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Available NOW! Presentation file for YMCA Standard Chartered English Public Speaking Contest Workshop

2010-01-29T21:00:00.000-08:00

Mr Talis Wong, Training Director of Empowering Education, was the trainer giving seminars to the contestants of
The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups The Standard Chartered Hong Kong English Public Speaking Contest 2010. The seminars was held on Saturday, 30 January 2010 (Session 1) 10:30am-12nn; (Session 2) 2:30pm-6pm at: 9/F Auditorium, The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Building, 21 Pak Fuk Road, North Point.

With the approval by Mr Talis Wong, we are pleased to attach the presentation file of The Standard Chartered Hong Kong English Public Speaking Contest Workshop 2010 here for your download. Please click here.

To prepare students for this contest, Empowering Education is offering
IMPRESS – Public Speaking Training Course
Details of the course can be found here.

The Fear of Public Speaking

2009-12-22T18:57:00.000-08:00

It is said that the fear of public speaking is a fear greater than death for most people. According to psychiatrists, the fear of public speaking is caused by the fear of ostracism, the fear of standing out, the fear of criticism, the fear of ridicule, the fear of being an outcast.

The fear of being different prevents most people from seeking new ways to solve their problems.

Giving Me that Barbaric Yawp – Release the Barbarian Inside

2009-10-29T03:16:00.000-07:00

Unmotivated students, they are one of the worst nightmares we encounter. It is not because they assert pressure on class discipline but their indifferent attitude makes every of our effort seem worthless. They demean our existence.

While at the same time, they may think themselves worthless too. They do not respond in class; they do not hand in homework; and hence they tend to be ignored but please do not give them up.

Be curious! because hidden under that dark and gloomy blanket, there might be an exciting Amazon paradise waiting to be uncovered. Try to understand that these students are likely to be dragged down by their own inner fears. Lift that fears and only then can they truly realise their potential.

What that fear can be, no one knows, we can’t see. But they can. And it is our job to guide them to see and conquer their fears for themselves.

Give them encouragement. Give them provocation. Close their eyes, be their guides, be the wind underneath their wings, and let them glide.

Video Caption

John Keating: Close your eyes, close your eyes! Close 'em! Now, describe what you see.

Todd Anderson: Uh, I-I close my eyes.

John Keating: Yes.

Todd Anderson: Uh, and this image floats beside me.

John Keating: A sweaty-toothed madman.

Todd Anderson: A sweaty-toothed madman with a stare that pounds my brain.

John Keating: Oh, that's excellent! Now, give him action - make him do something!

Todd Anderson: H-His hands reach out and choke me.

John Keating: That's it! Wonderful, wonderful!

Todd Anderson: And all the time he's mumbling.

John Keating: What's he mumbling?

Todd Anderson: Mumbling truth.

John Keating: Yeah, yes.

Todd Anderson: Truth like-like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold.

John Keating: Forget them, forget them! Stay with the blanket. Tell me about that blanket!

Todd Anderson: Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it'll never be enough. You kick at it, beat it, it'll never cover any of us. From the moment we enter crying t-to the moment we leave dying, it'll just cover your face as you wail and cry and scream.

John Keating: Don't you forget this.

Another Song to Share - Butterfly Fly Away

2009-10-29T03:12:00.000-07:00

For the purpose of establishing connection with our students, there are two things I like about this video:

1) At the opening shot, there was a short scene showing Miley composing lyrics for her song. Do not underestimate this visual message, students look upon images like this as an inspiration. This allows them to see “the gesture of writing” as cool, leading them to picture themselves as a writer and feel good conducting this creative activity.

2) It is a duet between a daughter and her father. The theme of the song is to praise how parents care for their children despite many difficulties. This helps students to explore topics for writing about their families.

Butterfly Fly Away – Lyrics
You tucked me in, turned out the light
Kept me safe and sound at night
Little girls depend on things like that

Brushed my teeth and combed my hair
Had to drive me everywhere
You were always there when I looked back

You had to do it all alone
Make a living, make a home
Must have been as hard as it could be

And when I couldn't sleep at night
Scared things wouldn't turn out right
You would hold my hand and sing to me

Caterpillar in the tree
How you wonder who you'll be
Can't go far but you can always dream

Wish you may and wish you might
Don't you worry, hold on tight
I promise you there will come a day
Butterfly fly away

Butterfly fly away, butterfly fly away
Flap your wings now you can't stay
Take those dreams and make them all come true

Butterfly fly away, butterfly fly away
We've been waiting for this day
All along and knowing just what to do
Butterfly, butterfly, butterfly, butterfly fly away

Butterfly fly away
Butterfly fly away

Polishing Presentation with English Songs and Lyrics

2009-10-29T02:34:00.000-07:00

If it is now quite impossible to get students into poetry, why don’t we try using pop songs that are, popular?

