Responsibility - A Foreign Perspective on Four Issues in the Master of Arts in Teaching Program

This paper is a foreign perspective on four issues: Responsibility and Student-Centered Learning, Group Process, Experiential Learning, and Culture and Individuality in the Master of Arts in Teaching Program at the School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vermont. Personal Experiences as a student and student-teacher are combined to address these issues as they relate to foreign students at the school. The central theme is responsibility. Each section marks a disctinct stage and describes the author\u27s development of the ability to take responsibility for learning in a system that is fundamentally different from her own. The author concludes with the view that foreign students are in a position of greater vulnerability at the school

Use of Rapid Question and Answer Exercises in the ESL Classroom

This is a study on the use of rapid oral question and answer exercises as a tool in language teaching. It pays particular attention to the mechanics of asking and answering questions in the large classroom; and that question and answering is an essential learning process of mental expression

Implementing My Philosophy of Education as a School Administrator

As a school administrator, I have been responsible for the implementation of my philosophy of education, i.e., that people work, live or learn best by working as a community. By community, I mean a group of people working together toward common goals, and whose interactions are characterized by the elements of understanding, trust, openness and respect for each other\u27s professional and personal lives. I have designed the administrative procedures: interviewing, training and development, and decision and policy making to incorporate these elements and encourage the spirit of community. To evaluate the implementation of my philosophy, I have provided examples of staff members\u27 interactions, examples of how the administrative procedures have or have not facilitated the development of the community, and the results of a job attitude survey given to all staff members. The administrative procedures, as originally designed, have been evaluated and modified to meet individual staff member\u27s and the community\u27s needs. Most successful of the procedures has been interviewing. Training and development procedures, a problem when the school first opened, are now proceeding more smoothly. Decision and policy making procedures are being re-designed to encourage greater participation of the staff. Despite the design problems of some of the administrative procedures and occasional transgressions from community-like interactions on the part of some staff members, the elements of community and the sharing of goals, as shown by the results of the attitude survey, do characterize the working relationships of staff members. Hence, I conclude that I have been successful in implementing my philosophy

A Practical Handbook for Untrained English Teachers of Lao Refugees in Vermont

This handbook is intended for use by untrained teachers or tutors in teaching beginning and intermediate English as a Second Language to adult refugees. Although most portions of this book are applicable to the teaching of refugees in general, this work is meant to address specifically the needs of those engaged in teaching members of the Lao ethnic group of Laos. The opening chapter provides information on the background of the Lao refugees. The novice teacher is then guided step by step through the process of designing a course syllabus, setting short-term objectives, and planning and executing individual classes. Other sections deal briefly with teaching pronunciation, teaching reading and writing, measuring students\u27 progress, and evaluating one\u27s own professional growth as a teacher. Several appendices, including a compendium of over thirty classroom techniques and annotated bibliography of teacher resource books and student textbooks, complete the work

The Haitian Boat People: An Overview of the Present Situation Concerning Their Illegal Immigration to Florida

Beginning about 1972, many of the impoverished people of the Carribean nation of Haiti have fled their country for Florida. Because they come in sea vessels - invariably of questionable quality for an open sea voyage - a name which has been attached to them is that of boat people . The Haitian boat people leave their homeland for reasons both economic and political in nature. Both their departure from Haiti and their arrival in the United States are illegal events. Once they reach Florida, therefore immigration authorities attempt to deport them, viewing the Haitians as economic refugees not entitled to political asylum. Those who are detained by authorities have been subjected to discriminatory practices, and those who have escaped detection remain vulnerable in a variety of other ways. Recently, two American Presidents have attempted to address the question of the Haitian boat people in the face of illegal immigration from many other countries similtaneously. This paper attempts to explore more fully the situation in which the Haitians find themselves, and to draw conclusions from the body of facts

Suggestopedia: New Use of Innate Mental Capacities

This paper discusses certain characteristics of human mental functioning - an understanding of which sheds light on the mechanism of suggestopedia. These characteristics are: (1) the electrical impulses produced by the brain, and in particular, the alpha brainwaves, which are characteristic of a calm state of mind which is believed to be optimum for accelarated learning, (2) the division of left and right brain hemisphere functioning and perception - with the right ( intuitive) functions being a focus as the receiver of suggestion (subminal stimuli from the environment; the moving force in suggestopedia), and (3) the conscious vs. the paraconscious functions of the brain which tie the first two characteristics together. Studies indicate that paraconscious processes, although not fully understood, include powers or abilities not previously recognized, which can be channeled or harnessed for accelerated learning. This paper then briefly discusses the principles of suggestopedia, and the gives examples of classroom application of suggestopedic techniques

Situations: An ESL Learner\u27s Handbook

This is a handbook consisting of five lessons with accompanying cassette tapes for Japanese businessmen with intermediate to advanced levels of proficiency in English. Each lesson and tape contains a narration, a dialogue and exercises which are designed to help master vocabulary and structures that may be encountered in interactions with people in the United States. The units are written to emphasize the importance of polite requests in dealing with employees of various types of businesses (hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, banks and airports), and to familiarize Japanese language learners with types of responses they may reasonably expect to hear in these kinds of interactions

Developing a Conversational English as a Second Language and Acculturation Program for a Social Service Agency Engaged in the Resettlement of Soviet Jewish Immigrants

This paper describes the creation and first year of development of a three-component conversational ESL and acculturation program for Soviet Jewish immigrants. The project was designed to meet the needs of a private social service agency engaged in resettlement in Long Beach, California. It consisted of reorganization and development of a newly formed volunteer tutorial project, and the creation and development of a weekly class program and a series of cross-cultural communication gatherings. Of special note are selections which discuss the orientation, on-going training, and problems relative to the employment of non-professionals as tutors and teaching assistants. Approaches, methods, and materials are evaluated with respect to both adaptability by non-professional staff and effectiveness with students. learner-centered, non-book-based oral/aural activities are emphasized in both the tutorial and class components. Although this project deals solely with Soviet Jews, it is hoped that it may be used as a model or resource for the development of programs seeking to serve the linguistic and acculturation needs of any recent immigrant group, regardless of ethnicity