Using TV series in English as an Additional Language (EAL) classrooms

Using TV series in English as an Additional Language (EAL) classrooms by Olcay Sert

Throughout the (relatively) short history of educational technology, research and innovations in "language teaching materials development" have evolved within the general area of Applied Linguistics. Concerning my own language learning experience, during the beginning of 1990s, audio and audio-visual materials were limited to audio cassettes or video cassettes that came with the course books. Following the advances in Compact Disc technology (and beyond), the diversity of the materials was doubled in the classrooms. The new millenium and the Information Age introduced the richness of the World Wide Web. Moreover, Web 2.0 (through wikis, blogs, social networking and various CMC tools) opened the doors to interactive, technology mediated classrooms for learners and teachers.

Although there was already an ongoing discussion on the use of movies and TV series in the last millenium, the focus has shifted directly to internet mediated classrooms and advancements in Web 2.0. Therefore a useful area of materials development, the use of TV series in English language classrooms, has remained under-researched. The TV series which are considered to be funny and humorous, in particular, can be used as audio-visual materials for adult learners of English. The British TV series like Coupling, Grownups, Two Pints of Lager and the American ones like How I met Your Mother and Friends as well as animations like South Park, Family Guy and Simpsons can be used especially in speaking classes.

A recent study of mine (Sert 2008) explores the potentials of Coupling, first by carrying out a comparative corpora research and then by suggesting a sample lesson plan to be used in language classrooms. Throughout the study, first, the use of hyperbolic language (i.e. overstatement and exaggeration) is compared to the findings of a previous research (McCarthy and Carter 2004- Using Cambridge and Nottingham Corpus of Discourse in English-CANCODE).The selection of CANCODE was due to the fact that it was a 5 million word corpus of naturally occurring spoken English and the reason for analyzing hyperbole was it's 'claimed' humorous effect. The second step was to build the link between the findings and potential practical applications, which resulted in a lesson plan for Additional Language Classes (ADL). For details regarding the methodology and findings, please read the article by clicking here.

The use of authentic materials has been debated by researchers for a long time. What should be considered as authentic is still a question, and the videos (as audio-visual resources) that came with coursebooks have been criticized, mainly because of their inefficiency in presenting naturally occurring discourse. Although the language in TV series is not occuring naturally, TV series perfectly present real life through the language use of the characters. This is an invaluable resource for language teachers, who tend to focus on spoken interaction in their classes. Various materials can be developed by using the TV series. Dialogues shown by the teachers in the language classrooms can be discussed, which may contribute to interactional competence.

However, research should precede wide-spread application, as comparison to naturally occurring language seems to be vital concerning reliability. The advantage is that the materials can be even used in one-computer classrooms (the size of the class may necessitate a projector and better speakers though). Homework and research tasks can be given which will increase students' exposure to language out of the classrooms. So one may claim that these materials can especially be useful in countries where English is not the native or official language (USA is an exception for this description, since English is 'de facto' official language of the country).

As a teacher candidate, teacher, researcher or teacher trainer, what are your ideas on the use of TV series in language classrooms? Can you list some TV series that are suitable for classroom use? Are there any disadvantages of using them? Please feel free to discuss and critically evaluate any aspect of the subject matter. Your comments and ideas are welcome.

Olcay SERT

06.04.2009

Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

References:

McCarthy, M., and Carter, R., 2004. There’s millions of them: hyperbole in everyday conversation. Journal of pragmatics, 36 (2), 149-184.

Sert, O. (2008). An Interactive Analysis of Hyperboles in a British TV Series: Implications for EFL Classes. Annual Review of Education, Communication and Language Sciences. 5, 1-28.

Web source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_facto

Profile of the Month: Tuğba Avcı

The Door to Career by Tuğba Avcı


Tuğba Avcı is an English Instructor at Karabük University, Türkiye. She completed her B.A in English Language Teaching (Hacettepe University) in 2008 and has been working for Karabük University for less than a year. She can be reached at tugbavci@karabuk.edu.tr .



