Tutor’s Report on the Diagnostic Lesson

Candidate’s Name: Katya Kirichenko

Centre Name: The Distance Delta

Centre number: 10239

Language Systems

Assignment Title: Helping Learners with the Reported

Speech

Date of assessment: April 2013

Level of class: Elementary Intermediate Up. Int. X

Pre Int. Advanced

Number in class: 12 Length of Lesson 60

(Minimum 45 minutes – maximum 60 minutes)

To be completed by the Orientation Course Tutor:

I confirm that the following requirements were met:

5 (or more) learners of English were present 

The lesson length was between 45 and 60 minutes. 

I received a copy of the lesson plan. 

I received a copy of the lesson materials. 

After the lesson I received a copy of the post-lesson evaluation 

Neil Anderson

Neil
N

Report for the Diagnostic Teaching Assignment

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5 Planning and preparation

A successful Delta candidate has designed and presented a lesson plan and supporting documentation
which:
MET, NOT MET
or PARTIALLY
MET:
5a) includes M
(i) a brief general overview of the group of learners and the course
(ii) information about individual learners relevant to the lesson M
5b) sets out clear and appropriate overall aims and learning outcomes for the lesson in relation to PM
language systems and/or language skills and learner needs
5c) provides relevant analysis of target language in terms of meaning, use, form and PM
pronunciation
5d) outlines any relevant link(s) between this lesson and relevant aspects of preceding and PM
subsequent lessons, and if relevant the course as a whole
5e) states assumptions made about the learners’ knowledge, abilities and interests relevant to the M
aims and learning outcomes of the lesson
5f) anticipates and explains potential problems in relation to the lesson’s aims and learning M
outcomes, the learners and the learning context, and materials and resources to be used
5g) suggests appropriate solutions to the problems outlined in 5f) M

5h) describes suitably sequenced procedures and activities appropriate to achieving the stated M
overall aims and stage aims
5i) states materials and/or resources to be used, which are appropriate to the teaching and M
learning context, the learners, the lesson aims and learning outcomes, and the time available,
and includes a copy/copies of suitably presented materials sourced where necessary
5j) assigns realistic and appropriate timing for each stage and/or group of stages in the procedure
M
5k) includes a commentary, of between 500 and 750 words, which provides a clear rationale for PM
the lesson plan with reference to learner characteristics and needs and the candidate’s reading
and research in Part 1

Comment

You include a profile of the learners as a group as well as relevant information on the individuals. This is a
clear profile of the group and you have managed in a short space to gather a lot of relevant materials about the
learners. You could no expand your range of reference to learning typologies, in order to go beyond risk-taker /
risk-averse. (5a)

Your aims for the lesson are fairly clearly expressed and seem appropriate to the group. To fully meet this
criteria, you need to be clearer about the precise tenses you intend to focus on in this; you could also make in
the context of constructing a dialogue clearer –written or oral? What topic? (5b)

Your language analysis is generally clear and focuses on the all-important issue of backshift that forms the
developmental heart of your lesson. I am not sure you accounted for all of the rules focused on in the lesson
though e.g. (two weeks ago) We want to buy a new TV set - they said they wanted to buy a new TV set. Do
they still want to? Maybe, maybe not, but we might backshift if we consider this “distant” from now. It may have
been easier in materials design to not focus on this at all.(5c)

You include a timetable fit that usefully contextualises the lesson; however, you need to remember to comment
on what will happen in subsequent lessons as the course is not over. You could also comment on what you
would do, hypothetically, if you had the chance to focus on reported speech further. What’s the next step? (5d)

Your assumptions concerning the learners' abilities and interests appear credible and informed. Very good to
see you consider specific strengths in terms of relevant language as well as their familiarity with the approach
taken. You could also comment on strengths in relation to relevant skills work. (5e)

You anticipate key problems in relation to the aims, learners, procedure and equipment. These are very briefly
expressed but sensible and helped you prepare for major issues. You have subdivided these in a useful way to
help with coverage. You could be a little more specific e.g. in what stage or stages do you expect the issue to
occur? Which learners may finish earlier? (5f, 5g)

Your procedure appears logically staged and contains sufficient detail to be clear. The staging is logical and
stage aims appear generally accurate. (5h)

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You state and include materials. These worked well for the most part. (5i)

Your timings appear to be realistic. (5j)

Your commentary is of appropriate length and clearly rationalises your decisions in the lesson. You have taken
into account the cognitive and affective needs of the learners. However, do not seem to make explicit
reference to the reading / research done for the essay Try to make this more prominent in future. NB: I think
you meant perspective not prospective. (5k)

6 - 9Teaching

6 Creating and maintaining an atmosphere conducive to learning

A successful Delta candidate demonstrates that they can effectively:
MET, NOT MET
or PARTIALLY
MET:
6a) teach the class as a group and individuals within the group, with sensitivity to the learners’ M
needs and backgrounds, level and context, providing equal opportunities for participation
6b) purposefully engage and involve learners M
6c) vary their role in relation to the emerging learning and affective needs of learners during M
the lesson
6d) listen and respond appropriately to learner contributions M

