Month: March 2012

I believe that homework is the most important part of a language lesson.  Yet, it is one of the most poorly utilised elements of a language class. We should give it a lot more importance and make sure it is relevant. In fact, I the question should not be whether homework is important but what homework is. If we approach the question from the traditional input-led classroom perspective, that is we perceive homework as simply an assignment given by the teacher to the student to complete between one lesson and the next, I come down very hard on the “not at all important, abolish it as soon as radically possible” side. If, on the other hand, we look at homework as an opportunity for students to investigate ways in which the information, knowledge or content derived from the classroom can be internalised, expanded and personalised by the student, I am very much in favour of it. Homework of this kind provides opportunities for students in the form of tasks, ideas and challenges they can freely engage with in their own time, at the best of their abilities, and to the depth they deem necessary or relevant.

Giving an assignment like “Write 12 sentences on dinosaurs” (because contemporary coursebooks seem to have a love relationship with dinos, and that’s the unit we have just completed), is a complete waste of time. If some kids like the topic, they should be encouraged and supported in their research, but for those who are not in the least interested in animals long dead, I see no reason why they should be forced to Wikipedia 12 sentences and submit them just so that they can tick the box and move on to another subject. That’s meaningless.

Homework is not about kids going home and doing something on their own. It could also be about learning how to collaborate and share ideas. Therefore, homework does not always have to be in English, for English or about English, really. If an exercise is designed to have a meaningful learning outcome such has learning how to work better together or use a new tool collaboratively, the language can come later. Everything can feed into language practice, even if it is not done in English from the beginning.  For instance, if as part of their homework I have kids get together after school to take photographs of interesting places and people they pass by, I would not ask them to speak English during this stage. The value of the exercise lies elsewhere. They can turn the experience they had with the camera on the streets into a language-learning outcome by later using what they produced in a meaningful, relevant and interesting setting into descriptions or a presentation or something. That would be good and in fact it’s all good — not just the practicing language part.

Tamas

I recently asked my students what they think about homework and how effective it can be. The result was a lovely informal discussion and lots of great ideas. After all, homework  (as part of learning and life) should be about students and not about me as a teacher. One of my students said:

“Every homework that is not done is a bad one.”

No matter how harsh it may seem, I do agree with him. Just think about it. If a student doesn’t do homework, it is probably boring, irrelevant or too difficult and frustrating.

As a teacher I have inspiration and encouragement as my main goal and so it means I can’t make my lessons fun and exciting and then give my students boring routine homework to fill  in and hand me back next time. Learning is a natural, life-long process and most of it happens outside the classroom and that’s why I think homework is important if it is interesting, meets students’ expectations and needs and is even better when students don’t even think about it as homework they have to do.

Thinking of homework I keep in mind:

• there is a life outside the classroom walls – do not separate it from learning
• build on students’ background and prior knowledge
• include their personality
• make them curious
• homework can’t be a burden for anyone (students, teachers or parents!)

And maybe a little more advice from me:  Do not give homework and then ignore the efforts your students have made. That’s the first thing. Then there’s this: the next time you are about to announce the homework, be creative and avoid using the word itself. Don’t say the word homework. Instead how about saying “I am curious to know what your story is…?” or “Do you think you could find that and share it with us next time?”  If you do this, then it’s not homework. It’s just learning.

Vladimira

Homework, by definition, is an assignment that a teacher gives students to do outside of class, but just how important is it? If you ask that question to most teachers, very likely their answers will include:

• It increases the amount of time the students will be studying the language (especially important if, like me, you only meet your students for two hours and thirty minutes a week)
• It can help consolidate what is being studied and/or give the student a chance of recognizing doubts and difficulties they may have on a topic. Many times, in class with the teacher guiding them, students don’t notice their weaker areas but these become more evident once they are on their own.
• It promotes student autonomy, and hopefully establishes a study habit.

We all have heard, read, said and discussed these things, but the key issue is to make students see those benefits as well. How can we do that? By doing things like talking to them about it and doing learner-trainer activities to raise student awareness… Yes, that may help. However what I have found to be more important and effective is to make homework meaningful to the students. They have to see the point in doing it. It helps if we are able to come up with assignments that they find interesting, relevant and… (Dare I say it?) fun. That last bit seems to work especially well with teen students. I know we are talking – or are we? – utopia here. It’s not always possible to do so, but I try my best to do it as often as possible. Have the students choose the topic of the homework and give them the guidelines, language, and functions to work with. Find situations your students will actually face in which the language will be useful or that are part of their everyday lives — such as transcribing the dialogue between two characters in a game they play or their favorite TV show, or having them create such a dialogue. That’s fun. The important thing is that they do the homework with attention, that they do it without finding it a waste of time, and that it actually becomes a bridge, a continuum between classes.

Cecilia