Choosing the Best Material - A sample for teachers

- Aralık 21, 2020

Good morning everyone :)) I hope you are all good. My thick schedule is still at full speed, but I stopped by to give you the latest news about our 21st Century Teacher Training. Unfortunately, last Friday was our final online lesson, so we have completed the first pace of the training. However, we have arranged a weekly meeting to share our process on the project and a little chit-chat: Tea&Talk. I look forward to joining it. Now, let me inform you about our last session.

We have started with the discussion part about the 5th reflection questions. I quite like the discussion parts because we get the chance to talk with our friends, which is a luxury in these Coronavirus days. Our discussion was based on the article Teaching Material in EIL by Matsuda. The writer presents the idea that each material should be selected with a great deal of consideration. They need to contain diverse representations of cultures, accents, visuals, and ideologies. We need to enrich their world view while teaching the subjects. The other idea that the writer points out is the evaluation of materials. Here again, the different characteristics are needed to be considered as important. So, the writer gives out some criteria for evaluating the teaching material; the variety of users, the adequate exposure to the varieties of English, relating to the local contexts, the authentic use of English.

Then, we had a whole-class discussion on the materials, coursebooks that we have used in high school. Unfortunately, I didn't have my coursebook with me because I studied high school in Giresun, so all of my materials are there. But, I can remember that Western culture was prioritized through visuals, reading packages, and even accents. They only used British or American accents. Nearly all of my friends had the same kind of materials but some used coursebooks that are competent in diverse culture representation.

After the information part is over, we had a small talk about general topics and Melda Teacher shared her experiences on being a newly-graduated teacher, which were very precious. She has assigned each group to plan an activity that enhances GELT. So, last night we have planed one for you with my group members. I will leave the lesson plan down.

These were all I have to say today. Hope you enjoyed it, see you next week:))))

Think Local, Write in English: “Turkish Twelfth Night “

Goal

This activity aims to raise awareness on the issue of cultural relativity that different styles and interpretations are possible for the same play by showing different pictures of the adaptations (see Appendix) of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare.

Appropriate Courses: Literature & Language Teaching, Drama, Identity, and Culture.

Class Time: 120 minutes

Procedure

(It is assumed that everyone in the classroom has watched the original version of the play on YouTube (National Theatre) beforehand by the suggestion of the teacher.)

(1) Warm-up and interaction to World Englishes literature (20 minutes). Teacher shows pictures of Shakespeare, The Globe Theatre, and Elizabethan costumes, etc. And T asks the following questions: Did you like the play you watched by Shakespeare? What was the thing that you attracted/disliked most? Which century/culture/setting do these costumes belong to? Which cultures are represented in the play? After some answers and discussions, teacher sets a group work.

(2) Group Work (20-25 minutes). In order for students to better make sense of the plot, Teacher handouts different set of scenes from Twelfth Night which are not in the right order. Students are expected to put them into the right order in groups.

(3) Group Work (30 minutes) Teacher writes the names of different cultures on small papers and makes students randomly pick the papers (Hindi, Chinese, Afro-American, Japanese Anime & Pantomime version, and Russian). Then, Students will decide on the cultural elements based on their world knowledge (Constructivism). Teacher hands out worksheets consisting of categories such as language use, setting (dominant colors, gender representation, censorship), costumes, cultural elements, atmosphere. Then, Teacher shows the pictures of different adaptations of Twelfth Night around the world. And each group will put a tick on the features that they have found in their groups. Then, a speaker from each group will share the answers with the class. Teacher writes the answers on the board. Students will comment on one another’s work.

(4) Whole-Class Discussion (30 minutes) Now that they have identified other cultures, teacher will ask them to consider the Turkish context, asking the following questions: What kind of costumes they would wear? What might be the settings? This will initiate a deconstructive approach on literary works based on multiculturalism and critical thinking.

Appendix