{"id":4926,"date":"2013-01-06T13:49:58","date_gmt":"2013-01-06T13:49:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltchat.org\/wordpress\/?p=4926"},"modified":"2013-01-06T13:49:58","modified_gmt":"2013-01-06T13:49:58","slug":"s-homework-necessaryvaluable-tips-and-best-practices-for-meaningful-and-motivating-homework-eltchat-summary-12122012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/2013\/01\/06\/s-homework-necessaryvaluable-tips-and-best-practices-for-meaningful-and-motivating-homework-eltchat-summary-12122012\/","title":{"rendered":"Is homework necessary\/valuable? Tips and best practices for meaningful and motivating homework #ELTchat Summary 12\/12\/2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Sorry for handing my homework in late \u2026\u00a0?<\/h1>\n

This post is a summary of an ELT Chat on the topic of homework which took place on December 12 2012 at 1300 CET.<\/p>\n

The chat participants:<\/p>\n

\"Participants\"
\n<\/a>Made with wordle.net<\/em><\/p>\n

Having both suggested the topic and volunteered to write up the notes, I thought I\u2019d better do some extra homework on homework. I decided to check out the links and watch presentations recommended during the chat. To be frank, I got quite carried away. At one point I was even learning so my about homework that I actually forgot why I was doing it\u2026<\/p>\n

So to focus on the task at hand :\u00a0\u2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are the pro\u2019s and cons of homework\u2019<\/strong><\/h1>\n

What are the con\u2019s:<\/h2>\n

The unavoidable issue is that of \u2018homework for homework\u2019s sake\u2019:<\/p>\n

I often feel quite conflicted about homework.\u00a0 Half the time I only set it because I feel it\u2019s required of me. I think left to my own devices I would set homework about 10% of the time that I currently do @teflgeek<\/p>\n

teachers often have to assign HW they dont reallly approve of \u2013 a major issue @Marisa_C<\/p>\n

and parents expect it too @Marisa_C<\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of the educational culture @NailiahRokic<\/p>\n

Sometimes parents see HW as a way also to follow what\u2019s going on in class and sometimes test teachers @NailiahRokic<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

and the converse issue, where homework becomes necessary because:<\/p>\n

contact time set is often insufficient to cover all important aspects of course @esolcourses<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

or the opposite reaction:<\/p>\n

To those who teach kids in the school system: Don\u2019t they already study enough? Isn\u2019t it too much to ask them to do it at home too? @theteacherjames<\/p>\n

a lot of parents in Canada are starting to revolt against HW. Ruining precious family time. Parents getting frustrated with stressed out kids @David_Boughton<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

and the con\u2019s don\u2019t stop at homework for kids. Homework and adults don\u2019t mix well either.<\/p>\n

Teaching adults means I can\u2019t exactly lay down the law, it\u2019s up to them if they do it or not @theteacherjames<\/p>\n

that\u2019s my current struggle with busy professionals. Barely time to show up to class @David_Boughton<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So we\u2019d expect an analysis of the tweets be mostly negative?<\/p>\n

\"ELT
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Made with wordle.net<\/em><\/p>\n

(Un)surprisingly not. As @esolcourses put it:<\/p>\n

homework is as good (or bad) as the teacher who sets it. Needs to be targeted & purposeful<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So how can we best relate homework types to learners and class? I read Marisa Constantinides presentation on\u00a0Homework vs Busywork<\/a>. It has lots of great insights and also a really useful framework, which I\u2019ve used here to organise the comments:<\/p>\n

\"ELTChat<\/a><\/p>\n

Why do we do all of this homework?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I think HW has extremely good benefits when well planned and justified though. @theteacherjames<\/p>\n

Makes adult learners more autonomous @SophiaKhan4<\/p>\n

Pre-reading and post lesson activities really help to consolidate work covered in class @esolcourses<\/p>\n

I do believe in HW, if it complements\/improves whats being taught in class, but that also doesnt work if T doesn\u2019t get s interested @NailahRokic<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And<\/p>\n

I always set optional extra work to do out of class, & in my experience (with adults and teens) s\u2019s who do it tend to make better progress @esolcourses<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And what about those SS who tend \u2018not\u2019 to do their Homework? How can we deal with \u2018preparation\u2019 homework that only some learners took time to do?<\/p>\n

you put learners who haven\u2019t watched it into groups with the students who have, to discuss @David_Boughton<\/p>\n

Can you predict the content? Can you interview other SS who saw it and find out?@KerrCarolyn<\/p>\n

perhaps an idea might be for class to do something else while indiv Students report to T in tutorial mode @Marisa_C<\/p>\n

I sometimes do a quick multiple choice quiz on homework as a warm-up, in groups @esolcourses<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How can technology help? Here are some comments on using technology as part of homework:<\/p>\n

