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Day 1, 28/2/2011
General Advice
Script what you are going to say in the class room.
Grade your language to suit students’ level
Stage your instructions. Don’t give all instructions at once.
(2) _________ comes from a big family (has 4 brothers and sisters or more).
(20) _________ will have to stay home and work this weekend.
Sticker Game
(1) Stage One Instructions
I will give each of you a sticker (chest sticker), and I’ll ask 8 questions. Then you need to
write the answer on the sticker. Make sure to fit all 8 answers on the sticker.
If I ask you ‘what is your favourite animal’
wait for answer from students ... ‘cat’
draw a box on the board and write cat in the middle to fill the whole space.
Ask students is this right? Wait for answer...
cat
If no answer, give clues. Do you have one question or 8 questions...
Instructions two: there are two sides to the sticker. You need to write on the white side.
Instruction Checking Questions:
How many questions I’m going to ask?
What are you going to write on the sticker, the question or the answer?
Which side are you going to write on, the white side or the side with blue boxes?
(2) Stage One. Give out the stickers and start asking the questions:
* If you were an animal, which animal would you like to be? [Monitor, see if students have
finished writing]
* What is your favourite place? [Give clues: It can be a city, a building, a park]
* What is your favourite book?
* What meal can you cook?
* Who do you wish to have dinner with? [This can be a person who is living or dead]
* What is your favourite subject at school?
* What is the thing that annoys you most?
(3) Stage Two (pair checking) Instructions. Now you peel the sticker and stick it in your chest.
Divide students into pairs. Talk to your partner and ask him/her about their answer, and why
he likes this place or this meal. You have 3 minutes. [Monitor, Give time warning, Signal
taking turns, observe errors for linguistic feedback]
(4) Stage Three (group checking) Instruction. Now we are going to break into two groups.
ABABABAB. I want all the A’s to stand please and sit on this side. In you group discuss
what you learned about other people.
Instruction check questions: Are going to talk about yourself, or about your partner? your
partner .. very good. You have 3 minutes. [Monitor, Give time warning, Signal taking turns,
observe errors for linguistic feedback]
Time warning. You have 1 minute ... 30 second ... OK. That’s good... Thank you.
(5) Stage Four (open class discussion). While students are seated in their groups. Ask them
about interesting things that they learned.
(6) Stage Five (Linguistic feedback). Ask students to go back to their original places. Then give
them linguistic feedback, if any.
Carousel /carə'sel/
(1) Stage One Instruction. Arrange the class in two circles inner circle and outer circle. Stand up
with your paper and pen, as you will need them in this activity. We’ll make two groups
ABABABAB. A’s come to this side please. This group will make a circle. Then turn around
so that you’re facing outside. Second group will make a circle around the first group.
(2) Stage Two Instructions. I’ll give you one question. You ask this question to your partner, that
is the person in front of you. Then you write something interesting. You have two minutes
fro asking the question, then 30 seconds to write. When I say ‘Turn’, the inner circle stand as
they are, the circle in the outside will move one step to the right.
Instruction Checking Questions:
* How many minutes you have for each question? ... 2 minutes.
* How much time do you have for writing? ... 30 seconds.
* When I say “Turn” what the circle in the inside going to do? ... stand as they are
* What the circle in the outside going to do? ... move one step
* To the right or to the left? ... to the right
Questions:
What does a good teacher do? [Monitor, Give time warning, Signal taking turns, observe
errors for linguistic feedback]
Did you succeed in learning a foreign language?
Where do you want to work after you finish this course?
Signal end of activity. OK. That’s good. Thank you. You can now go to your original places.
(3) Stage Three Questions. Now in pairs. Discuss with your partner what you learned about
other people.
Instruction Checking Questions: With your partner, are you going to talk about yourself? ...
no, you are going to talk about what you learned from other people.
Time Warning: you have 3 minutes.
(4) Stage Four (Open Class Discussion & Feedback)
(5) Stage Five (Linguistic Feedback)
Day 2, 1/3/2011
DVD Observation of Teaching Practice
Before you watch the video, try to guess the meaning of these words in pairs.
Teaching Terminology
monitoring:
walking around, observing, guiding, kicking off
realia:
real objects used in the classroom for demonstration (real bannana to show what a bannana
looks like)
eliciting:
What do you call the things that you buy for a friend in their birthday? ... 'present'
What is the problem with the second verb?
flash card:
cards used in activities
checking instructions:
How long do you have to read this paragraph?
What is the first thing you need to do? ... 'fold the paper'
finger highlighting:
two syllables, 3 minutes, one word
concept checking questions:
gadgets. Are they neccessary? If we don't have them will we die?
pairwork:
work students do in pairs
groupwork:
work students do in groups
teacher-centred activity:
feedback, open-class discussions
student-centered activity:
writing, reading
open pairs:
An open pair is a pair of learners working together with the rest of the group observing.
Example
The learners are working on developing telephone conversations using prompts. The teacher
asks one pair to continue working while the rest of the group watches.
