Pat’s Polemics

Usually my experience in doing therapy tells me to focus on what’s right. I recall being directed to make treatment plans based on getting to (Continue Reading)

This entry is a response to a post. It was never sent… Bear in mind that teaching involves a number of disciplines. Most of the (Continue Reading)

The other day I handed out a sheet which asked students to write up something about holidays in their lives. I had several categories like (Continue Reading)

A list member wrote: The shift in the role of grammar in English language teaching interests me greatly. The current dynamic perspective of grammar where (Continue Reading)

On p. 4 of Teaching Spanish, Rivers has a chart of the process involved in learning to communicate, as she sees it. Skill-getting and skill-using (Continue Reading)

Today I struck a blow for equality. The vice-principal wanted to make sure my second year Latin students were ready for third year with the (Continue Reading)

This point in time seems to be a turning point. A big part of it is how things are working out at work. This year (Continue Reading)

Anyway, your comment about travel figuring prominently in textbooks b/c it is such a prominent feature of the teachers’ experience of the TL is just (Continue Reading)

I’m replying here to your response b/c I’d like to make sure those reading this thread take one thing into account: for many teachers (and (Continue Reading)

Here’s a technique I thought of to use when students observe that something a few decades back was “so long ago” that it is unimportant (Continue Reading)

Comenius (1592-1670) wrote: Languages are easier to learn by practice than from rules. (I take practice here to mean use, not doing cloze exercises) But (Continue Reading)

Researchers predict a growing need for foreign language skills A new study from the Center for Applied Linguistics says the U.S. education system should be (Continue Reading)

I am not sure any of us sees the answers. We have no evidence that distance learning, on-line courses, computer assisted learning and all other (Continue Reading)

I am not sure any of us see the answers. we have no evidence that distance learning, on-line courses, computer assisted and all other methods (Continue Reading)

The writer of this column, a teacher, is trying very hard to be nice. We must first remember where “data-driven” comes from: McNamara’s bombing campaign (Continue Reading)

From Roger Lass, The Shape of English, p. 121: Looked at in cold blood, the modifications [of the segmental sounds of English words] are so (Continue Reading)

A discussion of Holt’s series for German high school instruction, Komm Mit!

We see the teacher who has to “know” that students are learning particular items and how they are learning them and that every student is (Continue Reading)

“I do not believe classroom management has anything to do with the topic inthe classroom – I think that issues arise when there are “breaks” (Continue Reading)

I found this on a listserv:   I’ve been teaching Spanish for the past several months to 1st – 6th graders. I only meet with (Continue Reading)

I have posted little and not used my blog the way I wanted. The best I can say is that after next Friday, I should (Continue Reading)

The late Wilga Rivers is, I believe, one of the prime exponents of rule-getting and rule-using as a way of internalizing grammar rules. Here Principle (Continue Reading)