A very hard work tiring me before the proposal exam is to review books or summarized the books used as references on my thesis then submitted them to the consultant commissions to test mastering of all materials, while I still have many assignments to do. Some of the books that I have review or summary can be viewed below:
A COURSE IN LANGUAGE TEACHING
Practice and Theory
By: Penny Ur
Cambridge University Press, 1996
The book contains of important new course provides a comprehensive basic introduction to teaching languages, for use in pre-service or early experience settings. It can be used by groups of teachers working with a trainer, or as a self-study resource. It consists of modules on key topics, arranged into sections covering: The Teaching Process, Teaching the Language, Course Content, Lessons, and Learner Differences. Modules can be used in sequence, or selectively. Each module presents practical and theoretical aspects of the topic, with tasks. Suggestions for classroom observation and practice, action research projects and further reading are included. Notes for the trainer with stimulating insights from the author’s personal experience complete the course.
The main part of this book is divided into 22 modules, each devoted to an aspect of language teaching (foe example ‘grammar’, or ‘the syllabuses). At the end of most modules is a set of notes, giving further information or comments on the tasks. Also attached to each module is a section entitled Further Reading, which is a selected and annotated bibliography of books and articles relevant to the topic.
The modules are grouped into seven parts, each focusing on a central aspect on theme of foreign language teaching. Each part has a short introduction defining its theme and clarifying the underlying concepts. Each module is composed of several separate units: these again are free standing, and may be used independently of one another.
Part 1 consists of 3 modules. Module 1 contains effective presentation not only to the kind of limited and controlled modeling of a target item that we do when we introduce a new word pr grammatical structure, but also to the initial encounter with comprehensible input in the form of spoken and written text, as well as various kind of explanations, instructions and discussion of new language items or tasks. It consists also example of presentation procedure, and explanation and instruction. Module 2 discuss about practice activities, the function of practice, characteristic of good practice activities and technique, and progressing in practice. Module 3 consists of tests, what are test for?, basic concept of test, types of test, designing a test, and test administration.
Part 2 consists of 4 modules. Module 4 explain about teaching pronunciation, what does teaching pronunciation involve, listening to accents, improving learners’ pronunciation, further topic for discussion, pronunciation and spelling. Module 5 contain of teaching vocabulary, what is vocabulary and what needs to be taught, presenting new vocabularies, remembering vocabularies, idea for vocabulary work in the classroom, and testing vocabulary. Module 6 consists of teaching grammar, what is grammar, the place of grammar teaching, grammatical terms, presenting and explain grammar, grammar practice activities, and grammatical mistakes. Module 7 consists of topics, situations, notions, functions, what are notion and functions, teaching chunks of language; from text to task, teaching chunks of language; from task to text, and combining different kinds of language segments.
Part 3 consist of 4 modules. Module 8 explain about teaching listening, what does real-life listening involve, real-life listening in the classroom, learner problems, types of activities, and adapting activities. Module 9 discuss about teaching speaking, successful oral fluency practice that we have organized as teacher (learners talk a lot, participation is even, motivation is high, language is of and acceptable level), because there were problems faced by learners in speaking activities (inhabitation, nothing to say, low or uneven participation, mother tongue use. To overcome each of the problems, the writer suggested some ideas; (use group work, base the activity on easy language, make a careful choice of topic and task to stimulate interest, give some instruction or training in discussion skills, keep students speaking the target language. This unit also looks at some key components that make for successful oral fluency activities on the function of topic and task also discussion activities suitable for various levels (classroom-or peer-teaching) and some kinds of other spoken interaction. It was suggested in one of the extract quoted that the learners can experience in the classroom is the use of what is called ‘role play’. Role play is used to refer to all sorts of activities where learners imagine themselves in a situation outside the classroom. The last unit is about oral testing to test oral proficiency of learners we may simply interview them and assess their responses; or use other techniques like role play, group discussion between learners, monologue, and picture description and so on.Module 10 is about teaching reading, how we read, beginning reading, types of reading activities, improving reading skills, and advance reading. Module 11 consists of teaching writing, written versus spoken text. This unit studies some of these differences and their implication for teaching, then the writer explain about teaching procedures, task that stimulate writing, the process of composition, and giving feedback in writing.