In the classroom
Open pair work can be a fast and effective way to highlight language learners might need
for an activity, and clarify that people understand what to do. It needs to be managed
sensitively, choosing confident learners to demonstrate, and dealing with errors through a
"hotsheet"; a record of errors in performance, which can be discussed later.
closed pairs:
All the learners work in pairs that do not monitor each other.
Choral drilling:
Asking the group to repeat words in a pronunciation activity.
individual drills:
Asking an individual to repeat words in a pronunciation activity.
modelling language:
highlighting language:
feedback stages:
Giving Instructions
1) Starting – make it clear when you are starting to give instructions. Remember – “eyes on
you.” Don’t forget your body language – it counts.
2) Topic – making sure students know the theme of the lesson segment helps to activate their
“top-down knowledge” of the world, i.e. what they already know about the topic in their
language.
3) Interaction – make it clear which interaction pattern is being used:
a. S – student work alone
b. PW – pairwork
c. GW – groupwork
d. OC – open class (teacher addressing / eliciting from / asking whole class)
If there are changes of interaction during the activity make sure that the changes are as
smooth as possible and use gestures where appropriate.
[Avoid cliques /kli:k/. Prevent students from always working with the same people.
Remember also that it is important to vary the interaction pattern]
4) Task – make it clear, keep it simple and logical – again, use gestures where possible.
5) Staging – give one instruction at a time, and don’t give handouts at the same time as you’re
speaking. If possible, give them afterwards – otherwise the students will be looking at the
paper and not listening to you. (You can chest [keep in front of your chest] the handout
while explaining the activity, and give the handout later.) If you have to give two
instructions at once, pause between them to make them clear.
6) Check understanding – ask different students questions to check what they are supposed to
be doing. Avoid the question “What are we doing?” but choose tricky aspects of the
instructions and ask directed questions, e.g. “Where do you write the answer?”, “How many
questions should you ask your partner”, “Does one person speak or both people in this
activity?”, etc. Ask the people you think haven’t understood (without seeming to pick on
them).
7) Example/Demonstration – demonstrate how the activity works with another student to
check understanding further. It’s often useful to do the first question of an exercise together
as a class and then let students get on with the rest.
8) Time limit – giving students time limit provides security and focus. If appropriate, give a
time limit warning, e.g. “two minutes left!”. There is room for flexibility but try to stick to
the time limit given.
9) Signal to start – students may need training to wait for this, but there’s little point in them
starting (possibly the wrong thing) while you’re still explaining or demonstrating.
10) Monitoring – check they’re doing the activity right. This gives you the chance to explain to
weaker students who, despite all the above, haven’t understood.
Remember – Negotiating the meaning of instructions is one of the best ways of learning.
Classroom Management
1) Rapport
What is Rapport and how do you build/maintain it? Consider:
◦ The teacher's physical position – distance from the students, central
positioning, sitting or standing, movement (teacher pacing up and down is distracting
for most students)
◦ Eye Contact – maintaining even eye contact (looking at one or a few
students only comes across as favourtism)
◦ Use of students' names – remembering names, nominating students, and,
when you do, saying their name at the end of the question rather than the beginning.
◦ The teacher's personal involvement – showing interest in what students say
as well as how they say it, active listening, showing interest with facial expressions
and body language, responding to what they say in a natural way.
◦ Use of praise and encouragement – graded praise (i.e. Not saying
“excellent” when the contribution was “good”), giving enough praise for good work
done (i.e. Saying “exactly” or “yes, very good”, rather than “OK”)
◦ Body language and facial expressions – open, smiling, friendly, show
interest, enthusiasm, humour.
◦ Classroom atmosphere – relaxed, trusting, supportive.
◦ Level of student involvement – not more than 30% teacher talking time,
allowing students enough thinking time to prepare ideas alone or in pairs.
◦ Spread the attention – avoiding favouritism, actively involving shy and
weaker students rather than “flying with the fastest”.
◦ Cliques – preventing students from always working with the same people.
◦ Allowing students to express their personality – what might you want/not
want to contribute to a class discussion? How would you feel if your teacher never
asked you about your life/opinions?
2) Monitoring
What should you bear in mind when monitoring individual, pair and groupwork? Consider
◦ Teacher's position – trying not to loom over them, but crouching to their
level, and walking behind them.
◦ Eye contact – trying not to hijack the conversation but being there if students
need help, making sure students are on task and communicating (kick-starting the
conversation if necessary and then leaving students to get on with it)
◦ Making notes for feedback – noting down good/bad points for language
feedback later.
3) Boardwork
What should you think about when writing on the board? Consider the following:
◦ Upper/lower case – When writing on the board, write in lower case and only
capitalise when you normally would in English. So, if you're writing a list of words
on the board (e.g. Car, lorry, bus, taxi), don't capitalise the first letter (e.g. Car, lorry,
But, Taxi) because this isn't how you would usually see the words written.
◦ Colour coding – When writing new words, sentences or questions on the
board, use the dark colours, i.e. Black or blue. Use red and green to highlight, e.g.
part of speech, phonemic symbols, syllables, intonation, etc.
