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 Dear Colleague,

You can visit our blog for comments and for advice

from many sources. The site for our blog  supports

 new English Language Curricula and English Interactive

 Online curricula in 2006-2007.

http://new-curricula-in-jordan-support.blogspot.com/

========================================================

 Action Pack 8

Training Schedule

for Action Pack 8, August 2006

=====================================

First Session: 9:00-10:30

1. Ice Breaking

2. Presentation and Discussion.

     Exploring Course material: Student's Book, Work Book,

     Teacher's Book, Cassettes, (Where applicable: Flash

     Cards, Wall Charts)

3. Course Components Worksheet

4. Reflection Questions Worksheet

    (Theory, principles and special features found on

     course material + related application practices adopted

      by  the authors)

5. Unit Layout ( Sample navigation of Unit 1, Lesson 1)

6. Selected PowerPoint Presentation (from those on the

    CD + Discussion).

=====================================

Break: 10:30-11:00

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Second Session: 11:00-01:00

1. Selected PowerPoint Presentation (from those on the

    CD + Discussion).

2. Demonstration by participants

     (of selected representative items from the course

      material) followed by analysis and comments

3. Responding to participants' queries

========================================

Important Notice:

1. In the text version below of the Worksheets and the PowerPoint

     Presentations  the Slides are

     for the trainees, the Comments are for the trainers)

2. The PowerPoint Presentations  here and on the CD cover the

following areas:

Action Pack 8

Culture in Communication

Children in primary schools learning foreign languages need insights into the target

 language culture. By raising children’s awareness of culture pupils will develop a

strengthened sense of their own identity as well as an interest in cultural differences.

Cultural input naturally leads to activity-based work and cross–curricular learning

which in turn will make children better communicators. This workshop aims to

explore some effective ways of engaging children in culture lessons.

Joining Forces: combining grammar and skills work

One of the greatest challenges for language teachers is getting the right balance between

grammatical input and practicing language skills. A lack of range and variety in

grammatical structures will limit a learner’s ability to operate in the foreign language.

 Conversely a language learner with a deep awareness of structure is not always

able to use the language. This session will try to resolve why one just doesn’t

seem to work without the other.

======================

It is recommended that you:

1-      go through the following work sheets to explore

      the textbooks first and then

2-     go through the text version of the

          Training Powerpoint Presentations on

           the Training CD.

========================================

Training Worksheets

=====================================

Ice breaking

=======================================

There are many ice-breaking techniques. They

are very important  when you wish to create

positive readiness for learning in class. Here are few:

a. Ask students to write/ say 3 statements about

themselves , 2 of them are untrue,  only 1 of them

is true.

b. Ask each student to mention one adjective

that best describes him/her .

c. Write down 3-4 numbers that have personal

significance to you on the board  and ask students

 to guess what they mean.

d. Ask students to work in pairs. Each one is

to introduce himself to his partner , 

mentioning important achievements/ events

in his life. Then ask each one to  introduce his partner.

========================================

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Components Fact file

====================================

I. The Student’s Book

a. 88 pages

b. It has 6 Modules; covers areas such as: Fitness and

achievement, Record breakers,  Experiences, communications,

 Travel, science and Discovery

c. Each Module has 2 Units =12 units in the book

d. Each unit has 8 lessons + 1 additional lesson (Project)

e. Each lesson takes between 40-45 minutes ( within each

lesson there is suggested

        timing for activities

=====================================

II. The Workbook

a. 79 pages                   

b. There are 12 modules; Purpose:

     - provide  extra practice of Language and skills

     - extension work to develop topic and language areas

c. At the end of each Module: Progress Test

d. At the end of each Module: Learning Log

e. Self-assessment answer key

f. My Vocabulary boxes

======================================

III. The Teacher’s Book

a. Introduction

b. Module Notes: detailed instructions and suggestions 

    for each lesson

c. Writing help

d. Tape script

e. Extra Listening

f. Workbook answer key

g. Word List

h. Irregular verbs

=========================================

IV. 2 Cassettes

=========================================

=========================================

Action pack 8

Reflecting on some Action Pack 8 points

(to be discussed after participants explore the

course components)

======================================

1. What are some of the uses of the Opener

     ( title page of each Module)?

2. What are some of the text –types used in:

a. Student’s Book

b. Activity Book

3. What is the ELT learning approach that best

     describes The Action pack course?

