Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Rising to the Challenges Faced by Mature Age Students

by Eve Pearce

Learning foreign languages in one’s late childhood early teens is often wrought with challenges but for mature learners, these can sometimes seem insurmountable. Those who take the time to enrol in an English course will often do so for a specific set of reasons: to improve their qualifications, increase their chances of promotion or simply indulge their passion for a language they have always wanted to master. Despite the strong motivation they usually possess, however, mature age students can also have higher dropout rates (around double, in some Universities and academies), for a number of reasons, which include economic hardship, insecurity and a perceived lack of support from their learning institution. As teachers, we can sometimes find ourselves in the precarious position of wanting to help our students, yet being limited to do so by the regulations/ time limits imposed by the academy or school we are working for. In this article, we discuss some of the most pressing concerns for mature age students learning English, and look into ways we can ameliorate their situation:
  • Fragility: An abundance of free time, which younger students often take for granted, is often scarce for mature age students. Often, they will have to reduce their workload in order to attend and prepare for class, which can make them feel like they are putting their own and their family’s welfare at risk. The student’s sense of vulnerability is exacerbated when age-related conditions such as heart disease, hearing loss, or high blood pressure are brought into the equation, since frail health can detract from one’s confidence when it comes to multi-tasking and juggling the competing responsibilities posed by work, family and English classes. As teachers, it is vital to work on increasing the student’s sense of autonomy, targeting specific courses at mature age students if necessary. For instance, if part of the course content or homework is provided on the Internet and students are insecure as to their computing skills, a short introductory course can be offered focusing on these skills (the class can delve into useful computer language in English while teaching practical skills). Students can also be referred to useful online computer training courses.
  • Inflexible timetables: Mature age students require more flexibility and understanding. Sometimes, despite their best endeavours, family and work demands may force them to miss more than one class, or fall behind on set tasks. Opportunities should be provided for students to attend make-up classes and if this is impossible, teachers should work on providing material or notes that summarise important points. Quick, 15-minute tutorial sessions can also be useful to go over missed material.
  • Wasted time: Mature age students have a very heightened awareness of time – i.e. they want to feel like very minute they are spending at the academy/learning institution counts. Make sure you are not wasting class time on activities such as reading or writing, which they can do at home. Use your time together to practice their conversational skills and answer their doubts. Provide students with target language areas prior to class to give them a head-start.
  • Social isolationOlder students in English academies or learning institutions can feel isolated from younger students. Some of the most popular English language classes take place in social settings; make sure that the next museum, pub or theatre visit includes students from a wide range of ages. If you have quite a few mature age students in your class, you might suggest that they form a mature age/ part-time students study group. While this is a useful way for students to share resources and tips, it is important that they do not limit social interaction to this group exclusively.
  • A lack of support from friends and family: This challenge often lies beyond our control as teachers, yet it is also one of the most important challenges many mature age students will need to face. Family members, friends and work colleagues may question the utility of learning English to the student’s life, sometimes because they feel threatened by the student’s desire to improve themselves. The most teachers can do in this regard is to provide all the support we can to our students, keeping them motivated, stressing the importance of consistency and discipline, and providing a social network where students can feel like they are understood. One of the most important ways of making a mature age student feel valued is by encouraging them to share their life experiences in class – older students are a vital component of an interesting, lively class, where opinions, stories and advice are shared. 

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Behaviorally Challenged: How to Address Difficult and Challenging Behavior in the Classroom

by Eve Pearce

An alarming survey conducted in recent years in the UK suggested that 4 in 10 teachers quit their jobs after only 2 years in the profession. It’s a sad fact that many teachers, most of them excellent at what they do, are deterred from teaching at the very start of their careers, and find themselves in a position where the only viable option is to hand in their notice. The most common reason cited in the UK, and indeed, on a worldwide level, is behavioral issues in the classroom. Of the teachers asked, many said that they felt helpless whilst teaching, unable to control their students, and in some regrettable cases, unsupported by their school. Though it’s undoubtedly the issue that many teachers dread, it is useful to know that it may not be the unsolvable problem that it initially appears to be. Challenging behavior in the classroom can raise feelings of inadequacy, panic and lack of control, but with a few useful tips, the situation can be turned around.

