Lesson commentary:

NB: I will try to make it more specific group-oriented when I get to know the students.

As mentioned in the Background Essay choosing the right form to express future in English can be a
source of frustration for the students. For the Arab students it can be particularly difficult as there is no
future tense in Arabic – they use present tense and add deictic pointers such as tomorrow, next week,
etc. Many students therefore often using present continuous only, as it is the closest to their L1.

Many authors, such as Swan (2005), Thornbury (2006), Willis, D (2003), state that will is the most
common way of expressing future in English. It has multiple meanings/uses and is, in my opinion, very
important due to its high frequency. It appears on the Oxford 3000™ word list
(http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/oxford3000/ox3k_U-Z/?page=2 )and on the list of the top
5,000 words in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) it ranks 48:

Rank Word Part of speech Frequency Dispersion

48 will v 824568 0.97

(http://www.wordfrequency.info/top5000.asp)

Omani students are exposed to English quite a lot in their everyday life so they all can express basic
meanings and can be quite fluent. Unfortunately it is mostly with uneducated immigrant workers who
often speak “pidgin” English. As a result, most of the students are very inaccurate in their speech and
need a lot of speaking activities that focus on accuracy rather than fluency. That is why I have chosen
speaking as a supporting skill focus of this lesson.

I have chosen text-based presentation and inductive approach for several reasons:

The dialogue will help the students to see the target structure in context which in this case is very
important as it shows the differences between previously learnt going to and will. It highlights the
knowledge gap and helps noticing patterns. Inductive activities have worked well in my other classes in
Oman as the students here usually want to know and understand the rules and respond very positively to
such activities.

I chose a dialogue for the text based presentation because it is one of the most common forms of
communication in day-to-day interaction. It is how language is used in the real world. Also, even though it
is a scripted dialogue it is close to authentic texts.

In my lesson I will use a recording and a typescript of a dialogue not only to provide context in which this
form is used but also as a pronunciation model for the students. Omani students often have problem
distinguishing want/wɒnt/, went /went/ and won’t /wəʊnt/. They tend to pronounce them all as
want /wɒnt/,. They also rarely use contracted forms and need both exposure and practice (drilling).

Grammar dictation or dictogloss engages learners in the creative reconstruction of text from memory and
their own linguistic resources. It gives the students an opportunity for meaningful interaction and helps
them to achieve accuracy through fluency activity (Wajnryb, 1990).

466 words

Bibliography:

Books:
Swan, M. (2005). Practical English Usage. OUP
Thornbury, S. (2006). An A-Z of ELT. Macmillan

Wajnryb, R. ( 1990) Grammar Dictation. OUP

Willis, D. (2003). Rules, Patterns and Words Grammar and lexis in English Language Teaching. CUP

Websites:
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/oxford3000/ox3k_U-Z/?page=2 (01.05.13)

Word frequency data. Corpus of Contemporary American English

http://www.wordfrequency.info/top5000.asp(01.05.13)

Lesson Plan

DATE 11.06.2013

TIME / LENGTH 60 minutes.

LEVEL Pre-Intermediate 2

No. OF STUDENTS don’t know...

CLASS PROFILE AND haven’t met the class yet...

LEARNER NEEDS

AIMS By the end of the lesson the students will have better awareness
of the form/meaning and use of will for prediction and unplanned
events and will have an opportunity to use it in speaking
(dialogue).

Sub skills: Speaking: informal dialogue

LANGUAGE ANALYSIS
Meaning/Use

In this lesson we are going to use will for predictions of future events based on speaker’s beliefs
- to talk about what we think, guess or calculate will happen (Swan, 2005):

I’m sure you’ll enjoy it

we probably won’t go anywhere far

You won’t be disappointed!

...will there be many people?

But I think kids will enjoy having other kids to play with

I think it’ll be fun

Because the supporting skill of the lesson is informal speaking and the students will need to
produce an informal dialogue, they will need to use contracted form ‘ll (see Pronunciation).

Expressing future using going to (NB: We have learnt going to form in the previous lesson, so the
students will know the uses and the form. It will be used for contrasting only and is not a focus of
this lesson):

 going to is used to talk about future events when we have some outside evidence for
what we say (Swan, 2005):

My kids have to be back early because of their extra classes. So we’re not going
anywhere far.

