8th Meeting: Family Conversation

Taken from http://www.sis.ac/diary-yanapuma-spanish-student

Yes! Today we learn about the family tree combined with the Possessive Pronoun. In my classroom, my students love this parts and the exercises because they can personally relate the vocabulary and reading to their own family. Also, there's that opportunity to show (off) pictures of you and your family.

In our Spanish Class, we complete the family tree in our worksheet, and complete listening task. Then we drew our own family tree and work in groups of three. By this time (8th class meeting), our 'conversation' flow much better because we know the questions, the 'connection'/filler sentences and phrases, we got more accustomed to the phatic conversation practices. So we can safely say that we are 'talking' Spanish.

Now, let's talk about about Phatic Interaction:

The Oxford Online Dictionary defines Phatic as “denoting or relating to language used for general purposes of social interaction, rather than to convey information or ask questions.” Therefore, Phatic Interaction means small talk. ‘Hello’, ‘how are you’, ‘nice weather, isn’t it?’, ‘fancy meeting you here, Fred’, ‘See you later and hi to your mother’ are all examples of phatic interaction. It can be verbal or non-verbal. Non-verbal phatic interaction can take form as waving to someone you know across the street or gesturing  ‘call me’ or I’ll call you’  to a girl on the bus after a date with your thumb and little finger to your ear. In Indonesian language, Phatic is  basa-basi, meaning nonsense talk or “beat around the bush” talk. Nevertheless, our daily communication relies heavily on this to bridge a smooth and interesting communication.  

Phatic Interaction/communication is important to be learned or taught to second language (L2) learner. It has an important social function. It helps L2 learners to be more natural in their conversation instead of sounding like they are memorizing cue cards straight from textbook. Phatic communication contains knowledge and sense social norms or customs that are different from one areas to another. L2 learners who are not familiar with this phatic communication may interpret it the wrong way. An L2 learner came to UK for the first time and went to small café to buy coffee. She was greeted with “Hiya! You alright? Can I get you anything?”. She smiled politely but puzzled and checked herself in the mirror thinking if she looked sick or ‘not alright’. 

The aim of learning second or foreign language to certain extend is to be able to communicate with the speaker of the target language. The teaching of second or foreign language is to prepare student to be able to participate in real life conversation outside the classroom.  As mundane and easy as it may seem, a talk or a conversation is complex in nature. It is more than just forming correct syntactic and semantic sentences. It also involves the conversational skill that observes social customs and values on top of the substantive content of our message.

There 2 kinds of interaction in a conversation, Interactional and Transactional (McCarthy, 1996: 136 - 137). Burns (2001: 126) in Todd (1998: 7) provides us with the definition

“Transactional interactions are those primarily involving the exchange of some form of good and service, or information, while interactional interactions primarily involve the creation, maintenance and extension of personal and social relations”.

Interactional interaction takes up the majority of our communication flow. Phatic interaction belong to this category.

Lee (2001: 23) in Todd (1998: 23) says that the ESL teacher’s job is “not to implant the ways of native speakers in the learners, but to inform learners of their pragmatic choices and consequences”. One way of doing this is for teacher to use the CA/DA approach in their teaching. In doing so, students are taught not just to memorize chunks of conversation but to be aware of its functions and meaning. Conversation (and talk exchanges in general) has structure that most of the time not apparent to the speakers. Nevertheless when asked to recall the ‘unsuccessful’ conversation, one may become aware of the conversational expectation it required (Akmaijan 2001:387, 388).

With the renewed understanding of the conversational functions, L2 learners will be more confidence to initiate/engage in a conversation and have the skill to carry it through. In conclusion, it is possible to use CA/DA in English Language classroom or any L2 classroom, Phatic interaction is still important to be highlighted especially the one that are not apparent in textbook as this is crucial for social function. The acquisition of these conversational skills is beneficial for one’s communicative ability in English or other L2.-

7th Meeting: Places

Photo from http://www.cooltownstudios.com/2005/05/02/a-treasure-trove-of-public-spaces

It turned out that there were only 4 people in our last week class. So the teacher pretty much review quite a big chunks from last week in today's class. Happy me! But I am also happy because my Spanish Classmate sent me the notes of the class so I did have something before I come to class. 

We learned the public places and practice using the question sentences we've learned so far. 

Today is about pair work and listening. 

It was all great but I get off on a shaky start simply because I felt so unprepared due to my absence from the last class. Which on the other hand is silly because, I have the notes. 

The listening was more complicated than the last one but we managed in the end.

6th Meeting: Something missed... something to be reminded of...

I don't think everybody knows that I received scholarship for my MA study. I missed this class meeting because I was in London for the event with the Scholarship. Therefore, I will share a little bit about my chevening adventure

I'm honored to received the prestigious FCO Chevening scholarship for 2012/2013 MA study in Sussex. There are 32 scholars from Indonesia and East Timor this year. They are currently studying in universities all over UK. I chose Sussex University for several reasons.
1. My husband (also a Chevening Scholar-2009/2010) did his MA in International Education and Development at Sussex University. I (we) fell in love with the city and I with the university: the research, the study life, the ambiance. Hence, my return
2. Our Landlords, Jan and Rusty, have become a family for us. we do not feel like renting a flat at their place. It's like living in the ground floor of your own family house. Our baby daughter was also born during our stay in UK. When we left, I made a silent promise. If ever I get an opportunity on a scholarship in UK. I would like to return to Sussex.