Part 4 consists of 4 modules. Module 12 is about the syllabus, what is syllabus, different types of language syllabus, and using of syllabus. Module 13 explains about how necessary a coursebook, coursebook assessment, using a coursebook, supplementary materials, and teacher made worksheet and work cards. Module 14 discusses about different kind of content, underlying messages, literature 1; should it be included in the course, literature 2; teaching ideas, literature 3; teaching a specific text.
Part 5 consists of 4 modules. Module 15 is about lesson plan, what does a lesson involve, lesson preparation, varying lesson components, evaluating lesson effectiveness, and practical lesson management. Module 16 discusses classroom interaction, questioning, group work, individualization, and the selection of appropriate activation techniques.Module 17 is about giving feedback, different approaches to the nature and function of feedback, assessment, correcting mistakes in oral work, written feedback, and clarifying personal attitudes. Module 18 consists of classroom discipline, what is discipline, what does disciplined classroom look like, what teacher action is conductive to a disciplined classroom, dealing with discipline problems, and disciplines problems; episode.
Part 6 about learner differences, it consists of 3 modules. Module 19 explains about learner motivation and interest, motivation; some background thinking, the teacher’s responsibility, extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation and interest, and fluctuation in learner interest. Module 20 discusses about younger and older learners, what difference does age make to language learning, teaching children, teaching adolescents; students’ preferences, teaching adults; a different relationship. Module 21 contains of large heterogeneous classes, defining terms, problems and advantages, teaching strategies (1); compulsory + optional, teaching strategies (2); open-ending, and designing your own activities.
Part 7 is and beyond consists of 1 module. Module 22 explains about teacher development; practice, reflection, sharing, teacher appraisal, advancing further intake and output.
The collection of topics on which the modules are based is necessarily selective; it is based on those that furnish the basis for the writer own (pre-service) teacher-training programme, and which seems to him the most important and useful. The last module of the book includes recommendations for further study, with suggested reading.
WRITING ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTS (New Edition)
By: J. B. Heaton
Longman Group UK Limited, 1988
This book discusses about Language tests, among them are writing. Throughout Writing English Language Tests, the functions of testing as a tool for reinforcement and motivation are highlighted and testing is considered as the provider of efficient teaching process. As a study in the ‘Longman Handbooks for Language Teachers’ series, this book comprises eleven chapters; six of which deal with how to test different skills in language learning and provide examples which will be useful in testing those particular skills. The other five chapters deal with factors that should be taken into account in designing an effective testing procedure, such as scoring tests, types of tests, and interpreting test results.
Before discussing how to test different language skills, in chapter 1, Introduction to language testing, Heaton offers a rationale for testing. He discusses the relationship between testing and teaching to highlight the role of testing as a tool for ascertaining the efficiency of the teaching process. In providing different kinds of tests for different language skills, he summarizes the characteristics of the four language skills and offers some test forms for assessing each of these skills. He seeks to answer the questions, ‘Why test?’ and ‘what should be tested and to what extent?’
In Chapter 2, Approaches to language testing, the author classifies language testing according to four main approaches, listed in chronological order as (1) the essay-translation approach; (2) the structuralize approach; (3) the integrative approach; and (4) the communicative approach. After summarizing the functions of these four approaches, he emphasizes the importance of “maintaining ideas and goals by trying to devise a test which is as valid and reliable as possible –and which has a useful backwash effect on the teaching and learning leading to the test”. In brief, the role of teacher as the provider is highlighted as the objective of assessment.
The chapter 3, which concerns the scoring of tests, focuses on the difference between subjective and objective testing. These two types of testing, which are defined by Hughes (2003) as the distinction between methods of scoring regarding the subjectivity or objectivity of the judgment, are explained in detail with reference to multiple-choice techniques. Heaton illustrates instances of each type of testing by comparing their advantages and disadvantages. However, he focuses only on the multiple-choice test as an example of an objective test and does not refer to other types of objective testing such as matching questions or true-false questions. The components of multiple-item tests – stem, options, and distracters – are explained in detail with reference to their functions. Different examples are presented in describing the different types of each item, for example; the stem as a complete or an incomplete statement, or as a question. He also explains some techniques which might not be found meaningful by the students when applied to a multiple-choice test, such as writing the correct option in blanks, writing the correct letter of the correct option in the blank or in box, and underlying the correct option.