Challenging Behavior: Some Basic Tips

As with any problem in the workplace, it’s a good idea to attempt to get to the root of it, to locate the problem at its source and address it from there. However, in the classroom scenario, when you are also dealing with many other students, this isn’t always initially a viable option. Here are a few useful tips to keep in mind when dealing with difficult behaviour.
  • Don’t ignore it. How you want to address the behavior depends very much of the nature of the act. But, whether an act of open defiance or a muttered comment, it’s important to let the student in question know that you have registered the gesture and that you are in control of the situation.
  • Don’t over-react. It can be particularly difficult, especially for newly qualified teachers, to not over react to certain behavior. The stress of the job, combined with nerves, can often result in an overblown reaction, which can occasionally serve to undermine your authority in class. Try to keep a level head, take a few deep breaths and then address the situation.
  • If possible, avoid confrontation. Confrontation in the classroom rarely ends with a positive result. At best, it results in an upset child, at worst, a completely disrupted classroom. It’s a good idea to attempt to have a quiet word with the student in question alone, or when the class are engaged in other activities.

Getting to the Root of the Problem

One important thing to always keep in mind is that students are human too. They too may be having a bad day, or may have problems at home to contend with, that are unknown to the school. Or they may simply feel unengaged and unmotivated with the subject, and not necessarily through any fault of your own. Addressing engagement in the classroom can be a good place to start though. Think about how you can go about encouraging more active engagement, whether it’s through using multimedia materials, creating an exciting project or taking the class on a visit to a relevant location. It can be very tricky, if you suspect that there is a rare more serious underlying problem, to know how to address the issue. An excellent place to start is to check with other staff, to see if you can find out any information about the student’s life at home. If anything has occurred in the past, it will be in the child’s records. With older students, be vigilant for tell-tale signs of substance abuse or other drug related issues, and for all students, be aware of evidence of other types of abuse or even a school related problem, such as bullying (though thankfully, bullying is now reportedly on the decline in Israeli schools).

Be Informed and Have Confidence in Your Ability to Cope

As a teacher, you will inevitably face some level of challenging behavior in your lessons at some point or another. It is, regrettably, inevitable. However, the key to coping lies firmly in your hands. Be aware of any potential issues in your classroom, take the time to get to know your students, and above all else, remember to keep the situation in perspective. Dealing with challenging behavior is not pleasant, but it is manageable. With the right approach, you can turn the situation around.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Reading and Vocabulary: Knowing, Guessing and Looking it up

READING AND VOCABULARY:
KNOWING, GUESSING AND LOOKING IT UP

by Susan Holzman

** This article was first published in the conference proceedings 
of the Sri Lanka English Language Teachers'Association in 2006.

Introduction

The long-term goal of teaching L2 reading is to give learners the tools and skill to read authentic texts in the L2 according to their needs and interests. Proficient independent reading is a necessity in the global workforce of today. This is a concern for education planners throughout the world, and Sri Lanka is no exception. A Presidential Task Force on General Education Reforms (1997, cited in Raheem & Devendra, 2007)   states that:
…the education system must provide its output with an adequate degree
of competence in the use of English language in the world of work and
the technological international environment of the 21st century. At present…most …pupils cannot read, write or speak the language at an acceptable level. Thus they cannot find suitable employment or to proceed easily into tertiary education. (P. 21)
In the light of this report, numerous reforms in the Sri Lankan educational system were introduced and English language teaching was increased. However, the improvement of English language teaching is a work in progress (Raheem & Devendra, 2007) and Slelta’s theme, “English for Equality, Employment and Empowerment” for its 2006 international conference seems to be a grassroots contribution to the national effort to prepare learners for “the world of work and the technological international environment of the 21st century”.
Every language skill has its importance for success in the world of today, but reading deserves particular attention. Unlike speaking and listening, reading is a skill that is practiced alone. Unlike writing and speaking, there is no product to examine to determine proficiency. The “loneliness” of reading and the lack of a product to check often leaves reading as a neglected or untaught skill. This paper aims to offer background theory and practical suggestions for L2 reading teachers preparing their students for the challenges to come.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
In a recent English for Academic Purposes course book, the topics connected to learning about reading were
  • identifying theme
  • skimming
  • scanning
  • differentiating between main and supporting ideas
  • identifying text types
  • recognizing the purpose of the writer
  • finding implied meaning
  • interpreting information from charts and graphs

