Tag: English Language Teaching

Karmic grade three

Published March 7, 2021

March 7, 2021

My favorite age was eight. There were twenty students in my third grade. Everyone was pretty friendly. The musical performance that year was Aladdin, and we had a young teacher.

Every other teacher had been far older. But, when the regular third grade teacher had taken half-a-year off, we studied with a long-term substitute. One gift I treasured for years was the paperback 1997 Guinness World Record book I received from her.

This year I got to revisit my favorite age and grade as a substitute teacher myself. I’ve been working as a push-in ESL substitute since, during the pandemic, the regional ESL teacher is not allowed to travel between schools. She has virtual lessons with the SLIFE student I have been brought in to help, but I provide additional help during ELA in the mornings.

I’m lucky because I get to work with a teacher who is in her final year before retirement. At the end of her 35-year career, she employs excellent classroom management and modern student-centered teaching methods. I couldn’t have been more fortunate.

I was struck by the fact that the teacher admitted that she still felt bad about having one day recently lost her temper with a student. She had said, “I just don’t know what to do with you.” Referring to a student who has the habit of distracting herself and others by talking out of turn.

I couldn’t believe such a composed and effective teacher could feel so bad that she’d worry much about something she had said in class. But, I understand how easy it is to worry about emotional events at work.

In my teaching career, do I want to worry about what happens in class when I am sixty and so close to retirement? Hardly, but it is likely to happen from time to time. I could only hope to be as successful as the great teacher I have been working with these past three months.

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Excessive digital work at schools during the pandemic

Published October 6, 2020

October 6, 2020

I am presently working as a substitute teacher in area public schools in the northwest corner of Connecticut. So far, I have worked with students in grades five through ten as the full day substitute for science teachers in one of the middle schools and at the regional high school.

The health precautions to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV2 are many. The students are required to wear face masks covering their mouths and noses throughout the day in the classrooms. They have barriers set up at lunch tables—the only time they may take off their masks inside the buildings. They are seated at desks or tables with two yards (two meters) of space between each other. The students are well-behaved, and characteristically for their age, very resilient.

Every student has a personal laptop. The teachers use desktops and/or laptops in class. They have live video feeds for remote learners (students studying from home). And, most of the work involves documents shared on a website for the class. Students collaborate on the shared documents, which may include discussion tasks or presentation instructions. Students have the option to occasionally or entirely study from home. And, the teachers can teach from home whenever they are even slightly ill; hence, an increased demand for substitute teachers.

In the middle school, movement is greatly decreased not only by excessive use of laptops. Students are not rotating to different teachers, but rather the subject teachers are rotating. For sports in middle school, the students singular outdoor option is no-contact soccer—basically just passing practice. The playground equipment is cordoned-off, as well. There are no after-school sports for middle school now. At the high school, there are after-school team sport practices, but students have to wear face masks. At this school, students do move about the building for their different classes, but all of the classes are blocks of approximately eighty minutes.

On the positive side, students are not missing an entire year of schooling as we all wait for resolution to the 2020 pandemic in the form of a vaccination. However, experiencing school days with the new safety protocols is bizarre. We can get used to it, but we hope it does not continue too long.

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Push and pull factors in education and work

Published September 22, 2020

September 22, 2020

Education opens doors. In high school, I had my sights set on going to a great university, which I took for granted would lead to a lucrative job. However, a couple years into college, my values no longer were in line with my initial career goals. I thought about dropping out. However, I didn’t quit; I worked to finish faster.

In the United States, where the bachelor’s degree is a four-year program, I finished in three and a half years. Part of the problem I had encountered with my major in economics was that the real world applications of economic theory in federal banks, for instance, deviate largely from what is taught. The second issue was the work schedule to which employees in big financial firms were subjected. My classmates who got jobs in finance ended up working sixty- to eighty-hour weeks.

If that wasn’t the door that opened to me, where did I go? I left the country and went off on an adventure teaching and traveling.

After my last essay on civic engagement, a colleague in Vietnam reminded me of the issue of “brain drain”—when students leave their home country for work or study, and never return. I wondered to myself I fit this description as I had lived and worked abroad for eight of the past ten years.

There are several big differences between me going to another country and someone moving to the United States. Primarily, the push factor: it was cheaper for me to move overseas than to afford to relocate to a major city within the United States. For me, living abroad was largely an economic decision that depended on a favorable balance between cost of living, standard of living and income. Secondarily, labor market pull factors: my U.S. passport opened the door to most of the opportunities for me, a native English-speaking teacher from an “inner circle” country.