Tech can often make it more useful\/meaningful, as it allows for instant feedback & collaboration @esolcourses<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where computer game-like homework can be fun? @FrancesEales<\/p>\n

can have an LMS packed with busywork too\u00a0 \u2013 true also.\u00a0 Important to be discerning @esolcourses<\/p>\n

social media can create a useful platform for sharing content between the sts @theteacherjames<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also set up\u00a0voxopop<\/a>\u00a0group topics or\u00a0vocaroo<\/a>\u00a0speaking tasks which sts practise and then record and send to me. @FrancesEales<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Should homework focus on more than lessons?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cAs a language teacher one cannot escape the feeling that language lessons in and of themselves are not sufficient to bring language learning about and to lead to eventual proficiency\u201d (van Lier 1996, p. 42).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I was curious to find out what people thought about \u2018language exposure\u2019 and the role of homework in that so I asked:<\/p>\n

I think exposure to English outside the classroom is very important and homework is one way \u2013 but is it a good way?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

@Marisa_C Immediately responded to this with a link to Steven\u00a0Krashen\u2019s talk from the Wired In Wired Out<\/a>\u00a0conference in Instanbul.<\/p>\n

Krashen<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/b>As part of my homework I watched the video, which was both interesting and entertaining, and well worth the effort. A summary for those of you who haven\u2019t had the chance to see it:<\/p>\n

As many of you will know, Krashen is a linguist and (award winning) )Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California. He is an influencial figure to say the least! He is known for the introduction of the \u2018acquisition-learning hyposthesis\u2019. To sum this theory up in a couple of words:<\/p>\n

Acquisition is a subconcious process (think of effortless absorbtion) and learning is a concious process (think of working something out step by step). According to his beliefs, activities which are focused on meaning rather than form, for example reading or listening to \u2018comprehensible input\u2019, are far more effective in developing second language ability than any other method.<\/p>\n

In his talk he discusses reading for pleasure as a fundamentally important activity for language acquisition. The benefits he states are:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 improved reading skills<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 better writing skills<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 increased ability to handle complex grammar<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 increased vocabulary<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 better spelling<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

ELTPics @AriannaBasaric<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Reading<\/b><\/h2>\n

All those who commented on reading agreed with Krashen:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b>I always set readers (e.g. for a week) and we have a feedback sess in class. @FrancesEales<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve used the \u2018book box\u2019 too and extensive reading does indeed help@<\/b>Marisa_C<\/p>\n

@theteacherjames I try to encourage all my students to read as much as possible. Find out what they like, lend them books etc.<\/p>\n

Put newspapers in the kitchen and lounge and they are always reading them @David__Boughton<\/p>\n

@theteacherjames also provided us with a link to a set of\u00a0reading circle materials<\/a>\u00a0from OUP<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

But it is not a matter of just setting reading as homework. As\u00a0@<\/b>Marisa_C says<\/p>\n

may work if motivating pre-reading done in class to whet ss\u2019 appetite and stimulate curiosity<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In my experience, reading (and listening) for pleasure is fundamental to progress in language. For my young learners I let them choose from a selection of storybooks with audio and they listen to them for fun in the evenings. I never fail to be impressed at just how quickly these kids progress.<\/p>\n

I was greatly interested in what Krashen had to say about adults:<\/p>\n

\u201cgood readers are narrow readers they stick to one genre at a time, one author at a time and gradually extend it as they go\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve recently started taking Agatha Christie books along to my adult \u00a0business learners and am getting a lot of traction with them. Most adults here read them as children and now find them really enjoyable to read in English. One of my learners was enjoying her reading activity so much she literally could not put the book down, and here\u2019s the proof<\/p>\n

\"Agatha<\/a><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I\u2019m glad I did my extra homework, I\u2019m glad I clicked on all the links, and even though I handed my homework in late, I enjoyed doing it and it is nice to know that the great and the good of linguistics (Krashen et al) agree with ELTChat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who really engage with the L2 in and out of class will do better. We have no right to force people, but the obligation to encourage them.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u2019s more I\u2019m also glad I got carried away with my homework, I\u2019m glad I spent too much time watching presentations and clicking links to potential homework topics (I watched a\u00a0TV presenter<\/a>\u00a0having a type of stroke). In doing this I proved one of Krashen and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi\u2019s main theories\u00a0: that a person learns most when they are so absorbed in what they are doing that they forget why they are doing it. Some people call this \u2018flow\u2019: it felt like \u2018fun\u2019 to me.<\/p>\n

Further reading<\/strong><\/h2>\n

http:\/\/teflgeek.net\/2011\/03\/29\/help-with-homework\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.teachingenglish.org.uk\/articles\/homework<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/scottthornbury.wordpress.com\/2011\/04\/17\/guest-blog-h-is-for-homework\/<\/a>\u00a0-Guest post by Rob Haines in Oregon (USA)<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
About the Author<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

\"\"Carolyn Kerr –\u00a0@<\/s>KerrCarolyn<\/p>\n

View her blog here\u00a0amodisco.wordpress.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Sorry for handing my homework in late \u2026\u00a0? This post is a summary of an ELT Chat on the topic of homework which took place on December 12 2012 at 1300 CET. The chat participants: Made with wordle.net Having both suggested the topic and volunteered to write up the notes, I thought I\u2019d better…
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-summary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4926\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}