked with sweat on my brow.
"I said the Thai word for vinegar."
"Oh, thanks. So now we all know what vinegar is?"
"Yes teacher."
Objectives:
1. To raise the awareness of the role of the students’ first language in the
English language classroom.
2. To introduce vocabulary teaching strategies for different kinds of vocabulary.
Procedure:
1. Assign the students (teacher trainees) to small groups.
2. Ask the groups to consider what went wrong with the teacher’s explanation
of vinegar. What would they do differently?
3. After eliciting feedback from the groups, ask them to discuss the following
two questions for a few minutes.
a. Is it appropriate for the students to use their first language (mother
tongue) in the English language classroom? If so, for what purposes? If
not, why?
b. Is it appropriate for the teacher to use the students' first language in the
English language classroom? If so, for what purposes? If not, why?
4. After eliciting feedback from the groups, write the following words on the
board, or include them in a handout. Ask the groups to come up with an
effective strategy for conveying the meaning of each word.
a. Run
b. Blue
c. Anxious
d. Generalisation
e. Chocolate
5. If the group is of appropriate size (20-25), call the group together and ask
each small group to peer-teach their vocabulary to the class. Or, if the group

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is larger, re-mix small groups and ask each individual in the group to peer-
teach their vocabulary to their small group.
6. Lead a discussion of different types of words and different ways to convey
meaning. For example, if it is an action verb, you can often mime the action;
if it is an adjective for a concrete object, you can use realia, or you could
simply use the L1 form and function of the word; if it is an abstract adjective
describing someone’s state of mind, you can tell a story, or you can use an L1
equivalent if one exists.
7. If appropriate, assign a follow up activity for teachers to keep a reflective
journal of the strategies they use to teach vocabulary in their lessons. This
could be used later on for a follow up meeting, or for participants to share
with their colleagues on a blog, in a newsletter, at a meeting, or in the staff
room.
Reflection:
Early career teachers often find themselves in hot water over unanticipated
problems that arise during lessons. These can be powerful learning
opportunities and should be viewed as such, rather than as a point of failure. In
this case, as the teacher, I began a journey of learning about the uses of the L1
(and the debates surrounding this), and I also learned that not all words can be
treated equally.
The students' first language is an abundant source of knowledge about language
that can be used strategically in the classroom. Teachers need to think critically
about how the L1 can support the language learning process in the classroom,
and also identify the times that it constrains language learning. One important
area where L1 can be used efficiently and effectively is teaching vocabulary.
Teaching the word vinegar by explaining how it is made is neither efficient nor
effective. It took up too much time in the reading lesson, and it didn’t achieve
the desired learning result. A simple use of the L1 equivalent in this case would
have been both efficient and effective. Different kinds of words require different
teaching strategies, and there are many excellent resources to follow this up,
e.g. Nation (2008).
On the other hand, if the learning aim is to develop fluency in spoken English,
then the use of L1 should be discouraged in many instances. Fluency
development involves speaking without too many hesitations, using
comprehensible rhythm and intonation patterns, while at the same time
expressing one’s thoughts. This is best done in the classroom using the target
language as much as possible in a task or activity.

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CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
CRITICAL TEACHING REFLECTION
ON THE “N-WORD”
Richard W. Hallett
Northeastern Illinois University, USA
Four years after Lithuania gained its independence from the USSR, I taught
English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at a secondary school in Kaunas. Due to
budget constraints, I was given a photocopy of an old Soviet-era English
language textbook to use in all of my sections of tenth grade English grammar
classes, Anglų Kalbos Vadovėlis [English Language Tutorial], and asked to work
through the text, keeping pace with the other two sophomore-level English
teachers. Dutifully, I worked my way through the text while smirking at all of the
Soviet propaganda presented in the textbook.
When I reached Lesson Seven, which contained an abridgement of Dorothy
Parker’s (1927) “Arrangement in Black and White,” I was stunned to see the
word nigger in the text without an accompanying gloss. However, the word
“Virginia” was glossed at the end of the story: “a state in the U.S.A. The
percentage of the Negro population there is 25%. The land aristocracy is a
violent supporter of race discrimination.” I deviated from the book for a day,
giving my students a brief history of the “n-word,” stressing how deeply
offensive it is to many native speakers of American English. I ended my lecture
by saying that I was not going to use the word and did not want to hear it.
After one lesson, a very bright girl asked me, “Are there any Communists in
America?” When I responded in the affirmative, she continued, “Are there any
Black Communists?” When I said probably, she quickly asked, “Are most Black
people Communists?” I then asked her why she was asking me these questions.
She responded, “In Soviet times, we were told that all Black people wanted to
be Communists because they knew that was the only way they would be treated
equally.”

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Objectives:
1. To get students (teacher trainees) to examine their teaching materials in a
critical manner.
2. To reflect on their own pre-conceived ideas about the hegemonic positioning
of the English language.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students (teacher trainees) to read the above story and respond to
the following questions:
a. What was the most interesting thing you learned from this text?
b. Was there anything you just read that surprised you?
c. What do you think is the purpose/aim of this text?
2. Ask the students (teacher trainees) to refer to required reading texts,
especially those from state-mandated curricula or textbooks, that they used
in their class and try to answer the following questions by or for themselves:
a. Why has this passage been included in the textbook?
b. What issue is raised in this passage?
c. How is the issue discussed/addressed, e.g. through an argumentative
essay, personal anecdote, a reproduction of a newspaper article, a well-
known piece of fiction, etc.?
d. What assumptions (both explicit and implicit) does the author make?
e. What are the main results, findings, or conclusions?
f. How universal is the interpretation of the text? Could students from other
cultures have different “take-away” points from the texts? If so, are these
interpretations based on different socio-cultural-historical impressions or
lessons?
3. Ask the students (teacher trainees) to refer to their classroom experience in
answering the following questions:
a. Did your students have the expected reactions after reading the assigned
materials? If not, why not?
b. Did the students appear to grasp the issue(s) addressed or brought up by
the text? What evidence is there of this understanding?
c. How could the text be addressed differently the next time it is taught? For
example, should it be presented along with a companion piece that offers
a different perspective?
d. Should the text be taught again? Why/why not?

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Reflection:
The above story, which I experienced about twenty-five years ago, has not only
remained with me throughout my teaching career – from teaching high school
EFL in Kaunas to teaching graduate linguistics classes in Chicago – but has also
influenced the type of research I have chosen to engage in. Larsen-Freeman
(2018, p. 67) notes, “Part of knowing about the world is knowing about the
power dynamics and inequalities that revolve around access to and use of other
languages/dialects in different contexts for different purposes.” That specific
encounter with that particularly bright student led me to rethink what I thought
I knew about the dominant roles of the United States and the English language
around the world. That reorientation led me to the discovery of the concepts of
hegemony and critical sociolinguistics. My forays into those areas of study have
most recently led me to discover the area of critical teaching reflection.
For Brookfield (2017), critical reflection is “the sustained and intentional process
of identifying and checking the accuracy and validity of our teaching
assumptions.” Moreover, it is a way of uncovering hegemony (p. 3). Critical
teaching reflection causes teachers to update their teaching practices and
beliefs continually based on their experiences and their students’ experiences.
The goal of this inspirational story is to show how a slight deviation from an
assigned reading to address a socially-relevant issue can activate not only a
change in one’s pedagogy but also a change in one’s research and, perhaps,
worldview.
References:
• Brookfield, S.D. (2017). Becoming a critically reflective teacher, 2nd ed. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Larsen-Freeman, D. (2018). Looking ahead: Future directions in, and future
research into, second language acquisition. Foreign Language Annals, 51(1),
55-72.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
POSITIONING STUDENTS AS LANGUAGE
EXPERTS THROUGH MULTILINGUAL
STORYTELLING ACTIVITIES
Shakina Rajendram
University of Toronto, Canada
I first met 11-year old Vishva when I was doing my doctoral research in Malaysia.
Vishva had been abandoned as a child, so he lived with his grandmother. Part of
his scalp had been burned off when a pot of boiling water tipped over on him as
a child, so he looked different from the other children his age, but he always
greeted me with the biggest, brightest smile. Vishva had come back to school
after missing a few years of schooling because his grandmother had not been
able to afford his school fees.
Because of all the schooling he had missed, Vishva could not read or write in
English well and he was failing his exams. During his English lessons, Vishva was
always quiet and did not participate in any of the activities. However, I saw from
the look of his face that he really wanted to join in, but did not feel confident
enough in himself.
I asked Vishva if he could teach me Tamil, and that in exchange I would help him
with his English. Since Tamil was his first language and he spoke it well, his face
lit up and he nodded eagerly.
Over the next few months, Vishva and I worked together on multilingual
storytelling activities such as reading bilingual Tamil-English storybooks, and
creating dual-language storybooks. In all our activities, I reminded Vishva that he
was the language expert and I was there to learn from him. This helped him to
take ownership over his learning and to improve his English.
One day, a new boy joined the class. I watched Vishva, my heart full of pride and
joy, as he walked up to the boy confidently and said “Hi, I’m Vishva. Would you
like me to help you with your English?”

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Objectives:
1. To develop multilingual students’ reading, writing and oral communication
skills.
2. To develop students’ collaboration skills.
3. To encourage a love for reading among students and develop their creative
thinking.
Procedure:
1. Prior to the class:
Ask the students to bring their favorite storybooks from home. The
storybooks can be in English or in other languages the students can read.
2. Read the above story and answer the following questions:
a. What is the main idea/gist of the story?
b. What was the turning point of the story?
c. What message did the author want you to get?
d. What lessons did you learn that you can use in your own teaching or
learning?
e. What would you like to ask the author or one of the characters?
3. Ask each student to choose a storybook that their friends brought to the
class.
4. Ask the students to read the storybook. Students can work in pairs or small
groups to help each other while reading.
5. After students read the book, have them think about and discuss the
characters, setting, plot, conflict, story events, and other aspects of the story.
You can use these questions to prompt them:
a. Who are the main characters in the story? Who were your most and least
favourite characters and why?
b. Where and when does the story take place?
c. What happened in the story? Why did those things happen?
d. What were your most and least favourite parts of the story and why?
e. What moral lessons did you learn from the story?
f. If you could change the character, setting, or any of the events in story,
what changes would you make?
g. How would those changes affect the rest of the story?