Because "poetry and song share qualities of meter and rhythm, use of metaphors, and imagery," language arts teachers can use popular music in the classroom to tap into students' interests and experiences and practice the same analytical skills required when searching for a deeper understanding of poetry (McParland, 2000, p. 30).

We have to adjust our own prejudice towards popular or teens music. Try to be open-minded and appreciate music and lyrics the way our students do.

Hannah Montana is no Shakespeare or Byron, or Cole Porter for that matter but it is a useful tool. A timely fish rod and bait that help to get our students hooked and allow us to develop their analytical skills for songs and lyrics, which can gradually be translated to an appreciate for poetry.

Quoting McParland again: music can also establish important links to other literature. He writes that "musical genres can offer greater depth, meaning, and relevance to literature ... often concerning human relationships" (p. 28). If used as a hook, popular music can guide students to evaluate the emotions conveyed by a variety of familiar songs and later draw parallels with literature that might otherwise be difficult to connect with an emotional level (McParland).

Click here to see the music video with caption.

The Climb – Lyrics
I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa

Reiterating the Benefits of Incorporating Popular Culture in English Coaching

2009-10-29T02:20:00.000-07:00

Not every English teacher can use Popular Culture to teach English. Some do not believe in the power and relevance of incorporating Popular Culture as educational texts; others do not live in Popular Culture and thus are not aware of the existence of such effective tool.

Following is an excerpt from a journal article, “Popular Culture in High School Language Arts” by John Day in 2006 published in Academic Exchange Quarterly. John explains clearly why and how popular culture such as music, movies, and television should be used as additional "text" in the language arts classroom to build stronger connections with traditional literature and aid in teaching other important skills and concepts within the curriculum.

Students today live in a culture saturated by music, movies, television, video games, cartoons, teen magazines, and the Internet. Most have no natural interest in the works of Shakespeare, Hawthorne, or Chaucer. They may balk at the very notion of composing a five-paragraph literary analysis that must then be edited for run-on sentences. Academic activities of this kind do not stimulate today's typical high school students because these printed texts and writing tasks are so far removed from their language, experience, and culture (Hobbs, 2001). Even the most competent and creative efforts on the part of the language arts teacher to implement student-centred activities, stimulate prior knowledge, and promote active reading may tall short of sparking a student's genuine interest in the material.

Popular culture offers a way for language arts teachers to bridge that gap. When utilized appropriately and consistently, popular culture becomes a powerful tool to "activate student schema, scaffold learning, engage students, and connect learning environments" (Pailliotet et al., 2000, p. 214). Implementing popular culture will enable students to better understand the historical and underlying concepts of the literature they are reading, which will foster the motivation and ability to analyze a wide variety of literary elements.

The same framework applies when students are faced with developing an essay. Often times they have no idea what to write about; they lack the necessary spark to get started. Popular culture offers a valuable source of inspiration for ideas that relate to important issues of American society (Lane, 2001). When provided with a "text" that is relevant to their lives in language that is familiar, necessary writing skills like topic development and support for ideas have an open space to flourish (Hobbs, 2001).

Popular Culture and the Curriculum
Hobbs (2001) recommends showing specific movie scenes in the language arts classroom to compel students to make close observation of details. This activity serves a dual purpose: first, it provides a model for the importance of including interesting detail in the writing process; second, it teaches students to look closely at the amount of detail that goes into character development, which improves their analytical skills in reading (Hobbs). The process of noting details in short movie clips could also be applied to other areas of literary analysis such as setting, point of view, and tone. "From there, students can employ the same comprehension strategies using literary forms" (Hobbs, 2001, p. 46).

Lane (2001) asserts that various forms of popular culture may be utilized to establish the important relevance of the historical context of a literary work. In a language arts curriculum that includes great works of American literature, teachers could illustrate the characteristics of different literary periods with movie clips that depict traits from that time period, instilling a stronger connection with the literary work and creating meaning that goes beyond the surface.

