Unit 9: The Fisherman Story

Topic 1:
Original:

His brother bought land last winter, but sold it to the neighbor when the economy crashed. John loves fishing, but longs to be more successful. When he was feeling down, he painted his boat, “Troubled Waters,” blue and shined it up. John asked his brother what he thought of the new look, but his brother just laughed and said, “You’re always fishing for compliments.”

If John had had more energy, he might have argued with his brother, but instead, he began making more nets, with the hopes of increasing his catch the next day.

Rewritten:

His brother bought land last winter, but sold it to the neighbor because he needed money. John loves fishing, but wants to be successful. When he was sad, he painted his boat, “Troubled Waters,” blue and shined it up. John asked his brother what he thought of the new look, but his brother just laughed and said, “You’re always wanting compliments.”

John did not argue with his brother because he had no energy. Instead, John made nets and hoped to catch fish the next day.

There are phrases that may be difficult for an ELL to understand and rephrasing these sentences could help learners. The phrase “economy crashed” could be better stated by saying that he needed money and “fishing for compliments” means that he wanted compliments. There are also word choices which could be made simpler; for instance “feeling down” means sad and “longs to be successful” means that he wishes to be successful.

Topic 2:

1. John is a fisherman

Simple present.

2. His brother bought land last winter.

Simple past

3. He is hoping (present progressive) to catch more fish tomorrow, but he doesn't know if it will be any better. (simple future)  

In the TESOL video Azar claims that the goal of grammar learning is "to create an interlanguage which becomes increasingly fluent and accurate".  She emphasizes "interlanguage" and that native-like fluency is not a goal because many students will never reach that point. Azar seems to think that the goal is not mastery of grammar but I find myself wanting to teach grammar because I think that students need a strong "base".  I also agree that language and grammar should be taught to be used communicatively.  I love to put my students in situations where they must use the grammar that they know to communicate and "survive".  I found this video to be very informational!