In fact, there were very few actual texts in the book, the emphasis being more on speaking, listening and writing skills. It seems after initial decoding has been acquired, the focus on reading diminishes. There are exercises to practice reading strategies and skills, or to raise awareness about schemata, world knowledge, inferencing, genre, the writer's purpose or attitude, but these exercises do not appear consistently in every unit. The lack of reading texts and activities surrounding those texts de-emphasizes the reading skill.
Reading ability should be a priority in the syllabus of every English teacher. In order to increase reading ability, speed, and comprehension, Krashen (1985) suggested that teachers challenge the learners in their reading by giving them i + 1, reading input that was “intelligible plus one”, language that was slightly above their level which would allow them to learn in a natural way as a result of comprehending the input. In other words, he believed that reading is a natural process that grows without specific instruction by the teacher.
Eskey (2002) agrees with Krashen:
People learn to read, and to read better, by reading. No one can teach someone else to read: The process is largely invisible and thus cannot be demonstrated, and it mainly occurs at the subconscious level and thus cannot be explained in any way that a reader could make conscious use of (p. 8-9).
In fact, most experienced teachers know that for many learners, reading is neither natural nor easy. A laissez- faire attitude results in non-readers and poor readers, a dislike for reading and a neglect of a most important subject. The paper proposes that teachers take a proactive approach to reading and offers some suggestions for implementing that approach.
Alderson (1984) asked the question many years ago, "Is L2 reading a reading problem or a language problem?" His answer was that below a certain level of language proficiency, reading was a language problem. For many L2 readers, providing  appropriate materials and teaching strategies are not enough. How can reading rate be increased when language proficiency is low? How can motivation be built when language is not adequate to understand the text? 
L2 reading teaching teachers should have a more concrete agenda for teaching reading, especially at the lower levels where it is likely that teaching reading involves teaching language.

Knowing
            The question which must now be asked is “What aspects of language should be taught for the novice L2 reader to become a better reader?” Grabe's self-report case study on his own learning to read Portuguese offers some insights on this issue:
An. . . observation with respect to vocabulary learning involved the relative importance of vocabulary and structure for learning to read. It is clear that learning to read requires some knowledge  of structure and grammar, though how much knowledge is necessary is not clear. Bill's experience was that a basic knowledge of structure was important; this included being able to recognize a verb by familiar conjugation suffixes and sorting our common irregular verb forms from similar looking short grammatical words. Beyond the level of such a distinction, however, the finer points of grammar were usually unnecessary . . . what was more crucial for comprehension was a continuous supply of new vocabulary" (Grabe and Stoller,1997: 116).

            Other researchers agree with Grabe's intuitions. According to Cobb & Horst, (2001), “For the task of academic reading, the main knowledge type is lexical. Word knowledge is the key ingredient in successful reading in both L1  . . .and L2. . ., contributing more to L2 reading success than other kinds of linguistic knowledge including syntax. . .” (p. 318). Laufer (1997) states that “. . .it has been consistently demonstrated that reading comprehension is strongly related to vocabulary knowledge more strongly than to other components of reading” (p. 20) and, in fact, . . . “syntactic complexity . . . was found not to affect the level of reading comprehension” (p. 21). The importance of knowing vocabulary for reading is paramount.

Guessing
The evidence does seem to indicate that vocabulary is extremely important to L2 readers. However, does the vocabulary have to be taught? Does the reader have to know   the vocabulary in order to read text? Guessing in context has often been suggested as a viable alternative. As Birch (2003) notes, “The majority of training texts for ESL/EFL students still focus fairly exclusively on top-down-concept driven reading strategies” (p 4).  However, research indicates that guessing in context is not the solution to L2 vocabulary understanding.
Grabe in his attempt to learn to read Porteguese reported on the
". . .  the role of guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words and the impact of guessing on reading comprehension. He felt that high levels of frustration develop when a reader relies solely on guessing the meaning of unfamiliar lexical items: the readers have a need to know that certain meanings are correct so that they can continue reading with some level of confidence" (Grabe and Stoller, 1997:112).

Again, Grabe's intuitions can be backed up by others:
. . "But there were two problems with the guessing theory. First, there was little evidence for it and strong evidence against it . . .second, the theory was probably harmless enough in L1, where children, whatever their teachers' theories, made their guesses from a well-developed linguistic knowledge base. But if L2 readers were not taught vocabulary and syntax, then they were really guessing when they read, from whatever world knowledge they happened to possess" (Cobb and Horst, 2001: 316).

