Don't Play Communication for Laughs
Should language learning always be "fun?" A "communicative approach" to language learning is highly touted by many pedagogical theorists as the sine qua non for effective teaching of both ESL and foreign language skills. "If you eavesdrop on a communicative language class in action, the chances are you will hear a great deal of animated talk, laughter, scraping of chairs and footsteps as students move around the room," writes Rose Senior, author of the award-winning The Experience of Language Teaching. She continues: "What's happening? Is it party time? Are the students really engaged in meaningful learning?"

Past experience is likely to have taught older students form traditional educational backgrounds that learning is a serious business requiring considerable effort. They may find it frustrating to spend a significant amount of class time engaged in conversation with classmates from a range of other countries who, being learners themselves, are unable to provide models of correct usage - and whose pronunciation may be difficult to understand.

Senior believes, however, that in the hands of experienced teachers communicative language teaching can be highly effective. In the hands of less experienced teachers, she cautions, it can fall into the category of frivolous party games.
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Comic Life: An Enjoyable, Powerful Software Tool
Joy Egbert, Associate Professor of ESL & Technology and Coordinator of ESL at Washington State University, heralds Comic Life as "one of the most enjoyable and possibly most useful recent software tools to hit the market." Writing in the fall issue of TESOL's Essential Teacher, she adds that Comic Life is also easy to use and inexpensive.  This software allows students and teachers to create stories, movie posters, photo albums, cards, advertisements, and more.  The newest version also comes with features in six languages.  Examples of classroom use include: sequencing (making cartoons), vocabulary learning, differentiation, miltimodal reading support, summary writing, and humor.  Unfortunately, one drawback may be that the software runs on Macintosh OS 10.3 and above. You can download a free thirty-day trial version at http://plasq.com. Fifth grade teacher Dana Persson-Zora shares several projects for elementary students using the software.


ELLs can Reap Numerous Benefits from Science Fair Projects
"The benefits of having English language learners participate in a science fair are numerous," writes Judie Haynes in a recent issue of Essential Teacher. Ms. Haynes has taught elementary ESL for 22 years, is the author and co-author of four books on helping classroom teachers with their second language population, and is Chair of the TESOL Elementary Interest Section. She states that the science fair event helps ELLs and their families become part of the school community, helps students build self-confidence and offers them authentic reasons to interact with classmates. Science fair projects are an excellent opportunity to teach students the scientific method and help them acquire content area vocabulary, she adds.

A comprehensive science fair handbook included on the TESL web site can help ESL teachers incorporate science fair projects into their curricula.


"Bad" Language: How do we handle it?
It's bound to crop up. ELLs will inevitably acquire offensive terms and vulgarities in their English learning outside the classroom. It is quite likely that they will also, unwittingly or not, bring this sort of language into the classroom, perhaps thinking that such vocabulary is part of everyday discourse. Teacher Sarah Young maintains that both ignoring and admonishing are counter-productive and that "it is our responsibility to alert our students to the impact these words can have."
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