A Funny, yet Honest, Only Sometimes Brutal and Mostly Lovely Review on Attending the CATESOL Conference in San Diego
Regional CATESOL Conference This Saturday 10/10/15, I attended the CATESOL conference in San Diego at the Educational Cultural Complex (A San Diego Continuing Education Campus) and was able to explore the various exhibits as well as hear the Key note speaker Deborah Gordon present on Multi-word vocabulary. The lecture by Deborah was refreshingly practical and did not contain the usual lengthy intellectual theories explained with 5 syllable words, as other lectures I’ve attended have had. I enjoyed it when she gave a list of 8 myths of vocabulary teaching, which were borrowed from Keith False’s book “Vocabulary Myths: Applying Second Language Research to Classroom Teaching.” I was happy to hear that several of the suggestions, based on the myths, were things I am already doing in my classroom. For example one myth was that you should avoid using the native language when teaching vocabulary and avoid vocabulary lists. Well in my class I often use lists which compare the E...