Multiple Intelligences in the structure of a new English syllabus for secondary school

 Speakers must be able to anticipate and then produce the expected

patterns of specific discourse situations. They must also manage discrete elements such as turn-taking, rephrasing, providing feedback, or redirecting .

 For example, a learner involved in the exchange with the salesperson described previously must know the usual pattern that such an interaction follows and access that knowledge as the exchange progresses. The learner must also choose the correct vocabulary to describe the item sought, rephrase or emphasize words to clarify the

description if the clerk does not understand, and use appropriate facial expressions to indicate satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the service. Other skills and knowledge that instruction might address include the following:

producing the sounds, stress patterns, rhythmic structures, and intonations of the language;

using grammar structures accurately;

assessing characteristics of the target audience, including shared knowledge or shared points of reference, status and power relations of participants, interest levels, or differences in perspectives;

selecting vocabulary that is understandable and appropriate for the audience, the topic being discussed, and the setting in which the speech act occurs;

applying strategies to enhance comprehensibility, such as emphasizing key words, rephrasing, or checking for listener comprehension;

using gestures or body language; and paying attention to the success of the interaction and adjusting components of speech such as vocabulary, rate of speech, and complexity of grammar structures to maximize listener comprehension and involvement .

    Teachers should monitor learners' speech production to determine what skills and knowledge they already have and what areas need development. Bailey and Savage's New Ways in Teaching Speaking , and Lewis's New Ways in Teaching Adults  offer suggestions for activities that can address different skills.

General outline of a speaking lesson

Speaking lessons can follow the usual pattern of preparation, presentation, practice, evaluation, and extension. The teacher can use the preparation step to establish a context for the speaking task (where, when, why, and with whom it will occur) and to initiate awareness of the speaking skill to be targeted (asking for clarification, stressing key words, using reduced forms of words). In presentation, the teacher can provide learners with a preproduction model that furthers learner comprehension and helps them become more attentive observers of language use. Practice involves learners in reproducing the targeted structure, usually in a controlled or highly supported manner. Evaluation involves directing attention to the skill being examined and asking learners to monitor and assess their own progress. Finally, extension consists of activities that ask learners to use the strategy or skill in a different context or authentic communicative situation, or to integrate use of the new skill or strategy with previously acquired ones (see supplement 4).

In-class speaking tasks

Although dialogues and conversations are the most obvious and most often used speaking activities in language classrooms, a teacher can select activities from a variety of tasks. Brown  lists six possible task categories:

Imitative-

Drills in which the learner simply repeats a phrase or structure (e.g., "Excuse me." or "Can you help me?") for clarity and accuracy;

Intensive-

Drills or repetitions focusing on specific phonological or grammatical points, such as minimal pairs or repetition of a series of imperative sentences;

Responsive-

Short replies to teacher or learner questions or comments, such as a series of answers to yes/no questions;

Transactional-

Dialogues conducted for the purpose of information exchange, such as information-gathering interviews, role plays, or debates;

Interpersonal-

Dialogues to establish or maintain social relationships, such as personal interviews or casual conversation role plays; and

Extensive-

Extended monologues such as short speeches, oral reports, or oral summaries.

These tasks are not sequential. Each can be used independently or they can be integrated with one another, depending on learners' needs. For example, if learners are not using appropriate sentence intonations when participating in a transactional activity that focuses on the skill of politely interrupting to make a point, the teacher might decide to follow up with a brief imitative lesson targeting this feature.

When presenting tasks, teachers should tell learners about the language function to be produced in the task and the real context(s) in which it usually occurs. They should provide opportunities for interactive practice and build upon previous instruction as necessary (Burns & Joyce, 1997). Teachers should also be careful not to overload a speaking lesson with other new material such as numerous vocabulary or grammatical structures. This can distract learners from the primary speaking goals of the lesson.