"The findings from the few reasonably well conducted studies of guessing by non-native speakers have not shown large amounts of successful guessing and learning from guessing." (Nation, 2001: 236).

            Guessing involves a great deal of cognitive activity. When readers try to guess, they look at context, they ponder the grammatical structure of the word; they might contemplate the morphology of the word; they could reflect on collocates and so on. Considering the limited capacity of short term memory, the contemplation, the pondering and the reflection all detract from cognitive activity that should be directed at comprehension of text. Guessing could be excellent as a classroom activity. It is an opportunity to focus various aspects of language in context. It involves problem solving, and expressing opinions. It is an opportunity to raise language awareness, review parts of speech, affixes and roots. However, it is not the activity of choice for L2 readers while reading on their own.

Looking It Up
            What should L2 readers do when they meet an unknown lexical item? Because guessing is not usually successful and it is a taxing cognitive activity, dictionary use should be an integral part of L2 reading. There are numerous types of dictionaries and every one has its optimal use. There are monolingual dictionaries, monolingual learners' dictionaries, quotation dictionaries, thesauruses, etymological dictionaries; each one has its place and each one has it uses. However, the dictionary of choice for reading a foreign language is a bilingual dictionary (Holzman, 2000). Grabe found that he “ . .made reasonably good progress learning to read with the primary input being extensive reading and bilingual dictionary use" (Grabe and Stoller,1997:113) He found that
“. . the dictionary not only improved vocabulary learning, but also contributed to increased reading comprehension" (Grabe and Stoller, 1997:114) His experience demonstrated that “. . . the use of a bilingual dictionary in a consistent and appropriate manner would appear to have a positive impact on vocabulary learning and reading development" (Grabe and Stoller 1997:119). Teachers should understand the place of the bilingual dictionary in independent reading and validate its use through classroom activity and instruction.

Classroom applications: Knowing
L2 Reading instruction requires more than just providing appropriate texts and the teaching and practice of reading strategies. It demands active teaching of language and specifically vocabulary. Teachers can and should approach vocabulary instruction in a new light. The study of corpora has brought new insights and knowledge about vocabulary and its authentic use. An example of an English corpus online is the Corpus of Contemporary American English:
which can be used to identify vocabulary items and collocations worthy of classroom attention.
The text, Less is More (Appendix 1), can be used to exemplify these points. At first glance, there do not seem to be many lexical items to teach in this text for an intermediate class. However, a closer examination presents some possibilities:
On Nov. 18, 1995, Yitzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him.

It is likely that students know the word achievement and certainly they are familiar with no and small. However, the phrase no small achievement is not the sum of its parts. Typing no+small in the search box of the concordance sampler gives the following type of data:
      It's an affecting drama, and helped in no small measure by powerhouse performances. David Sin
     Hollywood''-era Go-Betweens. This is no small compliment. Only, Luke's voice is way more   
he summer months. Perhaps we benefit to no small degree from the fact that all the plants are 
   Year, has been solid as a rock, thanks in no small part to no-nonsense Irishman Kevin Moran.    
    history of every Vignale-bodied Ferrari-no small achievement. Hard facts such as these are    
        now have grain surplusses.  This is in no small way due to the organisation SACCAR, the      
 all its personnel and many of its arms, was no small matter.  [o] The GRU, Military Security, had 
  attached to mother tongues, therefore, was no small contribution to the advancement of the cause 
            out the fruit at or below cost. This is no small financial burden for the stores.  [p] More   
    panache, which played well on television, no small consideration for an American public still   
              in the midst of the goo. In fact, it is no small task for the toddler to get that spoon       
          over the last few years one feels that in no small way er you have perhaps been reacting to     
 (See Appendix 4  for full concordance response)

This information offers teachers a source of information about collocation which can inform vocabulary instruction. Based on this data, the lexical phrase no + small can be taught together with other possible insertions to complete the lexical phrase:




                         No small
achievement
measure
part
degree
consideration
matter

These expressions, because of their double negative meaning, (i.e. no small really means to a large degree) are likely to be sources of misunderstanding for the EFL reader. Further investigation in the concordance (see Appendices 5 & 6) reveals the variations: no mean achievement and no mean feat. Similar searches for data on the lexical phrases went wrong and no mistaking would also provide material for useful vocabulary teaching based on this text. In the final evaluation, a text that seemingly is quite clear and straightforward offers no small measure of opportunities for greater understanding of complex collocational negatives used in authentic texts.


