Shaping the Way We Teach English

Overview

Shaping the Way We Teach English is a video-based training product for English language educators. It has 14 modules (topics). The videos showcase classroom scenes from around the world and have an accompanying training manual plus additional readings.

The University of Oregon developed and produced the materials through funding from the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Office of English Language Programs ©2007. All materials are free of charge and copyable for non-commercial educational use.

Modules, Introduction and 1-14

“Shaping the Way We Teach English” is made up of the following modules and topics.

The Manual is available for download as a PDF file.

Videos are also now available through YouTube-UO (use the word “Shaping” to search for them all at once). You can also click on the links below to access them individually. Turn on closed caption if you would like to see what people in the video are saying. See technical support for online viewing guidelines. If the videos play too slowly online, you can download them by pasting the links in the KeepVid website and then saving them to your computer for offline viewing.

Watch the Video:

Video Transcripts

Available for modules: Intro * 01 * 02 * 03 * 04 * 05 * 06 * 07 * 08 * 09 * 10 * 11 * 12 * 13 * 14.

Video “See/Don’t See” Viewing Guides

To help identify main ideas for: Intro * 01 * 03 * 04 * 05 * 06 * 07 * 08 * 09 * 10 * 11 * 12 [PDFs].

Supplementary International Video Library Collection

New! Teachers have begun developing locally relevant and specialized training materials around the world. Some examples of this, in alphabetical order by country, include:

  • Russia: Website developed by David Fay, Elena Solovova, Elena Markova through the English Language Office of the U.S. Embassy Moscow (additional videos available in DVD format in Russia).
  • Saudi Arabia: Arabic subtitles added to the original videos, developed by Iqbal Al-Shuhail as part of the T2Reach Channel project (this is a YouTube playlist).

New! In training around the world, teachers have often asked if it would be possible to see full-length versions of some of the classes. Below are videos University of Oregon, American English Institute created in response to this.

Watch the Video:

  • Full-length class of a university-level EFL course, Part 1, Part 2 [Egypt].
  • Full-length class of a secondary-level EFL course, Part 1, Part 2 [Costa Rica].
  • Full-length class of a secondary-level ESL course, Part 1, Part 2 [African, in the DC area].
  • Full-length class of a primary-level bilingual course.

New! Teachers and teacher-trainers have also asked to see an example of a trainer using the “Shaping” materials with a group of trainees. Below is a workshop training session from Spring 2007 with co-trainers Leslie Opp-Beckman and Kay Westerfield. The workshop was for University of Oregon teachers who planned to train primary-level EFL teachers from Korea.

Watch the Video:

Teaching and Classroom Observation Checklists

Available for modules: 01 * 03 * 04 * 05 * 06 * 07 * 08 * 09 * 10 * 11 * 12 [PDFs].

List of Supplementary Web-based Readings

For each module, there is also a list of supplementary web-based readings.

Ordering

Shaping the Way We Teach English is produced for overseas use and is available in hard copy outside the United States only. For information on availability, contact a Regional English Language Office in your area or your local U.S. Embassy, Public Affairs Section.