THE DOOR TO CAREER

About eight months ago, I was wandering around the campus with my happy-go-lucky friends. Those were the days in which I could not anticipate where and as what I would be working. Never had I thought about academic career before my last year as an undergraduate student at Hacettepe University. It was the year when it suddenly dawned on me that I really had to make the best use of the four years’ training. Even if I seemed to master the language, I was extremely worried about the very first steps to take in order to achieve my fresh ambition. But as the time passed, I learnt what to do to open the door to the career.

After many applications and daunting interviews I grabbed a golden opportunity to be a part of an academic staff. I started this teaching adventure in September 2008, and as a young instructor at Karabuk University, the things that I have experienced so far are just the tip of the iceberg. I teach 34 hours in a week for preparatory classes that makes me as busy as a bee, which poses unique challenges to me. The programme of the School of English Language calls upon students who are at different levels of English. However, as instructors, our primary goal is to accommodate students’ needs, regardless of their educational background or profile. Hence, I have to prepare a detailed presentation for each lesson taking their interests and pre-existing schemata.

Working in this university has given me the distinct opportunity to learn about different student personalities from all over Turkey; getting to understand their life conditions, their aspirations and difficulties. I believe that I should consider the students’ personalities and how they are feeling about their private, social and school life. Exploring English with the students who are eager and open to learn is an exciting experience for me.

It is an incredibly tough job both to be teaching at the university and to be bound to duties that require dedicated work (e.g. participating in the commissions like material development or testing and evaluation), since it is a recently founded and developing university. Nevertheless, it will be a great experience in terms of professional progress, sense of achievement and interacting with colleagues. To sum up, for me, an instructor is not only responsible for teaching but also learning. So the most candid advice I could give to you is that: determine your future, get ready for it and never give up!


Tuğba Avcı
English Instructor
Karabük University, Türkiye

Whose English are you speaking? Whose English will you teach?

As students (or former students) of language teacher education departments in Turkey, you were advised and expected to have native-like competency in English and took many courses covering accuracy-oriented skills (i.e. phonetics and phonology). Although we cannot reject the fact that a heightened awareness in sound system of the language you are learning is essential, did you have a specific target language in mind? Whose language were you advised to learn (British, American, Australian etc.), and whose language were you advised to teach?

Recent research shows that among millions of people who are communicating in English in the world, native speakers of English are the minority compared to those who speak English as an additional language. Besides, there are thousands or millions of people among the native speakers of English, who are raised bilingual or multilingual. Keeping this in mind, how can someone expect you to speak native-like English? Does English belong to a specific nation, or to a geographical area? Who does it belong to? Does it belong to the British, or to the Americans? In today’s world, it both does not belong to anyone, and belongs to everyone!

Suppose that you are an Erasmus student in France and you are talking to a Spanish student. What do you think will determine the success of this communicative practice? Is it native-like speaking, or is it mutual intelligibility? It should be kept in mind that what determines success in an intercultural interaction is the degree to which participants achieve certain goals through conversational practice. Therefore, mutual intelligibility should be taken as the criteria in such encounters rather than accuracy in British or American-like pronunciation.

This idea, of course, can be challenged considering the pedagogical goals of the institutions. Institutions follow curricula, and the teachers follow syllabi. Therefore, course books and predetermined teaching materials generally shape the teaching and learning practices considering whose English it is which is being taught. Yet, an accomplished language teacher should be flexible enough to introduce varieties of English rather than a specific standard form. What is more, what comes as an additional challenge to the previously discussed phenomenon is the need for standardization in teaching. Nevertheless, it is the case that teaching variation is not an obstacle for standardisation.