The scholarship is very competitive. Application comes from all over Indonesia. I am the only one from my province, Maluku.

Why am I chosen? Well, It is still feel surreal for me. I also feel shy whenever we are in a meeting and someone pointed me as scholar. hehehehe... that comes with all the high expectation... aaannndd... it's scary. The truth is I am someone who is passionate of English, of teaching/education and of working with young people. The scholarship put down the selection criteria for the typical successful applicant as follows

• is a professional graduate, in early or mid-career, who displays both intellectual ability and clear leadership potential
• has already worked for 2-3 years in his/her chosen profession
• is committed to return to his/her home country and contribute to its socioeconomic development, by implementing the new skills and knowledge acquired in the UK
• has a proven track record of professional excellence and achievement, with the prospect of becoming a leader in his/her chosen field
• is able to show at interview that he/she possesses the personal qualities to benefit from the scholarship and use it to succeed in his/her chosen career
• has a clear idea how the scholarship will benefit their country on his/her return

Do I ticked all the boxes? Perhaps. The list seems very prestigious and wow. I believe that I am given a great opportunity based on my work. Being selected to receive the scholarship means that someone sees the potential in me and want to invest in that. Believing that I can make a difference, to make the world a better place. So... here's a bit about me.

My BA is on English Teaching from Local University, University of Pattimura. During my last months to finished my high school (1999) a conflict erupted in my Island, Ambon and then spread to the whole province. It was a sectarian conflict between Muslim and Christian. It is awful and sad because the religion is used as the vehicle. Our province is known for it's social contract, Pela and Gandong, that are practiced from generation to generation from ancestor long before religion came. It is a social contract that ensure our harmonious living despite race, religion and customs. Long story short, the sectarian conflict lasted for 6 years. I was a refugee and live in refugee camp for 3 years. That year saw me entering university for my BA and went to classes in alternatives buildings, while avoiding snipers and road blocks, because our university was burnt down together with my village.

During this 3 year period, I was involved working with peace and reconciliation movements. I was then selected to be trained in Canberra, Australia together with youth from 6 others conflict areas in Asia Pacific, to be the pioneer group and established the Young Ambassadors for Peace (YAP) in Asia Pacific. In Ambon, Maluku, YAP work as the youth counterpart along side other local organization such as Maluku Interfaith Institution, Concerned Woman of Maluku and religious institutions. YAP works with the ex-combatants and conflict effected young people, providing activity on peace building, conflict resolution, reconciliation, trust building and community organizing. I was the country Co-coordinator for 3 years. We hold workshops and group activity with a diverse focus and approaches. One of the activity was the English Groups which was run for sometimes but it provided the young people with a reason to come to the basecamp (set in the border areas). It gives them opportunity to 'learn' English (very useful later) and to bond with friends from the opposite group.

On the other hand, I have been running English Class at home since 1997/1998 and even in refugee camp, we managed to keep this running. This brings income for my family. We (my mother and I) were even contracted to teach English the Navy top rank officer, which we did for 1 year.
Just 2 months before my leave to UK, my English Class has been upgraded to a Language Center. The official name is Marlene's Language Center. It has it's government licensed and recognized by the National Education Department. (We have at the moment 100 students and more to come this coming January). This means that we are eligible to issue certificate for our English Course. However our Language Center also offers customized Dutch and German classes as well. I am super excited with this. Because in the future, I am planning to connect my Language Center with my Youth work. Perhaps, develop a qualification and skill based programs for them so they are ready for the working world. I have ideas already with my Language Center as recognized organization and later my degree in English Language Teaching. God's willing I can put all this opportunity to good use and benefit many people.

To learn more about my work and conflict in my place:
- Uniting World Program / Young Ambassadors for Peace / Ambon, Maluku
- My latest Article at Uniting World on Conflict in Ambon
- Also On Provocateur for Peace
- Other article about the recent conflict
- Say Peace NOW in Ambon
- Musabaqoh Tilawatil Quran in Ambon

5th Meeting: Counting and listening

Photo taken from TOEFL Preparation Wesite

Today's class is exciting. We embarked to the next milestones of our learning.

- Counting up to 100

- Listening activity

It is exciting for me because I can now say my age in Spanish (I can fell you're smiling.. :-)). I mastered 1 - 10 and now I get to 100.. Huraaah!!! lol... For my beginner student they love it when we go to 100 because we can do a LOT more with the range of number knowledge they have. We can play the math jigsaw game, they how old is/are... game etc etc. 

Anyhow, what got me really excited is that we did a listening exercise where the teacher played the recording and we filled in the blanks in our photocopied worksheet. This a milestones for me because I can complete all except 2 answers. To be able to listen for information and actually able to retrieve the information correctly indicated that to certain extend I have the vocabulary needed, the sentence understanding and context understanding. This is a complex application of learning. This is when the seemingly solitary learning of vocabulary, useful phrases etc come together to aid you in your understanding.

