EFS 689E - STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Learning English on Your Own
Syllabus
EFS 689E: Learning English on Your Own
Week 6:
Course Conclusion
I. (from Week 5)
Not completely on your own:
working with others and formal classes
A. Finding partners: sign up if you want to continue with other students in this
class, or check
http://www.speak-english-today.com/pages/view/language_exchange;
http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/
B. English in Action (Stanford)--one hour/week conversation partner:
https://ssl.perfora.net/ccisstanfordu.org/EIAclientSignup.shtml or LOT
(Language Orientation & Tutoring):
http://www.stanford.edu/group/efs/LOT.html
C. EFS Classes: http://efs.stanford.edu
D. Stanford Continuing Studies:
http://continuingstudies.stanford.edu. Look under Communication courses (COM
23, COM 32, COM 34, WSP 169)
E. List of online English courses, with ratings:
http://www.eslcafe.com/search/Online_English_Courses/
II. Summary of the course Part I.
III.
Student presentations (I'll post your videos in Coursework:
http://coursework.stanford.edu)
IV.
Summary of the course Part II. Some principles to remember (below)
V. The end, but not good-by: I'll be in
touch requesting progress reports!
See http://coursework.stanford.edu
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SOME PRINCIPLES FOR
LEARNING ENGLISH ON YOUR OWN
Preparation
- Find good "models" (native &
non-native)
- Learn more about
language learning
- Learn more about how you learn
best
Planning
- Set goals/objectives: immediate & long
term
- Assess needs regularly
- Create a timetable
- Collect materials
- Describe useful procedures
- Execute according to the timetable:
make it high priority
- Evaluate and review progress regularly
(build this into your plan)
Finding material
- Familiar materials are usually better
for learning
- Become a search engine expert - don't
limit yourself to our course materials (add ESL or EFL to searches for
dedicated language learning sites)
- Collect & identify material for later
use
Execution
- Focus on one thing at a time during a
lesson when possible--avoid multi-tasking except for special purposes (e.g.,
note taking)
- Use variety in procedures - experiment!
Keep in mind the need to focus on the form-meaning-use linkage
- Speak and write monologues or keep an
oral journal. Use stories, descriptions, opinions: for topics go to
http://infotrac.thomsonlearning.com/infowrite/res_topc.htm
- Monitor yourself during activities
- Use meaning technologies (online
dictionaries, transcripts, captions, translations, etc.) wisely
- Make time for consolidation (connecting
pieces of what you've learned into a coherent system)
- Associate what you learn with what you
already know; don't just memorize:
think deeply
Management
- Monitor and renew your motivation
regularly
- Review and revise your plan regularly;
check off successes and investigate the cause of failures
- Look for partners: language is for
communication (e.g.,
www.mylanguageexchange.com)
Outside time
- Monitor your production in real
situations whenever possible;
make a note of what you have trouble saying or writing
- Observe others constantly, both native
and non-native
- Capture useful words and
language chunks and make them your own
- Build language contact on comfortable
situations, but allow yourself to be uncomfortable when needed
- But sometimes, just use the language
and don't reflect
Last modified August 14, 2012, by Phil Hubbard