Within the United States hiring is slower, and now in the pandemic, even more competitive. Demand is greater for teachers of younger students than for teachers of older students, and higher in sciences than in humanities. In addition, candidates are not selected on merit alone, which is good as meritocracy reinforces the status-quo. To that point, applications include voluntary demographic surveys on race, gender, disability and veteran status. These surveys do not affect the application. In fact, human resources personnel are prohibited from asking about these details and others, like age or religion. Nevertheless, many of these and other qualities of a candidate are inevitably conveyed in face-to-face interviews. And, there is positive discrimination in hiring in order to foster diversity in the workplace.

Sadly, the hiring of teachers outside the United States involves evaluation of these characteristics. Besides my passport and university diploma, employers overseas were interested in age and skin color. Often the look of the teaching staff at schools in Asia is part of their marketing. The doors were open to me. I am white/Latino, and I was young.

Back in the United States, employers have their own application portals that may or may not allow submission of resumes. This precludes putting a portrait on the document, which I found out in Asia was very common among European applicants. I was even told by a British academic manager and interviewer in Vietnam that I should have put married and father on my resume because that, more than my master’s degree, put me ahead of other candidates for the position.

Returning home to the U.S. after five years abroad, I have been surprised by questions from employers in the United States about why I had the desire to work as a teacher in a program that serves a specific segment of the population, or conversely an intentionally diverse body of students. Lofty, vague answers end these interviews. Moving past lip-service, only high-impact, real-world, results-driven aims to lift up under-represented demographics strike a chord with schools in urban centers.

But, is it working? Why hasn’t targeting social inequality made the United States a just society? Would targeting economic inequality better unite the population? How can this be achieved in a country that has been shuttering industry for 20 years, where there is high access to advanced education but low access to quality education¹, and where the world’s most expensive health care does not deliver high-quality health care²? How can society be made more equal when the real economy is shrinking?

We need to see the world as it is. The unresolved problems of past generations with regards to social inequality are resurfacing viciously. The environmental problems arising from global warming are foreboding. What leadership do we provide our children? Race and environment are not political issues; however, equality, equal access to health care and education, and the environment are issues which governments have the power and responsibility to protect.

1Social Progress Index: USA Scorecard. Retrieved September 21, 2020 from https://www.socialprogress.org/?tab=2

2“How does the U.S. Healthcare system compare to other countries” Retrieved September 21, 2020 from https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2020/07/how-does-the-us-healthcare-system-compare-to-other-countries

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From humor in mimicry to success in learning

Published September 13, 2020

September 13, 2020

Language skills are divided into the activities we do with language (e.g. receptive/productive, or reading, writing, listening, speaking); however, the language skills all come together as a complete set. While some people may speak better than they write, their writing skill is lacking only according to the conventions of language. The spelling may have errors. Tense usage may be inaccurate or limited. Function words, like articles, prepositions and relative pronouns, may contain errors or be omitted. And, in the case where the first language dominates in bilingual speakers, code-switching can occur when the second language is deficient.

But, for everyone, their unique language exists in their minds and is comprehensible to themselves. It is when the language comes out in speech with pronunciation errors or in writing with poor word-choice that the level of fluency is evaluated and tested against an interlocutor or reader.

Intelligibility is an important part of success in communication. And, word choice also conveys a lot of information beyond the basic content of what is said. A person could be a native speaker, and use many words that don’t make communication precise, either resulting from the use of idioms or excess verbiage. On the other hand, a native speaker may simply, as many young people do, use words in a playful or uncommon way.

What does this say about language? The language that exist in our minds comes from a very mysterious place of interplay of past experience with our environment and prior input, and the need or impulse to express ourselves in the present moment.

My son went from crying to get something as an infant, to using language to do so in about a year and a half. From the age of two, he began producing sentences. And now by two-and-a-half, he is stringing together phrases to express ideas that were not responses to immediate stimuli. This particularly dealt with comparisons. For instance, he said, “Some mandarins are sour. But, some are not bitter. They are sweet.”

Where and how does language exist in the brain? These are the deep questions of linguistics that remain central to its field.

Where too does language play come from? It surprised me that my son, whose speech is almost always intelligible to me if not to others for lack of referents or shared linguistic base (Vietnamese, English and Spanish), did not begin to play with words, as in babble, until two-and-a-half.

Some of the play originated with sounds from books, like Dr. Seuss’s Mr. Brown can moo. Can you? As in, the sound of rain, “dibble, dibble, dop.” Or, from misunderstandings of lyrics of songs from Go Buster. As in, “Scout’s got stuck in the mud. A push will get her right out of the muck.”

Other wordplay has mysterious origins. But, play is fun, and in echoing his babble, I’ve teased him saying, “That doesn’t make sense.” And, jokingly asked, “How do you spell it?”

So, we have interchanges like, “A troodle. What’s a troodle. That doesn’t make sense.”

