Happy Holidays Everybody!
Show 81 takes a look at using dictionaries in the classroom. When should students use them? what is the best way to use them? What kind of dictionary should you recommend?
All this and an incredibly cheesy opening! Wow, a deal at twice the price!
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Happy holidays!
As always, the feed for the show is in the right side links or, if you want, you can catch them here.
Scott
**UPDATE**
I was thinking about dictionaries again and remembered this video I saw about a year ago. Erin McKean at the TED conference.
I really don't like my students using dictionaries in class. As you guys mentioned, dictionaries (electronic ones are the worst) will often produce these crazy renderings that just don't make sense. Or are words that I've never heard of, or would never use.
My solution is to take a few minutes at the beginning of each class and explain any vocab that I think might be problematic for that lesson, using other English words that they do know. And then if there are any further words they don't know, I tell them to ask me or a friend who is good at English and we can explain it to them.
That works pretty well for me as well. I only allow them to use dictionaries as a last resort. and then they have to read out all (or most of ) the definitions and there is some discussion about which is most appropriate for the situation.
Scott
That works pretty well for me as well. I only allow them to use dictionaries as a last resort. and then they have to read out all (or most of ) the definitions and there is some discussion about which is most appropriate for the situation.
Scott