Classroom Applications: Guessing
Guessing in context is suggested as classroom activity for the reading class, not as an option to be used in the real activity of reading. There are a number of opportunities in this text to review inflections, affixes, compounds and roots [See: Appendix 2]. This activity is important for two reasons. For the words that appear in the dictionary, this is an opportunity to review and differentiate. Talking about “memorable” (Paragraph 10) reminds the students that the “-able/ible” adjective ending means “able to be” like in avoidable, admirable, and likeable. Mentioning “audience” lets the teacher bring into the classroom “audible,” “auditorium”, “and audio-visual”. The goal of this review is not to have the students “dissect” words while reading on their own in order to guess meaning. This exercise simply offers an opportunity to review and discuss vocabulary with the hope that many of the words will be learned and remembered.
There are also words in this text such as “recomposing” and “de-tuning” (paragraph 10) which can only be understood through knowledge of prefixes. Moreover, many compounds are productive and allow myriad forms to be produced based on a given pattern. An example of this is “fast changing” (paragraph 11). These are not words to be guessed. They must be operated on to determine the parts, examined carefully and then put back together again. These specific innovations of language cannot be taught because they are often unique to the particular passage that is being read. Practice in dealing with these lexical items is essential if our students are to deal with authentic real-world reading.

Classroom Applications: Looking It Up
Finally, looking things up in the dictionary is another aspect of reading that should be taught in the classroom. Looking up a word like "achievement" poses no problem because there is one meaning and it is fairly straightforward. However there are a number of aspects of dictionary use that should be practiced with the students. Many students do not look up words that they recognize under the assumption that the meaning is known to them. Phrasal verbs are a good example of this (See Appendix 3).


CANONICAL FORM
CONTEXT
Went off
Go off
Went off like gunfire
Left off
Leave off
He played from where he had left off

Both “went off” and “left off” offer several important dictionary reminders. One is to begin the search for a phrasal verb from the canonical form of the word. The second is scan down the entries for these words until the phrasal forms begin. Then readers must scan down again until they come to “go off”. These elements are written in alphabetical order, so “go off” comes after “go against and “go down” and “go into.”. Furthermore, some phrasal verbs, like “go off” have several very different meanings:

The lights went off
stopped working
The bomb went off
exploded
The peace march went off peacefully.
happened
The alarm clock went off
made a noise
                                               
There are also other words with multiple meanings. Dictionary work in class raises awareness of this problem. Students learn the multiple meanings or at least realize that when the text doesn’t make sense, it is often the result of a new meaning for a known word. The words “bar” “bow” and “piece” permit a discussion of register and semantic fields. Left” and “rose” are common words in themselves that are also irregular past forms. Dictionary searches for known words open the students’ minds to the idea of multiple meanings, give them practice in dictionary look up and in fact, provide exposure and practice with words which could result in direct vocabulary learning.
            Although the goal of reading instruction is independent reading, in-class activities can contribute to this goal. The reading class is the ideal arena for direct teaching of vocabulary and for instruction about the intricacies of the lexicon in English. Every authentic text is rich in examples of collocation, words with multiple meanings, lexical phrases and word formation. Every text offers opportunities for teaching when to know, when to guess, and when to look it up.



References

Alderson, J.C. (1984). Reading: A Reading problem or a language problem. In
J.C. Alderson & A.H. Urquhart (Eds.), Reading in a foreign language (pp. 1-24). London: Longman.

Anderson, N. (1999). Exploring second language reading. Boston: Heinle &
            Heinle.

Biber, D. and Conrad, S. (2001). Corpus-based research in TESOL,
Quantitative corpus based  research: much more than bean counting. TESOL Quarterly 35, (2)

Birch, B.M. (2003). Goodbye to guessing games. Applied Linguistics Forum:
Official Newsletter of the TESOL Applied Linguistics Interest Section 23 (2), 4-5.

Coady, J. and Huckin, T. (Eds.)(1997). Second language vocabulary
            acquisition. Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press.