The following three chapters (4, 5, and 6), different types of test techniques are explained in detail by giving specific examples of each. Tests of grammar and usage, testing vocabulary, listening comprehension tests are discussed in separate chapters. For each unit, a brief rationale is presented initially to explain why to test each different skill. After that, the different types of tests which may be helpful in assessing that skill are provided. In doing so, the author exemplifies each type of testing and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each, which will guide teachers in deciding which technique to apply. However, most of the items that are presented in these chapters are based on multiple-choice items in which students are solely expected to recognize the correct answer among distracters. Learning a language does not necessarily mean recognizing correct forms but in producing them in different situations appropriately. Therefore, it would be better to exemplify recall items which measures the students’ ability to apply functional understanding to produce language, such as comprehension questions, rewriting, summarizing, etc.
In Chapter 7 where I will be focus on it is explained in detail by giving specific example of each. He discussed about some difficulties in testing the speaking skills. However, at all stage beyond, the elementary levels of mimicry and repetition it is an extremely difficult skill to test, as it is far to complex skill to permit any reliable analysis to be made for the purpose of objective testing. This chapter gave the idea of the range of possible types of oral test. An extremely good test is the oral interview. In many present day, oral test include a test of reading aloud in which the student is given a short time to glance an extract before being require to read it aloud. Beside this test, there is another test namely conversational exchange. This chapter also provide many examples of test and how to rate the students speaking skill in accuracy, fluency, and comprehensibility.
In Chapters 8 & 9, testing reading comprehension and writing skills are discussed in separate chapters. For each unit, a brief rationale is presented initially to explain why to test each different skill. After that, the different types of tests which may be helpful in assessing that skill are provided.
Chapter 10, Criteria and Types of Tests, discusses the principles that determine efficient tests. Here, the starting point of an efficient test is regarded as validity, which is “the extent to which the information you collect actually reflects the characteristics or attribute you want to know about” (Genesee and Upshur 1996). After defining different types of validity such as face, content, construct, and empirical validity, Heaton clarifies the features of validity and reliability by referring to the distinction between an achievement test and a proficiency test. In distinguishing these two tests, the author asserts that “an achievement test might well exclude factors such as personality while a proficiency test or public examination might consider such factors as important in evaluating oral ability in the target language”. Therefore, he claims that the validity of a test should be determined in accordance with the objective of the test. Additionally, in explaining the relationship between reliability and validity, Heaton provides a thorough explanation with reference to the difference between objective and subjective tests. After clarifying the distinction between these two tests, he claims that the high reliability of a test can influence the validity of it in a negative way since “real-life tasks contained productive tests such as the oral interview, role-play, letter writing, etc. may have been given high construct and face validity at the expense of reliability”. Therefore, as the author suggests, it is much more difficult to increase the validity of a test known to be reliable. In so doing, “it is essential to devise a valid test first of all and then to establish ways of increasing its reliability”. After discussing the features of reliability and validity, Heaton explains the importance of discrimination and administration of a test. He focuses on the practicality of a test on behalf of the participants by referring to the importance of setting a suitable length of time and providing clear test instructions. In this chapter, he also mentions the backwash effect and characteristics of different types of tests such as achievement tests, proficiency tests, aptitude tests, and diagnostic tests.
In Chapter 11, Heaton deals with How to interpret test scores, which is considered the final step in the testing process. Although this final step may affect the whole testing process considerably, the author does not mention the significant role of interpretation. Genesee and Upshur (1996), for instance, discuss the factors affecting test score interpretation by highlighting the relationship between interpretation and test construction. In this chapter, Heaton presents an overview of frequency distribution, measures of central tendency, and dispersion and item analysis. He gives specific examples of each to clarify the functions of differing modes of interpretation. He also highlights the importance of ‘moderating’ a test since “it is simply impossible for any single individual to construct good test items without help from another person”.
