ELT News Think Tank

This Month's Think Tank Panel

Marc Helgesen

Peter Viney

Setsuko Toyama

Roger Barnard

Panelists: Marc | Peter | Setsuko
Guest Panelist: Roger Barnard Date: July 2000

Topic: "Is it worth giving my students English homework during their school holidays?"

Setsuko Toyama

It depends on whether your students are English majors, how long the holidays are and on the type of homework you plan to give.

For instance, I have a class of engineering students who started the first semester rather reluctantly in my class focusing on listening and speaking. After three months they are starting make progress and it would be counter productive if they were to have a total break without any English input. But, giving them some doable task will keep them aware of English and should not "ruin" their holidays.

I regard the holidays as a warm-up for the second semester. I'm giving this specific class the following choices :

1. Talk with a person whose mother tongue is not Japanese for at least 5 minutes.

2. Watch "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and find a mistake in the Japanese subtitles.

3. Watch "Private Ryan" and find what "FUBAR" stands for.

4. Memorize a short story of less than 200 words.

5. Transcribe a short story of less than 200 words.

1. The students are from all over Japan. Some go back to places where they can meet foreign workers or tourists. At the beginning of the second semester, they will report on what they talked about.

2. There is a harmless mistake in a Japanese subtitle in this movie, which is one of my favorites. Students will also be exposed to different English accents.

3. Some of you might frown on this one. One of the readings that I gave them during the first semester (reading and writing were done by e-mail outside class time) was about altruism during war. Watching "Private Ryan" will follow up on this. The task may seem frivolous but it will force them to watch the movie to the end.

4. I have a collection of short true stories with recordings. This will probably be the first time for the students to memorize a meaningful chunk of English.

5. Students will be given a recording of a short true story. In order to transcribe every single word, they will have to use all their knowledge and skills.

I'm not sure how many students will opt for #4 or #5. Quite a few will opt for movies. Some students are very eager to work on English and #4 and #5 will meet the needs of those students who have not had a chance to concentrate on English because their curriculum is heavy with other subjects.

I'm letting the students know that points for the homework will be included in their grades for the second semester. That's fair, isn't it?

Panelists: Marc | Peter | Setsuko
Guest Panelist: Roger Barnard

Setsuko Toyama, Toyama English House

Co-author of Journeys: Listening and Speaking & Development Editor of SuperKids

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