One way to make me smile...

I always try my best to find out any possible ways to help me stay in a wonderful mood. KiKi and LaLa definately plays an important role!^^

I LOVE TRAVELING!!

MY GREATEST GOAL IS TO TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD AND ENJOY DIFFERENT LIFE-STYLES!!

A is for... Apple!

I haven't "blogged" for ages!!! Let me post a new picture here. *^0^*

Monica's Semi-formal Reaction Paper

[ 93951001 Monica Huang ]
Target Students: 8th- or 9th- graders in Junior High School
Three Chosen Methods:
1. Short Stories for Discussion
2. Guided Imagery
3. Improvisational Games

1. Short Stories for Discussion

1.1 Motivation
Reading must be seen as an acquired ability. But acquiring it implies a lot of practice and the knowledge of some techniques that can guarantee comprehension. Bearing this in mind, I think the best way to help my students improve their reading compression ability and enjoy what they read is through the introduction of various short, interesting, and educational stories for them to discuss. During the process of reading and discussing the main idea as well as some details, students feel surer about what they read and understand better whether they're on the right track set by the author. After all, I don't want my students to end up reading every word very well but in the long run the idea of what they have read is lost. Instead, I want them to be able to decide which terms are the most important and which part of the reading deserves more attention, and truly get into the reading to interpret the authors' intentions and ideas.

1.2 Application
Regular study is important. While many teachers tend to cram their students' poor brains with more than one (and usually very long story) at a time, for example, two consecutive class hours once a week, I prefer to have my students try to form a reading habit by studying a little and often, like 30 minutes a day.
Besides, junior high school students' English is not that proficient, and their vocabulary bank isn't large enough for them to understand certain short stories catering to native English students. Therefore, I suggest that junior high school teachers in Taiwan use Aesop's Fables for 8th-graders and Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul for 9th-graders.

1.3 Benefits to gain
The aforementioned suggestive application about short stories for discussion leads to students' gradual improvement of reading comprehension as well inferential abilities. Due to the fact that those chosen short stories are far more interesting and a lot easier than their textbooks, students read a lot and their English improves a lot. What's even better, their mass reading has enabled them to think critically when they have access to any reading materials, and to handle easily almost any reading comprehension questions they encounter while taking tests.

2. Guided Imagery

2.1 Motivation
What often happens in EFL classrooms in Taiwan is that many students are so used to being put down in English learning, especially during those early years as they start learning it. Worse still, many students believe that their classmates are better than they are. Therefore, as an EFL teacher, I do find it necessary to sometimes ask my students to“wipe their mental slates clean”and START AGAIN— believing in themselves that they're able to learn English well and that learning it can be an enjoyable experience.

2.2 Application
It's always my goal to really make my students enjoy learning English, even if they're asked to memorize a bunch of words and a truck loads of sentence patterns. However, exams are always the intruders that spoil the entire wonderful learning atmosphere. To solve it, I will incorporate guided imagery into my curriculum whenever there is a monthly exam. Hopefully, students can release some of their pressure or even gain some confidence if they can tap into the power of imagery.

2.3 Benefits to gain
When students tell themselves, “Yes, I CAN do this,” or “Yes, I can SUCCEED," then they are already half way up the mountain to success. Of course the summit is reached by efforts and determination, but knowing that it can be reached makes that journey easy and enjoyable. In addition to the increase of confidence or sense of security, guided imagery can be regarded as an interesting and useful way to improve students’listening comprehension ability.

3. Improvisational Games

3.1 Motivation
Most Chinese students lack creativity, and most English pedagogies lack originality. As a result, students' similar performances or reactions and teachers' dull curriculum both make the language classroom unattractive or unsuccessful. So, in order to help students think fast and come up with creative ideas, I'd like to make good use of improvisational games to teach them how to think quickly on their feet. And I believe that it is a great way not only for students to make friends and boost their confidence level but also for teachers like me to make language classrooms interesting.

3.2 Application
Whenever new sentence patterns are introduced or writing skills are taught, improvisational games such as A Sentence A Time Story can be used. Whenever vocabulary is reviewed, Word Map is a good choice. Abundant Internet resources are there for EFL teachers to make good use of, so, basically, teachers can simply choose what they want or what cater most to their students' English proficiency level or learning needs.

3.3 Benefits to gain
Learning English becomes fun and challenging. Students' roles are not only the receivers or copiers but also the creators or directors. EFL classrooms are no longer teacher-centered but student-centered. Opportunities for utterance increase and so does students' confidence in speaking. All in all, improvisational games help a lot in terms of the improvement of students' English proficiency.

References
Alderson, J.C. (1988, March). Testing reading comprehension skills. Paper presented at TESOL '88 Convention, Chicago.
Alderson, J.C., & Urquhart, A.H. (1984). Postscript on Hosenfeld. In J.C. Alderson & A.H.. Urquhart (Eds.), Reading in a Foreign Language (pp. 245-249). New York: Longman.
Gardner R. C. and Lambert W. E. (1972) Atttitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning Newbury House:Rowley, Mass
Gumperz, J. (1982). Language and social identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Am I stupid??

Am I stupid? How come I failed to smell "any" rat and spot the murderers twice( today & Monday class)? Is that because too many characters are involved in each play, which makes both criminal cases complicated, or is it simply the matter of my logic inadequacy? Anyway, it's intriguing and fun!