Assessing speaking Speaking assessments can take many forms, from oral sections of standardized tests such as the Basic English Skills Test (BEST) or the English as a Second Language Oral Assessment (ESLOA) to authentic assessments such as progress checklists, analysis of taped speech samples, or anecdotal records of speech in classroom interactions. Assessment instruments should reflect instruction and be incorporated from the beginning stages of lesson planning . For example, if a lesson focuses on producing and recognizing signals for turn-taking in a group discussion, the assessment tool might be a checklist to be completed by the teacher or learners in the course of the learners' participation in the discussion. Finally, criteria should be clearly defined and understandable to both the teacher and the learners.

Improving secondary school graduates EFL Learners' Pronunciation Skills

Observations that limited pronunciation skills can undermine learners' self-confidence, restrict social interactions, and negatively influence estimations of a speaker's credibility and abilities are not new . However, the current focus on communicative approaches to English as a second language (ESL) instruction and the concern for building teamwork and communication skills in an increasingly diverse workplace are renewing interest in the role that pronunciation plays in adults' overall communicative competence. As a result, pronunciation is emerging from its often marginalized place in adult ESL instruction. This paper  reviews the current status of pronunciation instruction in adult ESL classes. It provides an overview of the factors that influence pronunciation mastery and suggests ways to plan and implement pronunciation instruction.

Historical Perspective Pronunciation instruction tends to be linked to the instructional method being used . In the grammar-translation method of the past, pronunciation was almost irrelevant and therefore seldom taught. In the audio-lingual method, learners spent hours in the language lab listening to and repeating sounds and sound combinations. With the emergence of more holistic, communicative methods and approaches to EFL instruction, pronunciation is addressed within the context of real communication .

   Factors Influencing Pronunciation Mastery

Research has contributed some important data on factors that can influence the learning and teaching of pronunciation skills.

Age. The debate over the impact of age on language acquisition and specifically pronunciation is varied. Some researchers argue that, after puberty, lateralization (the assigning of linguistic functions to the different brain hemispheres) is completed, and adults' ability to distinguish and produce native-like sounds is more limited. Others refer to the existence of sensitive periods when various aspects of language acquisition occur, or to adults' need to re-adjust existing neural networks to accommodate new sounds. Most researchers, however, agree that adults find pronunciation more difficult than children do and that they probably will not achieve native-like pronunciation. Yet experiences with language learning and the ability to self-monitor, which come with age, can offset these limitations to some degree.

Amount and type of prior pronunciation instruction. Prior experiences with pronunciation instruction may influence learners' success with current efforts. Learners at higher language proficiency levels may have developed habitual, systematic pronunciation errors that must be identified and addressed.

Aptitude. Individual capacity for learning languages has been debated. Some researchers believe all learners have the same capacity to learn a second language because they have learned a first language. Others assert that the ability to recognize and internalize foreign sounds may be unequally developed in different learners.

Learner attitude and motivation. Nonlinguistic factors related to an individual's personality and learning goals can influence achievement in pronunciation. Attitude toward the target language, culture, and native speakers; degree of acculturation (including exposure to and use of the target language); personal identity issues; and motivation for learning can all support or impede pronunciation skills development.

Native language. Most researchers agree that the learner's first language influences the pronunciation of the target language and is a significant factor in accounting for foreign accents. So-called interference or negative transfer from the first language is likely to cause errors in aspiration, intonation, and rhythm in the target language.

The pronunciation of any one learner might be affected by a combination of these factors. The key is to be aware of their existence so that they may be considered in creating realistic and effective pronunciation goals and development plans for the learners. For example, native-like pronunciation is not likely to be a realistic goal for older learners; a learner who is a native speaker of a tonal language, such as Vietnamese, will need assistance with different pronunciation features than will a native Spanish speaker; and a twenty-three year old engineer who knows he will be more respected and possibly promoted if his pronunciation improves is likely to be responsive to direct pronunciation instruction.

Language Features Involved in Pronunciation

Two groups of features are involved in pronunciation: segmentals and suprasegmentals. Segmentals are the basic inventory of distinctive sounds and the way that they combine to form a spoken language. In the case of North American English, this inventory is comprised of 40 phonemes (15 vowels and 25 consonants), which are the basic sounds that serve to distinguish words from one another. Pronunciation instruction has often concentrated on the mastery of segmentals through discrimination and production of target sounds via drills consisting of minimal pairs like /bæd/-/bæt/ or /sIt/-/sît/.