4. Why are the Outcomes introduced at the

     beginning of each Module?

5. What is the significance of the

a. Over to You exercise

b. the Project section

6. How is integration of language skills achieved

     in various lessons?

     (vs. separate MoE Outcomes)

7. What thinking skills could be developed using :

   a. vocabulary exercises

   b. the project   etc.

8. What are the symbols/signs (such as Astrix, t

     he headphones  etc) used for? 

9. Why is self-assessment important?

     How can we use the new evaluation tools  such

      as the Learning Log within 

     the new MoE assessment schemes?

10. Why is timing an activity important?

11. What are the boxes in My Vocabulary section

     ( in the Activity Book) for?

( Most of the answers are in the Introduction

of the Teacher’s Book.)

=======================================

=======================================

Action Pack 8

Sample Unit layout of activities

Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1 and 2

=============================================

Stage

Mat-

erial

Activity

Role of student

Skill sequence

Opener

SB p.5

1. read title

look at picture

explain vocabulary

2. pair work

write a list of sports

Identify types of sports using his previous knowledge

Work in pairs to write a list of sports and then report to class

Recognize Outcomes (Why)

Visual recog+ speaking (reporting)

Compare

Predict

L 1 and 2

SB

p.7

1. Vocabulary box(sports)

Classifying vocab. Items into groups (individually then in pairs

Classification

Comparing

Work

Book

WB

P4

Exercise 1

Matching/ Writing sports names

Match descriptions with pictures; write names of sports

Vocabulary

Comprehension

SB

SB p.7

Exe.2

Compreh.

2. Before you read

Identify types of sports on page 6 using pictures; discussion on preferred sport.

Employing previous knowledge &

Building positive attitudes

Fact file

=

3. comprehension

of text

Reading of fact file on p.6 ;then cover it. In pairs, they answer questions on section 3.

Self-checking of

Comprehension

text

Grammar in Context

SB p.7

4

Listening

 comprehension

Draw a table, read a webpage

while listening to recorded interview;   second listening in parts; pair work to compare

answers and reporting to class

Extracting specific information fro a recorded interview

( Seen Text)

Exposing students to structures as used in real texts

Grammar in Context

SB p.7

4

Listening

 comprehension

Draw a table; listen to a second recorded interview in parts

Pair work to compare answers

Extracting specific information fro a recorded interview

Unseen  Text)

Exposing students to structures as used in real texts

Grammar in Context

Writing

SB p.7

Activity

6

Writing descriptive statements

Options(individual/ pairs/ group

Work ) to write descriptive statements about characters in exercise 4,5  and then reporting

Using implicitly internalized structures

(present tense), students write descriptive statements.

Grammar in Context

SB p.7

Activity7

7. Talking about Sports

Students talk about sports working in pairs: they use what

They know about characters to form questions and answers.

Speaking in pairs

( Controlled ask/answer practice)

Workbook

WB p.4

Exe.2 Forming sentences from notes

Based on a table with notes about the characters, students form sentences using present / present continuous

Transforming notes into sentences in writing

Over to you

SB p.7

Exe.8 communicative

Activity ; self-introduction

Students read the given sample introduction, then work in pairs practicing talking about themselves

Free practice- speaking

Reporting about others

Did you know box

SB p.7

Elicitation

Elicitation  and employment of world-knowledge information

Free practice

speaking

Workbook

WB p.4

Exe.4 written response

Students answer questions about themselves

Controlled practice/ reporting personal

habits in writing

========================================

========================================

========================================

The following text version of the

          Training Powerpoint Presentations includes:

1.  the presentation (slides) Prompts for the Trainees and

2.  the Comments for the Trainers

Important note: The same material is on the

Training Powerpoint Presentations on

the Training CD.

========================================

========================================

========================================


Action Pack 8 Slides text version

Source: Douglas Allan

Culture in Communication

=======================================

Slide 1

Culture in Communication

Sample:

Picture of cover of Student's Book

Comments:

Culture in Communication

Children in schools learning foreign languages need

insights into the target language culture. By raising

children’s awareness of culture pupils will develop a

strengthened sense of their own identity as well as an

interest in cultural differences. Cultural input naturally

leads to activity-based work and cross–curricular learning

which in turn will make children better communicators.

