Using English Phrases in the Taiwan University Classroom

1. Using English Phrases in the Taiwan University Classroom Dr. Steve Wallace

2. Introduction to the speaker • 13 years teaching Taiwanese university students • Scholarly Writing and Scholarly Presentations in public and private universities • Speeches and workshops on writing and teaching at 118 universities • Collected notes on teaching for 15 years

3. The First Professors • Sages, Witchdoctors or Shamans • Not hunters or warriors • Old, experienced, specialized, respected and useful • Sang the knowledge of survival skills • Carried a map – geographical, mineral, biological • World today is less dangerous but more complicated

4. The Professor’s Goal: • To give information meaning • To make students care about the underlying questions of our domain • To make independent learners • To create the learning habit

5. How do we improve our teaching? • We learn through teaching • Beneficiaries of good teaching: The student, the university, the industry, the nation, the domain

6. Show passion and enthusiasm for your topic • You are the salesperson for your topic • If you are not interested your students will not • Point out the fascinating aspects • Do not only read your slides • “Only think of his sword and your sword”

7. Why you might consider using English is class • Cons: • Requires a lot of your energy • More difficult for you and students to think in English • Pros: • Improves students’ English • Research is often in English • Future academic presentations • Future job • You will get to practice your English

8. Lecture Movement • Move and don’t stand still or pace • Stand still for key points • Move to a distant spot when students are speaking so students don’t just speak to you

9. Lecture Movement • Pay attention to your audience and pull students in with eye contact • To see if you are doing anything distracting, videotape your class

10. Helping students listen to your lectures: Voice • Enunciate clearly, exaggerate intonation • Speak slower and louder than usual • Repeat important or complex ideas by paraphrasing • Pause after key words • Avoid asking, “Do you understand?” • Instead, repeat the same idea using different words

11. Pauses • Especially before new information or key point in a sentence “The most important thing we can conclude about this is... that these effects cannot be underestimated, and if you do, you do so at your own risk.”

12. Pauses emphasize a point • “We operate behind what is called … the “veil of ignorance,” meaning that we cannot know or predict outcomes. The problem is that we fail to treat others with dignity and respect, and only think of our longer term goals. Another problem is that our decision making processes are often … clouded by our own psychological biases. Psychologists have provided ample evidence of a number of such biases … hindsight bias, attribution biases … self-preservation biases, and others.”

13. Repeat your points in two or three different ways • Students may not have heard it, or understood it, or had time to write it down • Stress important points. This can be done with your tone of voice or what you say • “Write this down” • “This is important” • “This will be on the test” • Pause to give your listeners time to think and write

14. Repetition “There is absolutely no proof for the effectiveness of this drug – let me repeat – there is absolutely no proof for its effectiveness.”

15. Repetition (for emphasis or clarification) • Again, … • Once again, • that bears repeating • let me repeat • that is • that is to say • The point to understand is... • This brings us to our major question • What this means is that....

16. Reformulations • A paraphrase or reworded explanation • “The study found no significant correlation between input and output under these conditions – in other words, there was no meaningful relationship between input and output, or any effect of input on output, in such a context.”

17. Lecture voice • Emphasize nouns and verbs • Don’t let your sentences fade away • Vary your tone, speed and volume • Simple words and sentences are best

18. When you can’t think of what to say • 1. Don’t use pause fillers: uh, um, er, oh... • 2. Don’t use other fillers: okay, you know, well, I mean, like • 3. Don’t apologize for your speech errors • 4. Move on to something else • 5. Use simpler vocabulary

19. Errors can be minimized and corrected using these: • I mean... • that is... • that is to say, • oh, … excuse me... • I meant... • or rather... • let me back up... • actually... • let me rephrase that...

20. Use “Light” vocabulary - nouns • Simple words instead of precise academic terms • thing, good, people • Common nouns and adjectives: good, bad, man/men, woman/women, people, thing • Indefinite pronouns: everything, everyone, something, someone, anyone, anything, everywhere, somewhere, anywhere

21. “Light” vocabulary - verbs • light verbs: be, have, do, make, go, come, run, set, put, get, take, let, become • Light verbs are useful for • (1) speaking naturally • (2) questions and answers • In formal presentation use specific verbs • “we conducted a reaction-time experiment” not “we did a reaction-time experiment” In a class lecture: give Formal presentation: contribute, yield, donate

22. Adding more information / details • Besides • Furthermore • In addition • Indeed • In fact • Moreover • Second...Third..., etc. • What this means is that...

23. Avoid lengthy digressions • “My professor tells stories and makes us laugh all the time, but he never writes on the board and at the end of class, it’s hard to know what the main points were, and what to study.”

24. Explaining processes • at first / initially • begin / began by / with • the second step / stage • afterward • then / next / later • as / as soon as • upon (+noun or gerund phrase) • finally, at last

25. Analysis • Let’s analyze this in more detail • Where does that lead us? • Let’s examine the implications of this • In real terms, this means in terms of

26. Reason, cause, purpose • because • because of • due to • for (conjunction) • for the reason that • since • in the hope that • in order to • so / so that • with __ in mind • for the purpose of

27. Cause and effect, results • accordingly • consequently • so / thus / therefore • hence • first (second, third); another, next • in conclusion, in summary • finally, last • because, since, for • of course • nevertheless • on the other hand, • to the contrary • Some may / might say / claim / maintain (that) • It has been claimed / argued / posited that

28. Discipline-Specific Vocabulary • Don’t avoid discipline-specific vocabulary • Provide explanations • Encourage students to ask about vocabulary • Write key terms or provide a written list • Give students time to note the key terms on PowerPoint slides • Seeing words helps students recognize pronunciation • Misspelled words confuse students

29. Be aware of idioms and metaphors • Metaphors might not be understood • Example: “Throw a curve” • Use current pop culture references and explain them • “Because we all know the story of…, I won’t tell it here.”

