BENEMÉRITA Y CENTENARIA ESCUELA NORMAL DEL ESTADO DE SAN LUIS POTOSÍ

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BENEMÉRITA Y CENTENARIA ESCUELA NORMAL

DEL ESTADO DE SAN LUIS POTOSÍ

WORKSHOP – COURSE V

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 3

Learning intentions 4

Organization of contents 4

General teaching guidelines 11

Evaluation 12

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INTRODUCTION

The management of other languages is becoming more in academic and professional fields. The TOEFL exam provides international accreditation and certification of proficiency in English as a Second Language, assessing linguistic proficiency, through the diagnosis of listening comprehension, structure and written expression and reading comprehension. Nowadays, this type of evaluation is the most requested international English exam, with more than four decades of legitimacy. It has become more popular due to the requirements of more than 6,000 international institutions to demonstrate the ability in the English language.

In the academic and professional world, the result in the TOEFL test is crucial to get scholarships at an international level, and it lets the person access to professional competences with good sustenance.

Having the TOEFL is very important for English teachers, because it validates their knowledge internationally, and it certifies about both, competitiveness and linguistic skills. The educational intentions of this workshop- course are designed to bring students close to the TOEFL contents, as well as to offer an intensive review of all its topics through exercises that cover the four skills, giving the student the necessary tools to present it with a clear idea of the intentions of an evaluation like this, and working on the definition and consolidation of strategies, competences and abilities of each section, to get the aimed score.

English grammar will also be deeply reviewed, enriching the student's educational future, through the correct use of English in all disciplines, preparing the student to be competitive in the practice, facing a globalized and changing world, which allows him to help improving the quality of English teaching, which requires qualified teachers in all respects.

The preparation for international certification TOEFL workshop- course is organized in the following blocks:

Block I: Course introduction and Listening comprehension.

In this workshop- course, the students will develop skills that are related to the listening and the comprehension in spoken English. New vocabulary words will be introduced, as well as their different usages in context, by listening attentively to monologues or conversations in an informal context.

Block II: Structure and written expression

In this workshop- course, the students will work on the development of communication skills in English, by reviewing and learning vocabulary, structure, and grammar, in academic contexts. Block III: Reading comprehension

English vocabulary and reading comprehension skills will be developed, through exercises that are similar to the TOEFL evaluation and a variety of reading materials.

Block IV: Argumentative text production

Advice, ideas, and possible topics for essay writing will be given, so that the students show their skills in English written expression through the production of this type of text.

Block V: TOEFL official exam

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LEARNING INTENTIONS

The Main purpose of the current workshop-course, is to prepare the future teacher to present the TOEFL international test, by giving him the linguistic tools he needs in order for him to get the result that satisfies his personal and professional needs.

It is intended that the students that take this workshop- course, live, learn, and share experiences that contribute to their own development and learning processes, fortifying their future teaching practice at the same time, improving their listening comprehension, structure and written expression, and reading comprehension skills.

The specific purposes of this workshop-course, as a guide of the pedagogical work, are improved through the daily activities in the classroom, at school, and in the family and social context, by encouraging a respectful, interactive, and peer learning educational atmosphere, recognizing the linguistic, cultural , social, and ethnic diversity that characterizes our country and our state, but with an opening attitude that a globalized world is demanding, so the students can prepare personally and professionally by learning English, as well as their individual characteristics in their different learning stages and needs.

It is intended that by the end of the TOEFL preparation workshop- course, the students: Acquire abilities referred to:

 Listening and listening comprehension in American spoken English, in oral structure

and vocabulary aspects, as well as sounds and intonation, in conversational and informal contexts.

 Written communication in English, that includes vocabulary, structure, and grammar, in

academic contexts, to be formally presented through essays and compositions.

 Vocabulary and reading comprehension in English.

 Written essays.

ORGANIZATION OF CONTENTS

The current workshop- course has five blocks. Within the first block, listening comprehension issues are faced.

Block I: Course introduction and listening comprehension

Main purpose

In the first block of this workshop- course, it is intended that the students:

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Specific purposes

In this first block, it is intended that the students:

 Listen to and answer questions related to pre- recorded audios, which vary in

complexity.

 Develop the active listening ability and enrich their vocabulary.

 Understand topics related to Math, Physics, Chemistry, and Science, so they get

familiarized with terms that are used in academic matters, and can be topics in the TOEFL test.

 Develop the ability of understanding questions, lessons given by their teachers,

discussions presented in class at a university level and additionally, real life situations that these kinds of environments present.

 Answer questions related to places, characters, intentions, actions, reasoning, and

behavior of the people who participate in the lessons.

 Acquire the note taking ability as well as suggest questions that may infer from what

they hear.