This workshop aims to explore some effective ways of

engaging children in culture lessons. Examples will be

taken from Longman’s primary course Friends.

 Welcome participants are introduce self.

 Ask participants what’s the most embarrassing

cultural thing that has ever happened to them. If audience

is small enough, report back. Tell story of getting into a

lift in the UK. The opposite of in Hungary - don’t talk and

 try to ignore each other.

 Warm -up : ask participants to reflect on their own

experience of culture learning when they studied English at

school. What cultural information did they learn? What was

the funniest/most unusual piece of cultural information?

 Report back if possible.

 Aim of session is to look at how cultural awareness makes

students not only more knowledgeable about the target culture

but also more effective users of the language.

 I will be using Action Pack 8 as my source of examples.

========================================

Slide 2

Sample:

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE COMMUNICATE?

shared code of communication,

something to talk about - topic,

negotiation of meaning,

non-verbal signals 

Comments:

Characteristics of Oral Communication

·       What are the characteristics of communication

( negotiation of meaning, something to communicate/talk

about, at least 2 communicators, shared code of communication,

non-verbal signals). Put these up on the board/OHP in plenary.

These characteristics form the basis of skills work. Skills work

implies that language is used for doing things rather than a

body of knowledge in itself. It is instrumental to getting

things done. The process which this simple activity highlight,

 are evident when we speak, when we write, read and listen.

It is these characteristics which we try to duplicate in our

skills development tasks.

 Also all of these characteristics of communication

have cultural aspects. Each language has its own

distinct cultural features. Each code is different.

Think about animal noises –

what sound do dogs make in your language. In English?

 Or what about mice? Another example may be

 swear words.

Hungarian for example is very agricultural in its swearing.

 The topic of communication is also cultural.

Certain things are taboo and not spoken about., This

can be something simple like it is rude to ask a British

person how much they earn.

 The ways in which people negotiate meaning is also

cultural. Things about bargaining for something in an

Arab-speaking market or persuading someone to do

 something

 Body language can also be cultural sending different

signals in different languages. For example saying yes and

no in Bulgaria.

 =======================================

Slide 3

Sample:

CULTURE IS :

1. A list of facts about a country.

2. Ways of behaving developed by a society.

3. The arts.

4. Common values, and attitudes.

Comments:

Pros and Cons of teaching culture.

Ask teachers What is culture? On board display these

possibilities.

CULTURE IS :

1. A list of facts about a country e.g. Britain is an island.

2. Ways of behaving developed by a society.

3. The arts (opera, theatre, ballet, painting, poetry etc.)

4. Common values, attitudes and ways of looking at life

Which ways of looking at culture are most useful for EFL

teachers who have to teaching some aspects of culture?

Ask pairs of participants to rank these in order of

importance. Talk through each group’s work. Conclusion :

 all aspects are important but which one will actually help

students to be more effective of English?

=======================================

Slide 4

Sample:

SB. Module 1, Page 10

Skills: Focus on Olympics

The Olympic Games

Comments:

Children get lots of international cultural information

in Action Pack through text such as The Olympic

Games from Action Pack 8 Module 1.

This module is all about Fitness and achievemnet and

the Olympic text is taknm from a skills focus lesson .

It provides children will hisorical information as well as

background cultural information about the Olympic flag

and the mofdern day Olympic games.

======================================

Slide 5

Sample:

Activity Book, Module 1, page 10

Picture of  Exe. 1 Match the headlines with the stories

Comments:

Or here is another example from the Activity Book in

Module 1. We have 4 amusing stories from different parts

of the world. The text is set like an internet page and the

task is to match the headlines with the correct text.

Can you think of some good headlines for

the storues?

The correct headlinmes are: Man bought 4  litres

of milk for 500 pounds

Traffic fine for policeman

Firefighters tried to use a snake

Family photo caught thief

These kind of stories are not only amusing but help

 students develop reading skills. Which sub-skill would we

 use to do the matching task? Skimming.

=======================================

Slide 6

Sample:

CULTURAL INFORMATION

Provide students with basic background knowledge

about different countries and their people.

Encourage students to compile information about

their own country.

Engage students in reading skills tasks.

Comments:

However, this is not to say that some cultural

background knowledge is not useful. Students will always

need some of those facts and figures just to be able to

interact in an intelligent way. It would be rather sad if

for example a student of English didn’t know a little

about the world around him or her.