◦ Size – Don't write in huge/tiny letters on the board. Try to write using a
reasonable size and test the “readability” by writing something and standing at the
back of the classroom to see if yuor writing is easy to read.
◦ Board plan – Plan your boardwork before teaching the lesson. Make a board
plan. Write (in the relevant colours) what you're going to put on the board and where.
In the board below: Titles are blue, sentences and words are black, pronunciation is
green, grammar notes are read
Present Perfect Simple Present Perfect Continuous Vocabulary Corner
Now
4) Physical Factors
How do physical factors influence a class? Consider:
◦ Positions of students and teacher – horseshoe or rows? With Tables or
without? Teacher standing, sitting or kneeling (variety is good), how near is the
teacher to the students?
◦ Voice projection – making sure volume is sufficient to hear comfortably and
not speaking too fast, making sure students can hear each other.
◦ Temperature, space, air, light, noise
◦ Equipment – using the board, tapes, CDs, OHPs, visuals, videos, DVDs, etc.
Correction:
What’s wrong with this example, how it can be done in a better way.
1) State the purpose of the activity at the start. Now the purpose of this activity is to use he
opinion expression that we have learned.
2) Count before you split into groups to avoid confusion. Now we are going to split into two
groups of five.
3) Don’t give the handouts and talk at the same time. Chest the handout and give the
instructions. This sheet has five questions. You need to choose only two questions to discuss
with your group.
4) ICQ (Instruction Checking Questions):
How many questions do you need to choose?
What expressions will you use?
How long do you have to finish this activity?
5) Now give the handout and give them time to read it.
6) Monitor and make sure that people are following your instructions correctly. Pay attention
for people who can be nominated in the open class checking. Pay attention for good and bad
language usage for linguistic feedback.
7) Give time warning.
8) Open class discussion.
9) Linguistic feedback.
Day 2, 3/3/2011
First Basque Language Vocabulary Lesson
Teacher enters the class and speaks in Basque only. Only a few manageable words and phrases
(nothing complicated) said slowly and clearly. Teacher uses gesture effectively and effortlessly to
explain instructions and meanings.
Introduction Activity
(Teacher does not write anything on the board)
Kaixo!
Nira itsina Carmel da.
Nira itsina …. da.
(with the voice tone and gesture teacher indicates to student to repeat after her)
Nira itisina … da.
Nira itsina …. da.
(Teacher stands up and indicates with her hands for students to stand up)
(Mingled Activity)
Teacher indicates to students to move around and introduce themselves to other students. Sake
hands and say.
Kaixo! Nira itsina … da.
Kaixo! Nira itsina … da.
Kaixo! Nira itsina … da.
Numbers Activity
Teacher takes out large flash cards of numbers from her bag.
Teacher places number 1 on the floor facing students and says baat, and waits for students to repeat
after her. Then she asks some individuals to say the number ‘baat’. Then she does the same for the
following numbers. And each time she adds a new number she revises the previous numbers.
1 baat
2 bee
3 eero
4 law
5 bast
oor = water
sagar = apple
larankha = orange
tomati = tomato
undo = mushroom
Teacher says ‘oor baat’, then she takes out another apple and says ‘bee sagar’. She waits for
students to repeat after her. Then she asks some individuals by name to say the expression. Then she
does the same for the following objects. And each time she adds a new object she revises the
previous objects.
oor baat
bee sagar
eero larankha
law tomati
bast undo
Transaction Activity
Teacher leaves all objects on the table. She shows one Euro and says ‘Euro baat’. She gives the euro
to a students and hints to him to buy something from the table.
The student says ‘oor baat’. The teacher says ‘Euro baat’. The student gives the teacher the money
and the teacher gives the object and says ‘Eskerrik asko’ which means ‘thank you’. Another
students would say, ‘bee larankh’ and the teacher does the same with him/her, with everything
costing one euro. Teacher does the activity until everyone gets something.
Teacher goes out and waves her hand and says ‘Agur’ which students guess to be ‘goodbye’ and say
‘Agur’ to her.
(Pairwork)
In pairs discuss these questions
Foreign Language Lesson: Reflection on Techniques
How did the teacher make the target language interesting?
Was there too little / just enough / too much new language?
How did the teacher keep you involved? Was there pair and group work?
Did you have a chance to use the target language?
How much time did you have to think about and process the language?
Did you have a chance to recap and revise the target language?
Did you feel under pressure to be accurate with the language?
Overall, what would need to be changed in the lesson to suit your own learning
preferences?
Main Aim(s):
To enable ss to understand and be able to use 4 verbs connected to WAYS OF
WALKING in the context of an incident on the street in San Sebastian.
Subsidiary Aim(s):
To practice listening to specific information.
2 mins Controlled Practice Act out the verbs and ss write down the S
Ensure that ss infinitive and past simple of them
understand the target language PW
and can use it accurately Feedbak in pairs
Day 4, 7/3/2011
Matching Game
You have a group of cards. You place them on the table facing downwards. You turn two cards and
if they match you keep them. If not you put them back in the same place. It is a memory game as
well. You take turns with your partner. The one who wins is the one with the most cards.