Any language user is well-equipped to understand that language is for COMMUNICATION. Before deciding whose language to learn and to teach, we should be well aware of the fact that it is the mutual intelligibility that enhances successful communication, be it in your first language or in an additional language. Turkey’s being a dominantly monolingual society with little or no practical use of English generally leads us to the belief that English belongs to the British or to the Americans. However, one should never neglect that English is a lingua franca, through which hundreds of nations communicate and trade with one another!

Using the discussions above, please share your ideas with your friends using the comment link below. Whose English are you speaking? Whose English will you teach? Do you think speaking English with Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Turkish etc. accent is embarrassing? Do you think your roles as a speaker and as a teacher differ in how you speak, both in and out of the classroom? Your questions, comments and critique are welcome.

Olcay SERT

Profile of the month: Derya Çelik

MY ERASMUS EXPERIENCE by Derya ÇELİK:

Derya Çelik is a teacher candidate studying at Hacettepe University, Turkey. Her research interests include the relationships between pragmatics and foreign language teaching. She has presented a paper entitled " An Analysis of Conversational Maxims in ELT Coursebooks written by Turkish Authors " at Hacettepe University 1st Undergraduate Linguistics Conference in 2007.She can be reached at derya_aiesec@yahoo.com.

MY ERASMUS EXPERIENCE IN PORTUGAL...

The best choice I have ever made in my life was participating in Erasmus programme. Discovering the cultural differences of other countries is one of the highlights of travelling and was one of the main reasons that I applied to Erasmus. I have a desire to see different cultures and meet with different people from the time I know myself and going to Portugal as an Erasmus student was a step to make my dream come true. It was like a dream.. When you come back home, you feel like you wake up from a dream but when you look at your pictures, receive news from your friends or when you feel the smile of achieving a goal in your face, you realize that everything was true...

My Erasmus dream started when I heard the news that I am selected. I remember the excitement I had felt when I first heard that. And this excitement was with me till I arrived at Portugal. My mind was full of questions and the things I havent experienced before because I was getting ready to live in another country and without my parents and friends such a long time. But all the hesitations and bad ideas went away when I first met other Erasmus students from various countries, who are also far away from their homes.

When I think of those days, only the advantages and good aspects are coming into my mind. Of course, I faced difficulties but it is not comparable with the advantages. First of all, I learnt a new language and it is really easy when you are in the territory of that language. Thanks to this second language, a third one also opened its doors to me. Second, living in a different culture teaches a lot. You learn how to adapt yourself to a new environment and habits, so it teaches you to be tolerant. You start to feel empaty more then every time because in Erasmus program you are not learning only one culture. To maintain your friendship, you should have at least an idea about your friends’ culture too. Then, studying in another country allowed me to compare the system and the lessons with my own country. Also I took interesting courses to improve my general knowledge, which I would not have been able to achieve if I had carried out my studies in Turkey last semester. Now I turned back my home full of new ideas and creative projects.

It’s really hard to sum up this incredible experince but I have to  I strongly suggest you to apply this programme if you have a chance. Thanks to positive Erasmus experience that I have had, I would not hesitate in applying for other opportunities in abroad in the future. I have realised that I would be able to manage with the language difficulties and adapt to the cultural differences. I also feel that this experience increased self confidence and that I have developed a more relaxed attitude to the life due to this experience. If you want some challenges and if you agree with the concept of ‘life long learning’, don’t think twice !!!

DERYA ÇELİK
HACETTEPE UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
DIVISION OF ELT

Profile of the Month: Fırat Açıkgöz, M.A.