 Action Pack 8 provides this background throughout

the Students’ and activity Books. The aim of these

sections are to provide a basic background about

other countries and their people, secondly they encourage

students to compare TLC with their own for intercultural

perspectives and finally, they are usually based on text

and therefore provide students with reading skills  practise.

=======================================

Slide 7

Sample:

A picture of a Webpage

An ancient city

SB Module 2, page 28

Comments:

One technique for giving students cultural information

is in the form of text in the Links pags. These are designed

like internet pages and often contain cultural information.

Here is one example from action Pack 8 Module 2  about

he ancient city of Petra.  Students are engaged in reading

about this wonder and then answering comprehensuion

questions about the text.

Other cultural information from the students’ own

culture include: ThE Phoenicians (p 16), The Dead Sea

(p 26), Manal’s Life (p 43), as well as the episodic story

The Boy from the Past.

=====================================

Slide 8

Sample:

STUDENTS’ CULTURAL
NEEDS TODAY

Knowing

versus

Doing

Cultural information

versus

Cultural awareness

Comments:

In language teaching more specifically though,

perhaps number 2 has also played an important part.

Children often have to learn about the special

behaviours of the target language communities. For example,

 I learned a lot about what the French eat for breakfast and

when they go on holiday in August.

No-one would doubt the need for cultural awareness if

students are to be effective users of the English language.

Appropriate cultural input will enable students to understand

why other users are communicating their messages in

certain ways.

 All too often we have based this culture awareness training

on content about the target culture rather than on the values,

attitudes and norms that are part of the target culture.

What I also need is awareness of the right things to

say and do. Saying and doing the right things in the TL

involve understanding the norms of cultural language

 behaviour. If I want to avoid offending the people I

interact with then I need to be aware of the  register,

politeness and body language specific to the TLC.

=======================================

Slide 9

Sample:

HELPING STUDENTS USE “CULTURALLY”

 BETTER ENGLISH

Sensitising students’ awareness of :

how children of their own age behave in the TLC.

authentic spoken English.

mother tongue language behaviour.

Comments:

Whilst new knowledge or information can be learned,

awareness can only be acquired. It takes time to sensitise students

to the new cultural norms which govern the TL. Students

will need time over a period of time to develop this awareness.

The process is also much more active than learning facts

about the new culture. Students will need to be engaged in

real communication in order to develop that feeling for the

language. By the end of the language programme they will

 be used to asking themselves “Who am I speaking/writing

 to, what situation are we in and why are we communicating,”.

=======================================

Slide 10

Sample:

A picture of Module 1, SB,  page 3 scope and

sequence of Elements

Units 1 and 2, Grammar, Function, vocabulary,

 Reading , Listening, speaking, Writing,

Focus on (theme)

Comments:

As you can see from the contents pages of Action Pack

many of the course objectives are fiunctional objectives.

Therefore grammar and vocabulary are taught in order

to increase the functional power of children’s English

whether it be talking about sports or  agreeing and disagreeing.

All functions in language are cultural. The grammar

and vocab we use to effective complete a function in different

languages is culturally determined.

=====================================

Slide 11

Sample:

WAYS OF INTERACTING IN DIFFERENT CULTURES

Speaking brusquely (‘rudely’)

Class consciousness/ roles

Appearing more insistent

Demanding/impatient

‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’

‘Politeness’-  use varies in different cultures

Gender issues

Traditional expectations vary

Saying ‘Yes’ and ‘No’

Some more direct

Body language

Varies

Comments:

What things can go wrong? Well our students may should

culturally imappropriate for a number of reasons. Discuss.

======================================

Slide 12

Sample:

A page extract of Over To You activity

SB, Module 5,  page 73 Speaking

Ideas relating to helping the environment

Comments:

Students are given lots of opportunity to use their English

and develop this sensitivity to interaction with each other a

nd their teacher.

Here is a speaking task which would provide plenty

of practice in interacting with an audience in Enmglish.

Major issues here would be structuring the interaction,

choice of grammar and pvocabulary, involving the

listening and making eye contact.

=====================================

Slide 13

Sample:

INTERCULTURAL LEARNING

Intercultural awareness results in :

tolerance of others

openness to new ideas

deepened understanding of one’s own culture

ability to see one’s own culture as different

Comments:

Perhaps the newest area of culture teaching has been

connected to intercultural awareness. It's been suggested

that intercultural awareness is what makes us tolerant

and able to understand things from another person’s

point of view.