Suprasegmentals transcend the level of individual sound production. They extend across segmentals and are often produced unconsciously by native speakers. Since suprasegmental elements provide crucial context and support (they determine meaning) for segmental production, they are assuming a more prominent place in pronunciation instruction .

 Suprasegmentals include the following:

stress-a combination of length, loudness, and pitch applied to syllables in a word (e.g., Happy, FOOTball);

rhythm-the regular, patterned beat of stressed and unstressed syllables and pauses (e.g., with weak syllables in lower case and stressed syllables in upper case: they WANT to GO Later.);

adjustments in connected speech-modifications of sounds within and between words in streams of speech (e.g., "ask him," /æsk hIm/ becomes /æs kIm/);

prominence-speaker's act of highlighting words to emphasize meaning or intent (e.g., Give me the BLUE one. (not the yellow one); and

intonation-the rising and falling of voice pitch across phrases and sentences (e.g., Are you REAdy?).

Incorporating Pronunciation in the Curriculum

In general, programs should start by establishing long range oral communication goals and objectives that identify pronunciation needs as well as speech functions and the contexts in which they might occur . These goals and objectives should be realistic, aiming for functional intelligibility (ability to make oneself relatively easily understood), functional communicability (ability to meet the communication needs one faces), and enhanced self-confidence in use . They should result from a careful analysis and description of the learners' needs . This analysis should then be used to support selection and sequencing of the pronunciation information and skills for each sub-group or proficiency level within the larger learner group .

To determine the level of emphasis to be placed on pronunciation within the curriculum, programs need to consider certain variables specific to their contexts.

the learners (ages, educational backgrounds, experiences with pronunciation instruction, motivations, general English proficiency levels)

the instructional setting (academic, workplace, English for specific purposes, literacy, conversation, family literacy)

institutional variables (teachers' instructional and educational experiences, focus of curriculum, availability of pronunciation materials, class size, availability of equipment)

linguistic variables (learners' native languages, diversity or lack of diversity of native languages within the group)

methodological variables (method or approach embraced by the program)

Incorporating Pronunciation in Instruction

Celce-Murcia, Brinton, and Goodwin  propose a framework that supports a communicative-cognitive approach to teaching pronunciation. Preceded by a planning stage to identify learners' needs, pedagogical priorities, and teachers' readiness to teach pronunciation, the framework for the teaching stage of the framework offers a structure for creating effective pronunciation lessons and activities on the sound system and other features of North American English pronunciation.

description and analysis of the pronunciation feature to be targeted (raises learner awareness of the specific feature)

listening discrimination activities (learners listen for and practice recognizing the targeted feature)

controlled practice and feedback (support learner production of the feature in a controlled context)

guided practice and feedback (offer structured communication exercises in which learners can produce and monitor for the targeted feature)

communicative practice and feedback (provides opportunities for the learner to focus on content but also get feedback on where specific pronunciation instruction is needed).

A lesson on word stress, based on this framework, might look like the following:

The teacher presents a list of vocabulary items from the current lesson, employing both correct and incorrect word stress. After discussing the words and eliciting (if appropriate) learners' opinions on which are the correct versions, the concept of word stress is introduced and modeled.

Learners listen for and identify stressed syllables, using sequences of nonsense syllables of varying lengths (e.g., da-DA, da-da-DA-da).

Learners go back to the list of vocabulary items from step one and, in unison, indicate the correct stress patterns of each word by clapping, emphasizing the stressed syllables with louder claps. New words can be added to the list for continued practice if necessary.

In pairs, learners take turns reading a scripted dialogue. As one learner speaks, the other marks the stress patterns on a printed copy. Learners provide one another with feedback on their production and discrimination.

Learners make oral presentations to the class on topics related to their current lesson. Included in the assessment criteria for the activity are correct production and evidence of self-monitoring of word stress.