Finally, to arrive at a correct interpretation of language testing, all language teachers should take time to read this book. It attempts to facilitate teachers of English in providing an effective testing process. It also presents detailed guidance on writing, administering, and scoring test questions. In doing so, this book provides various lucid test samples for the different skills of language learning that will guide teachers in planning their testing. Therefore, teachers of English should consider this book as a handbook which presents them with various types of test for assessing different skills. Teachers can easily find types of testing relevant to their teaching procedure, and in doing so, provide a much more effective teaching process for their learners in which the learners are expected not only to fill-in-the blanks accurately, but also to think critically by analyzing problems and using different skills to solve those problems.
TEACHING LISTENING AND SPEAKING
(From Theory to Practice)
Jack C. Richards
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2008
Courses in listening and speaking skills have a prominent place in language programs around the world today. Ever-growing needs for fluency in English around the world because of the role of English as the world’s international language have given priority to finding more effective ways to teach English. Our understanding of the nature of listening and speaking has undergone considerable changes in recent years, and in this booklet, Richard wants to explore some of those changes and their implications for classroom teaching and materials design.
Approaches to the teaching of speaking in ELT have been more strongly influenced by fads and fashions than the teaching of listening. “Speaking” in traditional methodologies usually meant repeating after the teacher, memorizing a dialog, or responding to drills, all of which reflect the sentence-based view of proficiency prevailing in the audio-lingual and other drill-based or repetition based methodologies of the 1970s. The emergence of communicative language teaching in the 1980s led to changed views of syllabuses and methodology, which are continuing to shape approaches to teaching speaking skills today.
This booklet explores approaches to the teaching of listening and speaking in light of the kinds of issues discussed in the preceding paragraphs. Richard goal is to examine what applied linguistics research and theory says about the nature of listening and speaking skills, and then to explore what the implications are for classroom teaching. We will begin with examining the teaching of listening.
Part 1 is the teaching of listening that will be considered from two different perspectives; listening as comprehension and listening as acquisition. Listening as comprehension is the traditional way of thinking about the nature of listening. Indeed, in most methodology manuals listening and listening comprehension are synonymous. This view of listening is based on the assumption that the main function of listening in second language learning is to facilitate understanding of spoken discourse. Spoken discourse has very different characteristics from written discourse, and these differences can add a number of dimensions to our understanding of how we process speech. For example, spoken discourse is usually instantaneous. The listener must process it “online” and there is often no chance to listen to it again.
Two different kinds of processes are involved in understanding spoken discourse. These are often referred to as bottom-up and top-down processing. Bottom-up processing refers to using the incoming input as the basis for understanding the message. Comprehension begins with the received data that is analyzed as successive levels of organization – sounds, words, clauses, sentences, texts – until meaning is derived. Comprehension is viewed as a process of decoding. Learners need a large vocabulary and a good working knowledge of sentence structure to process texts bottom-up. Many traditional classroom listening activities focus primarily on bottom-up processing, with exercises such as dictation, cloze listening, and the use of multiple choice questions after a text, and similar activities that require close and detailed recognition, and processing of the input. They assume that everything the listener needs to understand is contained in the input.
Top-down processing, on the other hand, refers to the use of background knowledge in understanding the meaning of a message. Whereas bottom-up processing goes from language to meaning, top-down processing goes from meaning to language. The background knowledge required for top-down processing may be previous knowledge about the topic of discourse, situational or contextual knowledge, or knowledge in the form of “schemata” or “scripts” –plans about the overall structure of events and the relationships between them.
Successful listening can also be looked at in terms of the strategies the listener uses when listening. Does the learner focus mainly on the content of a text, or does he or she also consider how to listen? A focus on how to listen raises the issues of listening strategies. Strategies can be thought of as the ways in which a learner approaches and manages a task, and listeners can be taught effective ways of approaching and managing their listening.
Part 2 is the teaching of speaking skills in English is a priority for many second-language or foreign-language learners. Oral skills have hardly been neglected in EFL/ESL courses (witness the huge number of conversation and other speaking course books in the market), though how best to approach the teaching of oral skills has long been the focus of methodological debate. Advances in discourse analysis, conversational analysis, and corpus analysis in recent years have revealed a great deal about the nature of spoken discourse and how it differs from written discourse (McCarthy and Carter, 1997). These differences reflect the different purposes for which spoken and written language are used. A marked feature of conversational discourse is the use of fixed expressions, or “routines,” that often have specific functions in conversation and give conversational discourse the quality of naturalness.
