making writing real: james egerton skyteach conference 2017
TRANSCRIPT
18 March, 2017
Making Writing RealJames Egerton
Writing in English lessons: what teachers may think…
18 March, 2017
• I’m exhausted! Students writing will give me a break! • Writing is best done as homework. • Students may not like it, but it’s one of the four skills, so it must be
done. • It’s an afterthought at the end of the course book units.
James Egerton Making Writing Real
Writing in English lessons: what students at IH Riga think…
18 March, 2017
James Egerton Making Writing Real
18 March, 2017
James Egerton Making Writing Real
Title
Neutral 11%
Negative 61%
Positive 27%
“Today we’ll be doing some writing.”
Writing Task: “Write a letter to a neighbor saying that
you kicked your football over their fence and you’d like it back.”
Motivation: a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way
18 March, 2017
James Egerton Making Writing Real
Lego Experiment: Meaning → Motivation Dan Ariely, Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics, Duke University
18 March, 2017
James Egerton Making Writing Real
Group 1 Group 2
Built lego models for gradually diminishing wage.
1st model: $3 2nd model: $2.70
3rd model: $2.40 …
Decided when to stop
11 LEGO MODELS ON AVERAGE
Same process as Group 1
BUT: when building 2nd model, their 1st was dismantled in front of them,
when building 3rd, 2nd was dismantled …
7 LEGO MODELS ON AVERAGE
So what? Lego Experiment → Writing in EFL
18 March, 2017
James Egerton Making Writing Real
Finished work LASTS LONGER
and has a
PURPOSE
MORE MOTIVATION
and EFFORT from the producer (student)
Summary of motivation problems for writing:
• No real reader, just the teacher
• Lack of S-‐S and/or T-‐S interaction
• There’s no point
• It’s 2017 — writing is so outdated
• Writing takes too long
James Egerton Making Writing Real
18 March, 2017
IDEA 1: Blog or pbworks[dot]com
18 March, 2017
James Egerton Making Writing Real
IDEA 2: Pen-friends project
18 March, 2017
James Egerton Making Writing Real
IDEA 3: Collaborate to edit on Google Docs
18 March, 2017
James Egerton Making Writing Real
18 March, 2017
James Egerton Making Writing Real
IDEA 4: Tweets
#
##
IDEA 5: University applications & job application cover letters
18 March, 2017
James Egerton Making Writing Real
18 March, 2017
James Egerton Making Writing Real
Online job offers
• Real job openings that match their skills
• Researching employers to know how to position themselves as a good fit for the company
• Meeting specific cover letter requirements
18 March, 2017
James Egerton Making Writing Real
Contacts
James Egerton
www.jamesegerton.wordpress.com ^I’ll upload slides and notes here
@jamesegerton89