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6. After this discussion, students can work in pairs or small groups to rewrite
this story as a multilingual story using English and their first language. To
create their multilingual story, students first discuss what changes they would
like to make to the plot of the story. This can be based on the discussion in
steps 5(f) and (g). Encourage students to also personalize and localize the
story, for example by changing the names and physical characteristics of the
characters, the places in the story, and the dialogues between characters.
7. Once students have discussed and mapped out the plot of their story, they
start writing their story in English and other language(s) spoken by the group
members. If there are computers or tablets in your class, students can work
on writing and illustrating their stories using applications such as ScribJab,
MyStoryBook and Pixton. If not, students can create paper-based books using
materials such as construction paper, colored pencils, crayons, markers, and
images from colouring books, newspapers and magazines.
8. After creating their story, students practise reading it aloud using oral
storytelling techniques such as varying their volume and intonation. They
then work together to record a voice-over as they narrate the story.
9. Encourage students to share their multilingual stories by publishing their
books on ScribJab or other educational blogs and websites, or sharing their
paper-based books in the classroom reading corner and school library.
Reflection:
Studies on English language learning have shown that multilingual students
benefit from using their first language or home language in the classroom
because they are able to transfer the knowledge, skills and concepts from one
language to another. Furthermore, knowing that their home language is
welcome in the classroom “provides a sense of security and validates the
learners' lived experiences, allowing them to express themselves…experiment
and take risks with English” (Schweers, 1999, p. 7). Thus, by carving out an
important place for home languages in the classroom, teachers can build
bridges between what students experience at home and in school and “facilitate
the flow of knowledge, ideas, and feelings between home and school and across
languages” (Cummins et al., 2005, p. 41).
Although the research on language learning has suggested the cognitive,
sociocultural, communicative, and affective benefits of multilingualism in the
classroom, English language teachers in many contexts still implement English-
only instruction in their classrooms. This monolingual approach ignores the rich
repertoire of language skills and knowledge that students bring to the
classroom. Furthermore, it limits the opportunities for students with a shared

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first language to support their peers and scaffold each other’s learning during
collaborative activities.
In my experience as an English teacher in Malaysia and Canada, I have observed
that when I planned lessons that incorporated students’ home languages, such
as the multilingual story-writing activity, students like Vishva began to feel that
they were the language experts in the class, and this built their confidence, and
increased their engagement in learning. The interactions between my students
were also livelier, as they began to collaborate with each other and help each
other learn. Plan lessons that show your students that all their languages and
cultures are welcome and valued in the classroom.
References:
• Cummins, J., Bismilla, V., Chow, P., Cohen, S., Giampapa, F., Leoni, L., Sandhu,
O., & Sastri, P. (2005). Affirming identity in multilingual classrooms.
Educational Leadership, 63(1), 38–43.
• Schweers, C. W. (1999). Using L1 in the L2 classroom. English Teaching
Forum, 37(2), 6–9.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
IN OUR COUNTRY
(inspired by a Myanmar folktale from Htin Aung, 1962)
Soe Marlar Lwin

Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore
Ms. Marlar had been trying to get her students who were high-school graduates
from different EFL countries in Asia mingle and participate more actively in class.
“Today we are going to learn how to present a dispute and a judgement. But
first let me tell you a story from my country, Myanmar”, announced Ms. Marlar.
Once a poor traveller sat under a tree to have lunch which he had brought with
him. His simple lunch consisted of plain rice and boiled vegetables. About five
meters to the north from where he was sitting, there was a stall selling fried fish.
The lady stall-owner watched the traveller eat his meal. When he finished, the
stall-owner walked to him and demanded, “Give me a silver quarter, for the fried
fish.”
The traveller protested, “But I haven’t taken any fried fish.”
“Everyone can see that you were enjoying your meal with the smell from my
fried fish. Without it, how could your rice and boiled vegetable be so tasty?” the
staller-owner insisted.
Eventually, the dispute was brought to the Princess Learned-in-the-Law, who
passed the following judgement. “Since the wind was indeed blowing from the
north to the south, it cannot be denied that the wind did carry the smell of
frying fish to the traveller as he sat eating. So, he must pay the price. But let the
stall-owner and the traveller go into the sunlight, let the traveller hold out the
silver quarter, and let the woman take the shadow cast by that silver quarter. If
the price of fried fish is a silver quarter, the price of its smell must be the
shadow of a silver quarter.”
“In our country, we had a similar story” said one student.
“We also have a learned man who’s very clever in solving problems like that, but
he was a wise man, not a princess”, said another.

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“In our country, we don’t use silver quarters. We count money differently”, was
heard from another student.
What followed was one of the most participative and enjoyable lessons with
students sharing about their cultures. What an effective ice-breaker a folktale
can be for a class of culturally diverse students.
Objectives:
1. To develop skills in the presentation of a dispute and a judgement.
2. To develop intercultural awareness.
Procedure:
1. Ask students to answer or discuss the following:
a. What is a dispute and how is it presented in paragraph 2? How many
viewpoints can you identify in the paragraph? Are they conforming to or
competing with each other?
b. What are the reporting verbs used in paragraph 2? How do they help to
achieve the purpose of the paragraph?
c. Can we switch the sequence of paragraphs 2 and 3? Why/not?
d. Underline the conjunctions used in paragraph 3. What are their
functions? How do they help to present a judgement?
2. Have students work in pairs or small groups and come up with either an oral
presentation or a written assignment presenting a dispute and a judgement.
3. As a follow-up activity, ask students to make/write an evaluation of the
judgement made by their peers.
4. In a classroom with students from different cultures, have students share
similar tales from their respective cultures. Follow up with questions to make
comparisons such as:
a. Does the tale from your culture present the dispute and judgement in a
similar pattern?
b. Does it contain similar or different narrative contents – e.g. what was the
dispute about? What about the characters’ names, action, food, etc.?
Does any of these have a special meaning in your culture? Why do you
think these types of food, action, money, etc. were featured in the tale?
5. Research on the life and work of a learned person featured prominently in
your culture. Present your findings (supported with evidence from sources)
to the class.

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Reflection:
There seems to be a misconception that folktales are only for young children.
For more mature learners, folktales can actually be used to develop an
understanding of discourse structures and lexico-grammatical features typically
used in texts for different purposes.
Folktales are brief and their storylines straightforward enough to be told during
a lesson. Familiar themes and predictability of their narrative structures could
motivate learners to listen or read with confidence and give them more
cognitive space to pay attention to language features, such as the writer’s or
teller’s choices of verbs, conjunctions, etc. to achieve the purpose of a specific
paragraph or text.
Folktales can also be used as a pedagogical springboard to provide learners with
opportunities to communicate and negotiate each other’s cultural identity or
identities in a culturally diverse environment (Lwin, 2016). Through comparisons
of narrative structures and contents in the tales with similar themes from
different countries, similarities and differences among cultures can be
highlighted for discussion as a way to promote learners’ intercultural awareness.
References:
• Htin Aung, M. (1962). Burmese law tales. London: Oxford University Press.
• Lwin, S. M. (2016). Promoting language learners’ cross-cultural awareness
through comparative analysis of Asian folktales. TEFLIN Journal, 27(2), 166-
181.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
EASY FOR TEACHER, BUT NOT FOR
STUDENTS
Spenser Edward Lemaich

Universitas Islam Negeri Antasari, Indonesia
American teacher Sam was teaching Indonesian students at a school. In one

class activity, the students had to match “foods” with “meals”. The activity
included a list of foods and pictures: waffles, soup, sandwiches, pizza, and more.
The students were stuck.
Sam thought to himself, “This activity is so easy. Why are they having so much
trouble with this?” He wondered how he could help them do the task faster.
“Let’s think about this together,” he said.
“Maya (he called on a student), what do you usually have for breakfast?”
“Fish with rice,” Maya answered.
Sam frowned. Fish and rice for breakfast? He was surprised to hear this. He
could not imagine eating that for breakfast.
He turned to another student and asked, “What do you usually have for lunch?”
She answered, “Fish and rice.”
Another student spoke up without being asked, “Chicken and rice, Sir!”
Confused, Sam asked one more student, “What do you usually have for dinner?”
The student answered, “Chicken and rice.”
Sam was puzzled. He thought this activity would be so easy for his students. He
was starting to realize that the world of his textbooks was based on a different
culture than the world of his students, with different habits, and ideas of
normal. The daily life described in his textbook was very different from that of
his students.

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Objectives:
1. To identify cultural assumptions in language teaching materials.
2. To raise awareness of the need/opportunity that teachers have to increase
students’ cross-cultural competence.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students to read the story and discuss these questions:
a. What do you usually have for breakfast/lunch/dinner?
b. What do you think Sam usually has for breakfast/lunch/dinner?
c. Do you think your daily menu is more similar to Sam’s or that of his
students?
d. Why might Sam have thought this was an “easy” activity?
e. Why was the activity hard for Sam’s students?
f. Would you find the activity difficult or easy? Why?
g. Culture can be described as ‘what people do,’ and also ‘how people think’.
Which of these do you think is relevant to this story about Sam and his
students?
h. Do you think it is important to discuss culture when teaching a language?
Why or why not? Explain your opinion.
2. Ask students for other examples from class (as students or teachers) in which
the materials represented a different culture than that of the students in
class. Describe the materials and the class setting.
3. Out-of-class assignment:
a. Ask the students find a textbook with another example of culturally
dependent materials (i.e. clothing/seasons/appliances/chores, etc.).
b. Ask them to describe two cultures’ perspective on the topic.
4. Out-of-class task:
a. Ask the students to find a film or TV show clip in which someone acts out
some cultural assumptions. The cultural assumptions or norms may relate
to posture, eye-contact, indirect questions, gender roles,
personal/physical space, authority/hierarchy, politeness, or other topics
(see Wintergerst & McVeigh, 2011 for a comprehensive list of cultural
topics).
b. Ask the students to explain what they think the assumption is, and
support it with evidence from an online source about the relevant
culture.

