[Kieran]

Hi Encarna,

Thanks very much for your great answers!

I think the factors mentioned in the article are very serious and I am glad I came across this information because I was ignorant of it so… thank you!

A pleasure. I’m happy you’re aware of these issues now.

As Mariana commented, I also cover the lack of diversity in books with my own material.

Yes. I think most teacher now recognise the lack of diversity in coursebooks.

The more authentic information about what is going on in our “real” world we get, the more chances to “wake up” and evolve as human beings, more opportunities to take action and create a fairer world.

Excellent point. This lack of diversity doesn’t help us create more social justice.

As Angie pointed out, I also think that a lack of training in empathy or a lack of awareness of this value (that we all have inside) and its potentialities could be a deterrent to foster a culture of empathy in language education.

Absolutely. There is an almost complete lack of opportunities to train in empathy. As far as I know, this is the only course that focuses exclusively on empathy in language teaching.

I also think that from the political establishments and mass media it seems there is little interest in promoting empathy in society in general.

Great point. Fostering empathy in society and our education system doesn’t appear to be a priority of the political establishment.

Thanks again for your excellent responses, Encarna.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

You’re very welcome, Maria Penya 🙂

[Kieran]

You’re very welcome, Maria Penya 🙂

[Kieran]

Hi Encarna,

Thanks very much for your great answers!

I would like to use The House in Mango Street because a colleague of mine has just recommended this book to me recently. She often uses it in her classes and told me that students like the reader very much. In fact, she showed me a chapter and an activity she did with her pupils and the outcomes were very positive.

The House on Mango Street is a good choice. The fact that it has stood the test of time is a testament to what a good book it is.

As I mentioned in another lesson, I once used “The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole”. I think it can foster empathy because students can identify themselves with the protagonist’s experiences as the main character is a teenager himself with his ups and downs.

Yes. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole is an excellent book for fostering empathy.

As María points out, the reason could be that the process requires more time and effort: select the books (bearing in mind the diversity and the different levels of English), get the books, organise and schedule time in the class to read…The idea of extensive reading is very good, though.

Very well-analysed. Extensive Reading is time-consuming but undoubtedly worth the time and effort as the benefits are so great.

Another drawback is that teachers may feel they cannot do a proper follow-up of what students are reading and learning.

Good point. I would argue that the generic Character questions we explored in the previous Topic could be used with any reader and so the teacher wouldn’t have to prefer specific follow-up activities for each reader.

Thanks again for your excellent responses, Encarna.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Encarna,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of Extensive Reading and the Extensive Reading books.

Many years ago my older teenagers read an adapted version of “The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole”. The book was published in 1982 but I think it is timeless and therefore the story can “tune” in to 21st century young people. It can foster empathy because students can put themselves in the shoes of the main character, who is a teenager himself with his ups and downs.

Definitely. “The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole” is a brilliant book for fostering empathy and , as you point out, timeless.

Circle of Viewpoints: I agree with María, I like this routine and teachers can adapt it to different language levels. An activity that helps to take perspectives.

Yes. This activity is excellent for practising taking different perspectives.

Empathy Fostering Questions: they are good questions but more suitable for older teenagers or young adults. For younger students questions should be simpler, I think.

Yes. These could be adapted for younger learners.

Reader’s Empathy Workshop: a good activity to do in groups. In the near future, I would like to organise a virtual exchange with students from around the world (e-Twinning) and I may use the activity described on this sheet so I am grateful to have come across to it.

Yes. I can definitely see this activity working in a e-Twinning project.

Character Questions: a great deal of interesting questions, very useful for describing characters.

Yes. There are such a wide variety of questions that they can be used with most texts.

Role-playing: role-playing is quite interesting and it can also be quite engaging for students. As the text says, it is a good idea students devoting time to working on their roles. It can foster perspective-taking.

Definitely. Giving students time to get into their character is key to a successful roleplay.

Thanks again for your great evaluation, Encarna.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Encarna,

Thanks very much for your great answers!

I would like to have a look at IATEFL Global Issues Special Interest Group and Easier English Wiki. I think the scope of topics they deal with is wide enough and they seem to offer interesting social justice and empathy-related material to use in the class.

Yes. Both of these projects focus on a wide range of social and environmental issues.

I would like to try materials related to human values in order to foster empathy, critical thinking and ways of action for a better world.

