Linguistics 555: Practical Issues in ESL Teaching
Fall 2014
Dr. Betty Samraj
Office : EBA 320A
Phone: 594-5882
Department Office: 594-5268 E-mail: bsamraj@mail.sdsu.edu
Office hours: Tuesday 1.30 to 3.00 PM, Thursday 1.30 to 3.00, and by appointment
Course Description
This course consists of a series of workshops, lectures and demonstrations conducted by
practitioners from the field of ESL. This course will cover a range of issues from using
computers in the language classroom to accountability in adult education. A section of
the course will also be devoted to strategies for teaching various language skills such as
reading and listening.
Course Goals
Students will demonstrate knowledge of current methodologies for teaching different
ESL populations. Students will also become familiar with practical issues with the
teaching and testing of ESL in various contexts such as adult education and K-12
populations. Students will develop the ability to create lesson plans for different
language skills. Students will also learn to articulate their evaluations of different
teaching practices and synthesize research published in academic journals in academic
prose.
Pre-requisite/Co-requisite: LING 550
Required Materials
All readings are posted on Blackboard. Please refer to the handout on the readings for
the weekly assignments.
Course Requirements
1. Two papers discussing important and interesting aspects of the issues raised in class
and the assigned readings. You have a number of paper topics to choose from. Prompts
for the papers will be provided on the blackboard website when the topics have been
covered in class. (30%)
2. Two classroom lessons. Further instruction on creating materials will be provided
through the semester. Note due dates below for each lesson. Please note that you are
not allowed to submit similar lesson plans for Ling 550 and Ling 555. 20%
3. Two exams: Mid term: 20%; Final exam: 25%
4. Class attendance, participation, homework and quizzes. 5%
Schedule
Aug. 28
Introduction to course; background
Sep. 4
Teaching grammar, Nancy Herzfeld-Pipkin (Emerita, Grossmont College)
Discussion on teaching grammar
Sep. 11
Teaching reading, Julie Williams (SDSU)
Discussion on teaching reading
Sep. 18
Teaching pronunciation, Liz Kelley, UCSD
Discussion on teaching pronunciation
Sep. 25
Listening exercises using films, Margit Dupree (ALI)
Discussion on teaching listening
Oct. 2
Teaching speaking, Jason Greeno (ALI)
Oct. 9
Reading and writing strategies for SDAIE students, Rita El-Wardi (Hoover High)
Discussion on SDAIE
Oct. 16
Teaching writing
Samraj
Oct. 23
Teaching reading and writing, Danielle Garegnani (Sherman Heights Elementary)
Discussion on academic literacy
Oct. 30
Mid term exam
Nov. 6
Vocational ESL, Donna Price (Continuing Education Centers)
Discussion on VESL
Nov. 13
Accountability requirement in adult ESL education: Standards and assessment, Gretchen
Bitterlin (Continuing Education Centers)
Discussion on accountability requirements
Nov. 20
Technology and the ESL classroom, Eniko Csomay
Discussion on using technology
Dec. 4
Overview of course
Dec. 11
Final exam
Lesson plan due dates:
Lesson 1 – Oct. 16
Lesson 2 – Nov. 20
Paper due dates:
Pick two papers out of the four options. At least one paper has to be from Group A.
Papers are due according to the dates below and no late papers will be accepted.
Prompts for these papers will be provided on blackboard.com after the
presentations by the guest lecturers. Papers are to be written in response to the
prompts.
Group A
Paper 1 – Due Sep. 25
Paper 2 – Due Oct. 23
Group B
Paper 3 -- Due Nov. 6
Paper 4 -- Due Dec. 4
Reading Schedule
(Please note that additional articles may be posted on Blackboard.)
Aug. 28 (Background)
Savignon, Sandra (2001) Communicative language teaching for the twenty-first century.
In Celce-Murcia, Marianne (ed.) Teaching English as a Second or Foreign
Language, pp.13-28.
Sep. 4 (Grammar)
Ferris, Dana (1995) Teaching students to self-edit. TESOL Journal, Summer 1995: 18-22.
