English is Everywhere

Are your kids at school wondering why English is spoken everywhere? And do you assume that they know the reason(s) why? Think again. 

Colonialism as a concept seems to be absent from primary education, which is problematic in itself. But learning a bit of history is the key to understanding the many varieties of English, its status as an official language in no less than 56 countries, and the cultural consequences of colonialism. I am never hesitant to speak about history in my classes: social sciences, languages, even science cannot be taught without the historical background. The look of wonder on the faces of some of my pupils originally from South Asia when they understood, for example, why cricket is so popular in their country of origin or why most people in Pakistan and India seem to speak English, was very rewarding. 

Here is a simple, yet effective method to teach pupils about the rise of English as a global language. 

Competence aims:

• explore and use pronunciation patterns and words and expressions
• explore and talk about some linguistic similarities between English and other languages
• reflect on and talk about the role played by English in their own lives
• investigate ways of living and traditions in different societies in the English-speaking world

(Norwegian curriculum)

Duration: ca. 4 weeks, two lessons per week.

Lesson 1

I have prepared a short lecture as intro, in the form of a Powerpoint Presentation (the google variety), entitled English is Everywhere. It covers the history of British colonialism (in a nutshell), explaining concepts like invasion, colonization, independence, official language. Colonialism is of course not the only culprit for the expansion of English globally, we also talked about the role of the internet in modern times.

The lecture is concluded by practical exercises whereby the students can learn about English accents and dialects and learn about the differences between, for instance British vs. American vs. Australian English. In my class this lecture and practical exercises prompted very lively discussions. 

Here is the link to the videos we watched and learned from:

Guess the English Accent

American vs. British vs. Australian English

Lesson 2

Revise what you have learnt the previous time, through a Q&A session.

Show the last slide from the English is Everywhere presentation, which contains some practical language exercises and a language test. 

The pupils work in pairs or groups of three - print out the sheets British vs. American English (word match) and Aboriginal Words. 

Go through the answers with the whole class, and then do the language test. Alternatively, they can do the test at home: Test Yourself. NB: Important that the pupils watch the second video from above again before they do the test (in the classroom, or at home, if they do it as homework). 

Good! 

Now you are over the first introductory part, where you as a teacher had to do most of the work. Now it's the pupils' turn :)

Lesson 3

Explain to the pupils that during the next few weeks they will be working in pairs / groups of three and they will write a presentation about an English-speaking country. 

To instruct, I have prepared a presentation and a fact sheet (which they will be using to do their research for the project).

In the presentation I laid out the following aims, inspired by the curriculum:

• Learn about the countries where English is an official language.

• Learn about the various dialects / pronunciations in English.

• Practice using digital resources and texts for learning English.

• Write a presentation about an English-Speaking country.

And I proposed a timeline, plus a few countries to chose from: Australia, USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, and South Africa (nevertheless, one group went for Hawaii and another chose Pakistan, which made me very happy).

Practical considerations: 

- make sure you pre-determine the pairs/groups; 

- allow the pairs/groups to chose the countries they want to work with;

- share the fact file on a learning platform, and make sure they do the research before starting to write anything.

The fact file contains the minimum that should be included in the presentation of an English-speaking country; here is the jist of it:

Before you write your presentation about an English-Speaking country, here are some facts to consider (important information that you have to include):

• where is the country situated (which continent, coordinates?)

• what is the capital city of the country?

• what are some other major cities? 

• how many people live in the country? (population)

• what is the currency used in the country? (money)

• what kind of government does the country have? (monarchy/king? republic/president?)

• what is the country famous for? (anything interesting about the country)

• what sort of English do they speak there? find some audio examples, learn the accent? (American English, British English, Canadian English, Australian English…etc)

USE pictures and videos, to make your presentation fun :)

And it's time to start!

My pupils like to leave the classroom and find quiet corners - like stairwells, group-rooms, the library. Changing the learning environment and being allowed to move around, lay down, etc. has proven to be very effective especially for pupils who struggle with sitting in one place for a long time.

Lessons 4-5-6

.... are used for research and for writing the presentations. Help the students along the way!

Useful to insert a short intro on how to quote your sources when you write a presentation. I have prepared a short guide on how to cite sources I usually use with my 5th graders, in Norwegian.

Also useful to show them how to structure their presentation - title, slides, references.

Lessons 7-8

The groups present their countries and get positive feedback from their classmates. Each presentation should have time allotted for a Q&A session.

If there is time, it is useful to revise or sum up what you have learnt through a Kahoot Quiz, for example, or a short test. I am preparing both of these and will happily share them! :)

Alternative plan

Every classroom has one or more pupils who struggle with working in groups or simply lack the focus to carry out longer projects that require a long-term commitment and concentration. Keep those pupils in mind and offer them an alternative, whereby they can feel included in the activity and can learn something. Here are some ideas:

• draw a map of an English-speaking country;
• write something about one of your favourit teams of football players from the Premier League;
• colour in the flag of an English-speaking country;
• listen to videos / audios of different English accents and try to imitate them; speak in that accent to a classmate, your teacher, or in front of the class.

NORWEGIAN: Idebank til elevene som ikke klarer å gjennomføre prosjektet. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10kPebrzG8qSPGf-n5Ph8e76o-ch7Ezp43Yx_6enCEcg/edit?usp=sharing 

Any questions about how this went in my classroom of 5th graders? Or would you like a copy of the worksheets and presentations? Do not hesitate to contact me!

ilona.roberts@sandnes.kommune.no

denes.ilona@gmail.com