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Reflection:
Some ELT practitioners find a fine line between introducing elements of native-
English-speaking cultures in classroom teaching (Wintergerst & McVeigh, 2011)
and influencing students to become like citizens of Western countries
(Kirkpatrick, 2007). Most teachers would agree that their goal is not to force
anyone to think or act like citizens of Western countries but to help students of
all cultures better understand each other, and their unique assumptions.
As a uniquely international language, using English can facilitate greater cross-
cultural understanding, as users from different backgrounds communicate, who
naturally have unique ways of seeing and understanding the world. Teachers can
begin to cultivate this skill of cross-cultural understanding in their students, in
the language classroom.
A traditional greeting in Indonesia is, “Mau ke mana?,” which can be translated
as, “Where are you going?” Many foreigners visiting Indonesia know the literal
meaning of the phrase, but do not recognize why they are being asked the
question. They do not understand its cultural significance- as a way of
recognizing or acknowledging someone. Consequently, foreigners often feel
their privacy is being violated, which is not at all the intent of this warm
greeting.
In this case, and many others, knowing words is not enough. Users must also
learn the cultural significance of those words. By helping students to understand
cultural assumptions in other parts of the world, teachers empower students to
better understand the world in which they live, decide how they will use English
on their own, and even determine the way that English will be used in the world
of tomorrow.
References:
• Kirkpatrick, A. (2007). World Englishes. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
• Wintergerst, A. C., & McVeigh, J. (2011). Tips for teaching culture: Practical
approaches to intercultural communication. White Plains, NY: Pearson
Longman.

Engaging Students
in Meaningful Activities
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
PRACTICE BEFORE SPEED
Grant Eckstein
Brigham Young University, U.S.A
As a child, I remember watching an episode of a popular cooking show in which

the chef had invited two children, a boy and a girl, to help him. They were
making gnocchi, potato-based pasta which required the children to roll out long
strings of dough with their hands and then chop those strings into several short
pieces using a kitchen knife.
Being an expert, the chef quickly rolled out his dough, laid it on the counter, and
then began chopping it every few centimeters at lightning speed. I was amazed
at his talent, and so too were his young helpers. They both rolled out their
dough, and then the boy took up his knife and began chopping as fast as he
could. It was reckless mayhem! The knife was moving dangerously through the
air while making uneven, scattered, and ineffective cut marks on the dough.
As a viewer, I was terrified that the boy would cut his fingers or hurt someone.
The chef too looked worried, but he handled the situation by calmly and kindly
getting the boy to stop. He then knelt down next to the boy and whispered just
loud enough for the microphone to pick up his message: “Learn to cut the right
way, and then speed will come.”
It was a masterful and universal lesson. The chef’s words have inspired me and
my students in language learning situations ever since. When I want so
desperately to use fluent discourse despite being new to a language, I remind
myself to practice language skills and then speed will come.
When my students express anguish at their limited English, I remind them that
speed is a natural byproduct of careful practice. “In language learning as in
cooking,” I say, “practice comes before speed.”

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Objectives:
1. To empathize with students who struggle with language learning and/or
motivation.
2. To develop a personalized message of encouragement to share with English
language students.

a
Procedure:
1. Ask the students to read the story and consider the following questions:
a. How did the boy’s skill differ from the skill of the chef?
b. How do you think the boy felt when he saw the chef quickly and
effortlessly chopping the gnocchi dough?
c. How might the boy have felt about his own kitchen skills, especially
compared to those of the chef’s? How might he have felt when the chef
stopped him and spoke about practicing?
d. How was the chef’s reaction to the boy’s behavior an example of good
teaching?
e. The chef said “Learn to cut the right way, and then speed will come.”
What does this quote mean? How can it be related to language learning?
How can it be related to language teaching?
2. As a homework assignment, ask the students to develop their own story of
struggle and success that they can share with English language students. The
writing guideline is presented as follows:
a. Think of a time in your life when you used to struggle to do something
quickly (e.g., playing a sport, developing a musical talent, learning a
language). How did it feel to struggle? What kinds of mistakes or failures
did you encounter while practicing? How did it feel comparing yourself to
someone with greater proficiency? What did you do and how/what did
you practice to become more proficient? What made success possible for
you?
b. Write down your story of struggle and success, emphasizing your struggle
and the feelings that came as part of that struggle. Be honest and
revealing about your emotions.
c. To help structure the story, use this organizational tool:
• Indicate the problem or limitation you experienced as well as the
emotions that accompanied it
• Explain actions you took to increase your ability (what and how you
practiced) as well as the emotions that came with them
• Describe the success you felt after you successfully increased your
ability as well as the emotions associated with your success
• Relate your experience to the language-learning journey of the
students you do (or will) teach
d. Come to class prepared to share your story with fellow students.
e. If you are currently teaching a language class, relate your story to your
students and then share how it went with your peers.

a
Reflection:
Everyone struggles to develop skills in life, but not everyone takes the time to
think about the often long and demanding process associated with gaining
proficiency. Furthermore, successful people often emphasize their success
rather than the journey that led to their success.
The activity presented above helps teachers remember their journey and the
accompanying emotions so they can empathize with their students who are
currently in the thick of language development. The activity further emphasizes
the importance of practice, which is a fundamental part of developing any kind
of proficiency.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
MY STUDENTS ALWAYS SIGH
WHEN I ASSIGN HOMEWORK
Benjamin Moorhouse
Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
This is the story of an English language teacher called Jane. All of Jane’s students
loved her lessons. They were always lively and engaging. She provided her
students with lots of opportunities to talk and play in English. However, at the
end of the lesson, when Jane stopped everyone and assigned them their English
language homework, the whole class would sigh. The mood shifted from one of
joy to one of sadness.
When Jane spoke to other teachers about this, they all said something similar,
“Students don’t like English language homework, but they have to do it! It’s
good for them!”
Jane decided to ask her students why they always sigh when she assigns English
language homework. Here’s what they said:
Tom said, “The homework is boring!”
Sam said, “The homework is too easy!”
Tina said, “The homework is too difficult!”
Sarah said, “My parents don’t speak English, I have no one to help me at home!”
Gary said, “It takes too long!”
Eric said, “I don’t know what to do!”
Mandy said, “I don’t know why I have to do the homework!”
Melanie said, “Homework is always vocabulary and grammar worksheets, I want
to do something else!”
Natalie said, “I always get a C!”

a
Jane soon realised that the students all had different reasons for sighing and
that she had to reflect on her current practices and think long and hard about
how to address them. Then she had an idea – choice!
“I’ll provide them with a variety of different homework activities to choose
from,” she thought, “Then they can do the homework activities that meet their
interests, abilities, time and family support! I’ll call it homework Pick n’ Mix, just
like the sweets they like!”
Objectives:
1. To develop students’ (teacher trainees’) awareness of the issues associated
with standardised English language homework practices.
2. To increase students’ (teacher trainees’) awareness that there are ways to
better cater for different student needs by providing them with different
homework activities to choose from.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students (teacher trainees) to discuss how they felt about homework
when they were at school and how their students feel about homework now.
Discuss why they may feel this way.
2. Ask the students (teacher trainees) to read the story and discuss the
a. Why do the students sigh when Jane assigns them homework?
b. Why does Jane assign homework? Why do teachers assign homework?
What are the benefits of doing homework?
c. Why does each student respond with a different reason?
d. Do your students or students you know feel the same way?
e. What does Jane hope to achieve by providing her students with choice?
3. Ask the students (teacher trainees) of what some of the issues with
standardized homework practices can be (where every student gets the
same homework).
4. Introduce the idea of a homework grid with different homework activities of
various levels of challenges but have similar learning objectives (see
Moorhouse, 2016 for examples). Let the teacher trainees know that by
providing students with greater amount of choice they will be more
motivated and develop greater learner autonomy. Let them know that not all
the activities have to be different. They can also provide the same reading

a
passage but with different questions or allow students to choose how many
questions they answer.
5. Ask the students (teacher trainees) to think of something they are teaching
now; it could be a grammar item, vocabulary list, reading passage or anything
from their curriculum. Ask them to think of different activities they could
assign to their students for homework.
6. Ask the teacher trainees to share their ideas and how they might be able to
bring some kinds of choice into their homework practices.
Reflection:
Homework is often neglected in English language teacher education
programmes, even though it is a common practice around the world
(Moorhouse, 2017). Teachers seldom reflect on their homework practices or
may feel powerless to make changes to their homework practices. They may
spend time thinking about how to improve their lessons and how to help their
students in the classroom but not beyond it.
This story ‘My students always sigh when I assign homework’ will be familiar to
many teachers and will hopefully help them reflect more on their practices. The
homework grid provides them with a way to give their students choices of
homework activities. Although providing choice may not be an option for
everyone, the story can stimulate teachers to think about their homework
practices from their students’ perspectives.
References:
• Moorhouse, B. (2016). Giving young learners a choice of homework. Modern
English Teacher, 25(3), 26-27.
• Moorhouse, B. (2017). The importance of including homework in our teacher
training programmes. The Teacher Trainer Journal, 31 (3), 2-4.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
FACING DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOUR
María D. García-Pastor
University of Valencia, Spain
Fourteen years ago, I got a summer job at an international school in Calicanto, a

small town in the region of Valencia, Spain, to teach children English. There I was
my first day with my notes and some worksheets, ready to go. That day was
difficult, since I was not familiar with the school, I didn’t know the kids, and it
was my first time teaching English to young learners. At the beginning, I was
confident that I was going to succeed in making those kids learn English, but
soon I became disappointed.
The children would be paying attention for one minute, and immediately after,
they would start moving around, playing with each other, and being noisy. A few
of them would be drawing on their notebooks, and others would even be saying
nasty things to each other, which would end up in a fight. I then began to feel
upset, and it got to the point that I didn’t feel like going to work.
I talked to another teacher in the school and she was very helpful. Soon after, I
decided to start from scratch, and I prepared a story to tell the kids the next day.
I made them sit in a U-shape, and I acted out the story with puppets. Although
they were talking a lot at first, they soon remained silent, listening to my story
very attentively, and reacting to it positively. From then on, things got better,
and I started to plan my lessons differently.
Objectives:
1. To raise awareness of disruptive behaviour.
2. To develop management strategies.
3. To develop story writing skill.

