Many of us had the honor of meeting some the members of the Turkish military language teachers in Denver and Chicago last summer. This report is from Yasar Karum:
Hi Ben,
So far we have given fifty hours of English instruction. We have done TPR and listening activities through textbooks (Before Book One, Listen First). On the 5th week, we started the textbook (Interchange 1, an integrated skill traditional textbook). We skip the speaking and writing activities naturally. We are giving a comprehension based instruction. Last week, I started our first attempts to build up stories. You can find them in the enclosed files. They are parallel stories in two different 9th grade classes. They aroused a lot of interest among the students really. The students in 2 different classrooms wanted to hear other section’s story so I gave them the other section’s story, too. Building up stories in the class was fun and students liked them a lot. On the next classes, we applied the post reading activities. We have 6 more teachers but they are still hesitant in creating stories. I need to work on that a little bit more. In September we gave the group an Oxford Placement Test. We found out that 92% of the group consists of A0 or A1 students. They are true beginners. In June, they will take another OPT test. My expectation is 80% of the group will take a score of A2 or more. In a nearby school, we have a similar A1 beginner level group. They will take a Cambridge test to determine their level. They are being instructed through a pure CLT method. We’ll have a chance to compare two groups then, which would be a perfect chance to write a decent article. This Thursday, we are giving the 1st test of the group and I’m wondering about the results. We’ll keep in touch. Take care…
Yasar also included a few stories (readings from stories) which he has done with his students. I really liked reading these stories because after working with Yasar last summer when I read the stories below I can almost see him in class teaching them, asking if the cadet is small or big, if the girl is happy or not, etc. Notice the excellent hammering of targets in both of these stories, for example wants to buy. These stories work because of that repetition of targets, which is one skill that I know Commander Ali, Yasar, Osman and a few others definitely took back to Turkey this past summer. I think that we should all read how these stories are repetitive in nature and therefore very readable. Yasar has definitely made these readings comprehensible:
Story 1: NIOR MENDI AND THE IPAD AIR
There is a cadet. There is a cadet in the space (uzay). There is an intelligent cadet in the space. The cadet lives in the space. The cadet’s name is Junior Mendi. People call him Junior Mendi.Junior Mendi is not a happy cadet in the space. He is unhappy. Junior Mendi isunhappy because he wants to buy an Ipad Air, but he doesn’t have money (para). So, Junior Mendi callls (telefonla aramak) NASA. He wants to buy an Ipad Air and he needs money. He doesn’t have money to buy an Ipad Air. Junior Mendi wants money from NASA. Junior Mendi wants 1000 (one thousand) liras from NASA. NASA doesn’t have 1000 liIpad Air. He wants to buy an Ipad Air, but he doesn’t have money (para). So, Junior Mendi calls (telefonla aramak) NASA. He wants to buy an Ipad Air and he needs money. He doesn’t have money to buy an Ipad Air. Junior Mendi wants money from NASA. Junior Mendi wants 1000 (one thousand) liras from NASA. NASA doesn’t have 1000 liras. They have only (yalmzca) 100 (one hundred) liras. Junior Mendi wants 1000 liras, but NASA has only 100 liras. NASA gives (vermek) Junior Mendi 100 liras.So, Junior Mendi calls his uncle. He wants 900 (nine hundred) liras from his uncle. His uncle is a good uncle. He gives him 950 (nine hundred and fifty) liras. Junior Mendi goes to Media Market in the space. He wants to buy his Ipad Air in Media Markt in the space. In Media Markt, an Ipad Air is 1000 liras. Junior Mendi gives 1000 liras and he buys an Ipad Air in Media Markt. Now (Simdi), Junior Mendi is very happy. Junior Mendi is a happy cadet in the space. He is happy because he has an Ipad Air. Junior Mendi can listen to Listen First with his Ipad Air in the space.
Quick Quiz:
Answer True or False:
1. Junior Mendi is a cadet in the space. _______
2. Junior Mendi wants to buy a car. _______
3. An Ipad is 100 liras. _______
4. NASA gives Junior Mendi 900 liras. _______
5. Junior Mendi’s uncle gives him an Ipad Air. _______
6. There is a Media Markt in the space. _______
7. Junior Mendi has an Ipad Air in the space. _______
Story 2: THE FAKE MAN AND HAYRIYE
There is a cadet. There is a cadet on the moon. There is a small cadet on the moon. The cadet is happy. The cadet is happy and small. The cadet lives on the moon. The cadet’s name is Fakeman. People call him Fakeman. There are two people (insan) on the moon. The other person on the moon is a girl. The girl’s name is Hayriye. She is big. Hayriye is a big girl. But, Hayriye is not a happy girl. She is a big and unhaappy girl on the moon. Hayriye is unhappy because she wants to have a friend. So, Hayriye looks for a friend on the moon. Hayriye walks and walks and walks on the moon. She walks and looks for a friend for 10 days. On the 10th day, Hayriye finds a friend. She finds Fakeman on the moon. Hayriye is very happy now because she finds a friend now. But, Fakeman is not happy. He doesn’t want to have a big girl friend. Fakeman thinks (dusunuyor) a big girl is strong and Fakeman is afraid of (korkuyor) big and strong girls. So, Fakeman walks and looks for his spaceship (uzay gemisi) on the moon. He look sfor the spaceship for 100 days. On the 100 th (one hundredth) day, he finds the spaceship. He finds it and goes back to the Earth (yeryuzu). Now (simdi), Hayriye is on the moon and she doesn’t have a friend. There is now one person (insan) on the moon. Hayriye is a big girl on the moon, but she is now the queen (kralige) of the moon. Hayriye is a happy queen on the moon. Answer True or False:
1. Fakeman is a cadet on the moon. _______
2. Fakeman looks for a friend on the moon. _______
3. Hayriye looks for a friend for 9 days. _______
4. Fakeman likes strong girls. _______
5. Fakeman has a spaceship on the moon. _______
6. Hayriye is happy to become a queen. _______
7. Fakeman is on the Earth now. _______