Linguistics
Reflective Essay: Skills for Life
(1303 Words)
Embedding Skills for Life in ESOL Teaching: A Reflective Perspective
Skills for Life, particularly literacy, numeracy, and information and communication technology (ICT), are increasingly recognised as essential components of education. These skills represent fundamental competencies that students require in order to participate effectively in learning, employment, and wider society. The importance of developing these skills was highlighted by the Moser Report, A Fresh Start (DfEE, 1999), which reported that approximately seven million adults in England had literacy skills below those expected of an 11-year-old. This concerning statistic emphasised the need for teachers to identify opportunities to embed literacy, numeracy, and ICT within their teaching rather than treating them as separate areas of learning.
This essay reflects on my experiences of embedding Skills for Life within my teaching practice. In particular, I consider how the principle of “learning by doing” can support learner engagement and motivation. Research has suggested that embedding key skills within vocational and subject-specific learning can contribute to increased learner motivation (Roberts et al., 2005). My own practice has been influenced by Gardner’s (1983) theory of Multiple Intelligences, which I explored through a research project examining the learning characteristics of students within an ESOL class. This experience encouraged me to consider how different teaching techniques could be used to accommodate learners’ individual characteristics while simultaneously developing their language and literacy skills.
Multiple Intelligences and Learner-Centred Practice
Gardner’s (1983) theory of Multiple Intelligences proposes that individuals possess different forms of intelligence and may demonstrate strengths in different areas. For example, some learners may respond particularly well to physical and practical activities associated with bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence, whereas others may benefit from visual materials associated with visual-spatial intelligence. Although the theory has been subject to academic debate, it provided a useful framework for me to reflect upon the diversity of learning preferences and approaches within my ESOL classroom.
In an ESOL context, language and literacy development are fundamental. However, I found that these skills could be developed more effectively when incorporated into learner-centred and active-learning activities. Such approaches encouraged students to remain engaged with the task while continuing to use English for meaningful communication.
For example, I provided each student with a picture of a famous person accompanied by a short piece of biographical information. Students were also given grammatically structured questions and answers which they used to interview one another about their assigned person. This activity incorporated verbal-linguistic skills while providing students with a meaningful opportunity to practise spoken English. In a higher-level class, I extended the activity by asking students to obtain their information independently from the internet, thereby incorporating ICT skills alongside literacy and language development.
Initially, students were required to read the information and identify answers to a series of questions. They then worked with other students to ask and answer questions about their famous person, including where the person was from, their age, and an interesting fact about them. I subsequently collected the pictures and divided the students into groups. Each group had to ask questions and use the available information to determine which famous person I was thinking of. The activity was structured as a game-show-style competition, with the group that identified the correct person first declared the winner.
Although the activity was designed to be enjoyable, it also provided a structured opportunity for language development. I guided students towards producing complete questions and answers and supported the discussions taking place within the groups. In this respect, the activity demonstrated how literacy and language development can be embedded within an engaging and collaborative learning environment. It also reflected the principles identified within LLUK Standard BS1, which emphasises the importance of maintaining “an inclusive, equitable and motivating learning environment”. The competitive element, combined with interest and challenge, encouraged participation while ensuring that the development of English language and literacy remained central to the lesson.
Embedding Numeracy within ESOL
My experience of embedding numeracy within ESOL teaching provided another opportunity to develop key skills through practical and contextualised learning. On one occasion, I was teaching a class about nouns. I initially organised an outdoor activity in which students worked in groups to identify and describe objects in their surroundings. The activity took the form of a treasure hunt and encouraged students to interact with their environment while developing their vocabulary. Following the activity, students wrote descriptions of the objects they had found and presented their findings to the class. This provided a progression from identifying concrete objects to using nouns in more meaningful linguistic contexts.
I subsequently developed this activity around the theme of shopping. I wanted students to become familiar with prices and the language associated with purchasing goods. I therefore collected newspapers, magazines, and door-to-door advertising flyers containing a combination of written information, images, and numerical data. Students were asked to examine the materials, read the information, and select eight objects. They then cut out the relevant images and attached them to a large sheet of paper. This incorporated a practical, bodily-kinaesthetic element into the activity while simultaneously requiring students to engage with written language.
The prices of the selected products were deliberately omitted. Students were required to write descriptions of their chosen objects in preparation for a subsequent selling activity. On some occasions, I adapted the activity by using computers and asking students to create their own catalogues. This variation also provided an opportunity to embed ICT skills while reducing the practical preparation and clearing-up associated with the paper-based activity.