In this case the outside reason in the first sentence.

 going to is also used to talk about planned future events, when the emphasis is on
intention (Swan, 2005):

...what are you going to do this summer?

We’re going to the Millennium resort.
We’re going there on the 21st of June for one week

In the last two examples going to+verb has been shortened to avoid repetition of the verb go.

Form

Affirmative: will + infinitive without to (Swan, 2005):

I’m sure you’ll enjoy it

Negative: won’t + infinitive without to (Swan, 2005):

You won’t be disappointed

Questions: questions are formed by inverting the position of will (‘ll, won’t) and the subject
(Parrott, 2010):

...will there be many people?

Pronunciation

Contracted forms

Contracted form ‘ll /əl/ is used in informal speech after pronouns.

It’ll be fun.

Negative contracted form won’t is more commonly used in colloquial speech then the full form
will not (although ‘ll not is a standard negative form in some regions in the UK (Parrott, 2010).

You won’t be disappointed.

For Omani students this is often a problem as they tend to use full forms will and will not and
often sounds unnatural. Also, when stressed, full forms can suggest a degree of obstinate
insistence (Parrott, 2010):

It will be fun!
 You will not be disappointed.

Therefore, pronunciation practice (drilling and repetition) is required.

TIMETABLE FIT Don’t have all the details yet. I have only found out what level I
will be teaching yesterday and there are two language focuses on
future forms in the textbook that we follow. The first one for
going to (to talk about holidays) and the next one for will:

In the previous lesson we focused on going to to talk about plans.

I will be using it to contrast with uses of will.

In the next lesson the students will be doing speaking assessment

planning their dream holiday and will need to use both will and
going to.

 the students have some previous knowledge of will as a

general future
 they know form, meaning/use of going to so I can use it to
ASSUMPTIONS contrast it with will for predictions
 the students have enough vocabulary to understand the
dialogues given
 the students have discussed the topic - holidays - and have
enough vocabulary to create new dialogues about holidays.
ANTICIPATED Problems

PROBLEMS AND  the students are still not sure about the use of going to
SOLUTIONS  they have problems understanding listening
 students use full forms of will when speaking instead of
contracted forms
 students overuse either will or going to (over-
generalisation)
Solutions:
 elicit uses of going to using examples in the text
 play the recording twice first time, focus on connected
speech; write some key words on the board.
 drill the pronunciation; remind the students to use them
when speaking
 emphasise the differences; help the students while
monitoring by asking CCQs; use feedback session to
reinforce different uses of both forms.
MATERIALS AND AIDS  Recording of Dialogue 1
 typescript of the Dialogue 1 (on IWB and printed)
(see Appendix )  a template for the text reconstruction activity
 highlighters
 Template for creating a dialogue
 Role cards
PERSONAL AIMS Giving feedback
As I have stated in my RA stage 2 assignment, giving feedback to
the whole class at the end of the lesson is something I tend to
avoid doing or do very hastily This was also an issue in my DA
lesson.
Therefore, in this lesson I will take notes to record good and bad
use of TL to give a feedback session at the end of the class.