Profile of the Month: Fırat AÇIKGÖZ

Fırat Açıkgöz is a translator and an ELT instructor. He worked for Hacettepe Universiy and TOBB University of Economics and Technology as a R.A and EFL instructor, respectively. He completed his B.A in Interpretation and Translation Department at Hacettepe University in 2003. He completed his M.A entitled "Teaching English As A Foreign Language To The Visually Impaired Young Learners In Turkey" at the department of ELT at Hacettepe University. His research interests include ELT research, translation, special education, material development, sociolinguistics, and discourse analysis. He is currently teaching Turkish as a foreign language to American tertiary learners at
Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA. Contact: erciyesfirat@yahoo.com


Being an Instructor: From TOBB to Mercyhust College by Fırat Açıkgöz

“Shame on me for choosing this career with my eyes tight closed” could have been my mere words if I still would not hold my desire siding me to see through the sparkling eyes of my students wide open along with some peppy moments throughout my five-year career. Having goofed around for some years at college without any plans to get a real job, I finally figured out that the harsh reality awaits you out there without any commercials popping up off your life screen. Four years of theoretical and ostensibly practical training in translation followed by a master’s degree in EFL, one may comfortably think that I have a say in both fields of study. However, the others may well be backing the idea that the would-be translator or an instructor should have a minor field; in other words, signing up courses broadly from sociology, philosophy, or psychology back in the time of his student career. Speaking for myself, I was neither aware nor made alert of what was going to come out of chances I would have encountered then: a research assistant for a three-year time period, an instructor at a private university for one and the half year, and where I am now teaching Turkish at Mercyhurst College…

The aftermath story is told in a private institution and hard to chronicle as quite a many hardships are supposed to set up barriers before you. Here my fellow colleagues, I am not inclined to tell you the story of humongous accomplishments but rather make a sub with a desirable side dish. The ingredients are simple and abundant: wanna-be instructors, spicy and volatile admins, crusty relations, and most preferably; a pinch of greed…

Let me begin with the upper and lower buns of this perfectly glazed (!) sub. The technology is handy and the conveniences are limitless to make use in your classes. The colleagues are mostly friendly and every single of them are granted a notebook computer with pre-installed Outlook e-mail software. Instructors start working at 9:00 in the morning and leave the building at 18.30 at dusk. Till now, you hold a strong belief that you can do your best with all the stuff mentioned so far. There pops out some mandated conferences on the recent economic developments of an exotic country called Uganda where your pure existence does not make much of a difference but it means so much to volatile individuals. You heard of stage fear, right? What say about the fear of survival in your working place? How can you be efficiently productive if the only intrinsic motivation they enjoy is “fear”? What if you signed a contract lacking to include your code of liabilities? The answer is you are liable to come whenever you are needed, whether it be on Sunday morning off the wagon.

Literally speaking, you might forcibly be mutated into a librarian whose sole purpose is to figure out which books are due or extended by then. Above all, your superiors may encourage you to engage in team-work, yet your unique (!) contributions would make no use at all. Ask me why as they know how to smile. At times you should be good enough to put up with coincidences since you may also be asked to give janitors a hand with moving chairs in a class before exams. When you are good to zip up your mouth, you are the chosen one. So to speak, there were times one could freak out in my stead and I expectedly did so.

As for the ingredients, you need to grab it all with two hands and care. Otherwise, volatile ones that freaked you out back then will eat you alive this time. Who is in charge of what? Can you specifically define that ‘what’? To cut it brief, you need to be equipped with a what-the-heck-is-what apparatus to be able to better grasp the intentions of the others and get the hang of this chaotic system of curriculum development, for instance, which may incidentally be subject to change at any minute. It is not the individuals but the rule maker otherwise known as control freaks. I so rarely but wholeheartedly quote Mark Twain’s following lines: “Give me the data and I can make up the statistics to support it”. It means much to me. But you had better think of it as standing all alone.

My fellow friends of sincerity turned into my friends of misery over time. I witnessed what should have been gone through. Mark my words now: Agree upon your liabilities before you get a real job.

Fırat Açıkgöz,
20.02.2008

Am I making use of technology as a teacher?

You are about to be teachers of English in a few months or years. During your training as a teacher candidate, you have all been instructed to use technology in classrooms. Let me guess; your micro teaching experiences were no more than using videos, cassettes, CDs or related audio-visual devices.