Draw on the table
Subject Pronoun
He
Cards
Present Perfect I’ve taken your camera.
Possessive Adjective our
Object Pronoun him
3rd Person Singular overtakes
Ellipsis Nice day?
Relative Clause the book that I lent you
Question tag You’re Swiss, aren’t you?
Subject pronoun we
Past perfect I’d already seen it.
Grammar Activity
Setting the context: Teacher shows ss a picture of a woman with two children and asks ss to
describe the picture (OC). She tells ss that the picture is of her friend, Clodagh, from primary
school.
PW: Teacher asks ss to talk in pairs about their friends from childhood. 2 mins
OC: Teacher asks ss to talk about their partner’s experience. 2 mins.
PW: Teacher asks ss to discuss with their partner the meaning of the two sentences.
OC: Teacher asks for ss’ feedback.
Teacher asks which sentence describes action and which describes state.
PW: Answer the question with your partner.
OC: Teacher solicits answer.
PW: Talk to your partner about the things that you used to / didn’t use to do when you were young.
OC: Teacher solicits feedback.
Action now
______________________________________|_______
x x x x x x x x x x x ..
Teacher adds grammar (in red) and pronunciation (in green) to the sentence on the board.
/ju:ztә/
I used to play computer games with Clodagh.
Subject + used to + infinitive
/ju:ztә/
I didn’t use to like fish.
Subject + didn’t used to + infinitive
Reading Activity
Teacher changes pairs: Listen to your number 12121212. Where are ones hands up. Where are two?
Hands up. Ones sit in this side and two sit in this side.
Vocabulary
/sizәl/
to sizzle
(v)
sludge
(n)(uncountable)
vegetation
(n)(uncountable)
To explain the verb sizzle, teachers tells students a story about her house mate when she was
preparing her dinner. She had sausages sizzling in the pan.
She asks student what it means to sizzle. What things can sizzle. Can people sizzle.
To teach the word sludge, teacher shows a picture of a puddle on the side of the road and discusses
it with ss.
To teach the word vegetation, teacher shows a picture of dense wood from Brazil, and says that she
received this picture from a friend and discusses this picture with ss.
A mother whale and a father whale were swimming along the coast with their son when they found
a school of people lying on the beach.
“What’s that?” asked the son whale, who had never seen people, or even one person before, one his
own.
“People, son,” said the father whale. “you see them all up and down this coast at this time of year.
They never lie on the sand without covering themselves with oil, and they boil themselves until
they burn completely.”
“But they’re such little things,” said the son whale. “I bet I could swallow one whole and keep it
unharmed in my stomach.”
His mother said she would not want her stomach full of anything that had been boiled in oil and had
sand all over it. And, she added, “It would be very unhealthy because they are usually filled with
smoke and hot dogs.”
“What do people do on the beach?” asked the son whale.
“They sit there and stare at the ocean,” the father whale said. “And they eat hot dogs.”
The mother whale said that in the ocean they also splashed around in such a clumsy manner that the
fish had to get out of their way.
The father whale drew their attention to several people who had moved away from the beach and
were getting into a metal box on wheels. When they were all inside the metal box, it began to move
along the beach, throwing up a great cloud of sand.
“What are they doing now?” asked the son whale.
“Making pollution,” said the father whale. “People make almost all the pollution in the world, and
they use those little moving boxes to do it.”
He showed his son the dark gases which came out of the box.
“And inside the box,” he said, “they are also preparing rubbish.”
“They seem to be useless,” said the son whale. “Why did the Great Whale create people anyway?”
“Son, said the father whale, “no creature in the Great Whale’s universe exists without a purpose. If
the Great Whale created people, it was for a good reason.”
At that moment, six beer cans flew out of the box, followed by a bag containing a half-eaten hot
dog, and an empty plastic body-oil container.
“Maybe that’s the reason the Great Whale created people,” said the son whale. “To make rubbish.”
“The world doesn’t need rubbish,” said the father whale.
“Now, now,” said the mother whale, who always became uneasy whenever her husband had a fight
with their son, “we must take the world as it is and learn to be at peace with it.”
“Sometime,” said the father whale, “I think the Great Whale is not aware of what he’s doing.”
“Your father has always been very sensitive about rubbish,” the mother whale explained, “ever
since accidentally dived into 800 tons of rubbish that had been dumped into the sea. He smelled
disgusting for weeks.”
“This news stirred the son whale so much that he spouted, and the people on the shore saw it and
cried, “Whales!” Then somebody threw a beer bottle at them. The whales made for the deep,
distant water. Later that night, as they drifted off in the Gulf Stream admiring the stars, a large ship
passed by and spilled oil over them. However, they remained at peace with the world as it was and
afterward dreamed of the unfortunate people far behind them making rubbish throughout the sweet
summer night.
Time warning.
(PW) in pairs, discuss with your partner whether whales have a positive, negative, or neutral view
towards humans.