Biber, Douglas & Reppen, Randi (2002) What does frequency have to do with grammar
teaching? SSLA 24: 199-208.
Bryd, Patricia (1994) Writing grammar textbooks: Theory and practice. System 22: 245255.
Sep. 11 (Reading)
Gee, Roger (1999) Encouraging ESL students to read. TESOL Journal, Spring 1999: 3-7.
Anderson, Neil (2004) Metacognitive reading strategy awareness of ESL and EFL
learners. CATESOL Journal 16: 11-27.
Shih, May (1992) Beyond comprehension exercises in the ESL academic reading class.
TESOL Quarterly 26: 289-318.
Sep. 18 (Pronunciation)
Avery, Peter and Ehrlich, Susan (1992). Teaching American English Pronunciation.
(Chapters 5, 7 and 11). Oxford University Press.
Sep. 25 (Listening)
Gareis, Elisabeth (1997) Movies in the language classroom: Dealing with problematic
content. TESOL Journal, Summer 1997: 20-23.
Raphan, Deborah (1996) A multimedia approach to academic listening. TESOL Journal,
Winter 1996: 24-28.
Flowerdew, John (1994) Research of relevance to second language lecture
comprehension – an overview. In J. Flowerdew (ed.), Academic Listening:
Research Perspectives, pp. 7-29. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Oct. 2 (Speaking)
Clennell, Charles (1999) Promoting pragmatic awareness and spoken discourse skills
with EAP classes. ELT Journal 53/2: 83-91.
Riddell, Christine (2000) They won’t let me talk: Exploring the rules of interaction in
casual conversation with our ESL students. TESOL in context: Teaching English
to speakers of other languages 10/1: 11-16.
Oct. 9 (SDAIE)
Schleppegrell, M., Achugar, M. & Oteiza, T. (2004) The grammar of history: Enhancing
content-based instruction through a functional focus on language. TESOL
Quarterly 38: 67-93.
Oct. 16 (Teaching writing)
Hyland, Ken (2003) Genre-based pedagogies: A social response to process. Journal of
Second Language Writing 12: 17-29.
Badger, Richard & White, Goodith (2000) A process genre approach to teaching writing.
ELT Journal 54/2: 153-160.
Oct. 23 (Reading and writing)
Gibbons, Pauline, (2009) English Learners, Academic Literacy and Thinking: Learning
in the Challenge Zone. Heinemann. Chapter 3: Literacy in the Curriculum.
Freeman, Yvonne and David Freeman (2009) Academic Language for English Language
Learners and Struggling Readers. Heinemann. Chapter 3: Making sense of the
academic registers of schooling.
Fang, Zhihui and Schleppegrell, Mary (2010) Disciplinary literacies across content areas:
Supporting secondary reading through functional language analysis. Journal of
Adolescent and Adult Literacy 53: 587-597.
Oct. 30
Mid-term exam
Nov. 6 (VESL)
West, Linda (1984) Needs assessment in occupation-specific VESL or How to decide
what to teach. English for Specific Purposes 3: 143-152.
Price-Machado, Donna (1998) SCANS -- The missing link. CATESOL News, April: 1921.
Grognet, Allene (June 1997) Integrating employment skills into adult ESL instruction.
Project in Adult Immigrant Education: National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy
Education.
Johns, Ann & Price-Machado, Donna (2001) English for specific purposes: Tailoring
courses to student needs -- and to the outside world. In Celce-Murcia, Marianne (ed.)
Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, pp. 43-54.
Nov. 13 (Accountability)
TBA
Nov. 20 (Techonology)
Sokolik, M. (2001). Computers in language teaching. In Celce-Murcia, Marianne (ed.),
Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (3rd ed.), pp. 477-488.
Warschauer, Mark (2004) Technological change and the future of CALL. In Fotos and
Browne (eds.) New Perspectives on CALL for Second Language Classrooms.
Blake, R. J. (2008). Brave New Digital Classroom. (excerpt from Chapter 1.)
Georgetown University Press.