proficiency (a few) books away higor cavalcante iatefl glasgow 2012 22 march, 2012 16.35 – 17.20

proficiency (a few) books away

Higor Cavalcante

IATEFL Glasgow 2012

22 March, 2012

16.35 – 17.20

“Not all students become active readers.

While some are highly motivated and

consume books avidly, others don’t have

the same appetite. We can’t force

students to read, of course, but we

should do everything we can to encourage

them to do so.”Jeremy Harmer, in How to Teach English, (p. 110)

By the end of this talk, we’ll have

discussed…• …the habit (or lack thereof) of a reading

culture/habit in Brazil

• …how books get chosen with a view to

creating the reading habit in candidates

• …an extensive reading program for CPE

preparation

• …activities (with examples) which can be

used in the program

A very important belief

It is nearly impossible to pass

the CPE without reading variedly

and vastly.

• collocations: “…a succession of ludicrously

trivial and…”(adv-adj)

• phrasal verbs: “…begged the kids to please

get off my legs now,…”

• idioms: “…caught her eye…”

• semantic precision: “I clumped around the

house like a man in magnetic boots…”

• (fixed) expressions: “Just in case, you

know, I suffered transitory histerical

blindness…”

• Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About, Mill

Millington, p 1.

Situation in Brazil

• 1,8 books per year => 4, 7

books per year(2010 – Ministry of Education and Culture)

• People don’t read for fun;

reading is boring.

The CPE course

• three 51-hour long semesters (153

hours)

• Course books used (New Proficiency

Gold, Objective Proficiency)

• Weekly mocks (of papers, not full)

• CPE blog(s)

• Extensive Reading (Book-a-month

project)

The Book-a-month Project

• Students:

– Read 4 books per term / 8 yearly / 12

during course

– Do weekly activities related to books – not

tests!

• Criteria for picking books:

– Interesting

– Choice

– Modern

Books used

• Room, Emma Donoghue

(NYT #1 Bestseller)

Drama

Books used

• Live Wire, Harlan Coben

(NYT #1 Bestseller)

Thriller

Books used

• The Best of Me, Nicholas Sparks

(author of Message in a Bottle,

Dear John, The Last Song etc.)

Chick-lit

Books used

Voting via Facebook

Activities• Vocabulary search:

Activities• Vocabulary search:

Activities• Vocabulary search:

Activities• Quotes:

Activities• Quotes:

Activities• More vocabulary (spontaneous post):

Activities• Top 5’s:

• 36 students sat the exam in

December

• 31 passed. 5 got A’s. 3 of the

people who did not pass, got a

C1 certificate.

• “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader”.

• “Reading is a discount ticket to

anywhere”.

• “You don’t have to burn books to

destroy a culture. Just get people

to stop reading them”.

• “To learn to read is to light a

fire; every syllable that’s spelled

out is a spark”.

• “Read in order to live”.

Thank you!

• teacher.higor@yahoo.com.br

• www.higorcavalcante.com

• teacherhigor (Skype and Twitter)

See you in Liverpool!