30. Helping students listen to your lectures: Outlines • Write on chalkboard, slide, or handout • “Today we will cover the following topics…” • Helps students take notes and ask questions • Connect to earlier material at the beginning of a new lecture • At the end of lectures summarize ideas and preview next class

31. Introducing a lecture or new topics • In our last class we talked about …, and today we continue with …. • Last time, we talked about..., and today we’ll discuss • I’d like to start with • What we are going to cover today is... • Today I am going to talk about... • Today, I will talk about • First of all, I’d like to talk about... • Let’s begin with • First of all, … • Starting with • Today’s topic is... • What I want to do today • is...

32. Examples • For example, / e.g., • Take..., for example • For instance • In particular / Particularly • Specifically / To be more specific • To demonstrate • To illustrate • This can be seen in the following example • To illustrate, / To illustrate this point • By way of analogy • What this means is that

33. Help students create mental models • Students learn when they find and apply rules • Structure building: The ability to catch key ideas, organize them into a mental model, and relate the model to what students already know • This skill contributes to concept learning and complex mastery • Map Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by P.C. Brown et al., 2014, Harvard University Press

34. Highlighting, emphasizing

35. Emphasis • a lot, • a lot of • certain(ly) • clear(ly) • complete(ly) • definite(ly) • exact(ly) • extreme(ly) • for sure • great(ly) • indeed • no way • outright • pure(ly) • real(ly) • such a (+ noun) • strong(ly) • sure(ly) • total(ly)

36. Nine factors that capture and keep the attention of your audience • Activity • Reality • Familiarity • Proximity • Conflict • Suspense • Novelty • The Vital • Humor

37. Inappropriate humor: Don’t • Use prepared jokes that have no connection to your purpose • Read your jokes and stories • Laugh at your own jokes; or start laughing before you tell them • Announce that you are going to tell a joke; and apologize if it is bad • Criticize the audience for not laughing • Tell stories that make fun of others or make them look bad • Use humor that the audience may not understand • Embarrass people • Tell dirty stories

38. Managing Stage Fright • Visit the room before class to see its size, layout, the type of chalkboards, chalk, erasers, and multimedia available • Practice in the classroom, especially if you are new to teaching • Arrive early and meet people • We are not “cool” -that is okay • Watch and learn from other speakers

39. 4 P’s for gaining confidence in presenting • Pretend • Predetermine • Practice • Prepare

40. After the Lecture • Rethink, retool, revise • Each time you deliver a lecture, you learn something • Note how each lecture went and use to improve • rethinking the material • rewriting the lecture • developing ideas for future teaching • Include these notes with your lecture notes

41. Questions in the Classroom

42. Purpose of asking good questions • Students become active participants in learning • Students engage in higher-level cognitive processes • analysis • synthesis • evaluation • critical thinking

43. Getting students to talk • Try to get everyone to speak in the first two weeks • Your manner should be kind Participation and discussion should be part of grade • Try a self reported grade for participation • TA enters or modifies score Don’t clamp down on tangents right away • Find treads to pull back class or “we are getting away from topic”

44. When you ask a question in class, don’t immediately call for volunteers • Problem: Most students avoid eye contact • The same student always volunteers or you answer • Few students think, since they know that someone else will provide the answer

45. Don’t call on students cold • Problem: You stop in mid-lecture and point • “Joe, what’s the next step?” • If you don’t give student’s time to think, they won’t be learning but praying that you don’t call them • As soon as you call on someone, the others are relieved and stop thinking

46. Calling on studnets - solution • 1) Ask question and give a short time to create answer • 2) Call on a few to report • 3) If you did not get a complete response, call for volunteers • 4) Most students will try to come up with a response • You’ll avoid the fear of cold-calling and get better answers • The important answer is not the one we give and they forget but the one they keep for themselves

47. Try pair first, questions second • Let students try out their answers by quickly discussing them in pairs or by writing for a minute or two • Students are much more willing to share their answers with the class when they have had this opportunity

48. Wait for a response from students • Do not answer the question yourself • Don’t repeat it, rephrase it, modify it, call on another student to answer it, or replace it • Wait three to five seconds • Average “wait time” is 0.9 seconds • Students will respond more, use complex cognitive processes, and ask more questions

49. A series of questions confuses students • Do not ask, “How are apes and humans alike? Are they alike in bone structure and/or family structure and/or places where they live?” • “Hands will go up in response to the first question, and a few will go down during the second, and those hands remaining up will gradually get lower and lower as the instructor finally concludes with a question very different from the one for which the hands were raised.” (Napell, 1978)

50. Collect several answers to your question, even if the first is perfect • Not all students think at the same speed • Encourage those not first to continue reflecting • Third or fourth answers will add dimensions