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Listening Contexts

                                        Listening: Increase your English listening time!  Here are some links to different listening contexts and I hope to update them from time to time, so, be sure to check back here in the future. Let me know if you found any of these videos and links helpful. I think it's a good idea to try new listening experiences. Have you  listened  to TEdTalks? They are great for watching and  listening  to interesting presentations in English. There is a huge amount of variety in  presenters  and topics! One more idea, if you listen to one kind of music, try listening to some genre of music you don't normally listen to. Maybe you're a Heavy Metal fan, try Opera! Or maybe you are a J-Pop fan, try Free Jazz! ....You never know, you might get something out of it.  The following are a few tips for listening and one brief t...
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Introduction

  Welcome to my EFL and Language acquisition blog!   I am creating a space   to share my teaching and learning experiences within the field of English as Foreign Language (EFL), and more broadly, second language acquisition. More than just my experience, I  hope to share ideas, comments, critiques and analysis (and links) to interesting research and articles on English language acquisition and related topics.  About me: Ben Jansson I am currently a part-time lecturer teaching general English classes to first-year students and EAP classes to second-year students at Utsunomiya University. I also teach part-time at Teikyo University, in Utsunomiya. I have taught at Hotoku Nursing School in Utsunomiya and at the Hokkaido School of Education in Iwamizawa.  I have a Certificate in TESOL (2019), two music degrees, a  Bachelor of Music (Wayne State University, 2008, and a Master of Music from Michigan State University, 2010. I am curr...
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Teaching, Learning, Adjusting: Week 2

     Working on grammar points, especially how to explain them and model them for students is not always easy! This week, I had the feeling that some English grammar points have no center of gravity! Meaning: Are these rules really real? I got a bit lost in overthinking, but also learned some new perspectives. I have spent many years playing music and working on being creative and breaking down rules just enough to allow myself to be as free as I possibly can musically, but still hold on to tradition. When I approach grammar I am often baffled by word function. I can see everything as a noun! I feel that to really understand many grammar points I have to check my creativity at the door and accept boundaries created by others ( the grammar makers).        I created a PowerPoint to go over an item that was causing some confusion last week in my private class. I am glad I dived into this because it is a grammar item that many of my students in various cla...
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