How can I clarify concepts

for my students?

There are a variety of ways to clarify concepts for

your students. And whilst these may not actually
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be specific to giving the class in a different
language, they can nevertheless become
important moments in such situations because
your discourse tends to gain in clarity as a result.

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How can I clarify concepts for my students?

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What are we referring to? To giving examples, to
paraphrasing or defining, for instance. In such
situations, our discourse expands and allows—beyond
any doubt—our students to broaden their
understanding. Because students need above all that
discourse should not be too dense and that it should
contribute highly diverse elements to comprehension.
How can I clarify concepts for my students?

Examples, definitions and paraphrastic speech

are factors that lighten-up discourse, they are
elements that avoid cognitive overload. For the
student who doesn’t need such support, it’s
not likely to be a distraction; but for the
student who does need it, it will be decisive 3
help in comprehension.
How can I clarify concepts for my students?

That said, however, these operations are not at

all simple. For instance, definitions cannot
simply be given in any manner of fashion; they
have to be adjusted to the correct structures
4 and—as regards meaning—they have to be
very precise.
How can I clarify concepts for my students?

Paraphrastic language, on the other hand, which

consists of saying the same thing in different words,
requires from us the ability to reformulate ideas or
words. In the case of teachers giving their classes in a
language different from their usual one, the need to
know how to paraphrase is greater. It may be that you
need to find an alternative formula to what is proving
difficult to express adequately, or to ensure that what
you’re saying is better understood by formulating your 5
ideas in a different way.
How can I clarify concepts for my students?

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Paraphrasing may refer to a single term (a
specialised term, for instance) or to an idea,
too. Paraphrastic language is a guarantee that,
through one means or another, the sense of
what we are saying is communicated
effectively to our listeners.
How can I clarify concepts for my students?

Other operations of a metalinguistic type

that you need to know how to carry out
perfectly are classifying the objects that you
refer to in your subject, or comparing and
contrasting (objects, data, facts, theories,
experiments).

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How can I clarify concepts for my students?

If you want to know the linguistic forms most used

in English for all these purposes, take a careful
look at the videos dedicated to these issues. Here
you’ll find examples of specific forms that you can
use in your texts. Remember that the objective of
this MOOC is for you to transform a brief class
sequence into a sequence in English.

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How can I clarify concepts for my students?

So think carefully about whether you should use

examples, give a classification in your explanation,
define a term or concept, or compare data, facts
or objects. And prepare your paraphrastic
language carefully: you might need it at any
moment!