TEFLese

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Anonymous

#566071 Sun, 14 Sep 08 11:33 PM

<In what respect, Anon, is "I am father of four children" an "acceptable sentence"? >

In what respect isn't it, Mr Pedantic?

Anonymous

#566073 Sun, 14 Sep 08 11:36 PM

<On the other hand, "I like being a father" sounds fairly natural.>

Not only fairly natural, but one among many fairly natural choices. Why do you think the teacher above rejected the student's other choices?

Anonymous

#566083 Mon, 15 Sep 08 12:09 AM

<In what respect, Anon, is "I am father of four children" an "acceptable sentence"? >

What do you mean by missing article? Aren't these similar?

I am King of England.
I am Captain of Owsla.
I am Treasurer of the Scottish Cycling Council.
But I am victim of my own background.
"I am mother of the heir …"
I am chairman of the Africa committee of the British Refugee Council.

Anonymous

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Anonymous

#566086 Mon, 15 Sep 08 12:22 AM

<<<<<Apart from the missing article, it sounds quite artificial (cf. "I have four children") – perhaps what you would call TEFLese in another context.>>>>

Looking at the above definitions of TEFLese, how could you classify "I am father to four children" as an example of TEFLese, Mr Pedantic?

Anonymous

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Kooyeen

#566349 Mon, 15 Sep 08 06:22 PM

Ok, if that's TEFLese, I understand that example: I know there are teachers who teach exactly that way. Students are expected to practice English following some strict rules and do exercises based on those strict rules.
Have you got a car? Answer with "Yes, I have" or "No, I haven't". That's an example I am familiar with. You are not supposed to just answer "yes", you have to add the rest too. You are not supposed to say "yeah" either, since it was never mentioned (Is it wrong? Non-standard? Regional? What a mystery...). Oh, and you won't say "Do you have a car?", because the auxiliary "do" with "have" won't be mentioned either.

I am afraid I might have a lot more examples than you... I was taught TEFLese Wink

. And that became the root of my aversion to prescriptive grammar. You know what? I think mine is more of an aversion to TEFLese than anything else. Thanks for coming up with that term! LOL Stick out tongue

- How are you?
- Fine, thanks. (to be repeated for 100 times)
Can't I answer "Why do you care, you <insert random insult here>?" - That would be idiomatic, and of such an importance that I believe it should be taught. LOL

Kooyeen

Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005

Italy

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CalifJim

#566420 Mon, 15 Sep 08 09:31 PM

Anonymous
Socoop's mistake, of course, was to behave as if the question he was asked was a real question, and as if he really was expected to explain to the class his feelings about fatherhood.

How unfortunate to be unable to tell the difference between an exercise in addition and subtraction and actually balancing one's check book! -- not to know the difference between fantasy and reality! Because all instruction of any kind depends on the ability to see the difference clearly. At least the author of this passage admits that it was Socoop's mistake, not the fault of the teacher or of the system in general.

Some students never do get the hang of abstraction. A friend of mine used to teach public school administration. As a means of stimulating class discussion, one day he asked, "How would you make use of a million dollars in your school system if you were the chief administrator of such a system?" One student remarked that she did not have a million dollars, so she could not possibly answer the question. Even after the teacher explained it was a "What IF" question to stimulate discussion, she insisted that it was impossible to answer because she, personally, did not have a million dollars. (Was she was related to Socoop? I wonder.)

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (17,794)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

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MrPedantic

#566452 Tue, 16 Sep 08 12:00 AM

Anonymous
What do you mean by missing article? Aren't these similar?

Look at the context of the original statement, Anon.

Then repeat the conversation aloud to yourself.

MrP

MrPedantic

Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004

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Anonymous

#566616 Tue, 16 Sep 08 09:34 AM

<At least the author of this passage admits that it was Socoop's mistake, not the fault of the teacher or of the system in general. >

Does the article show in which way the teacher indicated to the students the type of exercise to follow? I've not seen many teacher who do indicate that they are now going to do a communicative activity and now a practising correct forms exercise. Do the ESL teachers you know normally indicate the kind of exercise they will do?

Anonymous

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Anonymous

#566619 Tue, 16 Sep 08 09:39 AM

One student remarked that she did not have a million dollars, so she could not possibly answer the question.

I think it was a good answer. Too many teachers expect students to use their imaginations on rather culture-based, boring, cliched and unreal questions. I also knew a taecher who used to ask the same TEFLese question to poor refugees from Romania.

Anonymous

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