ELT in Japan (ELT-J)

ELT in Japan, Issue #3 (August-September 2010) ELT in Japan , Issue #3 (Aug-Sep 2010) Article 1: Schema theory: Is this set of concepts relevant to TEFL? Article 2: Truespel - the English-Based Phonetic Notation  for both ESL and EFL Article 3: Writing Systems Across Languages and Cultures: Implications for Language Teaching and Learning   Article 4: Japanese publishers of EFL books for self-study/ 自習のための言語・英語材料の出版社 Article 5: Key Concepts in EFL Literacy: Phonics vs. Whole Language Article 6: Three Phonics, Spelling and Whole Word Activities for EFL Learners Article 7: Should the JET Programme be axed? ------------------- Usage notes: Creative Commons 3.0 applies (unless otherwise noted as copyright of the respective author). This means you are pretty much free to use and/or distribute, but with a couple provisions: (1) you credit and link back to this page, (2) you do not alter without the permission of the author ( Charles Jannuzi, jannuzi@gmail.com ).

Key Concepts in EFL Literacy: Phonics vs. Whole Language Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan The phonics vs. whole language distinction has at least two realities: (1) as a split in instructional philosophies for teaching the acquisition and development of beginning literacy and (2) as a rather heated political debate playing itself out in the English-speaking countries (no doubt most divisively in the United States). I will look at the concepts of phonics and whole language in relation to these two contexts and then attempt to show how these concepts might prove meaningful and useful to EFL literacy. Phonics is a way of teaching reading and spelling that stresses symbol-sound relationships, used especially in beginning instruction (Harris & Hodges, 1995, p. 186). This definition, of course, refers specifically to beginning instruction of native language literacy. There is a large set of different phonics approaches to such instruction, including: analytic, cluster, de

Three Phonics, Spelling and Whole Word Activities for EFL Learners Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan You can refer to this graphic, 'Basic Vowel Spelling Patterns of Written English' for words and spelling patterns to use in the activities explained below. Activity One: Pronunciation and Phonics Crambo (an adaptation of a  traditional spelling game) 1. Preparation: Go through student word lists (e.g., the lexical part of the syllabus of a course book) and select words that fit major and minor spelling patterns. Also, choose key sight words (which are also a major part of a beginner's vocabulary). Think of other rhyming words that students may not know, but that fit the patterns that the course vocabulary illustrate. 2. Pre-teaching: Explain/show what an English rhyme is, as Japanese students may have difficulty with the concept. Young learners especially may be quite open to language play, but their linguistic sense of it wi