Comment

You taught the class with sensitivity to the learners and their needs. You were encouraging and inclusive. (6a)

You engaged the learners throughout the lesson. Tasks were purposeful and focused. You set a context for the
dialogue of work problems and the students responded quite positively to this. They enjoyed the majority of
tasks and interactions. (6b)

You varied your teaching role in the lesson in a way that responded to the learners emerging needs; this
included, for instance, the need to monitor more actively after the teach stage in order to help the learners, and
the need to provide further clarification after the controlled practice. (6c)

You listened and responded to the content of student contributions. (6d)

7 Understanding, knowledge and explanation of language and language skills

A successful Delta candidate demonstrates that they can effectively:

MET, NOT MET

or PARTIALLY
MET:
7a) use language which is accurate and appropriate for the teaching and learning context M
7b) adapt their own use of language to the level of the group and individuals in the group M
7c) give accurate and appropriate models of language form, meaning/use and pronunciation M
7d) give accurate and appropriate information about language form, meaning/use and PM
pronunciation and/or language skills/sub skills
7e) notice and judiciously exploit learners’ language output to further language and skills/sub- PM
skills development

Comment

Your own language use was natural and appropriate for these learners. Watch out for echoing student ideas,
though, in feedback, especially when eliciting ideas (such as in stage 1). It’s rather unnatural and can have a
negative effect on interaction. (7a)

You graded your own language to ensure these learners could easily follow your teacher talk. (7b)

The language models you focused on in the lesson were accurate and appropriate. You contextualised natural
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and clear examples of where the backshift is and isn’t used in reported speech and these provided natural
models for comprehension. (7c)

You need to make your clarification more robust. You started well, eliciting three paired examples onto the
whiteboard and this allowed a platform for contrastive analysis of when we do and don’t use the backshift.
What happened here? Why? Is a bit of a vague question and you should consider guiding questions which
allow you to explore the rules with a wider range of learners, without you reverting to explanation. Why didn’t
we change the tense? Vs Does he still want to quit his job? Start with the latter from the outset, in order to
increase efficacy and efficiency (the first elicits explanation from learners, and this slows the whole process
down; the latter exploits the context to probe understanding – this is the point of text-based presentation).
Relatively little evidence of understanding of the distinction emerged from this stage: in some ways this was
the weakest stage of the lesson, and this is not a good thing in a grammar lesson. Another element that needed
clarification was the issue of “remoteness” - (two weeks ago) We want to buy a new TV set. Should we
backshift here or not? Why / why not? Make this clear before the practice stage happens.

If the actual clarification stage was not particularly strong, you compensated later - what was good was the
micro-teaching in the first step of controlled practice and the remedial clarification in the feedback to it. You
used good examples and asked clear, focused concept check questions: do we have to change the tense? Just
be careful not to give the answer away by nodding as you ask the question. (7d)

You attended to the forms learners used through both active monitoring and in feedback. As noted in 6c, 9a
and 8d, you showed a good responsiveness to learners and “where they were” in their learning including
generating more examples for clarification after the controlled practice (due to learner issues / queries that had
not been clarified at the teach stage). The one stage where this was less effective was at the end where there
no clear feedback on their use of the reported speech in the dialogues, within the 60 minute period. It was very
important to spend time with this given the earlier problems the learners had and I don’t feel the decision to
value content feedback over language (looking at examples from their dialogues) was a good one. (7e)

8 Classroom, procedures and techniques

A successful Delta candidate demonstrates that they can effectively:

MET, NOT MET

or PARTIALLY
MET:
8a) use procedures, techniques and activities to support and consolidate learning and to PM
achieve language and/or skill aims
8b) exploit materials and resources to support learning and achieve aims M
8c) deliver a coherent and suitably varied lesson M
8d) monitor and check students’ learning and respond as appropriate M

Comment

The approaches and techniques implemented in the lesson supported the learners and your aims. You took a
text-based approach to presenting the reported speech. I think you lost some momentum and time when it
came to dialogue B phase, with the prediction / swap / tick taking more time than it needed too – essentially, at
this phase, you needed to give them a reason to read / process the second dialogue and then move on to the
language focus more efficiently rather than making it procedurally complex. The clarification drew on examples
from the dialogue and had the potential to be effective but see 7d – it provided a lot less evidence of student
understanding of the backshift than was desirable. Clarification was much more evident at controlled practice;
you worked hard to remedy the situation here reacting to learner difficulty. A key issue with production is
outined further in 9c – you need to ensure, even if this is “freer”, that learners are motivated to / aware of the
need to experiment with the target language. (8a)

You used resources such as the whiteboard quite extensively. Consider how to lay this out so that you end up
with clearer examples of the sentences, and that these can be elicited onto the board with greater efficacy. (8b)

The lesson was quite well-paced and varied. You made some decisions such as e.g. to include the mingle –
this allowed for further practice and a welcome change of pace. (8c)

You monitored the student's learning and responded in feedback accordingly. The learners, for instance, really
needed help at the controlled practice stage – you micro-taught and corrected in a sustained way here, and this
was important. (8d)

