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.