Cobb, T. and Horst, M. (2001). Reading academic English: Carrying learners
across the lexical  threshold.  p. 315 in Flowerdew, J. and Peacock, M. (Eds.) Research Perspectives on  English for Academic Purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Collins Wordbanks Online English Corpus retrieved from the world wide web,
            http://www.collins.co.uk/Corpus/CorpusSearch.aspx . 1/1/08.

Coxhead, A. 2000. A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly 34 (2),

Coxhead, A. and  Nation, P. (2001). The specialized vocabulary of English for
academic purposes. P. 252- in Flowerdew, J. and Peacock, M. (Eds.) Research Perspectives on English for Academic Purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
           
Eskey, D.E. (2002). Reading and the teaching of L2 reading. TESOL Journal 11
(1), p. 5-9.

Flowerdew, J. and Peacock, M. (Eds.) (2001). Research Perspectives on
English for Academic  Purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Grabe, W. and Stoller, F.L. (1997). Reading and vocabulary development in a
second language: A case study. in J. Coady and T. Huckin (Eds.),  Second language vocabulary acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.98-122.

Holzman, S. (2000) Reading English as a foreign language with an electronic
            dictionary: An exploratory study of the processes of L2 classroom
reading by L1 Hebrew speaking college students in Israel. Dissertations International. UMI number 9968464

Krashen, S. (1998). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. London:  Longman.

Laufer, B. (1997). The lexical plight in second language reading. In Coady, J.
            and Huckin, T. Second language vocabulary acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge 
            University Press, p. 20-34.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. (2003). Harlow: Pearson
 Education Limited

Nation, P. (2001) Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge:
            Cambridge University  Press.
           
Nattinger, J.R. & DeCarrico, J.S. (1992). Lexical phrases and language teaching. 
            Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Raheem, R. & Devendra, D. (2007). Changing times, changing attitudes: The
history of English education in Sri Lanka. In Choi, Y.H. & Spolsky, B. English education in Asia: History and policies. Seoul: Asia Tefl. Pp. 181-203.


Appendix 1-Less is More

1. On Nov. 18, 1995, Yitzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches.
2. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly, is an unforgettable sight. He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play.
3. By now, the audience is used to this ritual. They sit quietly while he makes his way across the stage to his chair. They remain reverently silent while he undoes the clasps on his legs. They wait until he is ready to play.
4. But this time, something went wrong. Just as he finished the first few bars, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it snap – it went off like gunfire across the room. There was no mistaking what that sound meant. There was no mistaking what he had to do.
5. People who were there that night thought to themselves: "We figured that he would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick up the crutches and limp his way off stage – to either find another violin or else find another string for this one."
6. But he didn’t. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra began, and he played from where he had left off. He played with overwhelming passion and power and purity.
7. Of course, anyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but that night Yitzhak Perlman refused to know that. You could see him modulating, changing, recomposing the piece in his head. At one point, it sounded like he was de-tuning the strings to get new sounds from them that they had never made before.
8. When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the room. And then people rose and cheered. There was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner of the auditorium. We were all on our feet, screaming and cheering, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.
9. He smiled, wiped the sweat from his brow, raised his bow to quiet us, and then he said, not boastfully, but in a quiet, pensive, reverent tone, "You know, sometimes it’s the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left."
10. What a powerful line that is. It has stayed in my mind ever since I heard it. And who knows? Perhaps that is the [way] of life – not just for artists but for all of us. Here is a man who has prepared all his life to make music on a violin of four strings, who, all of a sudden, in the middle of a concert, finds himself with only three strings. So he makes music with three strings, and the music he made that night with just three strings was more beautiful, more sacred, more memorable, than any that he ever made before, when he had four strings.
11. So perhaps our task in this shaky, fast-changing, bewildering world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.
- Jack Riemer, Houston Chronicle


Appendix 2:
Guessing In Context: In Class Activities To
Review Inflections, Affixes & Roots

Inflections:

Canonical form
Context
undoes
undo
He undoes the clasps on his leg
Affixes

Affix
Other examples
Violinist
-ist
Dentist, scientist
Recomposing
Re-
Remarry, rewrite
De-tuning
De-
Desegregate, depopulate
Artist
-ist
Environmentalist
Memorable
-able
Readable, understandable
Compounds

Context
Other examples
Fast-changing
Fast-changing world
Slow-moving traffic
Nice-tasting food
Terrible sounding music
Roots

root
Other examples
Audience
Audio - hear [Latin]
Audition, auditorium, audible, AV