=====================================

Slide 14

Sample:

INTERCULTURAL – PROJECTS

è My favourite sport

è World records quiz

è The International Space Station

è Processes

è Tropical forests

Comments:

Just look at some of the topics above from Action

Pack . One certainly gets a different view of life from

some of these materials.

Of course intercultural awareness also has its own

special section in. These are usually found in the projects.

Kids are asked to reflect on their own culture not just

learn about a new one.

====================================

Slide 15

Sample:

A picture of page 88,  SB, Module 6,

Project

A famous scientist or inventor

Alhazen-pioneer of vision and light

Comments:

Action Pack 8 is a rich course both culturally and

linguistically.

Not only will your students gain a useful cultural

background about the English-speaking worlds, they

will also develop strategies to use English appropriately

from a cultural point of view.

Moreover your students will be engaged by

topics which are of relevance to their lives and at

 the same time will be more informed from the rich

educational content of Action Pack.

Here is an example of one of the projects about

 inventors from Module 6 Science and Discovery.

 Students learn about Thomas edison, Nikota

Tesla (electricity), Röntgen (x-rays) and

Fleming (penecillin).

=======================================

Slide 16

Sample:

IMAGES OF BRITAIN

Pictures of identifiable  monument and feature specific to Britain

Comments:

Ask participants to consider their images of Britian.

When they hear the word what immediately comes to mind?

Using the handout write down 5 things which come to

mind when thinking about Britain. Then compare with a partner.

Reveal some images on the PP one by one

commenting on each.

Stonehedge – history 1000 years of uninterrupted

history (last invasion 1066).

Double decker buses/ Red telephone boxes – well-known

 symbols recognised around the world.

BBC – sense of fairness and honesty, reliability

Tower bridge – London, great world capital

School kids in uniform – good education, respected

institutions, discipiline

Houses of Parliament – home of democracy,

well-respected political establishment

Horse Guards/monarchy – stablity, pomp and

ceremony, tourism, identity

Bobby/police – friendly, honest, reliable, eccentric

uniform, sense of justice

But how true are these ideas today in the UK? How much

of what we see is reliable?

====================================

Slide 17

Sample:

MODERN BRITAIN IN NUMBERS

There are o children under the age of 16 in the UK.

Children aged 7 to 15 spend an average of £o per week.

Only o% of children aged 11 to 16 walk to school.

o% of British homes have a TV and o % a computer.

Comments:

Ask participants to do some ‘guesstimating’ about today’s

UK. In pairs try to guess the numbers from these statistics

about teenagers in the UK today.

There were 12.1 million children aged under 16 in the

UK in 2000: 6.2 million boys and 5.9 million girls.

The number of children is lower than in 1971 when there

were 14.3 million children.

In 2000/01 children aged 7 to 15 in the UK spent an

average of £12.30 per week. Girls spent more than boys,

£13.20 per week compared with £11.20. Girls were more

likely than boys to spend their money on clothing and

footwear, and personal goods. Boys were more likely

to spend their money on food and non-alcoholic drink,

and leisure goods.

In Britain, walking was the main form of travel to

school for children in 1998-2000, although the

proportion of children doing so has fallen over the last

15 years. In 1998-2000, 56 per cent of children aged

5 to 10 and 43 per cent of 11 to 16 year olds walked to school.

Access to a television has always been highly prevalent

 (93% of households in 1972, rising to 99% in 2002).

Over the last five years the percentage of households

with home computers has increased further, to 54%

of all households in 2002. Access to the Internet at

 home has also increased in recent years, from 33%

of households in 2000 to 44% in 2002. The proportion

of households owning mobile telephones increased

from nearly three fifths (58%) in 2000 to three quarters

 (75%) of households in 2002.

====================================

Slide 18

Sample:

MODERN BRITAIN IN NUMBERS

There are 12.1 million children under the age of 16 in the UK.

Children aged 7 to 15 spend an average of £12.30 per week.

Only 43% of children aged 11 to 16 walk to school.

99% of British homes have a TV and 54% a computer.

==================================

Slide 19

Sample:

Driving on the other side of the road!

That’s nothing!

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