Once the catalogues or displays had been completed, students worked in groups to estimate the prices of the products selected by other groups. The activity developed both spoken English and numeracy because students had to discuss possible prices, justify their estimates, and communicate their decisions to their peers. I structured the activity as a version of The Price Is Right, explaining that students could not guess above the actual price of the item. The student or group whose estimate was closest to the actual price was declared the winner.
This activity demonstrated how numeracy can be embedded naturally within an ESOL lesson rather than taught as an isolated skill. Students were required to interpret numerical information, estimate values, compare prices, and determine whether their answers were higher or lower than the actual price. At the same time, they were developing vocabulary, sentence construction, listening, speaking, and collaborative skills. The competitive and practical nature of the activity also appeared to increase student engagement, demonstrating the potential value of contextualising essential skills within meaningful activities.
Reflection and Continuing Professional Development
In conclusion, this reflective discussion has demonstrated how my exploration of Gardner’s (1983) theory of Multiple Intelligences contributed to my understanding of learner diversity and informed my approach to embedding key skills within ESOL teaching. This work formed part of my ongoing continuing professional development (CPD) and encouraged me to reflect critically on how different teaching approaches could respond to individual learners’ needs.
My experiences have reinforced my belief that literacy, numeracy, and ICT should not necessarily be treated as additional or separate components of an ESOL curriculum. Instead, they can be incorporated naturally into meaningful learning activities. Literacy can be developed through reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities, while numeracy can be embedded through practical contexts such as telling the time, handling money, comparing prices, and purchasing goods. Similarly, ICT can be incorporated through research activities, collaborative projects, and the creation of digital resources.
Embedding these skills within ESOL teaching can therefore provide learners with opportunities to develop several competencies simultaneously. It also enables learning to become more relevant to students’ everyday lives and encourages active participation. Most importantly, my experience has reinforced the importance of “discovering, respecting, and meeting individual needs” (FENTO, 1999). Through reflection and continuing professional development, I aim to ensure that my teaching remains inclusive, learner-centred, and responsive to the diverse needs of students.
References
Further Education National Training Organisation (FENTO, 1999)
Moser, C. (1999), A Fresh Start. London: DfEE. Retrieved on 15 June 2008 from http://www.lifelonglearning.co.uk/mosergroup/
Roberts, C., Baynham, M., Shrubshall, P., Brittan, J., Cooper, B., Gidley, N., Windsor,
V., Eldred, J., Grief, S., Castillino, C. and Walsh, M. (2005), Embedded teaching and learning of adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL: Seven case studies. London: National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy.
Vocabulary building in young learners
(933 Words)
For this writing task, I was asked to give my response to 5 statements about how young learners can help build their vocabulary. I will answer true or false statements 1- 5 and explain why.
1. In a young child, a single word may constitute a considerable degree of meaning.
Is this True or False?
2. Words categories and concepts normally exist in isolation from each other.
Is this True or False?
3. Vocabulary development comprises at least three stages.
Is this True or False?
4. All languages have the same relationship between time and tense.
Is this True or False?
5. Where possible we should draw upon as many of the senses as possible when teaching vocabulary.
Is this True or False?
1. In a young child, a single word may constitute a considerable degree of meaning. T/F
This is true. The ability to use words is partly tied to the young child’s ongoing cognitive development, so the use of words will have a degree of meaning. Thus, for a child, a word stands for a concept, but that concept is open to interpretation in that they select a category of relatively similar objects and apply the lexical item throughout. A child can learn the word dog or as a young child puts it ‘doggy’. This refers to a four-legged animal. This word can exist for any type of dog either big or small or type of breed. For example, a dog may refer to beagles and scotties, but not to poodles. This aspect of children’s thought associates a word with an object, but they may then, in the future, use that word to describe a number of other similar objects in their environment. The child can also use the word ‘doggy to mean ‘there is a dog’ Notwithstanding, it can mean ‘come here’ said with a rising tone. Young children tend to utilise rising intonation to signal yes-no questions.
2. Words categories and concepts normally exist in isolation from each other. T/F
This is false. Words do not live in isolation, individual words can be categorised in many ways that remove the word from the original meaning or at least a child’s only idea of the meaning. The word ‘game’ can be attached to words such as card (game), ball (game), Olympic (games), and also football (game). As such the Olympic Games conjure up thoughts of many competitors from around the world competing together, although a ball game can involve one person banging a ball against a wall. This looks at two ends of the game spectrum. Winning the Olympic Games has men and women getting gold medals; the ball game respectively has no winner or loser. Furthermore, the game of poker has skills of a different kind compared to kicking a football around the football pitch as well as less physical energy.