a
Procedure:
1. Have the students organised in small groups. Ask them to read the story and
answer or discuss the following questions:
a. Do you know a teacher like the one in this story?
b. Have you ever felt like this teacher?
c. Did you talk to anyone about it? Who?
d. Was s/he helpful? Please explain.
e. Did you/the teacher you know do something to change the situation?
f. If not, why?
g. If so, what did you/the teacher you know do? Each group should write
down suggestions.
h. Were you/the teacher you know successful? Please explain 1) which
suggestions produced a positive change; 2) which suggestions did not
produce a change; and 3) which suggestions produced a negative change.
Please note that the same suggestion may fall under more than one
category.
i. Why do you think the teacher in this story was successful?
2. Ask the students to answer or discuss the following questions:
a. Do you know children like the ones in this story?
b. How would you define disruptive behaviour? What are its features?
c. Have you ever behaved this way? Why?
d. Did your behaviour change? Please explain.
e. How did you feel? Please explain.
f. How can we deal with disruptive behaviour?
3. As out-of-class assignment, have students work in the same groups. They
should come up with a digital story in which each group provides their
description of disruptive behaviour, their suggestions to deal with it, and
their personal experiences regarding such behaviour. The aim of this activity
is to raise awareness of disruptive behaviour (its pervasiveness, its effects
(physical and emotional) in people, etc.). The activity also intends to help
students develop management strategies and share their experiences.
a. The digital stories are made using any video editing program.
b. Each digital story consists of:
• Overview. The students collect instances of disruptive behaviour
(pictures, video/audio excerpts, newspaper highlights, etc.), and offer
suggestions to deal with it, as previously discussed.
• The personal experience. The students share their experiences
concerning disruptive behaviour.

a
• The conclusion. The students reflect upon disruptive behaviour and

how to deal with it.
c. The overview and the reflection should be in the Present Tense, whilst the
personal experience is in the Past Tense.
d. Each group is asked to develop a script.
e. Each group needs to meet the teacher regularly to consult any aspect of
their digital story production and the script.
4. Ask the students to upload the digital stories in social media to reach a wider
audience and have the students watch the digital stories in class for a general
discussion.
Reflection:
Disruptive behaviour is increasingly common nowadays. It can be found in
educational settings and can affect teachers and students. The story Facing
Disruptive Behaviour intends to show this reality and convey the idea that we
can change such harmful conduct, if we look for help and try.
The questions for discussion aim to sensitize the students towards disruptive
behaviour and make them reflect upon this kind of social conduct by
encouraging them to identify with the teacher in the story, whilst also adopting
the perspective of the children. Additionally, they aim to develop behaviours and
attitudes that help them be successful in dealing with disruptive behaviour.
The production of a digital story can positively contribute to achieving these
aims, since it affords learners the opportunity to organise their thoughts and
experiences in a coherent and meaningful manner, and practice writing a story
that may be helpful to others.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
IMPASSIONING RELUCTANT WRITERS
Erina M. Hunt
University of Otago Language Centre, New Zealand
Faisal was typical of many enthusiastic Middle Eastern students with a delightful
penchant for the oral narrative, his traditional culture being strongly oral, but
the minute pen was put to paper or fingers to keyboard for writing assignments,
Faisal found the urgency for an appointment elsewhere.
The spoken form as a vehicle, modern mass media and communication
technologies, means that given strategic planning, it is quite possible for writing
to be avoided. This was Faisal’s specialty; spelling and handwriting were not.
The class members were engaged by his energy and he interacted smoothly with
all, but his Houdini disappearing acts during writing classes had become an in-
class joke.
One day, in order to delve further into the critical thinking model while
preparing to write on the topic of apartheid, I alighted on a thought that might
just capture the wayward Faisal’s interest. I announced that writing class today
was only going to include looking at images and collaborative group discussion. I
said this while simultaneously displaying a projected Internet-sourced image of
five white eggs sporting menacing cartoon faces surrounding a brown egg lying
smashed, yolk oozing, at their ‘feet’. There were some muttering, giggling, and
occasional words called out.
“Discrimination”
“Bully”
“Sad”
“Brown”
“Egg”
Once the class was arranged into small groups, spirited and passionate
discussions ensued as students shared their own experiences and opinions
stimulated by the image. Ideas were elicited and shared and the whiteboard
became awash with relevant (correctly-spelled) vocabulary as useful prompts for
writing.

a
The oral sharing of ideas as a springboard to writing and the support of the
specific vocabulary items enabled Faisal to launch into writing a critical response
with far less resistance than ever before. His animation infected us all and
resulted in a published display of his work on the classroom wall.
Objectives:
1. To consider ways in which reluctant writers can be motivated
2. To energise the collective classroom by stimulating critical thinking and the
production of written work through oral discussion and role-play
3. To raise confidence in enabling learners to write more academically about
fundamental concepts using extended vocabulary
Procedure:
1. Prior to reading, discuss as a whole class reasons why a student may be
reluctant to write. Elicit the ideas and list these on the board. Also list
suggestions as to how this could be resolved.
2. Read the story and identify the key players: the teacher, Faisal (reluctant
writer) and the additional classmates (non-reluctant writers). Highlight any of
the ideas previously elicited that might have had similar bearing on Faisal’s
reluctance and his teacher’s decision to employ the use of an image as a
prompt.
3. Arrange the learners in groups of 4 or 5. Randomly issue ‘role’ cards (groups
will have 2 or 3 ‘classmates’ depending on the size of group, 1 teacher, and a
‘Faisal’); the teacher is also issued a prop.
4. Allow them time in their groups to prepare a role-play that identifies and
highlights the following parts of the narrative, using wh- questioning:
a. The background (to Faisal’s reluctance)
b. The issue (in class)
c. The solution (decided by the teacher)
d. The result (for everyone)
5. Decide if your student group is able to do this ‘off the cuff’ or will require the
support of preparatory scripting. If scripting is needed (this reinforces the
objective of writing with a purpose), then factor a time allowance.
6. Ask the groups to perform their role-play in front of the whole class.
7. Homework:
a. Issue the image used above to all learners to reflect on and respond to
using one of these two tasks:

a
b. Write a response about the challenges of writing and how images and the
procedure the teacher undertook may incite critical thinking.
c. Write your own critical response to the image. Go beyond the
superficiality of what you see to what issues you think the image is
portraying. Use personal anecdote if relevant.
Reflection:
There is a need to encourage reluctant writers, and those learners unfamiliar
with ‘free-voice’ to express their ideas (any ideas!) safely and without judgment.
There is also a need to stimulate a depth of critical thinking beyond the
superficiality of ‘what I can see or know’ or ‘what I think the teacher wants to
read or hear’. This can be implemented at any level and in any classroom, simply
and successfully.
By not focusing on mechanical controlled composition, process (apart from
editing), outcomes or assessment, this activity employs meaning –focused input
and meaning-focused output by responding, not evaluating and by
understanding the challenges faced by some learners and ways to inspire
confidence in using personal ‘voice’ on paper.
Reluctant writers often do not know where to start. They often feel they lack the
vocabulary needed to express their ideas (feeling lost for words), or worry their
ideas will not be ‘right’ or agreed upon by the teacher. This creates a fear or
anxiety, particularly of grammatical inaccuracies. One biggest bugbear is that
students can often express themselves satisfactorily in L1 but are dissatisfied
with the transfer of ideas to L2 (writer’s block).
However, the power of images can call on shared experiences, act as a
springboard to elicit common vocabulary and language forms, stimulate
learners’ attention leading to shared discussion and thus more meaningful
writing content. “Pictures work really well as spurs to written production. They
incite and stimulate” (Harmer, 2004, p.67)
Reference:
• Harmer, J. (2004). How to teach writing. London: Pearson Education Ltd.

CHAPTER THIRTY
WHY DON’T YOU LIKE THAT TASK?
Thi Ngoc Yen Dang

University of Leeds, UK
One day I asked the students in my General English class to write a passage
about a person that they admired. As I started the marking, I was very surprised
when reading Nam’s assignment. Instead of completing the task, he wrote:
‘Sorry Teacher. I love English, but I don’t like this task at all’.
In the next class, Nam seemed to be worried that I would be upset and would
embarrass him by telling his case to other students. Understanding this, I
delivered the lesson as normal without mentioning it. During the break, I came
to talk with Nam. Because I usually chatted with students during the break, the
other students did not notice that I was going to have a serious talk with Nam.
“Why don’t you like the writing task?” I asked.
“Because I didn’t like writing in my first language let alone in a foreign language”,
Nam said, “and I don’t like the topic”.
“Well, what is your dream? Would you like to work in a multinational company
after graduation?” I asked.
“Yes, of course,” Nam replied excitedly, “I want to earn a lot of money”.
“To get that job, you’ll need to join an interview in English. People may ask
about a person that you admire so that they can understand more about you,” I
said, “now, do you see? Is the topic useful?”
“Yeah,” Nam replied.
“And how will you communicate with your non-Vietnamese colleagues? Do you
need to write emails and reports in English?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Nam replied.
“So you need to practise writing in English, don’t you?”
Nam did not reply. However, to my surprise, now, whenever I give the class a
writing task, he completes it enthusiastically.