Stage and Aim
Lead in
 to activate schemata
 to prepare students for the
listening
Text-Based presentation - listening
 to expose students to TL in a
meaningful context
 to provide a model for future
language analysis
Text reconstruction
 to highlight knowledge gap
 to provide students with an
opportunity for meaningful
interaction
 to focus on accuracy
Focus on form
 to encourage students to use
context to work out the
meaning of TL
 to verbalise the rules of the
use/form of TL
Pronunciation practice
 to encourage students to
improve their pronunciation of
TL
Inter- Time
Procedure
action
1. Ask the students about their plans for summer. Are they going somewhere on holidays? Where?
Why?
t-ss 2-3 min
1. Tell the students that we are going to listen to a short dialogue. They need to listen for general
understanding and answer three questions they see on the board:
 What is the relationship of the two people talking? (friends)
5 min
 What are A’s plans for summer? (going to Millennium Resort in Barka) ss-ss
 What are B’s plans for summer? (Not sure yet Won’t go anywhere far. Maybe will go
to the resort too).
2. Students listen to the recording once. Nominate students to answer the questions above
1. Tell the students that they are going to listen again and that after that they will need to reconstruct
the text as close to the original as possible. They can’t take notes or write anything down. They will
have some key vocabulary.
2. Students listen to the text.
ss-ss
3. Students work in pairs and write the dialogue on a template provided. Tell them that they have only
10-15 min
10 min for it and set the timer (using IWB)
4. After they have finished, listen again. Allow for final changes. Then show the original on the IWB
and ask them to highlight the differences (tell them that spelling mistakes need to be corrected but
not highlighted)
1. Ask the students to highlight the ways of expressing future in the text. Elicit rules for going to
(having a plan).
2. Ask them to work in pairs to work out the rules for using will in this dialogue (prediction)
t-ss
3. Check with the whole class. Use CCQs to help them: 5-10 min
 Does he have a plan?
ss-ss
 How does he know it?
 Is there any evidence to back up his statement?
Possible answers:
t-ss
we don’t have plans
there is no evidence, it’s just our opinion or belief.
4. Ask the students to write affirmative, negative and question forms of will.
1. Display will, ‘ll and won’t on the board. Which ones did they hear in listening?
t-ss
2. Drill the pronunciation of contracted form ‘ll and won’t (Arabic students often pronounce it as 5 min
want)
3. Flexi stage: Students practice the dialogue in pairs. Monitor and model correct pronunciation of ‘ll
ss-ss
5 min
and won’t when needed
 1. Tell the students that they need to create a dialogue based on the role cards they will be give.
Freer practice
Model one with the whole class. Emphasize that they don’t need to write it but they can write key
 to provide students with an ss-ss
words to help them remember 10 min
opportunity to practise and
2. Give out the role cards. Students work in pairs creating dialogues and practicing them. Monitor
experiment with TL creatively
and offer advice when asked but don’t interfere or correct. Take notes of TL use
Feedback
1. Use the notes from previous activity to conduct a feedback session by writing some examples of
 to encourage peer checking and students’ utterances on the white board and asking the students to decide whether they are
t-ss 10 min
peer teaching
correct or not. They need to correct the former.
 to sum up the lesson
Materials

Dialogue 1 (typescript):

A: Hey, what are you going to do this summer? You have a month off, right?

B: Yeah. Well, I don’t know. My kids have to be back early because of their extra classes. So we’re not
going anywhere far.

A: Well, there are lots of places around here. We’re going to the Millennium resort. You know, the new
one, in Barka.

B: Sounds nice. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. But I heard it’s very pricey.

A: Not really – they have summer deals, so it’s really affordable. You should come with us. You won’t be
disappointed!

B: Huh, maybe you’re right. But will there be many people?

A: Don’t know. But I think kids will enjoy having other kids to play with.

B: True. OK. I think it’ll be fun. Have you booked already?

A: Yes, we have. We’re going there on the 21st of June for one week.

NB:

The words in bold will be the key words given to the students to help them recreate the text.

Underlined are the instances of TL

Template for text reconstruction

A: ___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

B: ___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

A: ___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

B: ___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
A: ___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

B: ___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

A: ___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

Rules (on the other side of the previous worksheet)

Meaning:

We use will when

a)
b)

Form:

Affirmative: ___________________________________________________________________________

(will + __________________________________)

Negative: _____________________________________________________________________________

(______________________________________)

Question: ____________________________________________________________________________

(_____________________________________)

Template for creating a dialogue

A: ___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

B: ___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

A: ___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

B: ___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
A: ___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

Role cards
Sorry, just examples at the moment.

A: A: A: A:
You have a three days You want to go Your mother asked you
weekend. You want to shopping. There is a to buy her new shoes.
go camping with your new mall in your city You are not sure where
friend. you haven’t been to you can get them.
yet.

B: B: B: B:
You have a three days You want to see a new You sister just told you
weekend. You want to film and buy some about a wonderful new
relax on the beach on a clothes. You don’t shoe shop with lots of
nice hotel with your know where to go. different shoes and
family. handbags.