by Terry Waltz | Jan 21, 2013 | General, Methods
It CAN be difficult to make language comprehensible to novices. People who are educated usually talk in a sophisticated way, and it’s hard for them to simplify. It’s the case of “What is your final destination today?” versus “Where are...
by Terry Waltz | Nov 12, 2012 | Methods, Outside Forces
Speaking English in class is bad. USING English in class is very good practice indeed. There’s an enormous difference. Recently, a teacher wrote on a well-known e-mail list for foreign language teachers: Why are the students writing English in Spanish class?...
by Terry Waltz | Dec 20, 2011 | General, Outside Forces
The new ACTFL proficiency guidelines are out for 2012. But they are still based on the outcomes from traditional rules-and-output language teaching. Yes, they aren’t referencing specific grammar points, which is a definite plus. And the requirements or wiggle...
by Terry Waltz | Jun 20, 2011 | Chinese-specific, Reading
What good do all these super features of Pinyin (like Capitalization, connected (or not connected) syllables etc) in pure language learning, where you have to learn the characters? (One can argue how far characters are needed for learning, but if you want to do...
by Terry Waltz | Apr 23, 2011 | Methods
On a Chinese-learning forum, a user asked: I understand how CI develops the ability to recognise and produce appropriate structures and functions in a language, but if the input is all known to the learner (in terms of vocabulary used) how does the learner acquire the...