Thematic content I. Introduction

1. What is the TOEFL? 2. TOEFL sections 3. Types of TOEFL

4. General strategies for TOEFL

II. Section 1: Listening Comprehension 1. General strategies for section 1

2. Types of questions in the listening comprehension 3. Listening comprehension vocabulary

4. Mini dialogues 5. Questions 6. Strategies

7. Key words in mini dialogues

a. Key words and key word synonyms

b. Idioms

c. Words with different meanings

d. Sound- alikes

e. Exclamations

f. Question intonation

g. Negatives

h. Time

i. Conditions, wishes, causes, and results.

j. Who does what?

k. Situations

l. Topics

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n. Predicting questions

8. Evaluation of key words in mini dialogues

III. Longer conversations and short talks

1. Review of key words in longer conversations and short talks. a. Review of the previous strategies

b. Predicting topics and questions

c. Checking the first lines of each passage. d. Answering fact and inference questions. 2. Evaluation of longer conversations and short talks

Basic Bibliography

Finegan, E. (2003) “Language: Its structure and use”. Boston, MA. Heinle and Heinle.

Gardner, D., & Davies, M. (2007) “Pointing out frequent phrasal verbs: A corpus-based analysis” .TESOL Quarterly.

Lynch, B.K. (2003) “Language assessment and program evaluation”. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Mc Cagar, D. (2002) “Teacher and student role expectations: Cross cultural difference and implications”. The Internet TESL Journal.

Websites

http://www.learnersdictionary.com/faq_pron_ipa.htm http://www.rhlschool.com/eng3n26.htm

http://www.saberingles.com.ar/idioms/index.html

Block II: Structure and written expression Main purpose

It is intended that by the end of the second block of this workshop course the students:

Develop comprehension skills in written communication in order tp present this section of the TOEFL, through the knowledge they got along the classes, applying vocabulary, structure, and grammar, in academic contexts.

Specific purposes:

In this second block it is intended that the students:

 Improve their comprehension abilities in written communication, in a logical and

organizational way in English in an academic environment.

 Objectively analyze the idea and the form of a written text, well structured and

organized.

 Increase their knowledge in grammar structure and written expression, by using them

with confidence in the correct context.

Thematic content

Section 2: Structure and written expression

I. General strategies

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III. Introduction of the 30 strategies in structure and written expression.

1. Review of 6 out of 30 strategies in structure and written expression.

a. Subjects, objects and nouns

b. Subjects and verbs

c. Expressions of quantity

d. Articles

e. Personal, possessive and reflexive pronouns

f. Adjectives and nouns

2. Evaluation of 6 out of 30 strategies in structure and written expression

3. Review of 4 out of 30 strategies in structure and written expression

4. Evaluation of 4 out of 30 in structure and written expression

a. Prepositions and prepositional phrases.

b. Main and subordinate clause markers

c. Prepositional phrases and subordinate clauses

d. Appositives and noun structures

e. Evaluation of 4 from the 30 strategies in structure and written expression.

a. Adjectives ending in -ING and -ED b. ING y – ED modifying phrases c. Infinitives and gerunds d. IT and THERE sentences

8. Review of 5 out of 30 strategies in structure and written expression and sub topics a. Word form and function

b. Word form after the verb

c. Word form: Person noun and activity nouns d. Words that do not exist in English

e. Equative, comparative, and superlative degree

10. Review of 6 out of 30 strategies in structure and written expression and subtopics a. Standard word order

b. Word order in subordinate clauses beginning with question words

c. Inverted Word order with special expressions and in conditional sentences

d. Parallel structure in comparison and series united by and, or, but

e. Paired expressions: either…or, both…and, neither…nor,

not only…but also

f. Confusing words and expressions

11. Evaluation of 6 out of 30 strategies in structure and written expression 12. General evaluation of structure and written expression

Basic bibliography

Hyland, K. (2003) “Second language writing”. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Jarvis, D.J. (2002) ”The process writing method”. The Internet TESL Journal.

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Peregoy, S.F & Boyle,O.F. (2004) “Reading, writing, & learning in ESL: A resource book for K-12 teacher”. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Websites

http://mbonillo.xavierre.com/

http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/ling003.html http://bogglesworldesl.com/creativewriting.htm http://www.englishclub.com/writing/index.htm http://www.rong-chang.com/writing.htm

Block III: Reading comprehension Main purpose

It is intended that by the end of this third block the students:

Improve and develop their vocabulary and reading comprehension and abilities in English, in order to present this section of the TOEFL efficiently, by working on similar exercises and with a variety of reading material.

In this block, it is intended that the students:

 Examine the most important aspects of a text, so as to get a general vision of a reading

and to find out the ideas, problems, and questions that are considered in it.

