Table Of Content

Contents The author and series editor 1 Foreword 2 Introduction 3 How to use this book 8 1 Getting started 12 Setting up a study centre 12 Self-access work in the classroom 22 Materials design and production 23 Classification and access 26 Materials storage and display 30 Staffing 31 2 Ways in and through 34 Activity Level Activity type Focus 2.1 Orientation task All Discovery task Learner training 35 2.2 What kind of learner Lower Study guide Learner devel. 41 are you? intermediate upwards 2.3 Needs analysis Lower Study guide Learner devel. 44 intermediate upwards 2.4 Individual study All Study guide Learner devel. 47 plan 2.5 Individual contract All Study guide Learner devel. 48 2.6 Reading programme Intermediate Study guide Learner devel. 49 2.7 The arts in Britain Advanced Quiz Ref. skills 52 3 Receptive skills 54 3.1 Dangerous coconuts Intermediate Cloze text Intens. reading 55 3.2 Sleep Advanced Scrambled text Intens. reading 57 3.3 Introducing Lower Comprehension activity Intens. reading 59 Sherlock Holmes intermediate 3.4 Superman versus Intermediate Information transfer Intens. reading 61 smoking 3.5 Weekend Elementary Reading laboratory Intens. reading 62 3.6 Book review Intermediate Reading and review Extens. reading 66 writing 3.7 Helen and Ellen Intermediate to Minimal pairs activity Intens. listen. 69 Advanced 3.8 The seaside Intermediate Dictation Intens. listen. 70 3.9 The Nuthatch Intermediate Cloze text Intens. listen. 72 3.10 A busy life Elementary Listening and sorting Intens. listen. 73 scrambled pictures 3.11 The big fight Lower Picture matching Intens. listen. 74 intermediate 3.12 Horoscope Upper Listening text with Intens. listen. 76 intermediate comprehension task 3.13 Philip’s party Lower Information transfer Intens. listen. 78 intermediate 3.14 How to use a Intermediate to Study guide Extens. listen. 83 tapescript Advanced 3.15 How to use a Intermediate to Study guide Extens. listen. 84 summary Advanced 3.16 How to use Intermediate to Study guide Extens. listen. 85 comprehension Advanced questions 3.17 Reactive listening Lower Listening and Extens. listen. 86 intermediate to reacting Advanced 3.18 Programme review Upper Listening and review Extens. listen. 88 intermediate to writing Advanced 4 Productive skills 89 4.1 Fast food? Beginner Copying or tracing Handwriting 91 4.2 Important words for Intermediate to Study guide Spelling 93 spelling Advanced 4.3 Dropping an T Elementary to Study guide and Spelling 94 Lower practice activity intermediate 4.4 Important words for Lower Study guide Punctuation 96 punctuation intermediate to Intermediate 4.5 Why is punctuation Lower Study guide and Punctuation 97 important? intermediate to practice activity Intermediate 4.6 Capital letters Lower Study guide and Punctuation 98 intermediate practice activity 4.7 Furnish the house Beginner Creative copying Control, writing 100 4.8 Janet’s ambition Intermediate Cloze text Control, writing 102 4.9 A chance meeting Intermediate to Marking links in a text Control, writing 103 Upper intermediate 4.10 Wartime agriculture Upper Sentence combining Guided writing 105 intermediate to Advanced 4.11 Europe Lower Parallel writing Guided writing 106 intermediate 4.12 Improving your Intermediate to Study guide Free writing 109 written English Advanced 4.13 Writing for real Intermediate to Study guide Free writing 110 Advanced 4.14 TheYega Advanced Summary writing Free writing 111 4.15 A nasty surprise Intermediate to Story writing Free writing 116 Advanced 4.16 A strange move Intermediate to Story writing Free writing 117 Advanced 4.17 Words for Beginner Study guide Indiv. sounds 120 pronunciation to Lower (pronunciation) intermediate 4.18 /i/and/i:/ Elementary to Pronunciation practice Indiv. sounds 122 Intermediate (pronunciation) 4.19 Suffixes: -i + Intermediate to Discovery task and Word stress 124 vowel + ? Advanced practice activity (pronunciation) 4.20 Word stress activity Intermediate Practice activity Word stress 127 4.21 Two kinds of Upper Discovery task Compound word 128 compound noun intermediate to stress (pron.) Advanced 4.22 A time to be born Intermediate to Recognition activity, Rhythm and 129 Advanced repetition, and stress (pron.) discovery task 4.23 Speaking for real Intermediate to Study guide Speaking 134 Advanced 4.24 Improving your Intermediate to Study guide Speaking 136 spoken English Advanced 4.25 Identify the pair Elementary to Communication task Speaking 137 Lower intermediate 4.26 Describe and draw Lower Communication task Speaking 138 intermediate to Upper intermediate 4.27 Describe and arrange Lower Communication task Speaking 139 intermediate to Upper intermediate i 4.28 Find the difference Intermediate to Communication task Speaking 141 Advanced 4.29 Tell the story Intermediate to Communication task Speaking 143 Advanced 4.30 Language for games Lower Study guide Speaking 145 intermediate to Upper intermediate 4.31 Out of the hat Intermediate to Game Speaking 145 Advanced 4.32 Dangerous island Intermediate to Problem solving Speaking 147 Advanced 4.33 A treasure hunt Upper Problem solving Speaking 149 intermediate to Advanced 4.34 The camping trip Lower Problem solving Speaking 152 intermediate to Intermediate 5 Building blocks * 153 5.1 Nicola’s room Elementary Problem solving and Verbs: tenses 155 practice activity 5.2 A perfect evening? Lower Problem solving and Verbs: tenses 157 intermediate practice activity 5.3 Missing person Intermediate to Problem solving and Verbs: modals 158 Upper practice activity intermediate 5.4 Cat burglar Intermediate Practice activity Articles 160 5.5 Medical relatives Intermediate to Problem solving and Relative prons. 