Appendix 3-Looking it Up

Phrasal verbs

Canonical form
context
Went off
Go off
Went off like gunfire
Pick up
Pick up
Pick up the crutches
Find out
Find out
It is the artist's task to find out
Left off
Leave off
He played from where he had left off


Words with two meanings:

Canonical form
Part of speech
Context
sight
Sight
Noun
To see him . . .is a sight
left
Left
adjective
How much music you can make with what you have left
Figured
Figure
Verb
We figured that. . .
Bars
Bar
Noun
He finished the first few bars
Rose
Rise
Verb
People rose and cheered
Piece
Piece
Noun
Recomposing the piece
Bow
Bow
Noun
Raised his bow



Appendix 4

No +small
      It's an affecting drama, and helped in no small measure by powerhouse performances. David Sin
stay is so completely enjoyable. This is in no small measure due to the Platzers whose 4 star     
             performance. [p] This is due in no small part to the cost effective performance of    
       is a certain Phil Fielding - a writer no small talent and no large bank balance, having     
 Before Hollywood''-era Go-Betweens. This is no small compliment. Only, Luke's voice is way more   
    the summer months. Perhaps we benefit to no small degree from the fact that all the plants are 
   Year, has been solid as a rock, thanks in no small part to no-nonsense Irishman Kevin Moran.    
     history of every Vignale-bodied Ferrari-no small achievement. Hard facts such as these are    
      now have grain surplusses.  This is in no small way due to the organisation SACCAR, the      
 all its personnel and many of its arms, was no small matter.  [o] The GRU, Military Security, had 
concentration", according to Barrow, `was to no small extent accountable for the dwarfing of his    
   he is holy, and immaculate, and can worke no small wonders. May not he [f] change himselfe into 
 service in St Paul's." Of course, there was no small measure of personal pride in the desire to   
  attached to mother tongues, therefore, was no small contribution to the advancement of the cause 
Fox" by his people, is ahead in the polls is no small achievement for a head of state who has      
     out the fruit at or below cost. This is no small financial burden for the stores.  [p] More   
     from the first whistle, being helped in no small measure by the weather. The gale at their    
to a different moral code.  [p] This is all no small matter. In a letter to The Times on Thursday,
      generally. It will have been helped in no small part by a full first-time contribution from  
  five birdies on the inward nine, helped in no small measure by his choking rivals.  Most notable 
   ever since. Her decision to remain was in no small part influenced by a love of American native 
  expansion of the navy. For another, it was no small order to convince the British of the wisdom  
   panache, which played well on television, no small consideration for an American public still   
     in the midst of the goo. In fact, it is no small task for the toddler to get that spoon       
  that had starch in these extremities, made no small use of it; yea, even the very skins of our   
  thin end of the wedge where there has been no small degree of drama where there has been no small
about being selfish and I think that that is no small achievement. Erm I think that also erm in the
got to do this then although it may cause FX no small degree of problem you will lose FX because   
   over the last few years one feels that in no small way er you have perhaps been reacting to     
  given I think that there is in your future no small degree of solidarity and security er given   
build up over the last two or three years at no small expense to yourself must now be risked       
        that you have yet to meet depends in no small way on the events the circumstances the flow 
         the early half of this year does in no small way depend on two things erm one of those    
  to [ZF1] be [ZF0] be a year where there is no small degree of change both in the nature the depth
harmony. Given that in your history there is no small degree of disillusionment disappointment and 