Time warning.
Listening Activity
Subject: Listening Difficulties
Lead-in
(OC) Why is listening difficult for learners?
- speed
- you can’t go back and read
- accent
- vocab = slang
- background noise
- acoustics
- absence of facial expressions/gestures/body language (paralinguistic clues)
Handout
Are the following things advisable or not when doing a receptive skills lesson?
1. The students read the text out loud. (no. this is pronunciation drill)
2. The teacher corrects and drills the answers to the comprehension task. (no)
3. The teacher pre-teaches all the vocabulary in the text which students probably won’t
understand. (no. limit to 5 essential words)
4. The teacher says, “Ask me any words you don’t know.”. (no)
5. The students predict what the text will be about e.g. by discussing pictures and then
read/listen to check. (yes)
6. The students listen or read as many times as they want. (no)
7. The teacher provides a more general, easier task first followed by a more detailed task
second. (yes)
8. The teacher gives students the task before they read/listen. (yes)
9. The teacher says, “Just read/listen to get the general idea.” (no)
10. The teacher pauses the recording when students are doing a very intensive task, for example,
writing down numbers and addresses from the tape. (yes, because it’s not a test on how fast
they can write)
11. The teacher gives students a little time to read the task before they listen. (yes)
12. The teacher refers students back to parts of the tape/reading text in order to get students to
correct their mistakes.
Day 5, 8/3/2011
Review main concepts (PW -> OC)
Interaction Types
- PW
- GW
- OC
- SC
- TC
Types of Feedback
- Content
- Linguistic
Stages of Situational Presentation (setting the context for receptive skills lesson)
- Lead-in (set the context)
- Give a story (presentation of language)
- Language clarification (meaning, form and pronunciation)
- Controlled practice. Think of things you used to do
Individually -> PW -> OC
- Freer practice
Look at the following concept checking questions for ‘burglar/to burgle’ and decide what kind of
questions they are.
1. Has someone ever burgled your house? What happened? R
2. What’s the difference between burgle and steal? O
3. What do burglars usually take? O
4. What do people usually do after someone burgles their house? O
5. What might burglar wear? O
6. Do they have permission to enter your house? C
7. Are there many burglaries where you live? R
Handout
Checking Meaning – Concept Questions
When you plan to clarify language, you need to plan to convey the meaning and then check that
students understand the meaning. A very important technique is asking concept checking questions.
1. Choose an example of the target language from your context.
2. Break down the meaning of the target language (word/structures)
3. Turn those aspects of meaning into questions, which, if answered correctly, how
understanding of the target language.
For example: Your TL is personality adjectives, including “shy”. The context is a description of
your friends. One of them is Sarah, who’s a shy person.
Meaning:
It’s not easy for Sarah to talk to people.
She doesn’t feel comfortable when she talks to new people.
Maybe she wants to talk to new people but can’t.
She’s not a bad person and she’s not unfriendly.
To check understanding of all aspects of the meaning, the teacher asks the questions:
Is it easy for Sarah to talk to people? (no)
Does she feel OK when she talks to new people? (no)
Do you think she wants to talk to new people? (maybe)
Is she a bad person? Is she unfriendly? (no)
These closed display questions pin down the meaning. The teacher then asks follow-up questions to
consolidate and personalize, e.g.
Do you know anyone who is shy? In which situations are they the most shy?
Are you ever shy? In which situations?
Names of students
Leandro
Evona
Adriane
Fredrico
Veri
Maita
Adolph
Edgar
Miguel
Carmen
Julia
Day 7, 14/3/2011
Text-Based Presentation Lesson Framework
The purpose of this lesson is to explain a grammar point (the difference between Present Perfect
and Past Simple). Other purposes of text-based presentation lessons could be to teach a number of
vocabulary items related to a certain subject or theme. The text that the teacher chose to highlight
the target language is talking about university application, so the theme goes in this direction.
(1) Lead-in
(1.1) Warm-up
GW: In two groups, talk about university application and requirements in your country.
Teacher was keen to put me (from Egypt) in one group and Lucas (from Poland) in a
different group.
OC: Discuss answers. Ask individuals to talk about what they found out about other people.
(1.2) Set the Context
PW: Teacher lays a large piece of paper with large font on the floor in front of the whole
class. The paper contains a university application question:
I run the 100m in 9.65 secs. My deft floral arrangements have earned
me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me. I can hurl
tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I
once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one
day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening.
I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have
performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week;
when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada,
I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized
a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.
a) Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down.
b) I have played Hamlet.
c) I have spoken with Elvis.
PRONUNCAITION.
Teacher asks ss “What do you think ss might need help with?”
Interaction pattern: SS -> PW -> OC
Controlled Practice
Instruction, chesting the handout. Write the correct form.
Handout
Card Questions
Handout
Planning
Choose/write/record a text through which to introduce the new language. Make sure there aren’t
distractions such as new and complicated grammar or vocabulary.