Wencheng Sun's article in English Language Teaching Journal says

Languages are mainly used for listening, speaking, reading, and writing in intercommunication. Listening and reading are input competence, and speaking and writing are output competence. Among these the listening and speaking competence tends to be more important in human communication and daily life. The primary language of human being develops from listening and speaking.

She went on and says:

In order to hear the important data, characters, events, and time clearly, and master the general idea, students must integrate languages and specialties and apply them into practices.

As an input competence, listening required on-hand basic knowledge. That is why, I am excited and say that this is a milestones. I can comprehend the message. I have enough basic vocabulary to get me by. I do not have full understanding of the sentence but I have the vocabulary that can act as my cue words for me to guess the meaning. -

4th Meeting: Game of life - How Many Years Do you Have?

¿Cuántos años tienes? is how old are you in Spanish. But the direct translation is How many years do you have?
That just throw an interesting way of looking at life, isn't it?
It's like for every time you are asked, you are reminded of time you've passed and how many more you can expect to live for. You are reminded of how you live, did you use your time wisely, do you hurt anyone in your journey, any unfinished business? because if you do, you still have some more years to make sure you ticked all the boxes.
O well, that has nothing to do with Spanish class but I cannot resist being a bit philosophical when it was being explained in class. Of course, I thought about my daughter whose 2nd birthday was just 2 days before I had to leave her in the care of my mother in laws and left for England.
(Sniff sniff.. Ah yes... life...  C'est la vie... Así es la vida)


As it is with our previous class, this class we play hangman (ahorcado). This is her way to get us to review the alphabet and the vocabulary. One thing for sure,  our teacher always tries to insert some sort of game or physical movements in every class. so far we have played:

• - pass the magic marker
• - team racing
• - Battleship
• - pass the 'ball'
• - hangman

The games helped the class to bond, to work with each other and it creates a great atmosphere for learning. o well, when I mentioned this to a friend of mine, he said that it's impossible, surely a competitive nature will make the class uneasy... well... that might be, but I feel that it is not the same in our class. We have those not-so-quick-to-learn students and what happen is the fast learner really helped them.


In the matter of game, Aydan Ersoz in The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VI, No. 6, June 2000 taken from TeflGames website

'Language learning is a hard task which can sometimes be frustrating. Constant effort is required to understand, produce and manipulate the target language. Well-chosen games are invaluable as they give students a break and at the same time allow students to practise language skills. Games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging. Furthermore, they employ meaningful and useful language in real contexts. They also encourage and increase cooperation.'

 During my BA study, we learned that games in classroom are useful and beneficial. and during my years of teaching, the choice of games to go with the specific focus on language and specific learner group are even more crucial. Teachers need to possess a pedagogical reasoning skill to sense and decide which games (or other strategy) is most useful in their classroom.
This include the consideration on
- what kind (of games or strategy)
- how often and how long will it takes up the class time
- how the class is divided
- age group and ability group appropriateness
- culture awareness (ex. don't put girl student with boy student together in a group where the local custom and religion says otherwise)

In my Spanish class, each games takes no more than 5 - 10 minutes, usually used for reviewing and/or summarizing the day's learning. Looking back at my own teaching, I know i tried to incorporate games or other fun activities and it always works beautifully. Last week, I chatted with a former student now studying to be a doctor in Japan and she remembers us playing 'word bingo' and 'word snake-and-ladder'. These 2 games are my adaptation from the favorite kids games during their time. (mind you, kids these days are all about computer games and console). She mentioned that it helped her to get over her shyness and helped her to remember the vocabulary. My other students, remembers the 'head-shoulder-knees-and toes' song and other physical movements songs and activities.

Prior to writing this post, I made an effort to contact my former students and managed to chat with 5 of them. I taught 2 of them when they were in Elementary and Junior high school, the other 2 was when they were in their high school and 1 of them was in her University years.
I asked them to think back at their studying days with me and mention the first memory they have on our study time. They said (in no particular order):

Student 1:  Hangman and scrabble
Student 2: Word and Letter Bingo
Student 3: Flash Card guessing game
Student 4: "who wants to be a millionaire" Game
Student 5: The songs and nursery rhymes.

I asked them to think why their memory sprung those activities that when I asked them the questions. They said:
1. It is simple and helpful and they can reproduce/play it themselves with friends outside class
2. Help them to 'use' the English they are learning
3. Help them with vocabulary learning and how to put the word into sentence. (in word games, the next stage is to put each of the word they produced into sentences).
4. Helped them to get over their shyness and to love the class.
5. (because of the game) The class is not boring

Another worth mentioning note is that the teacher begin to have us talk in Spanish only for 5 minutes or so during pair work and games. This is good. we are practicing.

Right, Now I know that using games, fun activities etc are helpful for me and the students. I feel touched that after all these years, they still remember (and remember them fondly) the games and our learning. Nevertheless, I myself still remember my failed attempt to apply certain games to class due to the violation and neglect to consider the points of consideration I mentioned above. Lesson learned for me. -