Vocabulary of Killing Lizards

Squat: /skwɒt/ to position yourself close to the ground balancing on the front part of your feet with your legs bent under your body:
*She squatted on the ground and warmed her hands by the fire.

Catapult: /ˈkæt.ə.pʌlt/ a device that can throw objects at a high speed:

*In the past, armies used catapults to hurl heavy stones at enemy fortifications.

Bound: /baʊnd/  certain or extremely likely to happen:

* You're bound to forget people's names occasionally.

Thong: /θɒŋ/  a narrow piece of especially leather used to fasten something or as part of awhip

Nip: /nɪp/ to go somewhere quickly or be somewhere for only a short time:

*Can you nip out/round/down to the shop for me?

Pebble: /ˈpeb.l̩/  a small smooth round stone, especially one found on a beach or in a river:

*This part of the coast has pebble beaches.

Bole: /bəʊl/  the trunk of a tree

Snatch: /snætʃ/ to take hold of something suddenly and roughly:

*He snatched the photos out of my hand before I had a chance to look at them.

Dangle: /ˈdæŋ.ɡl̩/ to hang loosely, or to hold something so that it hangs loosely:

*Loose electric wires were dangling from the wall.

Illicit: /ɪˈlɪs.ɪt/  illegal or disapproved of by society:

*illicit drugs such as cocaine and cannabis

Killing Lizards

1. What is the story mainly about?

Killing Lizards is a story about a young boy shifting from killing lizards, as phallic symbols, to blackmailing his mother to get the love he wants from her, especially since the blackmailing tool shows the father does not control the mother any more. I also loved Hardly Ever, as a frustrated initiation to sex for a teenager. His initiation is purely superficial, unable that he is to go through it, in spite of a real possibility he goes to sleep on (he goes to sleep, with a girl, when that girl is ready for more), but it is always compensated verbally by some bragging about with his school pals. Gifts is even stranger. The young student is unable to get through his initiation and has to satisfy himself with some gifts. Everyone of his conquests presents him with personal or confidential elements. His poverty, caused by some postal strike, makes this experience even funnier, funny-strange, because the poorer he gets, the more private gifts he receives. Boyd is a strange writer about frustrated, and even twisted, initiation for teenagers. Fascinating how they can live on this frustration that becomes their everyday food, or even fodder, the brain being more or less negated.

2.Who are the main characters in the story?

Garvin: He was a thin dark boy with a slightly pinched face and unusually thick eyebrows that made his face seem older than it was.

3.What is the most important event in the story?

I think the most important event in the story is Garvin’s seeing his mother with Ian Swan.

4.What is the main idea in the story?

Love your family and friend but don’t trust anybody.

Vocabulary of Real Language Thorough Poetry

Landscape: /ˈlænd.skeɪp/  a large area of countryside, especially in relation to its appearance:

*The landscape is dotted with the tents of campers and hikers.

Quintessential: /ˌkwɪn.tɪˈsen.ʃəl/ being the most typical example or most important part of something:

*Sheep's milk cheese is the quintessential Corsican cheese.

Array: /əˈreɪ/ a large group of things or people, especially one that is attractive or causes admiration or has been positioned in a particular way:

*There was a splendid array of food on the table.

Flutter: /ˈflʌt.ər/ to make a series of quick delicate movements up and down or from side to side, or to cause something to do this:

*Brightly coloured flags were fluttering in the breeze.

Admirably: /ˈæd.mɪ.rə.bl̩/ deserving respect or approval:

*I think you showed admirable tact/restraint/self-control in your answer.

Grace: /ɡreɪs/  a quality of moving in a smooth, relaxed, and attractive way:

*Joanna has natural grace and elegance.

Curse: /kɜːs/ to use a word or an expression that is not polite and shows that you are very angry:

*We could hear him cursing and swearing as he tried to get the door open.

Bullet: /ˈbʊl.ɪt/ a small, metal object that is shot from a gun:

*A bullet had lodged in the boy's leg.