Even more mysterious than language production is the fact that the majority of our language has no communicative purpose. It is running about in our heads during both waking and sleeping hours. Thus, I have been quite surprised when my toddler son has woken up from sleep saying something. These clear and fairly loud utterances are usually in reference to some aspect of play or a favorite toy. But, this stood out one morning when he woke up saying, “How do you spell that? It doesn’t make sense.”

Reflecting on the quantity of robot-calls to our home telephone, my son picked up his toy phone one afternoon, and in response to my question, “Who is it?” he put down the receiver and said, “Spam…That’s weird!”

And, so it seems that a large part of learning is mimicry. Evidence of aptitude and mastery of language appears along with a sense of humor. And, as joking and jest require imagination, insincerity and even deceit in building up to the punchline, the communicative force of good jokes demonstrates adept inter-personal skills.

What should the goals of English language learners be then? Competence, precision and accuracy? Or, should learners rather aim for humor and fun in role-plays?

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Reflection on the urgency of teaching civics and integrity

Published September 9, 2020

September 9, 2020

An outstanding teacher develops many abilities over time that become natural practices in the classroom. These grow from reflection on teaching experience and learner performance. First, great teachers are good listeners. They act as facilitators of learning, guiding students on their paths. Second, great teachers are fair in their assessments of students. In giving feedback, they are constructive in corrections and moderate in praise. They address issues with classroom management quickly, effectively and diplomatically. Third and most importantly, great teachers give students as much individual attention as possible. In doing so, they learn what motivates individual students, and then they apply this information in materials selection and adapting teaching methods to meet the needs and interests of students.

Take, as an example, one of my teaching assistants from three years ago who now is the teacher of his own classes. He told me he was wondering what really motivated his students. He has seen that the school year or semester begins with a lot of energy among students. Their energy level diminishes slowly at first and then rapidly at the end of a course. As good teachers do, he’s asked himself what he can do to stimulate motivation among his students, and he asked his colleagues—another indication of a great and dedicated teacher.

When we must follow a prescribed syllabus, we may supplement the required materials with some texts that will bridge the gap between abstruse topics and the interests of students. Thus, the teacher focuses more on tailoring teaching methods to student needs. When we as teachers have control over the course content, we can select materials that will appeal to our students. In contexts where there is complete flexibility, teachers can opt for self-directed learning and make students responsible for selecting texts. In this case, we presume students have intrinsic motivation to learn about the topics that pique their interests.

Because intrinsic motivation has the greatest effect on student achievement, educators ask, “What motivations are at play among our students?”

Students may initially want to please either their teacher or their parents by earning good grades. If the grade is evidence of achievement, what achievement beyond promotion to the next level do passing grades represent? Grades mark progress on the path toward graduation, and they indicate academic aptitude. Despite the nice feeling of seeing good grades when they are hard-earned, the ultimate pay-off may be years in future. With graduation far off for young students, we must continue to ask, “What motivates our students more deeply?”

Pupils want to be accepted by their peer group. And, though hard work in class may not be part of this equation, task-based learning can target this motivator. In addition, students deeply want to learn something of value. Learning is based on developing discrete skills, skills that can aid survival in a real and useful way. Therefore, the third realm of motivation is two-fold, self-improvement and self-improvement with the aim of serving a greater good—one’s own community or even the world—since individual longevity relies on collaboration with others.

Being of service begins with dignity; not to be perceived of as a burden on one’s family or the society. Yet, education is deferral of work at the higher levels. Full-time study is a luxury for many people because there is a trade-off between lost earnings (and, perhaps, debt) in the present, and the potential for higher earnings in the future. Very practically, students, therefore, consider what subject or course of study will bring them the greatest benefit. It is for this very reason, students as utility maximizers, in economic parlance, question whether school is worth their time. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford the luxury of an education for its sake alone. Nor is every student as keenly focused on the long-term pay-off of their time spent on coursework. Most unfortunately, some students cannot perceive achievement in education is either within their reach or promises to pay-off at all.

Now at a nadir of moral integrity in leadership in the United States, educators must seize the time to stimulate civic engagement among pupils to propel them toward achievement in school and success in life for the betterment of society. What follows is a discussion of lexical terms which should allow students to better understand their world.

The remainder of this discussion targets two audiences. First, my colleagues in Vietnam who may be curious about the political situation and the terminology used to discuss the issues presently at stake in the United States. Second, readers in the western hemisphere who wonder what freedoms people living in a country with a single-party state do or do not enjoy.

I will explore the topic by reviewing a list of thirty terms, the definitions of which come from Merriam Webster’s dictionary (www.m-w.com).

