Chunks of language

A “chunk of language” is any group of words that are regularly and often found together: take advantage of, school uniform, the epicentre of the earthquake, have a nice day...

Chunks of language have been given great attention lately. They are fashionable. And that is for a good reason: learning chunks of language aids memory. IT AIDS MEMORY!

Hands-on then: how many chunks of language do you think you can identify in this short text?

"A 20-year-old woman from Barcelos, in the North of Portugal, is expecting sextuplets at the beginning of 2011. The young shop assistant told us that she hadn't had fertility treatment. Her husband is a trainee teacher, but is thinking of taking up a second job to face the coming expenses."

(adapted from Inglês, CEF Cursos de Educação e Formação, Módulos 3/4, Porto Editora)

TIP: Note down the chunks of language you can identify in any text that you read. Think of other related chunks and add them to the list. For instance:

is expecting sextuplets/ is expecting twins

at the beginning of/ at the end of

In some weeks you'll feel you've done great progress with your vocabulary! And it will be much easier to remember!

By the way: have you found 7-9 chunks of Language in the text above? Then you've done a good job!

Public Education: changing paradigms

Education paradigms are changing worldwide. This entertaining animate, adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, a world-renowned education and creativity expert, shows you why and how. Enjoy! 

Logical deduction and memory

How many of you have never complained about your students' lack of studying skills, poor memory ability and the sort? In a world where the remote control and the keyboard are dominant tools, what could we expect? - Immediate disposable knowledge, of course!

This activity was intended to address that issue.

CONTEXT: after two lessons working on the topic Family (all the vocabulary had been worked before, except for the ...-in-law compounds, which were added as a challenge); delivered as a surprise activity at the beginning of the third lesson.

AIMS: developing studying skills; raising word formation awareness; reflecting on the amount of work done.

EVALUATION: The surprise element and the score control by the students engaged them; concentration levels seemed higher than normal; the scores mirrored the students' proficiency levels; they seemed to understand the need for organised vocabulary lists; more time was needed than previously expected (15 minutes, rather than 10).

REMARK: You don't need elaborate fashionable activities to help students improve their studying/ learning skills!

Dear student:

1. Click on the worksheet; enlarge the picture; copy and paste it on a Word document; print it and you're ready. 10-15 minutes will be enough to fill in the chart. Check the words you don't know in the dictionary.
2. Build other vocabulary lists. Organise them in a way that makes sense to you.
3. Notice any patterns (-tion, -er, -ment... as endings of nouns, for instance).

The backyard

The backyard is where childhood memories linger. Unquestioned. Safe. The backyard is a personal territory.

But the backyard is also the place where common things happen. And those are the ones I'll share with you: teaching ideas, materials, impressions, doubts...