Spin-off /spɪn/  to produce a useful and unexpected result in addition to the intended result:

*The American space program has spun off new commercial technologies.

Schemata: /ˈskiː.mə/ a drawing that represents an idea or theory and makes it easier to understand

Real Language Through Poetry: a formula for meaning making

1. What are the advantages of using literature in language lessons?

 In their practica approach to literature in language teaching, promote literature as authentic

material that deals with ever-present human concerns, and allows students to enter and inhabit the landscape of a text that touches emotions and invites personal involvement. The teaching of language through the use of poetry has been seen as a road to meaning making by ESL practitioners from both philosophical and practical perspectives.

2. what are the steps in the study and what is the aim of each step?

 -Trigger

The function of trigger activities is the building of schemata.

-Vocabulary Preview

Students understand the word, be able to pronounce it, to spell it, and to use it in a sentence.

-Bridge

It connects the trigger activity to the text to be read.

-Listen, React(x₃), and Share

The teacher does a dramatic reading of the entire poem while students listen and follw along in the text. At the conclusion of the reading students stand and mingle. They meet with one or two classmates and talk about their initial impressions.

-Language

The poem and analyze its language as it pertains and adds to the meaning of the poem.

-Picture

İmage from the page and together with the help of her students, paint in it its lustrous colors.

-More Language

When the poem has become very much our own, students enjoy working closer with the language.

-Meaning

Such a conclusions frequently leads us to a discussion of what is needed for happiness.

-Spin-off

They are almost the opposite of the trigger activities.

3.What are the roles of teacher for each step?

 -Trigger 

create the kind of mental landscape that will ease the students into the poem, and give them enough anticipatory pleasure to afford a natural glide into context.

-Vocabulary Review

should not explain a word until he/she first elicits it from students.

-Bridge

uses bridge sentences.

- Listen, React(x₃), and Share

 does a dramatic reading of entire poem while students listen and follow along in the text.

-Language

together the teacher and students return to the poem and analyze its language as it pertains and adds to the meaning of the poem.

-Picture

can lift image from the page, and, together with the help of his/her students, paint it in its lusturous colors.

- More Language

gives the students the openings of lines.

-Meaning

gives some meanings.

-Spin-off

the teacher and students take something from the poem and evolve a real world activity  from it.

Thanks to Mum

Bathers at Asnières

   Bathers at Asnières  is an oil on canvas painting by the French artist Georges Pierre Seurat, the first of his two masterpieces on the monumental scale. The canvas is of a suburban, but placid Parisian riverside scene. Isolated figures, with their clothes piled sculpturally on the riverbank, together with trees, austere boundary walls and buildings, and the River Seine  are presented in a formal layout. A combination of complex brushstroke techniques, and a meticulous application of contemporary colour theory bring to the composition a sense of gentle vibrancy and timelessness.

Seurat completed the painting of Bathers at Asnières in 1884, when he was twenty-four years old. He applied to the jury of the Salon of the same year to have the work exhibited there, but the jury rejected it. The Bathers continued to puzzle many of Seurat’s contemporaries, and the picture was not widely acclaimed until many years after the death of the artist at the age of just thirty-one. An appreciation of the painting’s merits grew during the twentieth century, and today it hangs in the National Gallery London, where it is considered one of the highlights of the gallery’s collection of paintings. 

English through drama for oral skills development

1.What is the aim of the study ?

-using language fluently in terms of orally

-providing self-confidence

-delevoping Accent

-learning how to control one’s feelings in front of the audience

-motivating students

2.How would reflection help learning?

Reflective learning encourages critical reflection in order to precipitate or facilitate transformative learning in adults.

3.What are the advantages of using drama in a language class to promote learning?

To be engaged  in a process that includes the establishment of character’s personalities, motives, and persona, creating a geniue purpose for communication.

4.What is the best way to promote reflection?

Describing student’s experiences is the best way to promote student’s reflection.

5.What is porfolio? What is its role in reflection?

Porfolio is record of best performances or productions.

