Charles, I am following because I can't wait to see how this will be developed and excited that there might be a new resource to send my learners too! Thanks for taking this on. Briar

Hi Charles,

This is interesting. I like your ideas of applying elements of Halliday's work to English "grammar" teaching. I agree, it is more about syntax than about minutae of arbitrary and perscriptive rules for "correctness". I teach English in Saudi Arabia and have been using this approach for several years and can see subatantive improvement in students' writing after only a few weeks' work

Two resources you may like to look at, if you haven't already found them:

1. Functional Grammar for Teachers a Moodle course being developed by Alan Hess, who teaches English at a Swiss secondary school. I met Alan on the Systemic Functional Linguistics listserve hosted at Cardiff. I read that list sometimes but most contributors' interests are theoretical and not well suited to  my needs.
2. Ed Vavra's KISS Grammar Site a very rich resource aimed at home US homeschoolers. Vavra teaches freshman composition at Pennsylvania College of Technology and has a background in modern languages (Russian). His method closely resembles Halliday et al but is not directly built on it. Since he's a teacher, not a theoretical linguist, his materials have a much more straightforward and practical tenor. The method is designed to enable students to make deliberate choices while writing and to explain those choices rationally. It is mostly focused on syntax. All materials are public domain, examples are all published prose, no canned or contrived stuff here. The materials are easy to use but the site is mid-90s frame based and challenging to navigate. I found Vavra on the ATEG (Assembly for Teachers of English Grammar) listserve. This organization is affilited with the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English), the largest professional organization for English teachers in the US.

I looked at Udemy but was not impressed and suspect that they might claim ownership of what you build there and then charge you for using it.  Their "added value" will be an established clientelle ....  or so they will claim ... caveat emptor.

If you are comfortable using Blackboard, you can have up to five free courses on their public server. Sign up for that at www.coursesites.com    There are no apparent strings here. This is actually less fuss than Moodle, which you'll either have to pay for or administer yourself. I use Moodle because its open source. There is a steep learning curve though.

I'd be interested in working with you on this if you decide to use Vavra's method. I haven't found a good way to set up his mark up / analysis exercise protocol on line. Maybe you have some ideas?

Mark

Mark. Thanks for the links to the resources. I will spend some time tomorrow studying both links, Vavra's in particular. I see what you mean about Udemy. I've used Moodle before and have taken a stab at installing it and getting it set-up, but didn't spend too much time on it. I think it will be doable. The 5-free on Blackboard is encouraging. My dilemma is that without a full-time teaching job, at some point I need to figure out how to monetize this venture and if that is even feasible because of all the free options out there. Or I have to find an online institution that would hire me to teach only in an online environment so that I could work on this project while teaching, but I don't know of any other than University of Athabaska and University of Arizona, and they don't appear to have online EFL programs.

I'll comment on your dream over there.

Mark:

Just saw this article by chance because of a scoop.it link: http://edudemic.com/2013/01/udemy-launches-teach2013-to-rethink-how-we-learn-online/

Hi Charles

You might be interested in recent developments on my 'manxman.ch/moodle2' site.  The FG Stories for Learning Webtexts can now be loaded on any SCORM compatible platform i.e. Moodle OR Blackboard.

The Webtext has a 'Lexical Density' report which students can use to improve their academic writing styles. There are video tutorials on using the system too.

Mail via site if of any use.

 

Alan