Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

Saturday 17.00-18.00

Martín, Daniel Helbling Languages Repetition, Repetition, Repetition… Did you know that about 80 per cent of what we learn is gone within 24 hours? In this practical talk I will be sharing different techniques and activities that can provide repetition and recycling in the language classroom in creative, contextualised and memorable ways. The focus will be on productive knowledge of grammar and vocabulary and chunks of language.

Daniel Martín has been working in language teaching for 20 years. He is also a teacher trainer and writer. He is author of Activities for Interactive Whiteboards, nominated for the ELTons Awards 2010, and Pop Songs 2 (both with Helbling Languages). His interests include vocabulary acquisition and using new technologies in humanistic ways.

Tell us about:

Your favourite website: I might give you a different website tomorrow but off the top of my head at the moment I would say the video section of www.cnn.com. It contains tons of news stories (possibly in the hundreds) that get updated all the time. The videos are categorized and the length varies but for most the most part they are around 2 minutes long, which makes them ideal for classroom use. Plenty of room for teaching opportunities.

A tech must have: My mobile phone. It’s not a top-of-the-line one but it’s a smartphone anyhow. It allows me to check my mail, look up words in a dictionary, take pictures when I’m travelling, make voice recordings and shoot videos in class, among others. I occasionally use it for phone calls as well.

Something you'd never throw away: Spare photocopies. They make ideal cards for games in addition to still being useful, when they are not double-sided, to print handouts at home (even though I’m not a big fan of handouts and I tend not to print much).

Who or what inspires you? My first inspiration as a teacher was Tosh McLaughlin, a teacher of Spanish at a Secondary School in Scotland. We met in 1990, when I had just obtained my University Degree and was working in his school as a language assistant. From him I learned how crucial the affective domain and laughter are in language learning. In terms of what inspires me, I would say the love for the English language.

Useful teaching tool: I’m not going to have to think too hard here. Interactive whiteboards (or at least a computer, a projector and an Internet connection). Your favourite lesson: A lesson –or part of it as most times the case is- that wasn’t planned. The detours we take when our students’ curiosity is aroused by the most awkward anecdote and how those incidental occasions become memorable learning experiences.

Your favourite bit about your talk: Uhm…I like the different kinds of tailored “find someone who” activities that teachers can devise to work with sometimes lexis provided by the textbook or, in other occasions, with off-the-cough vocabulary. They provide repetition and drilling and, at the same time, can contextualize the target vocabulary and expressions and get the students speak.

A lesson you've learnt while teaching: Talk less, listen and notice more.