They are used to record learners’ experiences, promoting reflection and change.

6.What are the stages in the study? What is the aim of each stage and how are they organized?

Preliminary Stage

-getting to know each other

-relaxing and laughing while doing voice, breathing, and body-language exercises

-talk and listen cards, role plays, and scenarios

-creating an ensemble

Intermediate Stage

-emotion, action, personalization, and physicalization

-sense memory, gesture, characters’ history

-stage embrace, fights, and drunkenness

-crying, laughing, and facial expressions

Production Stage

7.What are the outcomes  of the study in terms of the benefits it provides to students?

In selecting the excerpts below, I chose those content served as evidence of the claims in the literature fort he benefits of using drama and reflection.

8. Having read this article, what can you say about transformative learning?

Transformative Learning Theory is an adult education based theory that suggests ways in which adults make meaning of their lives. 

VOCABULARY OF THE STORY

Uneasiness: /ʌnˈiː.zi.nəs/ worry or anxiety:
*Growing unease at the prospect of an election is causing fierce arguments within the party.

Swoop: /swuːp/ o move very quickly and easily through the air, especially down from a height in order to attack:

*The eagle swooped down to snatch a young rabbit.

Rub: /rʌb/ to press or be pressed against something with a circular or up-and-down repeated movement:

*She yawned and rubbed her eyes sleepily.

Interval: /ˈɪn.tə.vəl/ a period between two events or times, or the space between two points:*We see each other at regular intervals - usually about once a month.

Tilt: /tɪlt/ to (cause to) move into a sloping position:

*He tilted his chair backwards and put his feet up on his desk.

Basin: /ˈbeɪ.sən/  an open, round container shaped like a bowl with sloping sides, used for holding food or liquid:

*a pudding basin

Nerve: /nɜːv/ a group of long, thin fibres (= structures like threads) that carry information or instructions between the brain and other parts of the body:

*the optic nerve

Badge: /bædʒ/  a small piece of metal, plastic, cloth, etc., with words or a picture on it, that is fastened or sewn to your clothing, often to show your support for a political organization or belief, or your rank, or that you are a member of a group, etc.:

*Everyone at the conference wore a badge with their name on.

Slunk: /slʌŋk/ to walk away from somewhere quietly so that you are not noticed:

*I had tried to slunk out of the room so that nobody would see me go.

Starch: /stɑːtʃ/ a white substance that exists in large amounts in potatoes and particular grains such as rice:

*Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews.

VOCABULARY OF THE ARTİCLE

Divorce: /dɪˈvɔːs/   an official or legal process to end a marriage:

*The last I heard they were getting a divorce.

Glory: /ˈɡlɔː.ri/ great admiration, honour, and praise that you earn by doing something successfully:

*He revelled in the glory of scoring three goals in the final eight minutes.

Handout: /ˈhænd.aʊt/ a document given to students or reporters which contains information about a particular subject:

*On page two of your handout you will find a list of the books that I have referred to during the lecture.

Scenario: /sɪˈnɑː.ri.əʊ/ a description of possible actions or events in the future:

*There are several possible scenarios.

Rehearsal: /rɪˈhɜː.səl/  a time when all the people involved in a play, dance, etc. practise in order to prepare for a performance:

*They didn't have time for  rehearsal before the performance.

Ibid: /ˈɪb.ɪd/ used in formal writing to refer to a book or article that has already been mentioned

Momentarily: /ˌməʊ.mənˈter.ɪ.li/ for a very short time:

*She was momentarily confused by the foreign road signs.

Blemish: /ˈblem.ɪʃ/ a mark on something that spoils its appearance:

*freckles, scars, and other minor skin blemishes

Criterion: /kraɪˈtɪə.ri.ən/ a standard by which you judge, decide about, or deal with something:

*The Health Service should not be judged by financial criteria alone.

Reconcile: /ˈrek.ən.saɪl/  to find a way in which two situations or beliefs that are opposed to each other can agree and exist together:

*It is sometimes difficult to reconcile science and religion.