But what if you are asked to have adequate web design and producing web based materials skills in the future by your employer? Be sure, this time is very close. As the sector becomes more competitive day by day, you will be expected to be able to produce web based materials for teaching English. And then... SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST !

Although you have not been taught how to produce web materials in your department, you should immediately start 'learn by doing' process.

http://www.olcaysert.com/animals.html is a simple web page I've designed to teach some animal related vocabulary to young learners. As you can see, the page includes exercises and activities to be used in a single classroom setting. Do you think that this web site is a better material compared to traditional materials? I believe that it is FAR MORE BETTER!

How much time does it take to learn preparing such materials? Not more than a few weeks be sure...

If you want to prepare such materials, contact me and I will guide you for this.

Best,

Olcay

The Feast of the Sacrifice or Christmas

Teaching culture, as you all know, is an integral part of teaching a foreign language. Just think about your own learning experience. It was, and still is as has always been, very common to come accross with units in textbooks devoted to christmas, easter, or these kinds of cultural elements. These units included written or and/or audio-visual materials to help students learn about new vocabulary and concepts on the target culture.

Without any debate, we have all accepted that teaching of such cultural elements is of vital importance for learners. This is also relevant to the aims of communicative approach in teaching, as language and culture are insaparable. BUT I AM SURE, NOTHING IS UNQUESTIONABLE FOR BRILLANT TEACHERS LIKE YOU!!! What about dedicating a unit to THE FEAST OF THE SACRIFICE in a textbook for teaching English as a foreign language in Turkey ? Do you think that it is scientific and appropriate for teaching and learning goals?

I am quiet sure you've heard about the term globalism many times, but what about glocalism? What about teaching a foreign language using your own cultural values or signs? Suppose that you have McDonalds in your street, but you can have kebap or kofte beside cheesburger (that is what they have done wihin the last decade following glocalization instead of globalization).

So my friends, please be as critical as possible and comment on this discussion. Should we use native cultural elements in teaching English, or 100% target culture is the absolute solution? Your comments are welcome...

Olcay

Am I ready to be a teacher???

This is a typical sentence of a last year undergraduate student. But do not worry, of course you are ready... That's why you have been in the department for four years, and that's why you'll have the diploma at the end of the spring semester. So what is the problem??? Let me guess;
1. You're not sure if you really want to be a teacher
2. You're not sure about your level in English language
3. You're not sure of what you really want to be; a teacher, an instructor, or an academician?
4. Your previous teaching experience as an interm was not as successful as you expected
5. You're interested in a different profession (translator, interpreter etc.)
6. You find it difficult to deal with learners
7. You think you lack appropriate teaching skills
8. You think you lack classroom management skills

Some or all of these may be valid to you, and I am sure there are hundreds of items to add to this list. Let's discuss this together and learn from each other...

Best,

Olcay SERT

A bridge between Newcastle and Ankara

Hi :)

It's been almost 6 months since I last saw you, but not that old since I last heard of you. Thanks to those who kept sending me e-mails. In fact, thanks to the Information Age, that enabled us to keep in touch despite more than a thousand kilometers between us.
For all my friends; prospective and new ELT teachers in Turkey, I decided to start a blog so as to continue our classroom discussions on on-line-basis. As you all may now, blogging is a successful discussion medium and no one can deny that it is an effective collaboration tool. Keeping this in mind, I invite you to take part in this web-blog, which will build a bridge from Newcastle to Ankara, and within and beyond the web of Hacettepe surely.

The topics to be discussed in our web-blog are (but not limited to):

* Language learning and teaching
*Problems in teacher training in Turkish Universities (and beyond)
*Career planning
*Discussions on teaching materials
*Post-graduate studies in Turkey and abroad
*Your teaching experience
* Research and practice
*Innovative ideas for classroom use

I am sure the discussions carried out in this blog will be helpful for all of us, in terms of professional and academic development. Your comments are always welcome, as they have always been...

Best wishes,

Olcay SERT

A calming Song