Number

Name Class

:5
: Nuraziza Aliah, S.Pd. :A

What a language student should learn

1. Pronunciation In our teaching we will want to be sure that the students can make the various sounds that occur in the English language. We will help them to differentiate the sounds where such distinctions meaning (e.g. live/i/ and leave/i:/), to understand and use certain sound rules (e.g. the different pronunciations of the ed past tense endings), to use rhythm and stress correctly, the students learn new words, they know where they are stressed and show them how stress can be used to change the meaning of questions, sentences, and phrase. The students also need to be able to recognize intonation. Much more important, perhaps, is the goal of intelligibility and efficiency. In other words our aim should be to make sure that students can always be understood to say what they want to say. They will need good pronunciation for this, though they may not need to have perfect accents. The teaching of pronunciation should, therefore, aim to give students communicative efficiency. 1.1. The importance of listening In order to develop communicative efficiency in pronunciation the students need to understand how sound are made and how stress is used. They also need to hear the language used so that they can both imitate the pronunciation and also subconsciously acquire some of its sounds and pattern. One source of language they can listen to is the teacher. Other sources are listening material on tape or video. But if students are living in a target language community they should able to find unlimited access to native-speaker through personal contact and radio and television. 2. Grammar Since knowledge of grammar is essential for competent users of a language, it is clearly necessary for our student. Our aim in teaching grammar should be to ensure that students are communicatively efficient with the grammar they have at their level. We may not teach them the finer points of style at the intermediate level, but we should make sure that they can use what they know. 2.1. The importance of language awareness The students need to be aware of all language possibilities. Such awareness does not mean that they have to be taught each variation and linguistic twist, however, it just means that they have to be aware of language and how it is used.
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3. Vocabulary The teachers should ensure that their students are aware of the vocabulary they need for their level and that they can use the words which they want to use-and/or the words we have selected for them to use. 3.1. Vocabulary in context The teacher must teach the students what words mean and how they are used, the teacher need to show them being used, together with other words, in context. When students learn words in context they are far more likely to remember them than if they learn them as single items. That is why; reading and listening will play such a part in the acquisition of vocabulary. 4. Discourse The students need to be aware of the different ways language is used in different situation, what they want to say depends on a number of variables such as where they are, what they want to say and who they are talking to. It involves ability to structure discourse-to organize what they say into a coherent whole. 4.1. Language function Language function means the purpose that we want when we say something. We will want to teach our students how to perform language functions and we will decide which ones are more important for which level. 4. 2. Discourse organisation The teacher can help the students to see how other speakers and writers structure their discourse and thus help them to understand better. 5. Skill Competent users of language are proficient in a range of language skill, though not all of them have the same range of sub-skills. Of course it is possible that some students may not be proficient at all skills in their own languages. Then the teacher task will be twofold: to give them confidence in English and to equip them with hitherto unknown skill in either their own mother tongue or English. A lot will depend on students need and syllabus. 6. The syllabus After the teachers know the students need, the teachers will have to decide which parts of this knowledge they want the students to have and when. How the language to be organized is and what skills should the teachers concentrate on? This organization is called a syllabus.
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6.1. Structure and functions Students need to be taught functions, but they also need to learn grammar. It is around grammar that functional items can hang on a syllabus. 6.2. Vocabulary One way of organizing a syllabus would be in terms of vocabulary rather than grammatical structures or function. The idea of vocabulary as an organizing feature of a syllabus-rather than as an afterthought- is closely connected with situation and topic-based syllabus for it is with situation and topics that lexical items cluster together. 6.3. Situation, topic and task Language may not be the only way to organize a syllabus. We could also organize our teaching based round a number of situations. The other based that the teacher can use as their organizing principle are topic-based syllabus and task-based syllabus. Topic-based syllabuses take a subject or topic as their organizing principle. It is certainly suitable for vocabulary material. Task-based syllabuses, on the other hand, take activities or tasks as the main organizing principle. The syllabus becomes a list of tasks, rather than language or topics, etc. 6.4. The syllabus and student needs The final shape of a syllabus may depend to a large extent on the needs of the students who are going to be taught. One group have different syllabus with the others. It is depend on the focus of the group, the level, how often do students study? what is the cultural and educational background of the students? What kind of institution are they studying in? how many of them are there likely to be in the classroom?. The truth is that syllabus designers need to be able to organize all the elements we have talked about into a coherent whole. 7. Language varieties There are three factors that are important when we talk about language varieties. The first is the variety of English which the teacher uses. The second is which variety is most appropriate for the students. The third factor concern what variety of English is dealt with by the materials which the teacher and students are using. The teachers variety of English might be the main one for the students at lower levels whereas for more advanced students knowledge of many varieties is definite advantage.