Republic (noun) “a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law”

Political Party (noun) “a group of persons organized for the purpose of directing the policies of a government”

Republican Party (noun) “of, relating to, or constituting the one of the two major political parties evolving in the U.S. in the mid-19th century that is usually primarily associated with business, financial, and some agricultural interests and is held to favor a restricted governmental role in economic life”

Democratic Party (noun) “of or relating to a major American political party of the early 19th century favoring a strict interpretation of the Constitution to restrict the powers of the federal government and emphasizing states’ rights”

Constitution (noun) “the basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or social group that determine the powers and duties of the government and guarantee certain rights to the people in it”

Enfranchisement (noun) “to admit to the privileges of a citizen and especially to the right of suffrage”

Entitlement (noun) “a government program providing benefits to members of a specified group also : funds supporting or distributed by such a program”

Civil liberties (noun) “freedom from arbitrary governmental interference (as with the right of free speech) specifically by denial of governmental power and in the U.S. especially as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights —usually used in plural”

Conservativism (noun) “a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing established institutions, and preferring gradual development to abrupt change specifically : such a philosophy calling for lower taxes, limited government regulation of business and investing, a strong national defense, and individual financial responsibility for personal needs (such as retirement income or health-care coverage)”

Liberalism (noun) “a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties specifically : such a philosophy that considers government as a crucial instrument for amelioration of social inequities (such as those involving race, gender, or class)”

Censorship (noun) “the actions or practices of censors [ a person who supervises conduct and morals: such asan official who examines materials (such as publications or films) for objectionable matter] especially : censorial control exercised repressively”

Neoliberal (noun) “a liberal who de-emphasizes traditional liberal doctrines in order to seek progress by more pragmatic methods”

Neoconservative (noun) “a conservative who advocates the assertive promotion of democracy and U.S. national interest in international affairs including through military means”

Sovereignty (noun) “freedom from external control : AUTONOMY”

Self-determination (noun) “determination by the people of a territorial unit of their own future political status”

State capitalism (noun) “an economic system in which private capitalism is modified by a varying degree of government ownership and control”

Communism (noun) “a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production”

Socialism (noun) “any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods”

Social democracy (noun) “a political movement advocating a gradual and peaceful transition from capitalism to socialism by democratic means”

Repressive (adjective) “put down by force”

Authoritarian (adjective) “of, relating to, or favoring a concentration of power in a leader or an elite not constitutionally responsible to the people”

Fascism (noun) “a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition”

Revanchist (noun) “of or relating to a policy designed to recover lost territory or status”

Populism (noun) “a member of a political party claiming to represent the common people”

Isolationism (noun) “a policy of national isolation by abstention from alliances and other international political and economic relations”

Globalization (noun) “the development of an increasingly integrated global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets”

Laissez-faire (noun) “a doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affairs beyond the minimum necessary for the maintenance of peace and property rights”

Tariff (noun) “a schedule of duties imposed by a government on imported or in some countries exported goods”

Multilateralism (noun) “involving or participated in by more than two nations or parties”

Unilateralism (noun) “a policy of taking unilateral action (as in international affairs) regardless of outside support or reciprocity”

Apart from the political framework of governments, the other aspect necessary to making comparisons between countries is the economic system. While government investment (in tandem with private corporations) in countries like Vietnam, China and Singapore, may seem to parallel the subsidies that the United States government provides to the energy or pharmaceutical industries, there is an important difference. The stakeholders, which are the entire the citizenry, in the Asian countries mentioned, are also shareholders. As such, they are the people voting not only for civil servants, but also for the policy of industries in which the government has invested.

Conversely, in the United States, once a drug or technology has been developed in universities or by the Pentagon, it is auctioned to corporations for them to bring the product to market at the highest price they can get for it. Unfortunately, prices are not as responsive to demand in the United States as they are in Asia. In Vietnam, there is less menu-pricing across various industries, and therefore, higher price elasticity of demand. In particular, prices of goods in the industries in which the government is invested are not driven by profits, but rather are set for the welfare of the people.

As I am most familiar with the Vietnamese economic situation having lived in Vietnam for five years between 2014 and 2019, I will continue with it as my example economy under a single-party state. Unfortunately for the Vietnamese citizenry, there is very little regulation of the local economy, and to that extent, the economic policy of the Vietnamese government promotes a greater level of free-trade and purer form of capitalism than exists in the United States. The interventions that benefit people in the United States with regards to public health or environmental protection are robust in comparison to Vietnam. These hard-won regulations, as in labor, food safety and equal access, in the United States, stand in stark contrast to the lack of regulation or barriers to entry in markets in Vietnam where hazardous work environments are permitted and poor waste management is tolerated. The reasoning behind this is all to stimulate foreign direct investment. There are high levels of surplus labor, low wages, high savings rates, stable price inflation and favorable interest rates. The economy is booming and shows no sign of slowing down. The population is large and there is great demand in the domestic economy for both local and imported products.