An important dimension of conversation is using a style of speaking that is appropriate to the particular circumstances. Different styles of speaking reflect the roles, age, sex, and status of participants in interactions and also reflect the expression of politeness. Different speech styles reflect perceptions of the social roles of the participants in a speech event.
Numerous attempts have been made to classify the functions of speaking in human interaction. Brown and Yule (1983) made a useful distinction between the interactional functions of speaking, in which it serves to establish and maintain social relations, and the transactional functions, which focus on the exchange of information. In workshops with teachers and in designing my own materials, I use an expanded three-part version of Brown and Yule’s framework (after Jones, 1996, and Burns, 1998): talk as interaction; talk as transaction; talk as performance. Each of these speech activities is quite distinct in terms of form and function and requires different teaching approaches.
Talk as interaction refers to what we normally mean by “conversation” and describes interaction that serves a primarily social function. When people meet, they exchange greetings, engage in small talk, recount recent experiences, and so, on because they wish to be friendly and to establish a comfortable zone of interaction with others. Talk as transaction refers to situations where the focus is on what is said or done. The message and making oneself understood clearly and accurately is the central focus, rather than the participants and how they interact socially with each other. The third type of talk that can usefully be distinguished has been called talk as performance. This refers to public talk, that is, talk that transmits information before an audience, such as classroom presentations, public announcements, and speeches.
Three core issues need to be addressed in planning speaking activities for an English class. The first is to determine what kinds of speaking skills the class will focus on. Is it all three of the genres described in the preceding section, or will some receive greater attention than others? Informal needs analysis is the starting point here. Procedures for determining needs include observation of learners carrying out different kinds of communicative tasks, questionnaires, interviews, and diagnostic testing (e.g., Tsang and Wong 2002).
The third issue involved in planning speaking activities is determining the expected level of performance on a speaking task and the criteria that will be used to assess student performance. For any activity we use in class, whether it is one that seeks to develop proficiency in using talk as interaction, transaction, or performance, we need to consider what successful completion of the activity involves. Is accuracy of pronunciation and grammar important? Is each participant expected to speak for about the same amount of time? Is it acceptable if a speaker uses many long pauses and repetitions? If a speaker’s contribution to a discussion is off topic, does it matter?
SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING & LEARNING
By: David Nunan
University of Hongkong
Heinle & Heinle Publishers 1999
The main purpose of this book is practicing teachers and teachers in preparation who want a practical introduction to the current state of second language teaching and learning but also who want to know the theoretical and empirical background to this state. This book consists of three Parts and ten chapters.
The tree chapters in part 1 are intended as a ‘concept map’ for the rest of the book. Here Nunan presents his own perspective on second language teaching and learning. The content is therefore selective and idiosyncratic, reflecting as it does a professional journey that has taken him down a number of different educational highways and byways as well as into the occasional blind alley.
Chapter 1 traces some of the trends and issues emerging from the general educational field that have had an important influence on the current state of SLTL. The chapter serves to remind us that the philosophy and principles of second language education are rooted firmly in the field of general education.
Chapter 2 turns to some of the research that has influenced the current state of SLTL. Again, this is a selective review. To do fill justice to the wealth of research in the diverse field that feed into pedagogy would take several volumes, and great deal of research is covered in other chapters of the book.
Chapter 3 is intended to highlight the main issues and themes that emerged from the two main chapters. He do this by drawing a contrast between what, for want of better terms, he has called “traditional” and “ contemporary” approaches to SLTL.
The three chapters in part 2 discussed essential elements in any successful language learning experience are language, learners, and the learning process. Note that he has omitted teachers from his list. While teachers obviously play a crucial role in thousands of language learning context around the world, they are not essential to the learning process.
In Chapter 4, he looks at language in context, focusing in particular on those aspects of language that can provide teachers with insights for developing materials and pedagogical procedures.