Lesson
2) Clarification Stage
pick out, or get ss to pick out an example of the new language. If appropriate, get ss to come
up with more than one example, e.g. ways of expressing likes and dislikes.
clarify meaning
check meaning
clarify form
drill pronunciation
address appropriacy issues (if necessary)
Group one: Write a story where you can integrate 7 vocabulary items related to wedding.
Group two: write a story where you can use Past Continuous and Past Simple
GW: Swap 2 people from each group and give them a chance to read the story of the other group.
Phonology Lesson
Lesson Aim
The target of the lesson is to allow students understand and use phonemic transcription.
Evidence. My target will be achieved if ss can use the phonemic transcription accurately in
the freer and controlled practice.
Lead-in
Red and blue game
Ask student to choose two colors (say red and blue). The reds will sit on chairs in front of
the board. The blues will stand behind the reds. There are 4 pieces of paper (containing
conversation) stuck on the board.
Instructions: The blues will go to the board, read one sentence, go to his/her red partner and
tell them the sentence. The reds will write down the sentences. When you come to the
middle line of the sheet, the reds and blues will swap places.
ICQs. Who is going to read? blues
Who is going to write? red
When you come to the middle line, what will happen?
Sheet:
Helen: Hello Ellen.
Ellen: Hi Helen.
Helen: Did you hear what happened to Henry Higgins yesterday?
Ellen: What happened?
_____________________________
Explain monophthongs
Dominos game
PW:
Give a number of cards to each pair of students and ask them to connect them like dominos.
Demonstration: Do one example
cat ɑ: father æ
weed ɛ: bird ɪ
Explain diphthongs
Two exercises: s -> PW -> OC
1) Write the phonemic symbol next to the word. Students can look on the table on the board.
eight /ei/ hair hello house here
high fly phone cow enjoy
beer noise way there
Controlled practice
8 flash cards are glued to the wall with blue tack. The card contain questions written in
phonemic transcription. Read the question and write the answer.
1) Why should I use the phonemic chart with students in the class?
Familiarisation with the phonemic symbols means that students can become more
independent language learners. They can go away and look up pronunciation in the
dictionary without needing the teacher to model it for them.
When covering language in the class, students are able to note the pronunciation for
reference later (either in the lesson or at home).
It benefits visual learners who often like to see sounds represented visually as well as
hearing them.
It makes sense to start off looking at sounds that are problematic for a particular group of
students, e.g. /b/ and /v/ for Spanish speakers, /v/ and /w/ for German speakers. It’s not a
good idea to teach the whole chart to a class in one lesson – it’s better to introduce it
gradually as needs dictate.
If you’re dealing with a tricky word, you can write the word in symbols above the word on
the board (in a different colour) or just the problematic part of the word.
After a while students start recognising sounds that come up a lot (i.e. the ones they need to
work on)
3) Do I have to speak with ‘Received Pronunciation’ English in order to use the chart?
Definitely not! The chart should be used to interpret the way that you speak English. It’s
unnatural to change the way that you speak. Although in certain dialects it’s useful for
students to know what is dialect and what is commonly said by the majority of speakers.
It’s reasonable to expect teachers to have a decent working knowledge of the chart as a tool
for clarification of vocabulary. You can ‘sell’ the idea to students by pointing out that it adds
another dimension to independent dictionary use.
TP1 Feedback
Don’t use connected writing on the board
Sit down more
Voice was too loud for the small number of students
Be careful with correct language modelling
Be natural with pronunciation drilling
Day 10, 21/3/2011
Focus on Vocabulary
When do we need to teach vocabulary?
1. In pre-teach for receptive skills lessons (max 5)
2. In vocabulary lesson (max 7)
3. Before tasks if they include a difficult word.
Teacher-centred Student-centred
Visual aids, e.g. pictures, diagrams, realia Matching words to pictures/labelling diagrams
Mime Gapfill with/without list of words
Eliciting from a situation/story Matching opposites
Using synonyms and antonyms Brainstorming meaning in pairs or groups
Eliciting headword from examples of types, e.g. Matching words to definitions
hammer, screwdriver – tools
Labelling a cline (e.g. freezing cold, warm, hot, Deducing meaning from context (in a reading or
boiling) listening text)
Giving examples Giving examples
Building word families, e.g. fright, frighten, Explaining differences between similar words
frightened
Building lexical sets, e.g. car, train, plane Sorting words into know/not sure/don’t know
categories
<<You need to vary technique and make process as learner centred as possible>>
Eliciting vocabulary activity
Teacher explains that she is going to ask us to guess 10 words and mark the first letter of each word.
What teacher does Word Initial letter
shows a picture of a volcano volcano V
Draws a picture of an octopus octopus O
mimes sitting on her toes crouching C
synonyms: what is a word like arrogant A
conceited
mimes: putting her hand under below/beneath B
the table
realia: shows an umbrella umbrella U
anecdote: tells us about her leaking L
friend whose neighbour
upstairs leaves the tap open and
so the ceiling is …
Examples: What is ‘Brave Action films A
Heart’, ‘Gladiator’
cline: teacher draws a scale on rarely R
the table with ‘always’ on top
and ‘never’ on bottom and puts
a mark near to ‘never’
antonym: what is the opposite young Y
of old
Stage Aim
Lead-in To generate interest in the context/topic related
to the target vocabulary.