While these labor protections and regulations had been a point of pride, the United States has, in 2020, found itself at a low-point with regards to public health, affordable higher education, and environmental stewardship.

Why then does the United States push for democracy in other countries if it fails so greatly in its own? Private profit. From the US point of view, if there were wider enfranchisement in developing nations where governments exercise tight control over public discourse, it would be fairly easy to get people to vote for a more liberal government with regard to privatization of natural resources if they can be sold on the benefits of laissez-faire economics. While such changes would inevitably favor foreign actors and limit sovereignty, they would be easily portrayed to have a favorable economic outcome for a country struggling to develop. More private wealth among a population fuels hope of escaping poverty. To the people of an imperial power, interventionism is sold as a path toward political stability, and as an added benefit, it would deter immigration.

With a base of knowledge in civics, teachers offer society by way of their students the foundation for an informed, engaged leadership based on integrity, participation and cooperation—a foundation without which there is no society.

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How deleting one app saved my mind

Published August 28, 2020

August 28, 2020

It may seem ironic to discuss overuse of technology on a blog. But, if you’ve landed here through a social media portal, there’s a chance that you’re using your smartphone or tablet compulsively. A recent reader comment on SebAnswers hinted at habits with technology that verge on addictions.

I dealt with this, too. At one time, I would reflexively take my smartphone out of my pocket every time I sat down. This wasn’t even the worst symptom of my overuse of the technology. The worst was when my last dreams upon waking in the morning were of scrolling the newsfeeds on my social media accounts. Frightening!

So, here’s my micro-habit tip. It was difficult at first, but it worked. I deleted the apps I was overusing. So, I no longer use Facebook or Whatsapp on my smartphone.

I went back to reading my favorite news websites and blogs for the information that I wanted to keep up on. And, I even found that doing so was keeping me in the loop better than waiting for the stories to pop-up in the Facebook newsfeed. Not only that, I don’t see the targeted advertising, nor do I get distracted. For instance, if I want to read an article on NakedCapitalism.com or Ecosophia.net, I’ve got the blogs bookmarked.

The second thing that I did to limit my technology use was to allow myself only to check Facebook by logging into the website. This does mean that I have to log out every time I log in. That extra step of having to put my password in helped to prevent me from going to that website almost altogether.

I later would only check Facebook once a week, and then eventually once a month. I had practically lost all interest in it after the three weeks that it took to really break the habit of habitually checking the website.

Finally, I made the effort to divert my attention to my surroundings. This was the real beauty of having come to the realization that it was technology that had captured so much of my attention.

When it came to making this change after about three years of using the Facebook app, I was able to remember that prior to having a smartphone I would wake up slowly in the morning, first hearing the sounds outside my bedroom, and then lie still until I really had to get up. And, I wanted to have that feeling again.

Nowadays, I don’t actually sleep in that much, but thankfully, I don’t have to wake up to an alarm.

The second thing I have tried is reading ebooks on my phone. Apart from having read two full ebooks, I just don’t think to open those apps even though there are books I’d like to finish on them. For that reason, I’ve recently ordered paperbacks through the mail.

Perhaps my one weakness now is podcasts, but at least I don’t stare at the device when I’m listening to them.

Life without technology came very abruptly earlier this month when storms blew over trees and took out the electricity. First, it was for five days just about three weeks ago, and again yesterday afternoon to midday today.

The experience was refreshing, and my family adapted quickly. However, to my wife’s particular disappointment, we couldn’t have showers. Even she had hot baths when she lived without indoor plumbing in Vietnam.

Of course, it’s easier to live without electricity in the summer. One evening that week without power, we had a nice campfire. But, in winter, even with a wood-burning stove in the house, when the power goes out, it feels cold five steps away from the fireplace.

Although the storms that brought the power outages were brief, lasting only a couple of hours, the fallen trees obstructing roads that were not cleared for weeks was an odd sight to become accustomed to. Furthermore, the frequency and ferocity of the storms are evidence of our planet’s warming.

To conclude, we don’t have to wait for extreme weather to force us to turn away from our screens, we can do so very simply by deleting one app at a time.

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Make learning easier, more sustainable and more pleasurable

Published August 26, 2020

August 26, 2020

Most often unconscious, habits that we actively develop can make a world of difference.

The reflective practice tool I’ve been using with students since 2018 is a habit scorecard based on ideas presented by James Clear in his book Atomic Habits and related talks.

(Recent podcast interview with James Clear on EntreLeadership: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/atomic-habits-with-james-clear/id435836905?i=1000428080039)

The basic idea is to reflect on our habits and make small changes, resulting in sustained improvement. In language learning, this could be the habit of using the target language to speak with classmates in casual conversation, perhaps a big challenge at first. After all, lots of students learning a foreign language only use their new language when they must. However, any classmate could be a practice partner, and the practice doesn’t have to stop when leaving the classroom. So, if you don’t do this already, making the change would certainly be an improvement that overtime will have a big impact!