McParland (2000) advocates the close examination of music and song lyrics to parallel the skills required to analyze poetry. Because "poetry and song share qualities of meter and rhythm, use of metaphors, and imagery," language arts teachers can use popular music in the classroom to tap into students' interests and experiences and practice the same analytical skills required when searching for a deeper understanding of poetry (McParland, 2000, p. 30). Once students have mastered the art of analysis with popular music and developed an appreciation for it, translating the same skills in the study of poetry becomes a much easier task. Music can also establish important links to other literature. McParland (2000) writes that "musical genres can offer greater depth, meaning, and relevance to literature ... often concerning human relationships" (p. 28). If used as a hook, popular music can guide students to evaluate the emotions conveyed by a variety of familiar songs and later draw parallels with literature that might otherwise be difficult to connect with an emotional level (McParland).

Aiex (1988) suggests organizing brainstorming sessions for the development of writing topics around themes associated with popular movies. This kind of activity offers students the chance "to synthesize, analyze, evaluate, and argue—to engage ideas actively and write substantively about them" (Pailliotet, 2000, p. 216). Aiex (1988) also recommends television news programs as a model for persuasive writing and the need to provide adequate support and detail when developing an argument.

Popular culture can be used to engage students in critical thinking and writing about other media and the culture we live in. "By learning to 'read' media and popular texts, students learn about the construction of writing and how writing, consciously or unconsciously, reflects and produces specific values and points of view" (Lane, 2001).

This kind of visual literacy forces students to choose their own perspective on an issue, examine relevant texts, and then produce writing that supports, scrutinizes, or expands upon those ideas (Lane). Movie clips, news programs, magazine advertisements and even music videos can be used to elicit the same kind of critical thinking that students must employ when writing a research paper or engaging in a debate. Though many students may struggle with the mechanics of writing, Jeremiah (1992) argues that rap lyrics can be used to teach various technical aspects of composition such as sentence structure and variety, verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, usage, and negation. In addition to grammar mini-lessons, language arts teachers have the opportunity to utilize rap music during the editing stage of the writing process to make grammar instruction more interesting. Before peer editing begins, teachers can invite their students to bring in non-explicit versions of their favourite rap songs or other music to practice making corrections.

References

Hobbs, R. (2001). Improving reading comprehension by using media literacy activities. Voices from the Middle, 8, 44-50.

Jeremiah, M. (1992). Rap lyrics: instruments for language arts instruction. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 16, 98-102.

Lane, R. (2001). Mary Tyler Moore to Tori Amos: teaching pre-service teachers the uses of popular/media culture in secondary language arts curricula. The Writing Instructor. Retrieved January 27, 2003, from http://www.writinginstructor.com/areas/englished/lane.html

McParland, R. (2000). Music to their ears: that's what music can become to youngsters when we integrate music into our lessons. Scholastic Instructor, April, 27-30.

Pailliotet, A. W., Semali, L., Rodenberg, R. K., Giles, J. K., & Macaul, S. L. (2000). Intermediality: bridge to critical media literacy. The Reading Teacher, 54(2), 208-220.

Employing texts from Popular Culture also have ramifications in tackling psychological barriers in training English presentation –
1) Students gain motivation and emotional rewards, which draw them into the text. By comprehending the text, they feel inspired and fueled with ideas and feelings to be shared and expressed. These gears them up with passion to speak;
2) When students are dealing with texts they’re familiar with, they associate, they are engaged. They feel sufficiently knowledgeable about their speech contents. These equip them with confidence and encourage them to speak out loud in front of an audience;
3) During the learning process, the essential element of visual literary provides them a mental anchor where they can make reference to when preparing for their own performance. They can imitate, self-evaluate, reassess, and be reassured when it is their turns to present.

Finally, I would like to end this long post by a scene from the movie, Dead Poet Society. Texts, when used in such elevating context, can be life changing.

12-yr Old Silenced the UN For 5 Minutes

2009-10-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

Severn Suzuki gave this speech at UN when she was 12 years old.
A powerful performance. Severn conveyed her determination through her forceful eye contact, her emphatic voice, and well-paced pauses. Most importantly, her confidence came through because of her belief in what she is believing in. It gave her strength to stand up tall and straight in front of authorities, without being intimidated or showing any sign of fear.