As I indulged myself with the chance of being someone else, I discovered that I spoke more English, and what's even better, I didn't pay much attention to the form as I used to, thinking only about how to perform my part well. According to the assigned articles, role-playing, interactive dramas, or whodunits, can serve well as useful language learning activities which stimulate realistic conversation and effective communication. After experiencing them myself, I really can't wait to test them out in my EFL classrooms.

However, while I was busying playing my role, I noticed that it's really difficult to remain clear-headed so as to solve a criminal case when I have to play my part in a foreign language. Somehow, my brain doesn't function well when asked to process two types of information that I'm not specially good at--inference and foreign-language production. So, I rather agree with Abdullan I. Al-Saadat and Elhami A. Afifi's idea which suggests EFL teachers to start with situations from the first language cultural context and lead gradually to English language situations. And most important of all, EFL teachers should constantly emphasize, "You can do it, class."

We all want to capture our students' interest and attention, and we all hope to develop their communicative linguistic skills, so, as we design our curriculums with Improvisational Language Structure (ILS) and Guided Imagery in mind, don't forget such power activities as Whodunits!!

Have You "Kuro"ed Today?

The website of Kuro: http://www.kuro.com.tw/Kuro/tv_view.htm

After watching the TV commercial of Kuro, one can only give both thumbs up for its success in influencing and persuading people. Just like what the title suggests, it seems that using Kuro is as routine, if not necessary, as eating three meals every day.

This reminds me of the five steps in the Motivated Sequence developed by Alan Monroe and Douglas Ehninger and the Law of Consisitency and Conformity proposed by Kevin Hogan. On the one hand, while the commercial of Kuro is presenting the problem of most people's lack of musical etiquette, it is motivating the audience by developing the need step. Kuro cleverly appeals to the Social needs, suggesting that the Kuro users will no longer be regarded as music fools and will even be considered "high-class." On the other hand, the commercial makes good use of some Laws of Persuasion by creating the feeling that the audience should become the members of Kuro if they realize the importance of musical etiquette and the threat of being musically illiterate, and if they notice its popularity among the majority of other people or their peer groups.

So, go check that website and its TV commercial. You'll feel the persusive power of Kuro as I do.

Guided Imagery

So let’s begin the Guided Imagery. Concentrate on going into a deep level of relaxation, take a nice long breath, fill up your lungs, real good, breathe all the way in, and hold it for a second. And as you breathe out, close your eyes down, and let a wonderful wave of relaxation flow through your entire body.

Keep your eyes closed and begin to follow your breath in and out of your nose or mouth, which ever is more comfortable for you. Now give yourself the suggestion that each time you breathe out, your body becomes more and more relaxed. Really let yourself become loose, limp, and relaxed.

Good. Now imagine yourself in a long dark tunnel. The tunnel is large and a little bit cold, but that is OK with you. You see a small, white light at the end of the tunnel, so you are flying through this tunnel and speed toward the white light. As you get closer to the white light, the white light becomes bigger and brighter, and you feel warmer and more comfortable. Finally, you’re right there in the light and all that you see is a fantasy world of your own. You slow down your flying pace and start enjoying every moment with the scenes, animals, plants, and people that you consider your favorite. Every second there is nothing but happiness and ease. You’ll have three minutes to enjoy yourself there. (Pause for 3 minutes)

Now it is time to return here, bringing with you the joy and ease that you have experienced. In a moment, I will count to five. Open your eyes at the count of five, feeling relaxed and alert. One ... two ... three ... four ... five.

Finally... I'm into the field of BLOG!!

Dear everyone,
Can you imagine how excited I am while typing each word of my first post in a BLOG right now? Were I not in the dorm, I would exclaim with excitement for sure! A commonplace for many, BLOG is absolutely a brand new idea for me. I am tremendously delighted that I finally catch the wave of fad, having the opportunity to be someone that is REALLY COOL!! *^0^*Since this is my first post, truly, I am not in the mood to say anything that is "serious." Therefore, I would like to postpone my sharing of thoughts about education or English teaching till a couple of days later. At this moment, my brain is still amazingly full of thoughts about the power of imagery. What we did this afternoon was awesome, wasn't it? At the very beginning, I sort of distrusted it, casting doubts on its possibility to release a person's stress. Worse still, as we moved on to the "experiment" of using an imaginative Garbage Can to get rid of our anxiety and thus achieve the utmost relaxation, my doubts became stronger because that stinky garbage can filled up with tons of my stress just couldn't be carried away by the balloon. No matter how hard I tried, the garbage can along with the balloon remained there in my fantasy world. As I was about to give up trying any bit about guided imagery, the Desert Island and the Fairy saved me from my bad dream. There, on the island as well as in the world with the fairy, I MET MY MR. RIGHT, RESPECTIVELY! Believe it or not, my stress was totally gone with the wind! Nothing left! My goodness! It was really incredible! Starting off with doubts, I was finally in heaven! But, here comes the question: Should I attribute such unbelievable yet fabulous change to the power of guided imagery or to my prince? Anyway, I am more than satisfied with the ending.

Welcome and have fun!!

This is a park for sharing ideas about anything related to English. Take your time here in this park. As I keep adding new materials into this "meaningful" place, hopefully, you'll have a bunch of wonderful learning experiences. *^0^*