Looking up new words in a dictionary could be a habit that needs increasing or decreasing depending on how frequently you do this. Overuse of an electronic dictionary or translator is a habit to decrease when it becomes a crutch and you can’t read without ever turning off your phone. On the other hand, using a dictionary and keeping a journal of new words in context can be a habit to develop if you’re trying to expand your high-level vocabulary. This is because the meanings of academic words can be very difficult to guess based on context.

A third and very simple reflection on the habit scorecard for language learning is having fun in study. Some will say learning can’t always be fun, but I strongly believe that it has to be a positive experience overall. Challenge certainly does push us to grow, but play is very important. So, the language learning habit scorecard also includes, “I had fun.” If students are active in class, they typically check this box at the end of the lesson when we do reflection using the habit scorecard. Believe it or not, this does target our goals. The reason we want to have fun learning is simple: If we have fun in class or with self-study, we are more likely to retain the lesson and feel motivated to continue with the subject. To that extent, we are more likely to pursue the subject in free time and thereby accelerate progress.

On the habit scorecard for discrete language, I include, “I pay attention to my pronunciation of final consonant clusters.” It can be very hard for Vietnamese students I’ve taught to pronounce final consonants. These sounds, however, are not just important to pronunciation as they also affect grammar. Take, for example, the third-person ‘s’ for verbs in the present tense and contractions for is. “She’s amiable. What’s amiable? It means friendly.” If the letter ‘s’ is not pronounced, or if it’s transposed, these sentences end up sounding like, “She amiable. What amiable? It mean friendly.” Or perhaps, “It’s mean friendly.” Or, “It mean friendlies.” In these sentences, the ‘s’ has been moved and the error seems even more awkward than omitting the ‘s’ in the first examples where the reduced verb ‘is’ and third-person ‘s’ on means are missing. Again, beyond pronunciation, these are grammatical errors, as well. Uncorrected, this type of error then fossilizes in learners’ speech. Thus, on the part of the learner, receptiveness to correction is of utmost importance.

As a teacher, I use immediate correction techniques with the aim of raising student awareness to their errors. As often as I can, I take the time to get students to self-correct with the hope that they develop the skill of monitoring their own speech. Hard as it can be to change, the purpose of focusing on the small habits (good and bad) is that overtime making small changes emerges as making great strides in progress toward fluency.

Now for an example of lifestyle habits that are relevant to all of us: diet and exercise. I have had to admit to myself that weight control as I age is a lifestyle based on habits in the way I have already discussed. I have seen a dramatic, visible change over years of good and bad habits. Most dramatically, the change has been with an aging body and changing musculature. I was fit as a teen and quite healthy-looking in my early twenties. However, bad habits led to weight gain in my late twenties, which over a period of years progressed very rapidly toward obesity.

In the years I was studying for my master’s degree, I was simultaneously working and studying full-time. I spent the days teaching and evenings at my desk reading and writing. At least the work and study matched, since I was teaching English and studying second language acquisition. Nevertheless, I saw my weight grow by twenty pounds over the preceding three years, and then by thirty pounds over the two years I was a student teacher. The physical change shocked my friends and family upon my return from overseas.

I took up fitness again at the age of 28 and went from obese to merely overweight. Then, I moved to Vietnam at 29. Because of the very hot climate and my participation in a staff weight-loss competition at the school where I taught, I lost more weight. At 30, my fiance and I took up yoga. I lost weight even faster. We attended hour-long yoga classes in the evenings. Then, we married, and the changes in habits became hard to sustain.

From the age of 31 to 33, I changed my workouts to strength training. Unfortunately, my range of motion became very rigid. Whereas I had been playing sports like tennis, soccer and swimming in my youth, the weight-training lacked both cardio and flexion. My back turned into a knot every night. At 33 years old, I had to address my back pain at the doctor’s through chiropractic adjustments and physiotherapy.

These days, I stretch every morning and evening, and I try to stay active throughout the day, rather than single hour-long workouts. Besides these basic fitness changes, my wife and I have had an ongoing weight-loss challenge. Over the past six months we have steadily lost weight. The change has been about three percent weight loss every two months. In six months, I have lost ten pounds, or five kilograms. My goal remains to reduce my weight again by this amount in the next six months.

The change to diet has been to reduce carbohydrates, and to restrict meals to an eight-hour window between 10 am and 6 pm. This technique of intermittent-fasting allows for 16 hours of fasting every day.