a
Objectives:
1. To develop awareness of various pedagogical scenarios.
2. To develop interview, oral presentation, and writing skills.
Procedure:
1. Inform the students that they are going to listen to a pedagogical scenario
which they may have encountered or are going to encounter in their future
teaching.
2. Tell the students the first part of the story and ask them to discuss the
a. Have you ever experienced or do you know anyone having experienced a
situation like the teacher in the story?
b. If so, how did you or that person deal with this situation?
c. If not, what would you do?
3. Tell the students the second part of the story and ask them to discuss the
a. What do you think about the way that the teacher dealt with the
situation?
b. Based on your learning and teaching experience, do you have similar
stories? Please share.
4. For the homework, have the students collect pedagogical scenarios and
share them with their classmates. The students need to interview
experienced teachers that they know to collect pedagogical scenarios.
5. In the next class, make a presentation about these scenarios and let the
students vote for the most interesting scenario.
Reflection:
There are always reasons for students’ lack of motivation to complete a learning
task. The story is a reminder of the need for teachers to understand these
reasons and to make students realize the importance of learning tasks and their
relevance to students’ learning or career goals. In this way, students will be
motivated to complete the tasks.
The class discussion generates students’ ideas of how they will deal with the
pedagogical scenario, which they may encounter in their future teaching. The
activities of collecting pedagogical scenarios from experienced teachers,
presenting them to their classmates, and writing reflections offer students
opportunities to improve their interview, oral presentation, and writing skills as
well as providing themselves with a set of pedagogical scenarios that they may
need to deal with in their future teaching.

a
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

THE MOST IMPORTANT
HOMEWORK OF THE YEAR
Rob Waring
Notre Dame Seishin University, Japan
I first met Airi at orientation some years ago. Even then I could tell she had an
‘air’ about her. She didn’t quite fit into my class and wasn’t quite like the others.
Maybe she seemed a bit too combative for Japanese society. I did not know. She
was a puzzle. But my intuition told me something was wrong and this might be a
tough year.
That night, I got a call from my daughter: Mariko. She, like Airi, had just finished
her first day of classes at her university. She called to say thank you.
“For what?” I asked.
“Daddy, I know what it’s taken for you to get me to university, how much you
have worked and saved to give me my chance.”
This caught my breath. As a father, I couldn’t help but cry.
So in the next class, I told my freshmen what my daughter had said, and how it
made me feel. I reminded the students how much it cost to send someone to
university, and that if ever they felt like skipping class, or not doing homework,
to remember that mum and dad were not skipping work to get the money to
pay for their education. I told them their homework that night was to go home
armed with some cakes or flowers, to sit their parents down, and make them
cry.
Airi did not come to class the rest of the week, but she came to see me at
lunchtime on the Monday. I can tell she had been crying. Something was
different, she seemed calm. Airi told me the week before she had started school,
she had been fighting with her mother over wanting the latest new phone as a
congratulations present, but her mother had said no.

a
But Mariko’s gesture made her think. She then told me that that evening after
she had done her ‘homework,’ she watched her mother cry hopelessly for ten
minutes. Airi had no idea a few words could mean so much. She had found out it
would have cost all her mother’s earnings that month and she only wanted it
just because her best friend didn’t have one. She stopped for a few seconds and
cried a little, muttering “I’m the worst daughter in the world.” Airi told me that
her mother had given up all hope that she cared about her family and thought
she was ungrateful for what her parents had done for her. She apologized to me
for being absent the previous week, but explained she had some important real
‘home’ work to do. She’d been spending all her time discovering a mother she
never really knew. They could now talk as a mother and daughter for the first
time in five years. Mission accomplished.
Last month, I was invited to Airi’s wedding by her parents. They wanted to thank
me. But really, they should want to meet Mariko.
Objectives:
1. To raise awareness of what people do for others.
2. To raise our own awareness of how we affect others.
Procedure:
1. Have the students list up all the things people have done for them in their
lives, e.g. parents give them food and shelter; the basketball coach helped
with their skills. They share some of these on the board.
2. Have them read (or read aloud to them) the above text. Then ask them to
discuss the following questions:
a. What was Airi like before she joined university? How do you think she
became that way?
b. Why did the author cry?
c. Why had Airi’s mother given up on her?
d. What did Airi have done to make her mother feel this way?
e. Why had Airi been crying?
f. What was Airi’s ‘home’ work?
g. Who was Mariko?
h. Why should she have been the one to be thanked?
3. Ask the students to look again at the list of things people had done for them.
Can they add some more? Do they know what it costs to go to university /
graduate from school etc.? List up all the things that need to be paid for.
How long will it take them to save (not earn) this money?
4. Ask the students to write short stories with the theme of gratitude.

a
5. Ask them to share their stories with each other in the next class, and discuss
how to write a “caring manifesto” for helping others and for being
considerate and appreciative.
Reflection:
It is easy to forget those that help us. Sometimes we also need to be taught, to
be made aware of what we do and how we treat others as we go through our
lives. Sometimes we learn from others, our teachers, our children and even
ourselves. We need to look for a spark that needs to be encouraged. While we
cannot predict what the future will hold even five years ahead, our students and
teachers must be prepared for what the world will bring to us. Mindfulness
training is a vital skill to develop in these busy times and a life skill to take
forward into an uncertain future.

a
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT
Cherie J. Brown
Each student had to participate, using pre-taught strategies, in a whole-class

discussion about a video they had watched. Participation would be assessed, the
score counting towards the final grade. But Kei’s fear controlled her.
After many tears, and tissues, she finally spoke “What can I do?”
I recommended watching two powerful TED Talks, Amy Cuddy’s, “Your Body
Language May Shape Who You Are”, and Susan Cain’s, “The Power of Introverts”,
then return to see me.
Cuddy’s talk explains the connection between body stance, brain chemistry and
self-confidence. She suggests “Fake it until we make it.” In other words, we
should imagine we are actors. This talk would help Kei, because although she
felt nervous when being herself, she also belonged to the drama club, and had
no problems performing as a different character.
Cain’s talk explains that introversion is a normal personality trait. Kei needed to
develop the belief that her contribution was as important as that of others. That
she could ‘do it’.
Next visit, a determined Kei arrived. However, she needed some practical
strategies.
The discussion would last for 30 minutes. Kei decided to participate three times,
at predetermined points. She practiced useful interjection and opinion phrases,
then, in class, applied her strategies very mechanically.
The important thing was that she decided what to do, and how. She sought
help, pushed through her fear, had a practical plan, and finally passed the
course. Well done, Kei.

a
Objectives:
1. To demonstrate how body posture affects self-confidence and speaking
performance.
Procedure:
1. Elicit and write up words describing emotions (e.g. fear, confidence etc.).
2. In pairs, the students take turns to pose, using their body to demonstrate
each word.
3. Ask the students:
a. Which poses made you feel confident? Which poses, less so?
b. How did your body position affect your emotions?
4. Ask the students to read the above story and discuss the following questions:
a. How did Kei feel before the class discussion?
b. What did Kei do to improve things?
c. How did Kei feel after making her plan?
d. Who was responsible for Kei’s success?
5. Tell the students that they will be ‘actors’ (Kei, ‘before’ and ‘after’). They
should take turns to read the following passages to their partner.
Passage One (Kei, before)
At first, I felt very nervous. I didn’t think I could speak in English in front of my
classmates. I felt very worried and unhappy. I knew I had to take part in the
discussion or I would lose points and perhaps I would also fail the course. I
didn’t know what to do, so I cried and cried.
Passage Two (Kei, after)
After I spoke to my teacher, I watched some videos. The first one showed me
how to use my body confidently. The second one reminded me that I have
good ideas and to share these. I decided to hold my head high and to relax
my body. I also decided to take part three times in the discussion. I practiced
before class, then watched the clock during the discussion so I knew when to
speak. I did it!

a
6. For the students with Passage One, they should:

a. look only at the paper, hold it close to your body.
b. make themselves as small as possible.
c. not look at their partner.
d. speak in a very quiet voice.
7. For the students with Passage Two, they should:
a. hold the paper far away from their body.
b. breathe deeply before beginning
c. use a strong voice
d. make themselves as large as possible
e. look directly at their partner.
f. smile
8. Finally, ask the students discuss which poses made them feel more confident
and try to figure out the relationship between body posture and speaking
confidence.
Reflection:
Affective factors are as important in language learning as knowledge of the
mechanics and vocabulary of that language. When learners lack of confidence,
they can use this acting technique to ‘fake it’ (pretend to feel confident) until
they ‘make it’ (actually feel confident).
All learners have something worthwhile to contribute. It is our job to ensure
everyone is supported in their journey to find their own ‘voice’ in the target
language and to see that extroverts do not dominate classroom activities at the
expense of more introverted learners.
The story and activity presented here should be implemented with a sense of
fun. Allow learners to experiment as much as possible, and to be noisy if they
wish. You could follow up with reflective writing to allow each learner to express
how the ideas in the lesson can help them become more confident English
speakers. This is a preparatory lesson, useful before introducing large group
discussions and when preparing for presentations and speeches.
The story of Kei is a true story (though her name has been changed). Working
with Kei, and seeing her determination to pass my course, was one of the most
memorable experiences I have had as a teacher. I hope her story inspires you
and your learners too.

a
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
SPEAK UP
Stefanus Angga B. Prima
Universitas Agung Podomoro, Indonesia
Dang Arif Hartono

Universitas Agung Podomoro, Indonesia
Ms. Athalia, an English lecturer, was observing a small group discussion in her
public speaking class. Suddenly, there was a little heated argument between two
students in one of the small groups. This forced her to come closer to them and
asked, “What is happening here?”
“Glenn is always correcting my grammar and pronunciation whenever I make a
mistake,” Candra, a student, replied.
Glenn then shrugged his shoulders and said, “I’m just making sure that he won’t
confuse native speakers with his grammar or pronunciation mistakes.”
Glenn is known for his fluent English because he has ever lived in Europe when
his father was working there. In contrast, Candra’s English was not as fluent as
Glenn’s and Ms. Athalia knew that Candra was a bold student as he always tried
to participate to speak up in class despite of his average English fluency and
accuracy skill.
After giving a little bit of a thought, Ms. Athalia told the two students, “That’s
good that you know how to spot English grammar or pronunciation errors,
Glenn. But, you might want to see if the errors would significantly change the
message that Candra was trying to deliver. For this small group discussion, my
focus is to encourage students to talk in English with classmates. If you got
paused every time you make a mistake, I’m afraid it’ll discourage students from
speaking up. We’ll focus on that ‘grammar and pronunciation’ in another
occasion.”

