| Here is a method you will definitely want to include in | | | | appropriate images and symbols. They can be |
| your English language teaching toolkit: | | | | encouraged to invest in a pack of colored crayons or |
| MindMaps | | | | pens, and use a great variety in each MindMap. |
| What Are MindMaps? | | | | The Community Approach |
| A MindMap is a diagram showing related words and | | | | Finally, students can be invited to exchange their |
| ideas linked around a central word of idea. By | | | | MindMap with anyone near them. This can be timed so |
| representing words in a radial fashion, the mind can | | | | one minute is spent on each swap. Swap three times. |
| quickly assimilate a number of words at once and see | | | | Each student will then have been exposed to the |
| their relation to other words. Seeing a complete picture | | | | same vocabulary a number of times, represented by |
| in this way is, under some circumstances, much more | | | | multiple mind maps with different colors, symbols and |
| effective than representing the same information in a | | | | pictures. |
| linear fashion. | | | | This has two advantages: |
| Where Did MindMaps Come From? | | | | - it impresses the vocabulary on their minds even |
| Tony Buzan, an author and educational consultant, | | | | more, |
| created them, coined the term and formally introduced | | | | - it can give them inspiration or ideas on how to |
| the idea of MindMaps back in 1974. | | | | develop their own mind maps to a higher level when |
| How Can MindMaps Be Used In English Language | | | | they see what fellow students are doing. Swapping |
| Teaching? | | | | MindMaps with other students draws from a |
| A language teacher may wish to end a lesson by | | | | community based approach so the combined input |
| creating a MindMap on the board covering the main | | | | from a group can be utilized by an individual student. |
| vocabulary for that lesson. This creates a repetition of | | | | In Conclusion |
| things learned but not in a boring way. As the main | | | | MindMaps have been used in an amazing variety of |
| theme is put on the board in the centre, students can | | | | ways since their introduction in 1974. Families, schools, |
| be asked to call out the main keywords, creating a | | | | universities, and multinational companies have all found |
| separate branch for each. Then students are | | | | uses for MindMaps. |
| encouraged to call out all the related words and | | | | If you are involved with English language teaching, be |
| phrases which are now included as sub-branches | | | | sure to educate yourself about MindMaps. Simply type |
| under each keyword. As the teacher develops the | | | | the word in your favorite search engine and find a |
| word MindMap, students can copy it into their own | | | | wealth of information on the internet. Additionally, go to |
| notebooks. | | | | images dot google dot com and type in 'MindMaps' for |
| Alternatively, depending on the age of the students, | | | | numerous visual examples. |
| they can be encouraged to create their own and add | | | | |