At the moment, I’m at the weight I was almost ten years years ago before I started my master’s degree. That’s twenty pounds, or nine kilos, below the highest, unhealthy weight I had reached. It is great considering I have built muscle in these years, as well. I have also overcome what, at one point, I thought would be chronic pain. And, I fit into clothes that had been too tight to wear, a result of slimming five inches, or about 12 centimeters, around my waist. Looking forward, my wife has challenged me to a waist measurement competition, as well. Theoretically, I could reduce my waistline by the same amount again, and if I did so, I would be at my teenage waist measurement… Update forthcoming!

So, if I had been a healthy young man, what got me to this point? Largely, anxiety from required participation in competitive sports in high school. This speaks to the point of having fun with our habits–to have fun with our goal in mind. And, it takes trying different strategies out. For instance, while it does work for rapid weight-loss, counting calories was not fun, and I could not sustain that as a habit. I subsequently realized intuitive food choices without constricting the amount would lead to sustainable weight loss without experiencing sleeplessness due to hunger. For better or worse, this has meant eating more meat and fresh fruit, and drinking still water or coffee with milk only.

To round off my point, I’ll reiterate that as hard as change can be, small changes are easier than big changes, they are longer-lasting and when fun, they are even easier.

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High-stakes Testing Comments and Suggestions

Published July 20, 2020

Last week, I took the standardized test for United States public school teacher certification in English to Speakers of Other Languages. That’s the Praxis II designed by ETS. In the video below, I discuss my experience taking this and other exams, and the importance of simulating test conditions when preparing for these exams because time is such an important factor to success.

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When belief dominates identity

Published July 11, 2020

July 11, 2020

Language unites humanity. That is a powerful statement—that our shared capacity for language is a defining trait. On the other hand, the way we use language to define ourselves and express who we are divides us. It is important that while acknowledging our unique experiences and practicing tolerance, we make for learning when cultures, or even cultures within cultures, collide.

I was making coffee this morning when the thought struck me that I had done so in exactly the same way before. The first time I had made coffee in this way it was déjà vu—I was not quite clear if making coffee in that way was something I had dreamt about or if I was having a premonition I would do so again in the future. It is not unusual to say that I had been making coffee, but it is odd to say that I had been making coffee and had a lucid, transcendental thought.

Before I went on a month-long temple stay at Golgulsa in 2012, my local Korean friends had told me that sort of activity was akin to taking refuge to mend. I had merely thought to have myself a nice little holiday in the mountains. But, it was more than that.

At the temple, we woke at half-past four in the morning to do seated meditation for an hour, followed by a half-hour of walking meditation, light exercise, and breakfast at 6:30. In the afternoons there were other group activities, including either meditation or sports. In the evening, we did Zen martial arts—Sunmudo.

In Korea, I enjoyed hearing casual reflections from Korean acquaintances on duality. I was also fascinated by the meaning of the common greeting and farewell, “Annyong,” which literally asks the question, “Are you in peace?” To which the response is always, “yes.”

Duality is even represented on the South Korean flag, Taeguki, in its central symbol. Whereas the symbol depicts opposing forces, I find it more accurate to understand the Zen discourse on non-duality not as a denial of two sides to life but rather that life exists on a continuum, that matters are not black and white, and that there is not only a continuum in the moment but also over time.

The fact that we tie experiences together in our minds when we reflect on the past does not mean they exist simultaneously in the ever-present moment, but rather that everything that is now began elsewhere in a different form, and that absolutely everything is mutable and in constant evolution.

That we, as well, are mutable should give us hope—hope that we can change for the better, evolve within our lifetime, and can reach peaceful understanding with others.

Among Koreans, there’s great pride in the monks of old times from whom Zen martial arts are derived. Modern Sunmudo is recreated from images and stories of the legendary monks—legendary for having superpowers. Despite the existence of this rich tradition, a Korean student of mine, who had completed his military service, explained that it was required of all soldiers to attend Catholic mass through their period of mandatory military service. He pointed out that soldiers were educated in lessons of the Bible, and that this had been an aspect of their indoctrination.

The manifold belief systems that underpin behavior are at once ephemeral and palpable. Even enlightenment can appear as an experience in our lives on a spectrum from humdrum to bliss. And so, to crack the nut of identity, we must see beyond nation and beliefs. Unfortunately, for two hundred years the nation-state, patriotism, and ultranationalism have driven a great many people to define themselves according to socio-political artifice.

The nation as a belief system serves itself alone. It is tied into other such despicable characteristics as chauvinism, sexism, classism, and racism. Unfortunately, patriotism is deemed honorable and equated to dignity and pride. Yet, few walk the fine line between solidarity and tolerance without revealing prejudice. In the United States, even the terms anti-fascist, progressive and left are, by some, twisted as pejoratives. Wherefore can a hard stance against fascism be taken with tolerance?

We must see that divisions have been created where there are none. We must have faith that those who have not yet questioned their beliefs can do so. If not, we live in desperation and with futility.