a
Objectives:
1. To promote students’ (teacher trainees’) awareness of giving encouragement
to speak up in speaking class
2. To develop lesson or teaching plan to encourage students to speak up.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students (teacher trainees) about their opinion or experience of
correcting students’ grammar or pronunciation errors.
2. After discussing that, ask the trainees to read the story and discuss the
a. Do you ever have a student like Glenn?
b. What is the best approach to correct students’ pronunciation and
grammar errors? What are your considerations?
c. How important is ‘native-like’ English pronunciation for your class?
d. Would you answer differently if you were the teacher in the story?
e. What is your preferred approach on teaching speaking and pronunciation
or grammar in speaking class?
3. Give a short explanation on corrective feedback and ask the students
(trainees) to read Types of Corrective Feedback by Tedick, Gortari, and Glen
(1998).
4. Ask the students (trainees) to make a group of four to create a lesson plan for
a speaking class where its students are encouraged to speak up.
Reflection:
Sometimes, as English teachers, we are obsessed to teach our students to sound
like native speakers of English. To achieve that, some of us give them corrective
feedback quite liberally and without us knowing, some of the students will
refrain themselves from speaking up. They might become discouraged as their
flow of sentences are cut by our explicit corrections.
By reading the story above, teachers’ candidate will hopefully realize that
intelligibility should be the focus, not only that perfect ‘native-like’ English.
Teachers candidate will also be more aware of the right timing to give invasive
corrective feedbacks.
In short, in a speaking class, encouraging students to speak up without being
paused of invasive corrective feedbacks would contribute more positively to
their speaking fluency. Knowing which corrective feedbacks to use, or when to

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refrain ourselves from giving too frequent ones, would also improve the
students’ confidence to speak.
Reference:
• Tedick, D. J., De Gortari, B., & Glen, F. (1998). Research on error correction
and implications for classroom teaching. ACIE Newsletter (1)3, 1-6.

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
UNDERSTANDING LEARNERS’
INNERMOST FEELINGS
Sakae Onoda
Juntendo University, Japan
Shota Onoda taught high school English in Japan. With extensive experience in
the US, he was confident about teaching advanced students.
Soon after Shota began teaching, he noticed that one student, Yuji, kept looking
at him with sharp eyes. Shota thought that Yuji was interested in English, but
when he asked Yuji for his opinion, Yuji looked nervous and ignored him. This
happened repeatedly. Shota asked another teacher about Yuji. She answered:
“He’s hard to please; ignore him.” Shota followed her suggestion and tried not
to pay any attention to Yuji.
One day, Shota came across Yuji at the swimming pool. Yuji had won a swimming
competition. As soon as their eyes met, Shota said: “Congratulations, Yuji. That
was amazing.” Yuji's face radiated with pleasure, and he began talking to Shota
about many things, including learning English, as if he were a different person.
Through this casual talk, Shota found out that Yuji had spent several years in the
US and had high English skills. He wanted to talk to Shota because he thought
they shared similar experiences. What prevented him from speaking was his
miserable experience of isolation in his classes because of his fluent English.
He said, “Mr. Onoda, I’m sorry I didn’t answer your questions, but don’t get me
wrong: I don’t want to stand out and for others to look askance at me.”
Shota said: “Don’t worry; you can speak your mind. I’ll use discussions in class so
that everyone can speak freely. I want you to help me teach the students in
English.” Yuji gladly accepted the offer.
Soon, he began actively participating in class and expressing his views. His
classmates appreciated his help, looked up to him, and learned from him, and
he was well-liked by all the other teachers.

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Objectives:
1. To help students make predictions and inferences and adjusting these as they
read.
2. To help students enjoy easy but inspirational anecdotes, understand their
appealing features, and learn how they can retell them effectively to readers
and listeners.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students to form pairs and discuss the question: “What makes
students unwilling to actively participate in class?”
2. Ask the students to listen to Paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 read by the teacher, and
discuss the nature of Yuji's problem in groups of three.
3. Ask groups of students to report their ideas to the class, write them on the
board, and elicit comments to be shared with the class.
4. Ask the students in groups of three to read the first sentence of Paragraph 4
(“Through this casual talk...”) and discuss what caused Yuji's classroom
behavior, what suggestions Shota made, and how Yuji's attitude changed.
They report their ideas to the class, listen to the teacher’s narration, and
check their predictions.
5. Students write in 10 minutes about their learning difficulties, any low
motivation that may result, and how they solve these problems. Then, they
form pairs and talk about what they wrote with their partner for 3 minutes
and elicit the partner’s response. This story-telling is repeated with two other
partners.
Reflection:
In Japan, learners are often not interested in reading activities because they
require substantial grammar and vocabulary knowledge and teachers teach
reading mainly for exams. One solution is an extensive reading program that
encourages learners to read interesting stories with only a few new words
(Nation, 2013). An inspirational story based on an anecdote is highly suitable
because it draws readers’ attention and engages them emotionally.
Inspirational narratives also help improve speaking and writing fluency. This can
be assisted by repeated story-telling based on anecdotes because frequent
exposure to vocabulary facilitates automatization and helps improve fluency. It
also enhances learners’ self-efficacy, the willingness to communicate in English,
and interactional skills (Onoda, 2017).

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The effects of inspirational story-telling on L2 learning should be explained to

pre- and in-service teachers as this knowledge will expand their teaching
potential and in turn help them foster autonomous learners.
References:
• Nation, I. S. P. (2013). What should every ESL teacher know? Tokyo: Compass
Publishing.
• Onoda, S. (2017). Exploring teaching techniques for encouraging students to
use English in class. In R. Raúl & A. Lopes (Eds.), Current issues in language
teaching (pp. 111–122). Madrid: Editorial Académica Española.

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
YES, YOU CAN DOODLE
Malu Sciamarelli
The C Group, Brazil
Claire was only 7 years old when I first saw her in my classroom. Her English
learning had been a disaster, at least as far as her past teachers were concerned.
She was a disruption to the entire class, one minute with her head down and
her long black hair covering her face while fidgeting noisily, then muttering
unintelligible utterances, and the next doing something to disturb the other
children around her. Claire wasn’t particularly concerned about my reaction as
she was used to being told she would never learn English and do well at school
by other teachers and her own parents.
One day, I realised there were many coloured pencils on her desk. When I got
closer to her, I saw she was doodling all over her textbook. She immediately
looked at me and said, ‘Don’t worry, Miss. I will erase it all.’ Her doodles were so
beautiful! How could I ask her to erase such artwork? She continued, ‘All the
other teachers are always mad at me when they see what I do, but I can’t help
it.’ I told her not to erase anything and encouraged her to keep on drawing but
in a proper notebook. She was so surprised I was not angry and actually liked
her work.
From that day on, she started to behave differently. Not only did Claire start to
pay attention to all classes, but she was also the most participative and talkative
of all students. Her English level has improved considerably and she has even
written detailed descriptions for the beautiful characters she has drawn over the
last two years.
Had I not encouraged her drawings on that day, she might still be the same
difficult student. Nowadays she is a happy girl who always wants to learn
something new.

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Objectives:
1. To recognise each person has talents
2. To acknowledge the power of encouragement
3. To develop creative writing skills

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Procedure:
1. Share the following quote by Ken Robinson: ‘We all have distinctive talents
and passions that can inspire us to achieve far more than we may imagine.
Understanding this changes everything’ (Robinson and Aronica, 2010, p.8).
Have the students discuss in pairs what talents and passions they have and
would like to have.
2. Allow time for the students to read the story ‘Yes, You can Doodle’ and
discuss their thoughts about the questions below with their partners:
a. Do you think Claire should be drawing in her English class? Why / why
not?
b. What do you think of her previous teachers’ actions? What could have
been different?
c. Why did the teacher encourage Claire to keep on drawing?
d. From your point of view, was it the right thing to do?
e. Have you always paid attention to all your classes? Why / why not?
f. If you have not, what were you doing?
g. What was your teacher’s behaviour? How did you feel about it?
h. Has a teacher ever encouraged your talents and passions?
3. As homework, ask each pair of students to choose one story of how a
teacher’s support encouraged their talents and passions and have them
write it using Storyboardthat. All the stories should be in the Past Tense and
should contain at least one inversion.
4. At end of the story, each pair should write a haiku using Think.Read.Write
haiku generator thanking their teacher for the encouragement and
inspiration. It should be written in the Present Tense.
5. Print out the story boards and the haikus and make a mural in the classroom
or create a blog to share all the stories online.
Reflection:
The world is changing faster than at any time in human history. As educators, we
need to understand the diversity of human talents and passions and the
extraordinary potential for growth and development.
The story Yes, You can Doodle acknowledges that all educators should create
environments where every student is inspired to find their own talents and
passions to build their own future. Moreover, the classroom activities and
discussions encourage students to look back at specific teachers who have
inspired them and changed their lives. Finally, the story and the haiku writing

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help students to create a sense of wonder at the world, teach them about life,
about themselves and about others.
Creative writing is a unique way for students to develop an understanding,
respect and appreciation for others and it will inspire not only everyone around
them, but also the wider community online.
Reference:
• Robinson, K. & Aronica, L. (2010). The Element. How Finding Your Passion
Changes Everything. London: Penguin Books