3. Vocabulary development comprises of at least three stages. T/F
This is true. Word learning is the product of a set of cognitive and linguistic stages that include the ability to acquire concepts, an appreciation of syntactic cues to meaning, and a rich understanding of the mental states of other people. These capacities are powerful and early emerging. Firstly the child must make sense of new vocabulary. When words are first met by young learners, there are concepts that are given labels in English and may be new to the child, or only partially developed. The teacher or parent may not be merely teaching vocabulary, but teaching concepts. The labels and concepts need to be incorporated into schemas that already exist. The child has to learn this new vocabulary. Learning and retaining new vocabulary is made easier by grouping words together into families. While learning all this new vocabulary the child has to retain and recall this vocabulary for the various situation they will find themselves in. The single most effective way of helping students build vocabulary is by increasing the amount that they read. The child revisits the groups of words; adding to them and reorganising them provide ways of giving learners both the repetition and the development that is needed as they grow into English through the primary years and stages.
4. All languages have the same relationship between time and tense. T/F
This is false. Various countries of different lexis in different parts of the world that have relatively little contact with each other, will have experienced a different environment. Each country will invent words for the things in its environment that matter to it, and naturally, they find words for different things in their country. England has four seasons, other countries have three. Some countries are dark for many months. Learners from different countries don’t have some words in their vocabulary because they have never encountered such aspects of life. Basically, the learners have to develop categories and concepts for the new words they encounter. For this situation, when children encounter new words teachers need to provide support for understanding. New vocabulary needs to be presented in a context that helps the child understand the meanings and associations that help explain time and tense.
5. Where possible we should draw upon as many of the senses as possible when teaching vocabulary. T/F
This is true. Children learn words by seeing, feeling, tasting, listening, enjoying, and experiencing. These various means at a teacher’s disposal bring the reality of words to the fore. For example, a child can know the word ‘apple’ but this does not show the learner every aspect of the object. They can learn that it is a fruit and other fruits are in the same family. They can see pictures of apples so they see the shapes and colours. They can eat an apple then they know the taste and feel. Is it soft? Is it hard? It can be shown that the apple starts going rotten after a while, but it is also good for your health before going rotten. An apple pie can be cooked for the child to show how apples can be used. Granny Smith apples come from England. Other apples come from other countries. They can go on a field trip and see apples growing. The child realizes they grow in trees. They can go shopping at a supermarket and buy apples. They can be shown they are bought in weight.
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Sounds in Language
Words are made up of units of sound. English can be very distinct from other languages by the way the mouth is used to articulate a word. A speaker of English can distinguish between a B and T in words such as ‘den’ and ‘ten’. They can also hear the vowels in words such as ‘pat’ or ‘pen’. These two previous words would be examples of using vowels in English, but English has words like ‘dead’ or ‘dared’ which include vowels sounds but not in the general sense of the vowel sound rules AEIO and U. The units of sound are now put into categories as short vowels or long vowels.
The words sounds and slices can be used to describe how a word such as ‘pat’ includes three sounds; the ‘P’ sound then ‘A’ and ‘T’. This word is then a slice of a sentence. The main factor is that a phrase with the words ‘those three oranges’ highlights where successive vowels and consonants can be heard with some with higher stresses on them.
Moreover, attention can be drawn to the use of the mouth and tongue when enunciating any word. English speakers have a distinct use of the mouth that enables them to say their vowels and consonants in words. There are sound differences even within English, but there are further differences if a native speaker wanted to learn Italian. Using an Italian word such as ‘babbo’ for daddy, the English person would say it in a normal English speaking way, but as with the Italian language, the vocal cords begin to vibrate before the mouth is opened. The crossover of languages shows the use of the same letter sounds which can be easily heard as other letters by other speakers of another language.
One final aspect of language is the movement of the lips and the posture of the tongue. Phrases like ‘three cleans’ or ‘two clues’ draw attention to the use of the lips and tongue. There is certain timing for both which is in the mouth position when carrying over from word to word or syllable to syllable. This shows the main crux of language when talking about sound units; we are looking at the way the speaker constructs a voice utterance.