162 Upper practice activity intermediate 5.6 Family tree Elementary Practice activity Apostrophe ‘s’ 163 5.7 Comparative quiz Elementary to Quiz and practice Comp. adjs. 165 Lower activity intermediate 5.8 How? Lower Practice activity Advs. - manner 166 intermediate to Intermediate 5.9 Which preposition? Intermediate to Practice activity Preps, with 168 Upper verbs intermediate 5.10 Learning new Intermediate Study guide Vocabulary 170 vocabulary upwards learner train. 5.11 Remember more Lower Study guide Vocabulary 172 words! intermediate learner train. upwards 5.12 Similar meanings Upper Discovery task and Diet, work: 175 intermediate to practice activity synonyms Advanced 5.13 Connections Upper Discovery task and Diet, work: 177 intermediate to practice activity homonyms Advanced 5.14 Choosing your words Intermediate Discovery task and Vocabulary 178 practice activity 5.15 The waiter Upper Discovery task and Related words 179 intermediate to practice activity Advanced 5.16 New words in Intermediate to Study guide Guessing 181 difficult texts Advanced meaning from context 5.17 The senses Lower Discovery task and Vocab: topic 182 intermediate to practice activity based work Intermediate 5.18 Making things Intermediate Study guide and Word building: 184 happen practice activities affixes 5.19 Beastly idioms Lower Discovery task and Idiomatic 186 intermediate to practice activity language Advanced 5.20 Work it out! Lower Practice activity Phrasal verbs 187 intermediate to Intermediate 5.21 Folk wisdom Intermediate to Discovery task and Proverbs 188 Advanced reflection 5.22 Thematic crossword Intermediate Thematic crossword Vocab: games 190 5.23 Step by step Lower Word puzzle Vocab: games 191 intermediate 5.24 Wordsearch Advanced Puzzle Vocab: games 192 5.25 Word pictures Intermediate to Creative, forming Vocab: making 194 Advanced associations memorable 5.26 Right answers Intermediate to Discovery task and Social lang.: 195 Upper practice activity set responses intermediate Conclusion 196 Appendix 1 and 2 198 Bibliography 198 The author and series editor Susan Sheerin started her teaching career as a secondary school modern languages teacher, but soon became interested in teaching English as a Foreign Language. She retrained, taking an RSA Diploma in TEFL/TESL, and then from 1978 taught and directed ESP and teacher training courses at the Colchester English Study Centre. In 1982 she took up the post of Materials Co-ordinator at CESC and was responsible in this capacity for managing teaching and learning resources in the centre, including the library and learning centre. In 1984/5 she took a year’s leave of absence to study for an MA in Applied Linguistics at Essex University. In 1986 she was appointed Director of Studies of the Bell School, Cambridge, where among other things the author is closely associated with and has responsibility for the self-access facility in the school. She is co-author of Spotlight on Britain (OUP 1985). Alan Maley worked for The British Council from 1962-1988, serving as English Language Officer in Yugoslavia, Ghana, Italy, France, and China, and as Regional Representative for The British Council in South India (Madras). He is currently Director-General of the Bell Educational Trust, Cambridge. He wrote Quartet (with Frangoise Grellet and Wim Welsing, OUP 1982) and Literature, in this series (with Alan Duff, OUP 1990). He has also written Beyond Words, Sounds Interesting, Sounds Intriguing, Words, Variations on a Theme, and Drama Techniques in Language Learning (all with Alan Duff), The Mind’s Eye (with Fran^oise Grellet and Alan Duff), and Learning to Listen and Poem into Poem (with Sandra Moulding). He is also Series Editor for the New Perspectives and Oxford Supplementary Skills series. Foreword The movement for learner independence springs from the powerful yet commonsense perception that it is learners who do the learning. (Teachers, however good, cannot do it for them.) It is strengthened by the further observation that every learner is different from every other learner. Disillusionment with ‘lockstep’ teaching and the development of a communicative/humanistic teaching philosophy which has shifted the focus from teachers to learners have given added impetus to the movement. The early days of learner independence were characterized by much terminological debate. What exactly was meant by ‘autonomy5, ‘self-directed learning’, ‘individualization’, etc.? These concerns seem now to have been superseded by the more urgent practical need to develop effective mechanisms for allowing students a degree of choice and for helping them to exercise it. This