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
FACING UP TO YOUR
DIGITAL FOOTPRINT
Stephen J. Hall
Sunway University, Malaysia
Many English language learners are active in the language on-line. They
construct their own ideas of who they are in places like Facebook. In this story,
the large part of the learner’s life was and is Facebook. As a teacher I react
happily when told that something I taught has changed how a learner
appreciates a big part of his or her life, including their online self. Let me use the
name Raju, for he who interrupted the start of my lesson on digital literacy in an
English for Information Technology class. Raju commented that I was too old to
really understand Facebook and being online. Another student chimed in with
“Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram are our world sir, not yours”. I replied that
language and communication are also about being aware of what we do online
with effective vocabulary and well-chosen images.
I asked Raju to take over the computer I was using. It had a large screen display,
which all the class could see. He then searched on line for himself, including
Facebook. There he was and some of it was not very pretty, as he was clearly an
active party goer. He switched from Facebook and there were still other images
on other platforms- more of the same. I then suggested he search for me as I
know I have a structured, carefully designed digital footprint. The class
discussion then moved to the differences in what was on-line for each of us and
the kind of adjectives and responses the images could create. We describe
ourselves with words and images on line.
Raju then asked an important question. “Will these words and images of me go
away? Can I delete them? If not someone who wants to hire me might find
them.” When I replied that it is difficult to erase images and past traces, he
replied that he was going to do something about this.
In the lesson a week later, Raju said he wanted to show the class what he had
done. He had built a website which included positive descriptions of himself as
an Information Technology entrepreneur. He had created a new Facebook page

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and he shared lots of adjectives describing his self- image with his class mates.
He came to me and said that he would never again use age to comment on
being digitally literate. He remarked that what we had learnt together helped
him to become more aware of himself as an on-line citizen.
Objectives:
1. To develop an awareness of one’s present digital footprint and possible
reactions.
2. To reflect on how we see ourselves on line and to use positive adjectives in
building an image.
3. To identify, use and create a specific online persona for future professional
use.
Procedure:
Task 1
Ask the students to read the story and answer the following questions:
1. What did you learn from Raju in the story?
2. If you were the teacher described in this story, what would you have done to
Raju and why?
3. Why do you think the author wrote this story?
Task 2
1. Ask the learners to access their Facebook pages on their phones.
2. Write a short sentence or groups of adjectives based on what they see. Then
as a class, brainstorm and share personal description adjectives.
3. The teacher can use different colours to show positive and negative qualities.
This provides support for those with less vocabulary.
4. For advanced learners there can be discussion on the gradations of positive
personal and professional qualities, such as confident, active, outgoing etc,
Then, in pairs, get learners to write adjectives or a slogan for what they see
on their Facebook socially and publically.
5. Discuss the gaps if any between the ideal and what is on line at present.
Stress links between images and words. Share and pair will make for more
vocabulary learning focussed on positive descriptive adjectives.

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Task 3
1. Ask learners to look at a favourite website of a person they admire. Discuss
why it appeals. Elicit adjectives which the first page or landing page of the
website creates. Describe the importance of accurate language for belief,
bonding and buy-in by readers. The role of the look of the page should be
balanced with the content.
2. Using the vocabulary from responding to the websites, each learner writes a
tagline or three or four adjectives for themselves. They can think about the
career they want to have and the qualities needed for that future job.
Task 4
1. If resources permit, learners can create their own revamped Facebook page,
blog, website or resume.
Reflection:
Few users of Facebook and other social media are aware of how much
information is being data mined and are really conscious of how they may be
seen. Many younger users may not see the implications for possible careers and
may not know how to describe themselves for future employers with well-
chosen adjectives.
A conscious literacy which links images with self-perception and an
understanding of positive adjectives for personal qualities can make a
difference. The activities also generate vocabulary for resume writing.

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
TIME TO RETHINK OUR USE OF
TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM
Moonyoung Park
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
A young English teacher, Mr. Park, was leaving the principal’s office with a heavy
heart. It was already his second time being reprimanded by the principal for
wasting class time demonstrating use of online resources. The principal, a
former English teacher himself, strongly believed that students learn best from
lectures and should be taught to the test.
The next day, when planning an upcoming English class on informal letter
writing, Mr. Park found himself at a loss for what to do. His original plan was to
take the students to a computer lab to find real e-pals from an e-pal website and
send the e-pals a self-introduction email. Thinking over the activity, he grew
calm and confident, saying to himself, “It is such a pity my students are learning
English only for testing purposes. I really want them to experience the joy of
using English for authentic communication.” Yet, he was unsure of how this
would go over with the principal.
By the day of the class, Mr. Park had committed to implementing the e-pal
activity idea. He announced the day’s lab session topic and noticed that most of
the students seemed to be quite excited about writing emails: that is, all the
students except for Minho, who was very sensitive about his grades. He asked,
“Mr. Park, does email writing have anything to do with the final exam?” The
instructor responded, “Minho, I completely understand your concern, but let’s
try together to see what we can accomplish in real-world English.”
A few days later, Minho ran into Mr. Park in the corridor and said to him, “I am
so excited to have made a new friend in Finland through the email exchange.
Thanks for your help.” Mr. Park smiled back at him, content his activity had
achieved its intended goal.

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Objectives:
1. To develop students’ (teacher trainees’) awareness of washback – the effect
of a test on learning and teaching.
2. To develop students’ (teacher trainees’) language teaching philosophy.
3. To develop students’ (teacher trainees’) instructional design skill.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students (teacher trainees) to read the following quote “Teachers
teach as they were taught” and think about what beliefs about learning and
teaching they have and how such beliefs influence their practice of learning
and teaching.
2. Ask the students (teacher trainees) to read the story and answer or discuss
the following questions:
a. List high-stakes tests that you have taken so far. How have you been
affected by the decisions from the testing?
b. As a student, have you experienced your learning being changed or
influenced when you engaged in test preparation? How and why?
c. The principal and Mr. Park seem to have different beliefs about English
teaching and learning. In what ways are they different?
d. Can you think of specific teachers who serve as positive or negative role
models? Please describe what you learned from them.
e. As a teacher or a teacher trainee, what specific pedagogical beliefs do you
have?
f. What is the relationship between your pedagogical beliefs and your
learning experiences? In what ways are these beliefs and experiences
similar or different?
g. Although Mr. Park was advised by the principal to teach for the test, he
actually did not follow the principal’s advice. If you were in Mr. Park’s
shoes, what would you do?
3. As a homework, ask the students (teacher trainees) to access an e-pal
website and experience computer-mediated communication (CMC) using
email. The teacher will create a technology-mediated English task that will
facilitate real-world English communication.
Reflection:
Rapid technological advancements and continuing globalization efforts have
given rise to serious considerations about the need to promote information and

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communication technology (ICT) in various arenas of society; these

developments have simultaneously demanded innovative, learner-centered
educational approaches to cultivate digital literacy, as well as target subjects, for
teachers and students.
Unfortunately, despite this being a world-wide phenomenon, a large gap persists
between the governments’ vision for and actual implementation of learner-
centered, ICT-integrated English language education, seemingly a result of the
low-level digital literacy of teachers and administrators, teacher-centered
lessons with little consideration of learners’ communication needs, and the
significant impact of washback on teaching and learning.
The story Time to Rethink Our Use of Technology in the Classroom explicitly
illustrates many of the schools and classrooms teacher trainees attended and
will be teaching at in the near future. It is also a reminder that we must
recognize the potential of ICT and determine ways to take full advantage of
using ICT in the classroom while meeting the learning goals.
The classroom discussions encourage the students (teacher trainees) to reflect
on what specific actions their teachers took based on the underlying
pedagogical values and help the students shape their own pedagogical values.
The online activities aim to provide the students (with hands on opportunities to
explore the potential of ICT resources for teaching and learning as well as to
design authentic and engaging English tasks afforded by ICT.

Going Beyond the Classroom
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
SHAKESPEARE AND STEREOTYPES
Cherie J. Brown
Many of my classes consist of students from international backgrounds. It’s

interesting to watch them relating to each other, sharing different cultures,
beliefs, stories and traditions. Of course, since they all speak different languages,
they have to do this in English. Sometimes it’s challenging to explain difficult
ideas and opinions in ways they really want to. Patience, and a tolerance of
imperfect expression is required by all.
On one occasion, a student began expressing an opinion about the native
people of a certain country that was less than flattering, demonstrating a degree
of racial prejudice. The other students listened politely, but I could see that
some disagreed with him and were uncomfortable.
I waited for him to finish, then said, hopefully kindly, “You know, we’re all the
same.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Well”, I replied, paraphrasing Shakespeare, “If you cut me, I will bleed.”
He looked confused, so I explained, simply, that all humans share similar
qualities and that he was expressing a “stereotype”, teaching him the English
word. I then provided examples of people from the group he was describing
who broke his stereotype.
The other students relaxed and began giving their differing opinions. We ended
up having a healthy discussion about the dangers of judging others on the basis
of ethnicity. We also discussed the fact that good and bad exist in all aspects of
human experience, and that it is unwise to generalise from one person to a
whole group.
I think that young man left that class with a new perspective on our world, and
the amazing variety of humans that share it. I certainly hope so.

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Objectives:
To consider the concept of stereotyping, and suggest ways to avoid stereotyping
others
Procedure:
If the class has Internet access,
1. In class, ask the students to watch the YouTube video The Lab: Decoy - A
portrait session with a twist (available at http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=F-TyPfYMDK8)
2. The students work in small groups to:
a. identify the six jobs (or backgrounds) the man was said to have had.
b. explain what each photographer was trying to achieve.
c. describe who the man really was.
d. describe the reaction of the photographers when they discovered the
truth.
e. explain the real purpose of the photography project.
3. Have a class discussion.
If the class has no Internet access, or if you cannot access the video,
1. Gather 10-12 pictures of different kinds of people (different ages,
backgrounds and ethnicities). The pictures should give no indication of real
jobs or nationality.
2. Label each picture with a number
3. Place them in different spots around the room.
4. Write a numbered list of occupations on the board. This should be the same
as the number of pictures the teacher has. The occupations listed should be
varied and not use gender-specific terms (e.g. actress, housewife, postman
etc.) Instead, choose gender-free words (e.g. homemaker, police officer, fire-
fighter etc.)
5. Ask the students to work in pairs, visiting each picture with paper and pens,
discussing which occupation they think each person has, then noting down
their decisions. Use the numbers to match occupations listed on the board to
each picture.
6. As a class, ask the pairs to say what they decided and why.