 Activate previous knowledge about the topic to facilitate and enhance the efficiency of

the reading comprehension through the approach of previous questions.

 Reflect, comprehend, and retain what they read, creating categories, associating one

with another, and connecting what they have learned to their own knowledge and personal experience.

 Organize and reorganize ideas through formal phrases, hierarchies, charts, diagrams,

mind maps, or even through their imagination, in written or illustrative way, making use of their creativity.

 Examine a reading in a fast and effective way, developing the speed technique.

Section 3: Reading comprehension I. General strategies for section 3 1. Vocabulary

2. Types of questions

3. Review of 4 out of 8 reading comprehension strategies II. Building Reading skills (skim and scan)

1. Vocabulary in context

2. Topic and main ideas of a reading

3. Purpose and organizational patterns

4. Evaluation of 4 out of 8 strategies in reading comprehension III. Review of 4 out of 8 reading comprehension strategies 1. Reference words

2. Details and factual information 3. Inferences

4. Attitude of the author and tone of the passage

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Broukal , Milada .”Reading for the Toefl Test” (Toefl Reading in a Flash). Peterson's Guides.

Broukal , Milada . “Peterson's Toefl Reading Flash: The Quick Way to Build Reading Power” (Toefl Flash Series). Petersons.

Broukal , Milada . Heinle & Heinle . “TOEFL Test Assistant”. International Thomson Publishing. Davy, Elizabeth & Davy, Karen. “Reading and Vocabulary Workbook for the Toefl Exam”. Academic Test Preparation Series. ARCO

Websites

http://news.yahoo.com/i/721 http://www.cnn.com/EMAIL http://rss.msn.com/

http://www.nytimes.com http://www.newsweek.com/

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/index.rss http://m-w.com, http://www.yourdictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com

http://images.search.yahoo.com http://www.encyclopedia.com/ http://www.wikipedia.com http://scholar.google.com

http://lass.calumet.purdue.edu/cca/gmj http://www.philica.com

http://www.biolsci.orghttp://www.doaj.org

Block IV: Written English Main purpose

It is intended that by the end of this block, the students:

Show their ability in written English by writing an essay to get the desired score in this section of the TOEFL.

On this fourth block, it is intended that the students:

 Generate and organize ideas in English in a written form, supporting their ideas with

evidence and examples.

 Use written English in different styles, as well as vocabulary that develops the topic in

an appropriate way.

 Learn to manage information with correct grammar structures, as well as vocabulary,

and reviewing writing and punctuation aspects.

 Acquire the reading habit of different topics so as to write texts in the best way,

according to their knowledge.

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Section 4: Writing an essay I. General strategies

1. How to write a good TOEFL essay

2. Generating ideas (mind maps, note taking, etc.) 3. Essay writing practice

II. Essay topics

III. Written exam score

IV. Evaluation of two essays in English

Anonymous. (2004) Sample Essays for the TOEFL Writing Test (TWE). ETS- TOEFL. Primera Edición.

Anonymous. (2004) How to prepare for the TOEFL essay. Toefl essays.com Gallagher, Nancy. (2007) Delta´s key to the next generation Toefl. Editorial Delta.

Websites

http://www.testmagic.com/test/ViewTopicsOfEssays6.asp http://toefl.jumbotests.com/tests/toefl-essay-samples http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic14894.html

http://www.mytoeflsuccess.com/toefl-test/sample/essay.htm

Bloque V: TOEFL test

By the end of this last block it is intended that the students:

Develop listening comprehension, structure and written expression and reading comprehension skills that are needed to take the TOEFL.

In this block it is intended that the students: Apply all the learned abilities in:

 Listening and listening comprehension in American spoken English, vocabulary, oral

structure, as well as sounds and intonation, in informal and conversational contexts

 Written communication in English, through the acquired knowledge in the course, that

include vocabulary, structure and gramar, in academic contexts

 Vocabulary and Reading comprehension in English

 Essay writing

I. Complete first TOEFL practice test Feedback

II. Complete second TOEFL practice test Feedback

III. OFICIAL TOEFL TEST

Mahnke,M. Kathleen & Duffy, Carolyn B. (1996) “The Heinemann ELT TOEFL preparation course”. Macmillan Heinman.

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GENERAL TEACHING GUIDELINES

In the TOEFL preparation workshop – course, the classes have to planned by integrating

several resources and purposes, like developing listening and reading comprehension activities, working hard in linguistic structures in English, optimizing written and oral expression and promoting self learning. The included suggestions are considered basic for the workshop – course, as well as for the teaching practice.

Next, some teaching ideas, types of activities, didactic suggestions for individual and team work, as well as comments that promote the learning development in a dynamic and effective way are presented, dedicating a space for each one of the sections that are evaluated in the TOEFL, suggesting activities inside and outside the classroom.

