proficiency (a few) books away higor cavalcante iatefl glasgow 2012 22 march, 2012 16.35 – 17.20
TRANSCRIPT
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!
• www.higorcavalcante.com
• teacherhigor (Skype and Twitter)
See you in Liverpool!