Chapter 5 considers the learners. It elaborates on the concept of learner-centeredness presented in chapter 1, and looks at practical implication of a view of learning that places learners themselves in the centre of the process.
Chapter 6 takes a detailed look at learning process. As process and learners are inseparable, the division between chapter 5 and 6 is to a certain extent, arbitrary, and as we read the chapters we will find key issues revised from slightly different perspective. The main concern of the chapter is to pick up on and elaborate some of the issues emerging from the research literature on learning style and strategies.
Four chapters in part 3 focus on the teaching of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Nunan has chosen to deal with the four skills separately. This is more for organizational convenience that out of belief that they should be taught separately. In general, he favors an integrated approach to the teaching of skills, although he recognizes that in many contexts and situations, particularly when dealing with adults, learners need dictate a primary focus on one particular skill rather than the other three.
Chapter 7 deals with listening, the Cinderella skill, as he called it. The first part of the chapter reviews conceptual and empirical issues before setting key considerations in the development, sequencing, and grading of listening tasks.
Chapter 8 looks at speaking, and begins with a consideration of what it is that differentiates spoken from written language. It also looks at way of encouraging and motivating the reluctant speaker. Course design and materials/task development issues are then explored. This chapter discusses about the nature of speaking include characteristics of communicative competence which means that a competent communicator knows how to make choices specific to the situation. Communicative competence includes (1) knowledge of grammar and vocabulary of the language (2) knowledge of rules of speaking. For instance, knowing how to begin and end conversation (3) knowing how to use and respond to different types of speech acts such as requests, apologies, thanks, and invitation.
The chapter also explains about transactional and interactional language, purposes of speaking, genre theory and speaking, the reluctant speaker, prior learning experiences, motivation, dealing with reluctant speaker. The chapter concludes with a sample speaking lesson that is designed to illustrate some of the main points that are made in the chapter.
Chapter 9 on reading also begins with a consideration of some of the key theoretical and empirical underpinnings of a reading program. In particular, the debate between product and process-oriented approaches to reading are dealt with. The focus then turns to task types in reading program, and looks in particular at tasks that help learners master and apply a range of strategies to reading process.
Chapter 10 on writing advocates a functional, discourse-based approach to writing pedagogy. A rationale for such an approach is presented that builds on and extends the functional view of language set out in chapter 4. Practical ways of using the principles in the design of teaching materials are presented.
Into Europe
THE SPEAKING HANDBOOK
By: Ildikó Csépes & Györgyi Együd
The British Council and the Hungarian Ministry of Education, 2000
The book is the second in the Into Europe series. The series in general is aimed at both teachers and students who plan to take an examination in English, be it a school-leaving examination, some other type of national or regional examination, or an international examination. Hopefully that examination will be a recognized examination which is based on international standards of quality, and which relates to common European levels – those of the Council of Europe.
However, unlike the first book in the series (Reading and Use of English) this book is especially aimed at teachers who are preparing their students for English examinations, or who may themselves have to design and conduct oral examinations in English. Assessing a learner’s ability to speak a foreign language is a complicated and difficult task. Not only must the teacher know what tasks to set students when testing their speaking ability – what the features of good tasks are, what mistakes to avoid when designing oral tasks – but the teacher must also know how to assess the students’ performance as fairly as possible. It is often said that testing speaking is a subjective matter and in a sense this is true and inevitable. But it does not have to be unreliable or unprofessional, and teachers can learn how to improve their ability to design tasks as well as their ability to judge performances more reliably. This book will help all teachers who feel the need to do this.
The book is in three main parts. In Part 1, it discusses general issues related to the assessment of speaking ability in line with modern European standards. In Chapter 1, it focuses on the main features of modern English speaking examinations: skills to be assessed, task types, levels of achievements according to common European standards and quality control issues such as standardization, benchmarking and training of examiners. InChapter 2, it reviews the main variables that may influence test takers’ oral performance in order to raise test developers’ awareness of their positive or negative impact. Chapter 2 also discusses the individual and the paired mode of oral performance assessment.
