This is the first in a series of teaching tutorials or presentations I have planned for the blog, exploring how to approach language teaching from an unplugged (and by that I mean "unplugged" from a pre-set, pre-determined, linear approach) or emergent perspective.
For a lot of teachers that I meet and talk to, the intimidating thing about teaching unplugged is how to get started, how to make it happen, and what to do with it once the ball starts rolling.
This video will hopefully give you some ideas, based on what I have personally learned about preparing to teach unplugged.
A tutorial/presentation giving an overview of how to prepare for flowing discussions leading out of everyday topics, catering to emergent language, and following up with structured language application activities
In following video tutorials, I hope to provide some more specific ideas on how to approach (and develop) emergent language, and how to use our intial classroom conversations to lead into somewhat more structured approaches (ones that can be prepared for, even if the actual initial content is essentially coming from the learners themselves).
The "teaching unplugged" image used at the top of this post is adapted from an original by mm-j on Flickr. I love the original image's caption:
Suddenly, up ahead in the middle of the road there was a tree. I couldn't believe it, having driven the road many times before and never seen it.
This is not at all unlike the reaction of many teachers when they discover unplugged language teaching!
And don't forget to check out Teaching Unplugged by Scott Thornbury and Luke Meddings (if you haven't already). A seriously excellent (and approachable) methodology book for language teachers.
:-D