(372 Words)
A linguistics class reflection
(1102 Words)
Six days of attending linguistic lectures spread over three weeks can not be a major amount of time to achieve a solid and complete knowledge of linguistics, but all the same, this essay will try to establish how I accomplished a relative level of understanding through my studies. I tried hard to combine items raised in these lectures, my classmates’ comments, further reading away from the class, and clarity added by my focus group. I will try to highlight some of the points that stuck in my mind regarding linguistics while giving a little insight into the further ideas into the subject.
To begin with, would be to give my general view of linguistics. So, as I researched I found that linguistics is the study of human languages, where within this the science examines not only the structure of language but also its use and the structure in the mind. A layman may think that a linguist, the person who is skilled in linguistics, only looks at rules and grammar, but it is so much more than this. The subject takes in such fields as humanity, science, society, philosophy and literary criticism. Language is not as routine as some may think, and it is astonishing to think that language came from one source which spread across the world to create 6000 more. A learner of linguistics then would be amazed how many branches of linguistics have been created. So, without language where would we be?
My first recognisable factor about the classes was the highlighting of daily use of language which has to be the main dynamic in anyone’s scaffolding of knowledge. The more any speaker uses it, the more they will be able to use their fresh available knowledge of language. The lecturer actually mentioned that reading and writing inspire to make you more creative with your writing and speaking. This, I found to be a sensible choice to further one’s linguistic knowledge. The path that I followed on this course was not the one that I thought and as such I would like to draw attention to some of the further points.
I feel my reading has taken in many factors and has shown me that linguistics is a broad church. I was asked yesterday where the word ‘Santa Claus’ came from, and then I remembered I read about it in a book called the Power of Babel by John McWhorter who is famous for studying creoles. In it, he spoke about how it was a Dutch word, Sinterklaas, where immigrants coming to America and following their tradition they spoke about it and Americans misheard the word to be Santa Claus. This field of study in linguistics is actually called ‘Etymology’ where it recognises the origins of words and sees how they have changed over time. I actually picked up the Power of Babel book because I had read one of my group’s summaries from the book ‘Introduction to Linguistics’.
Moreover, the chapter in the Introduction to Linguistics book spoke about how words have changed through time. They called it variation; this means that languages take on their own route. English people especially in the northern region took the word ‘butter’ and pronounced it with the ‘er’. Other regions say ‘butta’ but other words are not so easy to understand such as ‘Owt and Nowt’. For me, this course has highlighted that linguistics is not just about grammar. Language takes on its own form and even one language like English below the surface lies a myriad of factors that are distinguished by linguists. For example, I read that language which was described by Ronald Langacker who is a founder of the field of cognitive linguistics, makes three fundamental assumptions: ‘that language is symbolic in nature that a linguistic community creates linguistic conventions, and that grammar is a speaker’s knowledge of linguistic conventions’. So, this gave me a better insight into the linguistic community creating the language and grammar. The speaker uses sentences that are built by selecting appropriate words from their vast lexicon that are learnt from his local language community.
Furthermore, if we are to talk about language communities, I can think back to watching the movie Sense and Sensibility in one class. The students were faced with sociolinguistics and the use of language around 1800 in England. A pioneering sociolinguist was William Labov who recognised the value of society, cultural norms and expectations on language. As for the film, it has a language of propriety of upper-class England. What people say and what they mean can be of different meanings. People had to behave properly and women were kept in place. There is a great scene where the daughter of the deceased father has to move to another residence where the owner speaks his mind to the disgust of the quiet and proper sisters. The movie certainly purports this as the characters are higher social standing and speak rather eloquently.
In addition, for this class to I had to look up the meaning of some of the branches of linguistics and as such, I read up about sociolinguistics. I recognised that language is seen as being used in a social context and isn’t this thing that is external to human beings but something that makes who we are. We could also add the branch of linguistics called Historical Linguistics which actually started around the same time as Jane Austin wrote her book. This field of study grew philology which is the study of ancient texts and documents. Not all fields of linguistics started that long ago. While studying this class, the name Noam Chomsky was mentioned a few times. He is an American linguist among other positions. In the 1950s, his branch of linguistics was generative grammar which is a particular approach to syntax. He came up with ‘universal grammar’ which highlights innate properties in the brain. This means that any person born to parents from one background (i.e. China) can easily be brought up to speak another language if they were immersed in another country (i.e. America) from an early age which means that the brain is programmed to accept speech at any level. This idea went against the behavioural idea that BF Skinner proposed.