Since test developers have full control over the design of examination tasks, in Part 2, they discuss features of good and bad speaking tasks by providing examples of different task types developed within the Hungarian Examinations Reform Teacher Support Project. They present guidelines for item writers who wish to design interview questions inChapter 3, picture-based individual long turn tasks in Chapter 4, discussion activities for the individual and paired mode in Chapter 5, and role plays for the individual and the paired mode in Chapter 6.
Part 3 deals with how interlocutors and assessors can be trained in order to standardize speaking examinations. Chapters 7 and 8 describe the interlocutor and assessor training model developed by the Hungarian Examinations Reform Teacher Support Project. In Chapter 7, sample training activities such as simulation/role play tasks are presented in order to highlight how future interlocutors can gain the necessary confidence in their role. The demands of the interlocutor’s job are further highlighted through DVD performances that display both standard and non-standard interlocutor behavior. Similarly to the training of interlocutors, in Chapter 8 sample activities and guidelines are presented through which future assessors can be provided with hands-on experience in assessing speaking performances both in language classes and in examination situations.
Uniquely, this book illustrates different options in the assessment of speaking as it is accompanied by an invaluable resource of oral performance samples on DVD, which features Hungarian learners of English at a wide range of proficiency levels. Finally, they provide recommendations for good practice by discussing how the principles described for assessing speaking can be applied in classroom assessment contexts and how ongoing quality assurance can be provided in order to adhere to modern European standards. The wash back effect of modern European speaking exams is also considered, as teachers need to understand that high quality exams should have a positive impact on the quality of English language teaching. The hope is that learners will practice tasks that require them to use English in life-like situations as part of their exam preparation. And if they learn to cope with such tasks, they will be guaranteed to succeed in using English with real people outside the language classroom, as well as in the speaking examination itself.
MUDAH DAN GAMPANG MENGGUNAKAN YAHOO! MESSENGER
Warjana & Abdul Razaq
Penerbit Indah Surabaya, 2009
This book comes as a reference in using and optimizing Yahoo Messenger (YM) by using very simple language and detailed description of the steps that will facilitate learners to learn and understand each section are discussed. So expect to completely understand the direct learning.
This book consists of nine chapters.
Chapter 1 contains of Yahoo Messenger as one of the programs that are widely used to communicate (chat) with other Internet users around the world. YM is an instant messenger program provided by Yahoo that can be downloaded free of charge, and how to install the program on the computer.
Chapter 2 contains about how to get a Yahoo ID from the web and the important things that should be known at the time of registration, for example; availability Yahoo ID or an error in entering a password. Then explain how to run the program Yahoo Messenger, invite others to chat, create personal status and how to sign out of YM.
Chapter 3 explains how to join in the global rooms i.e. by knowing what rooms are provided by YM and how to join into the room with a specific ID.
Chapter 4 contains the ways how to manage contacts and group ID that is by adding a new contact or deleting a list of contact names, hide or display the contact ID, and manage the group, such as create a new group, add a new contact ID, contact ID on the move specific group, add or delete group name.
Chapter 5 contains a list of ways how to optimize your contacts, send messages to friends or to the many friends who enrolled in the group, how to use emoticons and surprise friends with a buzz.
Chapter 6 describes the YM settings either by changing the look of YM skin, text display settings, display or hide a picture ID, sound settings, add a picture for status, activate the avatar image, and setting hides the contact ID to another person either at the time of entry YM or from other people’s eyesight.
Chapter 7 describes how to share documents and photos. Send a document or data on the contact ID and receive data files the posts, share photos with others, receive photographs and open with a slide show all photos, store and delete photos on/from the computer.
Chapter 8 contains a way to optimize voice chat and webcam which is preceded by activating the voice for a chat, activate webcam on YM, solicit or invite someone to see the cam and talk with the group.
Chapter 9 contains the language or terminology chat and emoticons that by knowing the language or abbreviations that are often used by the user are also familiar with the standards emoticons they use.
Besides exposure to the material of this book by using easily understood language, also comes with pictures as clues in studying all the material discussed in this book, so this book is easier for students in applying it, besides that, the YM is a very easy program, where users can adjust the settings and the other using simple language that he understood the Indonesian. YM program is a program that is very easy to use, even without studying; everyone would be able to use it.
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