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7. Finally, the teacher needs to explain that there is no correct match for each
photograph because men and women both do all kinds of jobs these days.
All classes
1. Ask the students to read the story above. Check their comprehension.
2. Ask the students to work in pairs, discuss the meaning of the word
‘stereotype.’ Think of examples of common stereotypes. Tell each other why
these may be incorrect; suggest ways to avoid pre-judging others on the
basis of stereotypes.
3. Provide feedback ideas to the whole class and allow time for comments.
4. Ask each learner to write a short paragraph explaining what the activity has
taught them.
5. Ask the students to share their writing with their partner, asking and
answering questions about it.
Reflection:
The primary purpose of this activity is for learners to engage in thoughtful self-
reflection and to gently lead them to think more deeply about how they regard
people who are different from themselves. The point is to show that
fundamentally each of us is human, and therefore of worth, and that we need to
learn to relate to others as individuals, on the basis of character, not a label or a
stereotype. We should emphasise that we cannot ever know the full truth about
a person based on their appearance only, because appearances are misleading.
If you have minority students in your class, it is important to ensure that they
are not singled out or used as examples in any way. This is why the activity
focuses on non-gender-based occupations, not on racial or religious differences
between people.
In today’s increasingly connected global community, our learners will need to
know how to value others as fellow human beings who share many qualities in
common. As we seek to build a more peaceful world, we need to find ways to
engage sensitively with each other, celebrating our differences rather than
criticizing, or fearing others.

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
WHY IS IT SO HARD TO SAY
“THANK YOU”?
George M. Jacobs
James Cook University, Singapore
The 50-minute English lesson in a Secondary 3 classroom on the fourth floor of a

neighbourhood secondary school in Singapore was nearing its end. For the past
20 minutes, the students had been sitting in twosomes and telling each other
about the books they had been enjoying for extensive reading. For example,
Shazwanah Ahmad had been reading Little Ironies, a book of Catherine Lim short
stories, and her partner, Ong Hui Min, had been enjoying Malaysian Short
Stories by Lloyd Fernando.
Just before wrapping up the lesson, the teacher, Mr Suresh, asked the students
to, “Please turn to your partner, and say ‘Thank you’”. It was such a simple
request. Yet, instead of facing their partners and saying those two pleasant
words, “Thank you,” Shazwanah and Hui Min, and at least half their classmates
started putting away their English materials in preparation for the next class.
These many students acted as though their partners didn’t even exist.
Not wishing to let the students see his disappointment at their lack of courtesy
to each other, Mr. Suresh collapsed slowly into his chair, looked down at the
floor, and emitted a deep but quiet sigh. “What,” he wondered, “Can I do to
create a more polite atmosphere in my classes?”
Objectives:
1. To develop awareness of the importance of using social skills regardless of
what language is spoken.
2. To help students and teachers develop the habit of using social skills in a
natural, automatic way.

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3. To encourage reflection on how well students and teachers cooperate with

others.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students to read the story, and answer or discuss the following
questions:
a. When was the last time someone thanked you? What was the situation?
How did you feel to be thanked?
b. When you were little, did your family teach you to thank others who
helped you?
c. Can you remember a time recently when you thanked someone? What
was the situation? How did you feel when you thanked the person? How
do you think the person felt?
d. Other than saying, “Thank you,” how else can you thank people? What
other words and gestures, facial expressions, or other actions can you
take to thank others?
e. Why is thanking others not just the kind and polite thing for people to do;
why is thanking others also the smart thing to do? In other words, how
can you benefit from thanking others?
• Do you know anyone who is very polite, who frequently thanks others
and takes other polite actions?
• Can you think of a specific person who you might want to thank more
often? What does that person do to deserve your thanks?
2. As homework or an out-of-class assignment, ask the students to compile a
Thank You Journal. In this journal, the students make a list of times when
they thanked others or others thanked them. The students also describe the
situations in which the thanking occurred, as well as how the thanking was
done, both the words and actions used by the receivers of thanks and by
those who thanked them. Later, the students share with their classmates
about what is in their journals and about their experience compiling the
journals.
3. The next time the students do an activity in groups, the partners count how
often each other says or shows their thanks. For instance, in a group of two,
with Partner A and Partner B, Partner A counts how many times Partner B
expresses thanks in words and actions, and Partner B does the same for
Partner A.

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a. At the half-way point in the activity, for example, after 10 minutes of a 20-
minute activity, the partners report to each other about how many
expressions of thanks they counted.
b. The students count again in the second half of the activity, and see if they
can increase the number of times they thanked each other.
c. At first, the students may feel strange to thank others so much.

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d. The students discuss whether thanking helped their group to be more

effective.
e. This counting of thanks continues in this and other classes for a few
weeks until thanking each other becomes a natural action for students.
f. Of course, the teacher should model this by thanking students and
his/her fellow teachers.
Reflection:
In language education, using social skills has at least two advantages. First, social
skills are important language functions that students need to master to be
proficient language users (Jacobs, Kimura, & Greliche, 2016). Secondly, with the
increasing use of peer interaction activities in language teaching, students need
to use social skills to enhance the effectiveness of these peer interactions.
The suggested activities described here are for encouraging students to express
thanks to others. At the same time, the activities can serve as a model for
teaching other social skills. Wouldn’t our world be a happier place if we all used
social skills regularly?
Reference:
• Jacobs, G. M., Kimura, H., & Greliche, N. (2016). Incivility among group mates
in English classes at a Japanese women’s university. TESL-EJ, 19(4), 1-16.
Retrieved on 1 November 2018 from http://www.tesl-ej.org/pdf/ej76/a6.pdf

CHAPTER FORTY
SEEING THROUGH DIFFERENT EYES
Curtis Kelly
Kansai University, Japan
One day, I was teaching a class at Kansai University in Japan, a private university.
I was teaching a class on human relations and one day, I told my students a story
I had read. It was about a Business teacher in America that gave his students a
quiz. The quiz just had one question: “What is the name of the lady who cleans
this building?”
The students were surprised. They asked if this would be a part of their grades.
The teacher said it would, because to be social workers, they have to think
about the people around them all the time.
We discussed that story for the rest of my class. My students realized they did
not know the names of even one cleaning person, even though they passed
them every day. Not one of the students had ever talked to them. Not one had
ever said “Hello.”
The students thought those cleaning people were probably poor. They probably
never had a chance to go to college. From their perspective, these young men
and women all around them, in the latest fashions, were rich kids, from rich
homes, in a world they could never be a part of. So it was no surprise the
students never talked to them. That picture made my students sad.
By then the class was over. We were getting ready to leave. And then
something wonderful happened. One of the boys walked up to the board and
wrote “To the cleaning person, thank you for keeping our room so nice.” Then
another one went up and another. Soon the board was full with messages to
the cleaners, saying thank you, telling them about interesting things we had
studied in class, and so on.
That day, all of us grew a little.
a
Objectives:
1. To increase intercultural/interpersonal understanding
2. To increase willingness to communicate.
Procedure:
1. Have the students read the following quote: “I don't like that man. I must get
to know him better” (Abraham Lincoln). Ask the students to get the meaning

a
of the quote.
2. Have them tell each other about people they do not really understand.
3. Ask the students to read the story and answer or discuss the following
questions:
a. Who cleans this room?
b. Do you know the names of any of the cleaning people, the school guards,
cafeteria workers or any of the staff?
c. Have you or anyone you know ever talked to them?
d. How do you think they feel about the students here?
e. If you were one of them, what is something a student might do that
would make you happy?
f. What are some things you could do to show your appreciation to staff?
4. Make action plans of things you will really do to interact with the staff. Then
do them and draw a manga cartoon of what you did. Share them.
5. As an additional homework assignment, tell students to start a conversation
with a stranger they have never talked to before. This will build their
willingness to communicate skills. They should try this with both a student
and someone who is not a student. Talking to older people while riding
public transportation is usually an easy way to start.
Reflection:
Being an international communicator needs more than just language
proficiency. You also have to learn how to see the world from the others’ points
of view. You need to go into their heads and imagine their lives: their history,
their situation, their needs, their worries, their desires, their values, and as a
result, why they act the way they do.

Inspirational Stories From English Language Classrooms - Flora Debora & Willy Renandya (Eds.)

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Inspirational Stories From English Language Classrooms - Flora Debora & Willy Renandya (Eds.)

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TEFLIN TEACHER DEVELOPMENT SERIES

Series Editors: Willy A Renandya & Nur Hayati

TEFLIN Teacher Development Series contains short practical resource booklets

Introducing Task-based Language Teaching by Rod Ellis

If you have any queries, please contact:

First published 2020

Flora Debora Floris & Willy A Renandya

TEFLIN Teacher Development Series

Through meticulous editing, this volume Inspirational Stories from English

Through the TEFLIN Publication Division, we have published volumes of the

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms iii

Joko Nurkamto Yazid Basthomi

President of TEFLIN Coordinator of TEFLIN Publication Division

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms iv

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms v

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms vi

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms vii

• Pathan, M. M. (2013). Use of short-stories in EFL classroom: Advantages and

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms viii

Flora Debora Floris

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms ix

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms x

journalism, bi-literacy, teacher training, curriculum development, resource

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xi

Maya Khemlani David is an Honorary Professor of the Asia-Europe Institute,

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xii

Fulbright Fellow and English at Korea University of Media Arts as an exchange

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xiii

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xiv

SECTION 1 Becoming a Professional English Teacher

SECTION 2 Building Rapport

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xv

CHAPTER 10 Do Not Jump into Conclusion ................................................... 30

SECTION 3 Learning from Others’ Culture

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xvi

SECTION 4 Engaging Students in Meaningful Activities

Section 5 Going Beyond the Classroom

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms xvii

My career as a teacher of English began in the late 1960s at a secondary school

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 1

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 2

5. My school principal used three words: professional(ism), responsibility and

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 3

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 4

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 5

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 6

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 7

George E.K. Whitehead

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 8

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 9

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 10

Focus on the text

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 11

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 12

Nguyen Thi Thuy Loan

A Vietnamese lecturer of English was assigned to teach a paragraph-writing

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 13

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 14

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 15

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 16

Yin Ling Cheung

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 17

Inspirational Stories from English Language Classrooms 18