Random Quote
Isn't it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction listen to weather forecasts and economists?"
---- Kelvin Throop III
The voodoo priest and all his powders were as nothing compared to espresso, cappuccino, and mocha, which are stronger than all the religions of the world combined, and perhaps stronger than the human soul itself.
---- Mark Helprin, Memoir from Antproof Case, 1995
Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.
---- Gail Godwin
Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.
---- Abigail Adams (1744 - 1818)
The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.
---- George Orwell
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
---- Lily Tomlin
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
---- Arnold Lobel
Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.
---- Robert Frost
We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.
---- Thomas A. Edison
One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork.
---- Edward Abbey
To have another language is to possess a second soul.
---- Charlemagne
Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted.
---- Fred Allen
A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students.
---- John Ciardi
Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.
---- Edward R. Murrow
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.
---- Isaac Newton
To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three men, two of whom are absent.
---- Robert Copeland
A magician pulls rabbits out of hats. An experimental psychologist pulls habits out of rats.
---- anonymous
This may be the most interesting blog theme I've ever seen. http://eflgeek.com/index.php Definitely in my top 5 at least.
---- Steve Dembo
Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man.
---- J. Robert Oppenheimer
Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation.
---- Kin Hubbard
Technology will not replace teachers...teachers who use technology will
probably replace teachers who do not.
---- Ray Clifford
Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.
---- Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1519)
As soon as I buy the moose head, I have to go pick up some KY jelly.
---- Mary Roninette Kowal
It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.
---- Franklin D. Roosevelt
Drink coffee! Do stupid things faster!
---- unknown
Classroom Activities
I’ve discovered that with my new teaching position that I can now do a large number of activities that didn’t work so well in smaller classes. At the last job I had, my speaking classes maxed out at 12 students. The thing was that many students would eventually drop out making it difficult to plan any sort of group oriented activity other than pair work.
Read the rest of this post
Learner Autonomy
In the comments to this entry a discussion has arisen about learner autonomy. I have also recieved other inquiries into this popular concept. What I have decided to do in response to this is to post one of the essays I wrote for my masters program on innovation in the classroom.
In this paper I advocate the use of web quests in the ESL/EFL classroom. I encourage anyone interested in this to find the sources in the reference list and read about web quests. In the summer I have two plans: one to build a web site for my students and design a web quest and two to look at the possiblility of using blogs in my classes. Both of these tools I believe can lead to greater learner autonomy as well as an increase in intrinisic motivation for a large number of students.
Web Quests in the language Classroom in PDF format.
Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Tuesday Mar 23, 2004 at 10:00 AM
general_linguistic_study | Teaching | teaching_application |
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kleptocrat
I saw kleptocrat for the first time over at language log in this post. The meaning of the word is immediately clear from the Greek root klepto and the French root cracy. A government that steals or is corrupt which is quite close to the definition that I found on dictionary.com
A government characterized by rampant greed and corruption
What is interesting is the context in which Bill Poser uses the word
The other is that sometimes the little guy does win, when people pull together to fight the kleptocrats.
The whole post is talking about starbucks and trademark infringement and the overzealousness of big corporations. No where is the government mentioned. It is interesting to me that terms describing governments can be used to describe big business.
I had really thought the only word used in that fashion is bureaucracy. An interesting word and I do agree with Mr. Posers thoughts that there is really no need for “greedy corporations to take over the phonetosphere.”
Study English In Canada
While searching bloglines for new ESL/EFL and linguistics blogs I stumbled across Dear AI: good advice for ESL students which in turn led me to ESLegg. ESLegg is a site for foreign students going to Vancouver to learn English, there are a number of resources that I think would be good for any student considering living in Vancouver or Canada in general. I often have students asking me for advice on study in Canada, so now I have a solid resource to direct them to in addition to my advice.
ESLegg also has a teachers lounge with a small selection of resources for teachers including pictures of the Vancouver area. The lesson idea area was very slow to load and Blinger gave up on it, but will check again later.
Pragmalinguistic Errors
While reading Ellis Ch5 I came across a short but immediately striking point.
Lower-proficiency learners often translated expressions from their L1. For example, in thanking someone for a loan they might say ‘May God increase your bounty’. More advanced leanres avoided this kind of pragmalinguistic error, but instead displayed considerabel hesitation and awkwardness.
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Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Saturday Mar 20, 2004 at 06:52 PM
general_linguistic_study | SLA |
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