Classroom notes

In the English for Academic Purposes Level VI class, Ken Cranker has started using literature to familiarize students with rhetorical devices. Reading a not-so-famous story by O. Henry, says Cranker, is “difficult, but when we act it out in class, it comes to life.”

Mary Long’s The Entrepreneur: The Business Plan has collaborated with the Delaware Small Business Development Center (DSBDC), which usually advises business people starting their own companies. Besides making online workshops available to students, DSBDC director John Osonaich and a colleague visit the class for the final presentation of each student’s business plan. After the 15-minute speeches, the DSBDC visitors ask probing questions. Long reports that students are proud to have professionals evaluating their work.

In Oral Business, Mary Beth Worrilow has added a new listening component which keeps her students on the cutting edge of the global world of business. Her students are required to listen to weekly podcasts of international business news at www.eslbusinessnews. com and report their findings to the class each Monday.

Reading/Writing Level IV students in Janet Louise’s class interviewed former ELI tutor Joan Libera and her husband to learn their “secrets” of a more than 50-year marriage. In a time when many marriages do not endure, they helped students to understand their philosophy that “divorce was not an option” and how they dealt with the many challenges of marriage. The Liberas are now enjoying retirement by traveling and visiting their children and grandchildren.

	Level III students ham it up for the camera.

Curious about the security issues raised in their Listening/ Speaking Level III class text, Sarah Petersen’s students went out in teams to survey some of ELI’s neighbors. The residents described and showed students the varied security measures they take, but the students concluded that generally Newarkers find their homes very safe places.

Students in Barbara Morris’s Listening/Speaking Level III classes produced mini-videos to illustrate phrasal verbs. Each vignette––scripted, acted and filmed by video production teams––packed in some strong emotional content in order to make the shows both amusing to watch and easy to remember. The best of the one-minute clips will be added to the online WebCT course for future generations of Level III students to enjoy. The WebCT component, which also includes listening comprehension and pronunciation exercises, was added in 2006 and continues to evolve.

Nonie Bell wanted to liven up the task of describing a person in her Listening/ Speaking Level II classes, so she brought a grab bag of items for each small group. The bags contained clothing, hats, shoes and personal items that a worker might use. Each group had to dress up one of its members with all items in the bag and then introduce that person to the class.