Teacher in Development

I’ve got a 5 year old and a 1 year old (almost.) Aside from playing with lots of toys, my wife and I are often subjected to TV shows for kids. (The TV shows are a love/hate relationship. as I’m sure any parents out there can identify with.)

One of my favorite shows is called Pinky Dinky Doo.  I like the program for a variety of reasons, but one in particular that I’d like to share with you.

Go ahead and visit the site - if you’re an ESL teacher I think you’ll see some pretty interesting things you can do and model in your classroom from this program. The website (link above) has lots of cool resources, and even some full episodes of the show. Go ahead and watch one.

What to look for: How the program teaches new vocabulary words.

Key things to notice:

1. The show works on one new vocabulary word.

2. That vocabulary word is repeated many times.

3. (and my favorite) The new vocabulary word is linked to the sound of a trumpet just before the characters say it. This helps you pay attention and notice it.

4. There’s regular review.

What ESL Teachers could Learn:

1. Adults could likely handle more than one vocabulary word per class, but we should really be careful to limit the number of new words we introduce. Maybe you’ll feel good…and *gasp* some students will feel good if you dump a truckload of vocabulary on them each class, but you should ask yourself a few things: truckloads are great for stats, but have your students really taken them on board? Are they successfully using those truckloads of words in their everyday conversations in English? (My bet is no.)

If they are not using those new words…I think you’re just wasting your time. (And theirs.)

Instead, ESL teachers should limit the number of words introduced each class/week/month. The smaller the list, the greater opportunity you will have to help students "own" them. (Owning a word is when that word becomes a part of the speaker’s vocabulary. They know what it means, and can and do use that word in everyday conversation.)  

 2. Vocabulary ownership is linked to repetition. When you know what a new word means, repeating it over and over again will help the "ownership" process take place. I often think of how my oldest son learned new words. He’d repeatedly ask me what something was….I mean like ten, fifteen times. (I remember actually getting worried a few times…like am I doing this wrong, he keeps asking me the same thing over and over again.)

I think we need to make sure we have room in our lessons for vocabulary repetition. Reuse and Recycle those words to death! The only way this will work well is if you respect the first point: big long word lists don’t get repeated - except on tests and then they are quickly forgotten after.

3. The trumpet point is what got me thinking about this post in the first place. I have a 40 something adult male in one of my classes. He’s just starting out with English, and well..things move rather umm…slowly with this guy. He tries his best, and is genuinely interested in developing his English skills, but he’s just one of those people who don’t have the gift of languages. (I linked to Steve Martin in the Pink Panther when he was trying to say "I want to buy a hamburger")And well…Steve Martin’s performance makes me almost cry from laughter…and totally reminds me of my student at times.

My student’s worst nightmare is saying (and hearing) the difference between "e" and "i". (Aside:This is one of the most frequent difficulties for Spanish speakers learning English -at least in Mexico.) We’ve been doing the Martin routine around these two letters for the past month or so, with little progress. We review it over and over again, but it just doesn’t seem to stick. Then I pulled a Pinky.

As I was trying to think of a way to help this guy learn what we’ve been working on, I started thinking about how Pinky worked with new words, and I thought…well…I’ve got to try it!

Everytime we’d spell a word that had "e" or "i", I’d do the trumpet sound (of course I explained where it was coming from and everything.) Surprise, surprise! It actually worked! Now the guy even makes the sound himself before he comes to his problem letters.

Yes, he still makes a few mistakes, but they are much fewer. It caught on so well, that the more advanced student in this class (don’t you think mixed level courses are difficult??) started to do it with a word she was finding hard to remember. (All on her own, without help from me.)

What do you think? Have you ever tried to pair a vocab word with a strange event or sound in your classes? It’s great for a laugh, and actually seems to work with adults, as well as kids.