Appendix 5
no =2achievement
    of every Vignale-bodied Ferrari-no small achievement. Hard facts such as these are always       
    him to a tearful wreck. This is no great achievement. Just being nasty to the poor sod should  
and Cultural Change. All of this was no mean achievement for an economist writing at a time when ` 
text it `implemented", but that was no great achievement, and anyway in 1969 it was still in the   
disinterestedly put them on the map. No mean achievement. Yet for Paul, getting outside Europe in  
   people, is ahead in the polls is no small achievement for a head of state who has presided over 
      lifted profits by 54 to £ 472m no mean achievement by any standards.  [p] One PO worker wept 
   sites on Cyberia computers, it is no mean achievement.  [p] [h] Leading the way to the future;  
is architecture's latest rising star no mean achievement for a man of 50, says HUGH PEARMAN.  [p]  
s poetry into colloquial blank verse no mean achievement. His work is sound and crammed with       
  of modern British politics. It was no mean achievement, even if he has been treated pretty meanly
  of dad's horses, Passed Pawn.  [p] No mean achievement for a young man who, at 6ft 4in - his     
   he was gone.  [p] There's no escaping his achievement in guiding Swindon to promotion, but      
reaching it by whatever route -- was no mean achievement. The lake which lies on an empty plain    
say about each child. We heard no talk about achievement scores, homework, or college preparation. 
    of effectiveness [M02] [ZGY] no sense of achievement [M01] Yeah [M02] Yeah.  [ZGY] [M01] Er and
   selfish and I think that that is no small achievement. Erm I think that also erm in the process 
 literally er and erm that would be no small achievement. I think that between now and the end of  
       October of this year that is no small achievement. I'm aware of the fact that there are     
   from the corn which in itself is no small achievement but with the greater achievement being the
that would be quite frankly no small achievement. If on the other hand no pun



Appendix 6
no+mean
    up to a theatrical and dance festival of no mean depth and diversity. [p] [h] CLASSICAL MUSIC  
    advantages over its predecessor the 200b no mean feat given the 200b's reputation for build    
  geninality has made him a star worldwide.  No mean guitarist, his repertoire of rhythm tricks    
  least Huggy Bear shook this f ing town up (no mean feat, believe me). And that's one glorious    
off your face retorts Ian. As Ian mcculloch, no mean judge of pop icons, remarked a few days ago   
 acquire the feel of a Greatest Hits package-no mean feat for a debut. [p] The Suede backlash      
  with Tia Carrera for the lead female role, no mean feat. In the end Carrera got the part but     
  follow the example of Abduzhaparov, who is no mean sprinter and has finished in Paris quite a few
s strangled but emotional vocal signature is no mean feat. [p] The cloudy, unspecific, partially   
    into The Right Stuff MK II, which may be no mean feat, but it's certainly not a productive one.
      support of the Labour Party leadership-no mean feat, as the Labour Party's Black Sections    
  the depression years in America. These are no mean achievements, but history has not been kind to
Baran's decisive influence on him, which was no mean compliment. R. B. Sutcliffe credited Baran    
        and therefore Braudel's rejection is no mean move. But the differences go much deeper.157  
        and Cultural Change. All of this was no mean achievement for an economist writing at a time
Frost cut in with a shrug of his shoulders." No mean feat in terms of body language. When we got   
    hung nets above our beds. The Bayano was no mean obstacle, a 1 50-yard-wide coffee-coloured    
s visit disinterestedly put them on the map. No mean achievement. Yet for Paul, getting outside    
  a temple to tolerance in London, a city of no mean tolerance itself.  [p] Somewhere in Neasden   
         year lifted profits by 54 to £ 472m no mean achievement by any standards.  [p] One PO     
  and 34 goals in 10 qualifiers is certainly no mean record. But is it misleading? The Russians    
       Web sites on Cyberia computers, it is no mean achievement.  [p] [h] Leading the way to the  
 match lasting 31 consecutive hours. Gleason no mean pool player himself in real life showed off a 
   Rosa's poetry into colloquial blank verse no mean achievement. His work is sound and crammed    
the modern American filmgoer.  [p] Cleese is no mean comic talent himself, but it is advice he may 
 Ruby was temporarily struck dumb, in itself no mean feat. `Is she your size?" Mrs Marcos now wears
     seas of modern British politics. It was no mean achievement, even if he has been treated      
   1 DERBY CO 0 [p] THIS WIN for Norwich was no mean feat. Recently, and against their manager's   
   on one of dad's horses, Passed Pawn.  [p] No mean achievement for a young man who, at 6ft 4in - 
    studied composition with Dvorak, himself no mean slouch at putting together a tune or two.     
      [p] Sandell provided it with grace and no mean ability, turning Colin Hendry 30 yards from   
      and harmonize it for human purposes is no mean feat. The harnessing requires singleness of   
  In their wrath, Gilded Age insurgents made no mean contribution to the era's reputation for      
   stupid by Trotsky and an ape by Pound was no mean accomplishment.27 [p] [p] At the very time
whole rig is one piece of plastic, which is no mean feat in the molding business. The one piece is