In addition to careful planning, teachers must be responsive to learners needs and explore a variety of methods to help learners comprehend pronunciation features. Useful exercises include the following:

Have learners touch their throats to feel vibration or no vibration in sound production, to understand voicing.

Have learners use mirrors to see placement of tongue and lips or shape of the mouth.

Have learners use kazoos to provide reinforcement of intonation patterns

Have learners stretch rubber bands to illustrate lengths of vowels.

Provide visual or auditory associations for a sound (a buzzing bee demonstrates the pronunciation of /z/).

Ask learners to hold up fingers to indicate numbers of syllables in words.

3.1.2 Use the World Wide Web in teaching English to secondary school       

          graduates

     The Internet – a network that links computers all over the world – is now used widely by businesses, educators, government staff, and individuals for information gatthering, entertainment, commerce, and

Communication. Much has been written about the use of Internet technologies such as e-mail, listsers, bulletin boards, and newsgroups in ESL and foreign language classroom.

Skills developed through the World Wide Web.

   Websites cover a wide variety of topics and interests including health, entertainment, news,, and sports. These sites provide information with which learners can interact in order to built basic language and employability skills.

   A number of websites were created especially for English learners and contain exercises in grammar, vocabulary, writing, or reading.

with the help of many websites we can develop the linguistic intelligence. It gives us opportunity to write, listen and speak. We can speak with our partners in the UK or the USA using computer’s Web. For example, one of my pupils likes to write letter by e-mail. He gets more information not only about another country or city but he learns the genuine English. He is developing the Linguistic Intelligence there.

with the help of Sound Card  we can develop the Musical Intelli-    

     gence. If a person listens to the music he (or she) feels the musical 

     elements -  pitch, rhythm, and timbre (understanding the

     characteristic qualities of a tone).

3.1.3 Use of the Video in teaching English to secondary school graduates

    Video can be used in a variety of instructional settings – in classrooms. In distance-learning sites where information is broadcast from a central point to learners who interact with a facilitatir via video or computer. It can be used in teachers’profecional development or with students as ways of presenting content, starting corversations, and providing illustration for concepts. Students or senior pupils can create their own videotapes as content for the class. It provides the development of MI.

        There are such advantages there:

    There are a number of good reasons to use video in the senior forms . Video combines visual and audio stimuli, is accessible to those who have not yet learned to read and write well, and provides context for leanning. As for TEFL, video has the added benefit of providing real language and cultural information. Video can be controlled (stopped, paused, repeated), and it can be presented to a group of students, to individuals. It allows learners to see facial expressions and body language at the same time as they hear the stress, intonation, and rhythms of the language.

   Authentic videos.

   Many excellent videos present real language and the senior pupils can hear the genuine language. These videos include movies, television programmes, and news broadcasts; they can provide a realistic view of American culture.

   Challenges

       The use of authentic videos is challenging. Often they do not provide the best means of explaining complex concepts or practicing particular grammar or writing skills.

It takes time for the teacher to preview and select authentic videos and then to prepare activities for learners. As the language use and the context of authentic videos are not controlled, teachers will need to take time these.

   Selecting videos.

     The  teachers have to ask themselves the following questions before choosing a video or video series:

-     Inspiration/Motivation/Interest:

 Will the video appeal to to my students? Will it make them want to learn?

Content:

 Does the content match my instructional goals? Is it culturally appropriate for my learners.

 Clarity of message:

Is the instructional message clear to my students?Here the teacher is vital. Preparing the learners to understand what they are going to watch makes the difference between time wasted and time well spent.

Pacing:

Is the rate of the language or instruction too fast for my students?

Graphics:

What graphics are used to explain a concept? Do they clarify it? Do they appear on screen long enough to be understood by the learner? In some instructional videos, graphics , charts, and even language patterns may be on the screen too briefly to be fully comprehended.

Length of sequence:

Is the sequence to be shown short enough? With ESL learners, segments that are less than five minutes are often sufficient. A two- to three- minute segment can easiely furnish enough material for one -hour lesson.

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