Set Context To enable ss to hear/see the language in context
Focus on Meaning To convey and check ss’ understanding of the
target language
Focus on Form To highlight form issues
Focus on Pronunciation To model and drill the target language so that ss
can confidently use it when speaking.
Controlled Practice To give ss practice in the target language and to
focus on accuracy
Freer Practice To give ss practice in the target language in a
wider, more authentic context and to focus on
fluency
handout
Anticipated Problem
see ScannedDocs/HO4_AnticipatedProblem&ErrorCorrection.pdf
Anticipated problems
1. Blocking vocabulary
2. Students read word for word
3. Students take too long
4. Students not interested in the text
Among the methods of error correction is ‘reformulation’ when a student says the wrong
pronunciation and you repeat the word with the correct pronunciation.
Ideas for clarification of meaning that are more student-centred
Idea 1
I traced the paw prints to my dog.
What do you think the underlined word means? Discuss in pairs.
Idea 2
Match the form to the meaning
1. I’m going to study. a. a timetable for future events
2. It will be a great game. b. a future intention
3. They are taking me to the airport. c. an arrangement
4. The train leaves at 6:00. d. a prediction based on opinion (no evidence)
Guided Discovery
see ScannedDocs/HO5_GuidedDiscovery.pdf
Activity: Pelmanism
Pelmanism: Matching card while they are facing down. Turn two cards and if they are not matching
put them back in their places facing down again. It relies on memory to find out where cards are.
A: is a shop assistant
B: is a customer
The teacher acted the dialogue and we had to guess what each participant said. Then she wrote the
dialog on the board
Divide class into two groups. One group says A and one group says B. Rub a line each time and let
them say the dialogue, until all the dialogue and they say it all from their heads.
Ask your partner some questions to try to find the missing information.
Authentic Text
See ScannedDocs/HO7_ReceptiveSkills&ProductiveSkills.pdf
Advantages and disadvantages of using authentic texts:
cultural references not known to the group
The text is interesting and relevant now.
connects to the real world
structures not introduced to students
confidence in facing real world
motivating
gives information
transfer skills
independent
teacher needs to grade the task not the language
Productive Skills
see above handout
Activity
Give one sentence to each student. Read your sentence and hide it. One topic for each pair. Put in
your sentence without your partner noticing. Try to guess your partner’s sentence.
My sentence: It’s all down to global warming.
Topic: Family.
Formal invitation
set layout/structure
set phrases/expressions: … are delighted to invite … to join with them in the celebration of their
marriage
2. Pre-teach: tasty
6. Writing task:
Audience: to Carmel.
Purpose: tell her about your holiday.
Genre: Postcard.
Tell them to write carefully as it will be read by other students.
10 minutes, active monitoring. Walk around behind students.
The runner runs to get a question card and takes it back to the team. They discuss the answer.
The runner goes and tells the teacher the answer. If correct the snail moves one step on the
board. If wrong the runner puts it back and takes another card.
Sample questions are:
1 – used to express something already arranged in the future. – present continuous
2 – used to express something that happened in the past with connection to the future. present
perfect
3 – used to express something done/not done in the past which is wrong. should/shouldn’t have
done
a b c d e f
Sam
Suzy
Sandy
Activity: matching cards
Pairwork
Cards are in two different colours: say read and green. Read contains the target language and green
contains an example
Relative pronouns who, which
Passive be + past participle
future perfect continuous In 2020, more people will be learning English
Examples of questions:
1 – give adjectives of frequency
ever, never, always
2 – Give 2 verbs that are followed by to
want, try
3 – one example of comparative and superlative
better, best
4 – What are the articles in English?
a, an, the
5 – What are phrasal verbs made out of?
verb + adverb
6 – Give 2 verbs that are followed by –ing
start, stop
7 – What is the difference between past simple and past participle
----
1 – What is the difference between must and have to
(intrinsic, extrinsic obligation)
2 – What is the negative of must
Business English
27/4/2011
see ScannedDocs/HO10_BusinessEnglish&Phonology.pdf
Students?
- variety of levels
Types of courses
- motivation: extrinsic or
- General English to
intrinsic
business people in a
- mature
company. Business - expectations are high:
- English for special English they pay more
purposes (ESP), HR,
- specific needs
banking
- Mixed groups
- One-to-one
- Exam classes (IELTS),
or B.E.C. for business Course Content
English - lots of speaking and
writing
- functional: using the
phone, pronunciation
- writing: emails, reports,
etc.
- cultural awareness
What are the implications for both the teacher and students of …
1. the company paying for the class?
attendance is usually quite good.
pressure on the teacher.