The best way to practice English is speaking, but that is even better if it is practiced with native speakers as much as possible. The teacher can invite either people who dominate the language or foreigners, and even groups of students who come to the city or town with a specific purpose.

It is recommended to dedicate a brief but meaningful part of the class to reinforce the students’ communicative skills. This can be at the beginning of the class, by asking them how they are, what they did during the day, their plans for the weekend, and so on. Another way to practice is creating a conversation club that includes several topics like movies, music, and trips. You can even invite native speakers to join the club.

Study and self evaluation in English grammar is needs to speak and write it correctly. The teacher must have a variety of grammar exercises according to the needs the group has. There are specialized books that focus their attention in grammar aspects for the TOEFL, as well as websites, which are mentioned in the bibliography section.

Students should practice with grammar exercises that have a specific topic in an effective and entertaining way, both in class and at home.

The teacher can work in activities such as investigations, expositions, designing attractive material for the students, lyrics, to mention some, to practice a specific grammar topic.

As for the errors students make, it is important to consider that the recognition and correction exercises are fun, if they are practiced in a different way. Contests in teams that are similar to the ones that appear on television can be used, where the teacher acts as a moderator and the students are responsible of error correction and oral production. That can also be done with incomplete phrases, word reduction in a phrase, and the combination of several phrases to form a unique idea.

Using English in the classroom is essential. Both the teacher and the student have to use it almost all the time, except for some special cases in which the mother tongue is required due to a specific need. That way, the student will keep in touch with the English language most of the class and his ear will get use to hearing a second language.

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EVALUATION

The purpose of evaluation in this workshop course is to constantly measure the future teacher’s learning and linguistic skills, in listening comprehension, structure and written expression and Reading comprehension areas, to present the TOEFL.

Several types of evaluation are recommended so as to give different approaches to the class.

When starting the teaching process of this workshop- course, it is suggested that the teachers make use of the diagnostic test, through a mini TOEFL test, with the idea of evaluating the candidate’s level of English and analyzing the way this type of exam is answered, defining strengths and weaknesses. That way, the teacher can plan according to the characteristics and needs that the group and the person have.

Through the workshop – course, it is intended to promote the self evaluation process, the acquisition of knowledge and the development of reasoning skills, problem solving, communication, and participation.

Printed resources can be used, such as text books, reference sources, exercises and activities designed by the teacher, or excerpts from articles, as well as individual exercises that promote self evaluation.

Nowadays there is a great deal of texts that are related to TOEFL exercises, and the bibliography is mentioned in this document.

Homework and exercises are aspects that the teacher can constantly evaluate, understanding that it is needed to know all the evaluation resources that will be used, and to assign enough time to develop the skills and prove what was learned, creating evaluation and reinforcing exercises according to the results, letting each one of the students know about the advances and the reinforcement needs, making agreements with them to help them in their learning process.

It is important that before taking the TOEFL test, the student practices with sample tests. ETS (educational Testing Services) offers a real experience of the TOEFL as well as the shills to be tested.

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ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Casanave, C.P. (2003) “Controversies in second language writing: Dilemmas and decisions in research and instruction”. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

ETS. The Official Guide to the TOEFL iBT with CD-ROM, Third Edition.

Frodesen, J. & Holten, C. (2005) “The power of context in language teaching and learning”. Boston, MA: Heinle and Heinle.

Gear, Jolene and Robert . (2007) Cambridge Preparation for the TOEFL Test. Cambridge Kaplan TOEFL iBT with CD-ROM. Proven, practical tools to help you score higher. 4th Edition.

Laverone, Chiara y Tennant, Victoria. (2003) “Inglés: Ejercicios prácticos para escribir y hablar

fácilmente”. Editorial De Vecchi, S.A.

Mahnke M.Kathleen & Duffy, Carolyn B. The Heineman ELT TOEFL Preparation Course..Ed. Macmillan Heinemann.

Matthiesen, Steven J.(1993). Essential words for the TOEFL. Definitions and synonyms. Ed. Barron’s.

Phillips, Debrah. Longman Preparation Course for the TOEFL Test. Ed. Longman Princeton Review. Cracking the TOEFL iBT with CD, 2010 Edition,

Stafford- Ylmaz & wier, Laurence. 400 Must-Have Words for the TOEFL. Ed. McGraw Hill White, L. (2003) ”Second language acquisition and universal Grammar”. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Additional websites

http://www.gettoefl.com/cgi-bin/daily/daily.pl http://www.english-4u.de/grammar_exercises.htm

http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.fab2360b1645a1de9b3a0779f1751509/?vgnextoid=69c0197a484f40 10VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD&WT.ac=Redirect_ets.org_toefl