Yes. I think materials on the IATEFL Global Issues Special Interest Group and Easier English Wiki very well at exploring human values related to empathy.

Thanks again for your excellent responses, Encarna.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Encarna,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of the active listening article.

Yes, I do agree with the six things. And, as Maria points out, the tone of voice is also important.

Yes. Tone of voice is another key feature of active listening.

Yes, I do. Reading the article made me realize what a bad listener I am. I certainly need to be more aware of it when interacting with others! Words are powerful, you can hurt people’s feelings, both consciously and unconsciously.

I think we can all become more aware of our listening and better listeners. Words are indeed very powerful.

On top of that, the article also made me reflect on those moments when I myself tried to get something off my chest with a friend, relative, etc. and there was lack of feedback or empathy and I ended up feeling more devastated and/or thinking there was something wrong in me…

Yes. It is very rare to meet someone who genuinely listens to us.

All the practices are very interesting.

I’m happy you like all of the activities.

Show you are listening: they foster the use of the language, if it is an invented situation it enhances creativity and imagination…The activity can lead to a plenary discussion on the quality of being a good or bad listener.

Definitely. This activity lends itself perfectly to a plenary discussion on the qualities of being a good or bad listener.

I just feel the same: good practice at the very start of the academic year. On the one hand, it is useful for the teacher as he/ she can have an idea of students’ perception of speaking English in general in the class and, on the other hand, the practice allows students to feel they are not “alone”, their peers are on the same boat.

Yes. This one does give the teacher a lot of information on students’ perception of their English. The activity also focuses on commonalities rather than differences which I believe is important.

Silent listeners: another interesting practice to make us aware of subtleties in the personal interactions, start “reading” body language and how important it is.

Definitely. This does help students be more aware of paralinguistics.

The good and bad listeners diagrams are also very helpful. I think I would use them with late teens because maybe at that age (from seventeen onwards) they have more cognitive maturity and are able to reflect on the topic at a deeper level.

Good point about using these with older teens.

Thanks again for your great evaluation, Encarna.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Encarna,

Thanks very much for your great analysis of the Carl Rogers video.

He leans a bit forward, he uses a soothing voice and tone, he notices her trembling and lets her know that he is aware of it, he is not judgemental, he poses open questions, he paraphrases to make sure he understood and/or to show he is fully attentive, he uses “hmm”, he nods…

This is a really good analysis of what Carl Rogers does to be such a good and active listener. He’s a master at listening, isn’t he?

Thanks again for your great analysis of the video, Encarna.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Encarna,

Thanks very much for your great analysis of the active listening videos and article.

ACTIVITY No. 1

Similarities:
– The good listener fully concentrates on what is being said, the focus of attention is the other person. There is full attention.
– The video mentions that a good listener helps the other person to egg on. In a similar way, in the article it is said that a good listener gives the other person time and space to express themselves fully. It is a similar action, in my opinion.
– Good listeners avoid judgement, they do not moralise.

An excellent summary of the similarities between the video and article.

Differences:
– In the article there are dictums by different experts on the subject.
– In the video it is said that good listeners welcome vulnerability.
– Video: A good listener may disagree with what the other person is saying but, in any case, there is acceptance all the time, the listener does not reject the other person.
– In the article the writer says that good listeners also pay attention to non-verbal cues.

An excellent summary of the differences between the video and article.

Thanks again for your great analysis, Encarna.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Encarna,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of the viewing routines.

I think it was a good idea, it is a way of reinforcing the acquisition of language, it’s a summative approach that may enhance the learning.

Yes. I agree with you that this approach does enhance learning.

The four skills are sufficient but viewing could be regarded as a useful tool or a complement to foster the learning process.

Yes. I think we need to have this fifth skill of ‘viewing’ or change ‘reading to ‘reading / viewing’.

It is quite interesting to see how they are developed in “real life”: students’ carefully observing, their responses, the role of the teacher, how different perspectives come out, etc. These videos definitely give you an idea on how to implement the viewing in class.

Definitely. As you point out, these videos help teachers to see how these routines can be used effectively.

agree with María, I like the See, Think, Wonder because the questions are open, they foster initiative, creativity, reflection and promote debate/discussion among students.

See, Think, Wonder is very popular with both teachers and students as it’s easy to apply and generates a lot of thought and discussion.