9 Classroom Management

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A successful Delta candidate demonstrates that they can effectively:

MET, NOT MET

or PARTIALLY
MET:
9a) implement the lesson plan and where necessary adapt it to emerging learner needs M
9b) manage the classroom space, furniture, equipment, materials and resources M
9c) set up whole class and/or group and/or individual activities, as appropriate PM
9d) ensure the learners remain focused on the lesson aims and the learning outcomes M

Comment

You implemented your lesson plan; your inclusion of a flexi-stage to the practice (an alternate way of doing it)
allowed you some flexibility in terms of approach. As it happened, you included it and I think it provided very
useful practice of the target language. It also gave you some evidence of difficulty the learners were having
and this meant you could respond and re-clarify, using feedback to the practice as a teach slot.

You were short of time for feedback on the dialogues. Consider therefore how to change this so that you do
have some time within the 60 minutes for language feedback on production as it seemed unlikely they will be
able to read and react to all of them. While it was interesting to vote for the dialogues, what about their use of
the reported speech? (9a)

The classroom was appropriately set up. Watch your position at times in open class – you tended to approach
students and cut those on the margins when for instance not using the board. This is one reason why it makes
sense to sit here. (9b)

Your instructions were clear for the most but could at times be tighter e.g. you gave several reading questions
for the gist and then afterwards boarded them, once students are no longer listening. You were also a bit vague
with time - “you have a few minutes”; I suggest a stricter time limit. In general time limits could be used in order
to synchronize the learners a little more. Some learners were off-task / confused as to what to do at times
which suggests you need to be sure a) all students are paying attention b) all learnrers are on task, through
monitoring. Be a little clearer in the controlled practice in terms of setting up the activity. You need to be clear
about when the words are reported as this is what makes the difference concering whether the intitial act is
considered remote or relevant (backshift / no backshift). With the final practice, you need to have a way of
reminding students to attend not just to content but to target language and not just to target language but also
examples differentiating the use of the backshift or not. (9c)

The learners appreciated the relevance of the focus on reported speech and remained on task throughout. (9d)

10 Reflection and evaluation

A successful Delta candidate demonstrates that they can effectively:
MET, NOT MET
or PARTIALLY
MET:
10a) reflect on and evaluate their own planning, teaching and the learners’ progress as evidenced PM
in this lesson
10b) identify key strengths and weaknesses in planning and execution PM
10c) explain how they will consolidate/follow on from the learning achieved in the lesson M

Comment

While I think for the most part the lesson went quite well, you don’t seem to acknowledge the issues that
occurred including the limited production of the target language in later stages. This means aims were partially
rather than fully met. (10a)

You identify some strengths and weaknesses in the plan and lesson itself. I’m not sure you pinpoint though that
the initial, pre-controlled practice, clarification should have been more robust. (10b)

You indicate how you could implement follow-up work on this area. These ideas seem sensible. (10c)

Overall comment (Please summarise strengths and weaknesses with reference to the criteria)

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Overall, you set yourself a big challenge here, Katya, which is to be commended. I think you pulled it off well
for the most part, though there are important areas to consider for your future teaching of grammar.

The key strengths were:

 Use of contextualised dialogues to provide examples of when the backshift was used and not used;
you had clear model sentences here. (7c)
 Your ability to and willingness to “remedy” a situation in which learners were unsure of the rules.
Though this should have been better clarified at the teach stage, you micro-taught the controlled
practice and decided to use the feedback slot to do further clarification using new examples. This was
good reactive teaching. (6c, 8d, 9a)
 Variety in production – from written sentence level, to pressured oral production, to contextualised
written practice. Learners remained well engaged in an area that is traditionally a source of frustration
for them. (8c)
 The lesson was well-planned from the ground up, and there are lots of encouraging elements to your
planning, including your outline of the learners in the profile and commentary, your staging and the
scope of your focus (though see my comments on wording the aim). (5a, 5h, 5k)

Consider the following:

 Clarification: you need to ensure all students are involved here and you fully cover what the learners
need to know in order to implement rules in practice. A lot of this comes down to improving your use of
precise elicitation / checking questions and drawing not just on one learner to give you a rule (this
doesn’t tell you much about the others). (8a, 7d)
 It is very important that learners have a clear sense of what they are supposed to do in the production
stage, beyond completing a dialogue i.e. how many instances of the TL do you want? Backshift or not?
Remind them clearly. (9c)
 In general, task set-ups are sometimes a little loose; consider making these clear by ensuring all
students are paying attention, checking the students know what to do and monitoring immediately to
ensure all students are doing it. Give time limits where it will further help the aim (e.g. skim reading) an
in order to better synchronize students. (9c)
 Spending time at the end of the lesson focusing on the progress made with reported speech rather
than an elaborate voting system for content feedback. This felt like a missed opportunity and looking
at their writing reveals they are partway their but not fully so some attention to examples to recap on
rules would have been beneficial. (7e)
 Some elements of planning could be improved, notably more explicit reference to background reading
in the lesson plan commentary. (5k)