As an educator, I have told my students, “If I can learn, you can learn.” I say this about hard skills like math, music and foreign languages. And, I say it about mindset, outlook and belief. In language, I hope that we learn not to use language of war when we describe our homes, as in the odious expression, “home front.” I hope we learn to base perceptions of each other on neither appearance, accent, nor manner of speech. I hope people who proudly define themselves by myths of nation of origin learn not to charge as unpatriotic those who take great risk in attempting to change the same countries and political systems for the benefit of all people.

South Korea is a seemingly homogenous culture to the untrained eye, but the true origins of the people are not monolithic. This can be said the world over, as in Vietnam where the people originate from many dozens of tribes, from around Asia and beyond, and where I, fortunate as a Colombian-American, was told I looked Vietnamese, married, and with my wife have a Vietnamese-American son. But, perhaps I should take my own advice and not label myself and my family by race or nationality, but rather just say we are a happy family.

Just as déjà vu is a trick of the mind, and we cannot be deluded by the belief we have supernatural powers, we cannot be led to believe that though we may claim heritage in a country or culture, we cannot embrace the deeper truth that we are part of a world-wide human family.

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Harness the competitive spirit

Published July 7, 2020

July 7, 2020

Some don’t last when it comes to language learning; others show unwavering determination. It should be understood that language learning is a years-long, if not life-long endeavor, but one can take advantage of a variety of unique opportunities to accelerate learning. Competition can be used in such a way.

I taught exam preparation for TOEFL at a cram school in South Korea in 2010 and 2011. High school-aged students would study there all day through their summer vacations, each day taking a full practice test. Middle school-aged students at the school prepared for a speech competition organized by the school.

At their ages from 11 to 13, these middle school students were able to dramatically improve their pronunciation, and thereby improve their confidence through the speech competition. The texts of the speeches were pre-selected but unique for each competitor. In general, the content of the speech was inspirational. Besides my work with the students preparing for TOEFL, I helped to prepare the younger students for the competition, in which the speeches were used to judge accuracy in pronunciation and memorization, and individual post-speech interviews were used to judge their fluency.

I helped to prepare the competitors by recording myself read the speeches onto portable cassette recorders. These recordings were used to aid memorization and as examples of native pronunciation. The page-long text was not easy to memorize, but most students did a wonderful job doing so.

The most remarkable aspect of the competition was that the students were able to transform their pronunciation in English to near-native pronunciation.

Every day leading up to the competition, students would have the opportunity to rehearse their speeches with the teachers at the language school. They would practice from memory and, when having forgotten a line or word, receive prompting. Slips in pronunciation would also be corrected, and corrections would be repeated until said accurately in connected speech.

The strategy worked very well for all students but one. On the competition day, the competitor who had won the previous year was unable to recite her speech. Perhaps, her overconfidence had led her not to give adequate time to memorizing the text of the speech. On stage, she forgot the words of the text, and when she came for her fluency test, she was in tears.

As I had been conducting these interviews out of earshot of the stage, I did not know why she was crying until later. I tried to console and give encouraging words. I offered not to continue with the interview questions. But, she wanted to complete them.

Afterward, I was told by the organizer, “She should be crying, she forgot her speech!” Suddenly, I realized how serious this competition had been for the kids and their families.

When our expectations of ourselves are high, we are highly motivated. But these must be tempered with realistic expectations and the understanding that language learning is a long journey with many peaks and valleys.

Although I haven’t been a competitor in this type of contest, I can attest to the challenge posed by endeavoring to learn a second language. I moved to the USA with my parents from Colombia when I was two years old. I learned a bit of Spanish growing up by talking on the phone with my dad’s side of the family, and I studied Spanish at school from 6th grade to 12th grade, finishing with the Advanced Placement Spanish Literature class. I then continued with literature classes at Wesleyan University. Despite the time I had devoted, I wasn’t able to understand TV in Spanish easily (at a comprehension rate above 80%) until I lived in Colombia for an extended period of time when I was 23. It was only until I had lived there over four months that I could understand Spanish spoken at full speed without difficulty.

At 25, I could learn Korean rather easily, but after two years of casual study, I had only reached a pre-intermediate level. However, with Vietnamese, which I began at age 30, I have had a much more difficult time. Over five years, I have only become an intermediate user, often struggling to be comprehended.

Comparing my experiences with the three languages demonstrates what a daunting task language learning is. I had eight years of formal education in Spanish followed by two years as a teacher, whereas my attempts at studying Korean and Vietnamese produced mediocre results.

To conclude, achievement in language learning can be felt when we are understood by our interlocutor and when we can enjoy media without aids. But, let’s not forget that competitive spirit and personal drive can accelerate acquisition, and demonstrating our skills develops confidence, which in turn propels further study.

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