2. I THINK…
The man: “This young woman…how does she dare to say I’m not right?”
The policeman: “I wish they would stop arguing, the man is getting really angry and
this is getting out of control…”
The girl: “He thinks he’s right, ha! It’s me who is right!”

3. A QUESTION I HAVE FROM THIS VIEWPOINT IS… ask a question from this viewpoint.
The man: Will she admit she insulted me and my team? Lack of respect!
The policeman: When is this demonstration going to finish?
The girl: Is he going to admit that he’s wrong?

Excellent application of two parts of the routine.

Thanks again for your great evaluation, Encarna.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Encarna,

Thanks very much for your great analysis of the short films.

We’ve all Been There: the way the story concludes at the end, it’s like everything is interwoven, people are like interconnected, sympathy that is mutually shared…The close-ups and the facial expressions are pretty relevant in this short film.

Excellent analysis. The way the different narratives are linked is impressive and the camerawork is excellent at fostering our empathy.

Moments: a nice short, the music plays an important role to make you feel moved; the contrast of darkness and brightness, the facial expressions of happiness, the family reunion, all people celebrating it, sharing the happy moment.

Definitely. The music plays a huge role as does the use of light and darkness.

The Alphabet of Illiteracy: In my opinion the “happy” melody or music doesn’t match with the serious issues depicted in the graphics. I wouldn’t classify this film as fostering empathy. I think it leads to reflection and to ask ourselves questions: Why are these horrible things still happening? Why so much injustice and inequality? Who is interested in perpetuating a world like this? Don’t we all human beings deserve to live in peace and harmony?

Excellent point about the film encouraging reflection on why these horrible things are happening in the world.

The Reader: the facial expressions, the music, the story itself, the fact that the people who appear are all black, the big effort the elderly man makes.

Yes. The story itself does indeed foster empathy it’s very moving and inspiring.

We’re the Superhumans: this film does foster empathy as it shows the fantastic things disabled people can do if given the opportunity and it makes you consider the struggles they had to face in order to overcome difficult and challenging situations. I think the film makes you put yourself in the shoes of people with disabilities.

I agree that the film does encourage us to put ourselves into the shoes of disabled people.

Stand Up: another film that fosters empathy, that feeling of “putting yourself in someone’s shoes” mentioned beforehand. Special attention to close-ups, the slow motion, the way people look…

Definitely. The close-up shots in this film really encourage us to put ourselves into the shoes of characters.

Mankind Is No Island: there are many elements that focus on the theme of empathy. The good selection of words and the way they chain to create the messages, the background music, the hearts…

Yes. The words are very well chosen and all link together very well.

Thanks again for your great analysis, Encarna.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Encarna,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of the extensive viewing.

This seven-stage framework Extensive Viewing has given me some interesting ideas for my future lessons. It is been a long time since I last showed feature-length films in class but I remember I simply used to provided them with a very few pre-viewing and post-viewing questions (and not always). I never thought about introducing a synopsis and a vocabulary list first so, I will give it a try next time.

Yes, the synopsis and glossary help to reduce the cognitive load and make the film more comprehensible.

Maybe viewing short films is more beneficial to the whole class.

Viewing short films doesn’t work with extensive viewing as the texts have to be long and have a lot of dialogue.

Miss Little Sunshine: a great film that can lead to work on a variety of topics, including empathy. Each character in the film is worth analysing.

A good choice, in my opinion. The characters in this film are very strong and worth analysing.

The viewing guide is excellent but as I mentioned before, I would need to adapt its contents to the class context I have and the age of students.

Yes. it’s always necessary to adapt material to your own teaching context.

I haven’t seen any of the other films but, by looking at the content of the Green Book viewing guide, it seems to be an ideal film to work on empathy issues.

‘Green Book’ is definitely worth checking out and is suitable for work on fostering empathy.

Thanks again for your great evaluation, Encarna.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Anthony,

Unfortunately, there is no central hub for purchasing graded readers – each publisher has their own readers and platform. I rethink I would recommend that students buy the books themselves. What I’ve done in the past is for each student to buy a reader they like and then have a class ‘library’ of those books so students don’t have to buy too many books.

I hope this helps.

Best of luck with the extensive reading project – I hope it’s a great success.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

You’re very welcome, Maria Penya 🙂

[Kieran]

You’re very welcome, Maria Penya 🙂

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