To conclude, I have deepened my knowledge of linguistics and found that language works in many ways. It is interesting to see the use of English that has spread over the world and the variety of new words added. I think the main factor when studying linguistics is to take it on how it is used, not how it should be used, because maybe there is no clear right or wrong way. What matters is meaning.
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The Study of Linguistics – A reflection
(964 words)
My initial thought would be to give my general view of linguistics. Therefore, linguistics is the study of human languages where within this the science examines not only the structure of language but also its use and the structure in the mind. A layman may think that a linguist, the person who is skilled in linguistics, only looks at rules and grammar but it is so much more than this. The subject takes in such fields as humanity, science, society, philosophy, and literary criticism. Language is not as routine as some may think and it is astonishing to think that language came from one source which spread across the world to create 6000 more. A learner of linguistics then would be amazed how many branches of linguistics have been created. Without language where would we be?
The first recognizable factor, I found, was the highlighting of daily use of language which has to be the main dynamic in anyone’s scaffolding of knowledge. The more any speaker uses it, the more they will be able to use their fresh available knowledge of language. Reading and writing inspire to make people more creative with their writing and speaking. This is a sensible choice to further anyone’s linguistic knowledge. This would seem straightforward. However, the path that I followed was not the one that I thought and as such, I would like to draw attention to some further points.
I felt my reading took in many factors and showed me that linguistics is a broad church. I was asked where the word ‘Santa Claus’ came from and then I remembered I read about it in a book called The Power of Babel by John McWhorter who is famous for studying creoles. In it, he speaks about how it was a Dutch word that was spoken by immigrants coming to America and following their tradition they spoke about it and Americans misheard the word to be Santa Claus. This field of study in linguistics is actually called ‘Etymology’ where it recognizes the origins of words and sees how they have changed over time. I actually picked up my old copy of The Power of Babel book because I was reading a book called Introduction to Linguistics.
One chapter in the Introduction to Linguistics book spoke about how words have changed through time. They called it variation; this means that languages take on their own route. English people especially in the northern region took the word ‘butter’ and pronounced it with the ‘er’. For me, linguistics is not just about words. Language takes on its own form and even one language like English below the surface lies a myriad of factors that are distinguished by linguists. For example, I read that language which was described by Ronald Langacker who is a founder of the field of ‘cognitive linguistics’, makes three fundamental assumptions: ‘that language is symbolic in nature, that a linguistic community creates linguistic conventions, and that grammar is a speaker’s knowledge of linguistic conventions’. This gave me a better insight into the linguistic community creating the language and grammar. The speaker uses sentences that are built by selecting appropriate words from their vast lexicon that are learnt from his local language community.
Furthermore, if we are to talk about language communities, I can think back to watching the movie Sense and Sensibility. I was faced with sociolinguistics and the use of language around 1800 in England. The pioneering sociolinguist, William Labov, recognized the value of society, cultural norms, and expectation on language. As for the film, it has a language of propriety of upper-class England. What people say and what they mean can be of different meanings. People had to behave properly and women were kept in place. There is a great scene where the daughter of the deceased father has to move to another residence where the owner speaks his mind to the disgust of the quiet and proper sisters. The movie certainly purports this as the characters are of higher social standing and speak rather eloquently.
In addition, I looked up the meaning of some of the branches of linguistics and as such, I read more about sociolinguistics. I recognised that language is seen as being used in a social context and is not this thing that is external to human beings but something that makes us who we are. We could also add the branch of linguistics called ‘historical linguistics’ which actually started around the same time as Jane Austin wrote her book. This field of study grew of philology which is the study of ancient texts and documents. Not all fields of linguistics started that long ago. The name Noam Chomsky was mentioned a few times. He is an American linguist among other positions. In the 1950s, his branch of linguistics was ‘generative grammar’ which is a particular approach to syntax. He came up with ‘universal grammar’ which highlights innate properties in the brain. This means that any person born to parents from one background (i.e. China) can easily be brought up to speak another language if they were immersed into another country (i.e. America) from an early age which means that the brain is programmed to accept speech at any level. This idea went against the behavioural idea that B.F. Skinner proposed.
In this reflection, my knowledge of linguistics took many paths and found that language works in many ways. It is interesting to see the use of language that has spread over the world and the variety of new words added. I think the main factor when studying linguistics is to take it on how it is used, not how it should be used because maybe there is no clear right or wrong way; what matters is meaning.
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