광진ECC

Contextualized Language Instruction

1. Forming good habits plays an important part in learning English.

At ECC we do not go in for habit-forming drills on the scale of courses written in the 70s,

but there is a fair amount of drill work throughout the course. The purpose of the drilling is to

establish accuracy in the learner's use of English

2. You can't learn English fast.

Korean parents want results fast. You may be able to learn to say a lot in a fairly short space of time, but the

trouble is that the ability to say something is only a part of the language-learning process. At ECC we are all familiar with the situation where a student produces excellent spoken questions, but then is completely unable to understand the answers. That's precisely why you can't learn a language fast. You can learn to say a lot in quite a short time, but it may take a very long time indeed to be able to understand what other people are saying to you.

3. The motivation is the key factor in learning a language.

One of the main reasons we fail to learn English at school is low motivation. ECC tries to make its classes active and fun. The students have assignments which they must complete in their own time and at their own pace. It requires a great deal of internal motivation to meet this commitment.

A text that has motivation has an apparent purpose, holds the attentions and interest of the listener or reader, and is not dull and boring. Unfortunately, many language books contain poorly motivated and illogically sequenced texts and dialogues that do not reflect real world language or situations.

4. There is no single best method for learning a language.

So why is there no single method we can recommend? For the simple reason that we require a great variety of methods to learn different language tasks. For example, you need a different method to learn to read from the one you need to learn to speak. The method you use also needs to be adapted to suit your situation.

5. You can't learn a language from a grammar book.

It's quite impossible to learn to understand, speak, read and write a language by studying a grammar book. Some students achieved a high degree of accuracy when performing these tasks, but no one ever learnt any language skills. Grammar is about knowledge and normal language use is not about knowledge. Language use is concerned with performance.

6. Language-in-context is a vital part of learning a language.

Most students, almost without exception, feel they have to learn some grammar to master a foreign language and they are right. But grammar on its own is dry as dust and can't teach you the skills you need to communicate. Grammar is necessary because it answers most of your questions about the way a language works. For example, what's the difference between 'some' and 'any'? What are the main uses of 'if' in English? The answers to questions like these are grammatical. But you will understand these answers best if you see grammatical structures used in context, not simply by learning abstract rules.

7. Thinking in English is a habit you can acquire.

ECC uses various devices to train you to think in English. For example, you are constantly required to listen to new language without any prior preparation and to try to understand from context any words and phrases which are outside your range. In the conversation exercises, you are asked to role-play the parts of various characters, or to tell us about yourself and your experiences. You are frequently invited to express your own opinions about various topics. You are invited to make notes in English and then refer to them to express your own views.

8. What do teachers hate about parents?

1) Teachers are tired of parents who value good grades more than happy children.

2) Teachers hate it when parents can’t be satisfied with their children’s best effort.

3) Teachers are tired of seeing too many tired children in class.

4) Teachers used to be responsible for teaching children. Now we are expected to be mothers, fathers, counsellors, therapists, doctors, and nutritionists, to name a few.

5) Teachers cannot keep the kids from staying up until midnight or from playing too many computer games. Those are lessons learned at home. Children are most influenced by the examples taught at home, not in the classroom.

9. How can teachers and parents foster open, ongoing relationships?

It is important for parents and teachers to remember that they know the child in different

contexts and that each may be unaware of what the child is like in the other context.

 

-ECC Teacher's Workshop-