book describes one such mechanism: The Self-Access Study Centre. Such centres offer students the opportunity to pursue their learning in their own preferred way and at their own pace. They need, however, to be carefully conceived so as to offer a systematically-designed framework of support for the student. Thought has also to be given to organizational systems which integrate the work done in the Study Centre with that done in the classroom or elsewhere. This book offers highly practical advice, supported by examples of materials, and thus provides invaluable information for anyone considering setting up a self-access facility, however modest. Alan Maley 3 Introduction What is self-access? This book aims to help EFL (English as a Foreign Language) and ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers with the practicalities of setting up and managing self-access study facilities. The primary aim of such facilities is to enable learning to take place independendy of teaching. Students are able to choose and use self-access material on their own and the material gives them the ability to correct or assess their own performance. By using such a self-access facility, students are able to direct their own learning. At first glance it may appear that providing self-access facilities amounts to a conspiracy to rid the world of teachers, but this is certainly not the case. This book assumes that self-access learning takes place in conjunction with classroom learning and is complementary to it. Why bother to set up self-access? Any attempt to cater more for the individual needs of students inevitably means a lot of hard work and effort on the part of teachers in terms of the provision of material and in the general change of attitude and approach required. It is no easy option. On the contrary ‘It takes better teachers to focus on the learner’, Strevens (1980). No teacher will undertake such a commitment lightly, and it is therefore appropriate to consider the reasons which might make individualization and the provision of self-access facilities worth all the trouble involved. Learner independence/responsibility Society teaches us that we need to be taught, i.e. that learning is dependent upon being taught/Jt does this by the traditional roles that are assigned to teachers and students, whereby the teacher is in tight control, transmitting content and knowledge, selecting and directing activities. Learning and the correction of errors are the teacher’s responsibility. The student, on the other hand, is passive, led by the teacher , marching in lock-step with others. Learning is not his or her responsibility. Thus, these traditional roles foster an insidious lack of independence and responsibility in the student. This is liable to hinder learning because of lack of involvement and self-investment in the learning process on the part of the student. Naiman et al. (1978) in their study of the characteristics of good language learners, found that the most successful language learning INTRODUCTION strategies are connected with assuming responsibility for one’s own learning. Teachers cannot learn for students, and in order to increase learner independence and responsibility for learning, the traditional roles need to change as follows, Stevick (1976): Teacher paternal/ assertive —» fraternal/permissive dispenser of all knowledge —> resource person/consultant fostering dependence —► training for independence Student passive active no responsibility for learning assume responsibility for learning seeking approval doing without overt approval submissive involved in decision-making Learning to learn Many educators argue that our world is changing so rapidly that some people may need to retrain several times during their working life due to the need either to keep abreast of developments in their occupation, or to change a redundant occupation for a new, non- redundant one. According to this view, life should be seen as a continuing process of education. The following view is expressed by Carl Rogers (1969): Teaching and imparting of knowledge makes sense in an unchanging environment. This is why it has been an unquestioned function for centuries. But if there is one truth about modern man, it is that he lives in an environment which is continually changing . . . We are, in my view, faced with an entirely new situation in education where the goal of education, if we are to survive, is the facilitation of change and learning. The only man who is educated is the man who has learned howlo learn; the man who has learned how to adapt and change; the man who has realized that no knowledge is secure, that only the process of seeking knowledge gives a basis for security. (Rogers’ emphasis) If this is the case, there is a radical need to equip people with the tools for undertaking their own learning. Learners are individuals Influenced by humanistic psychology, educators have recently emphasized the fact that students are individuals with different needs, styles and interests, and that we as educators and fellow human beings should take account of these differences in the provision made for their learning.