2. junior and senior members of staff being in the same class?
embarrassing
teacher should try to get it out
role play
3. having to fit classes in before work or during lunch break?
students are least active
teacher should bring different types of activities
4. adults telling you they don’t have time to do homework?
do revision instead of homework
5. teacher having to write a report on each student for the boss?
keep record of what is happening
6. the teacher feeling he/she doesn’t know enough business English?
find out what the student needs
Activity
Lead-in Question: What causes stress in corporate environment? (PW, OC)
- pressure for quality
- deadlines
- overtime
- high expectations
- tension between staff
What do they do to reduce pressure
Page 4 in the handout
Discuss options using sentences in these cards. Suzy first put the headline cards on the floor and
asked us to put the other cards under the appropriate category.
Asking for Giving an Giving no Agreeing Half-agreeing Disagreeing
opinion opinion opinion
Where do To my mind, I don’t mind I’d go along To an extent Come off it!
you stand on it’s like either with that. you’re right.
this? this…
The way I see I’m with you I wouldn’t
it is this … there. quite go as
far as that.
Phonology
Activity
Loads of cards with phonetic symbols. In groups make as many words as you can.
Words used in the activity (These are the words related to teaching vocabulary)
antonyms synonyms homograph homophone
homonomy collocation appropriacy part of speech
idiom prefix suffix uncountable
connotation irregular
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Then check with your partner see if you have similar order.
Students need to practice words 7 times before they stick to their memory.
con irr am st
S
fr
We practised this in class with nouns that follow “take” and nouns that precede “strong”. The
teacher made it look like tennis as she moved her face from one side to the other waiting for an
answer.
Activity: Pictionary
The teacher shows representatives from each group a word. They return to their groups and draw
something to convey the meaning. The first team to say the word gets a point.
Activity: Blockbusters
Put OHT of Blockbusters on the OHP and get ss into 2 teams. Ask teams alternately questions on
idioms/words/phrasal verbs (or whatever is on the blockbuster grid) depending on which hexagon
the team ask for. One team works from top to bottom trying to establish a chain, and the other from
left to right. The hexagons usually have to be linked (so you can't dot around) but you can adapt this
rule if necessary.
Teaching Functional Language
4/5/2011
see ScannedDocs/HO12FunctionalLanguage&Drama_Music.pdf
Lead-in
Teacher gives out 8 cards, 4 contain sentences and 4 contain responses to the sentences.
Student try to find the correct sentence/response and the sit together with the new partner.
Example:
Card 1: Make sure you don't forget the board markers.
Card 2: It's OK. I've got them in my bag.
Follow-up: decide the function of each statement: warning, reminding, requesting, etc.
• •
Have you thought about using the same car? (neutral +)
v+ing
• •
It might be a good idea to do the test in Navan. (neutral +)
infinitive
• •
If I were you, I'd do a few pre-tests. (less formal)
infinitive
• •
Make sure you only listen to your instructor. (a little more formal)
present
• • •
Practise, practise, practise. (informal)
imperative
• •
You should do the test in Navan. (neutral)
infinitive
Accept Reject
That's a good idea! No way.
I'll give that a try. You've got to be kidding!
That's a good advice! I don't beleive/accept that.
OK
@SONG: STOP!
---------------
(written by Clarke/Bell)
----------------------------------
We'll be together again
I've been waiting for a long time
We're gonna be we're gonna be
Together again
I've been connected
To the right line
We'll be together
And nobody never
Gonna disconnect us
Or ever separate us
Or say to us you've got to
Stop!
Stand there where you are
Before you go too far
Before you make a fool out of love
Stop!
Don't jump before you look
Get hung upon a hook
Before you make a fool out of love
We'll be together
And nobody never
Gonna disconnect us
Or ever separate us
Or say to us you've got to
Stop!
Stand there where you are
Before you go too far
Before you make a fool out of love
Stop!
Don't jump before you look
Get hung upon a hook
Before you make a fool out of love
Cutting Edge Teacher’s Book contains ideas for learner training for all levels.
Classroom interaction
Display Questions:
Where is the stress?
What type of word is this?
What does ____ mean?
Referential questions:
How was your weekend?
Do you use a map?
Are you cold?
Referential Questions are used 14% in classrooms and 76% outside classroom. Teachers are
encouraged you use referential questions more often.
Try to include more Referential Questions in the classroom. Referential Questions require a greater
depth of processing on part of learners, and help them up their level.
Texts that contain historical references or metaphors are difficult for learners at lower levels.
When teaching beginners, you should encourage them, give them more time to respond.
To help teachers appreciate the difficulty of writing let them use activity in HO14_attached and
page 15 in HO14_Teaching_beginner_and_advanced_learners.pdf
Schools should encourage peer observation for feedback (action points) and quality assurance (pop-
ins) 20 minutes.
Without it a person becomes stagnant, unemployable.
ELTJ Journals
- Timetable
- Is there a director of studies
- How much admin is involved
- Resources and facilities
- How often are tests and observations
- Dress code
- Size of class, and levels, ages, and courebooks.
- Full time, intensive, or part time
- Professional development: teacher seminars, training, etc.
- Money
Employer’s Questions
- Course books that you taught
- Experience
- How do you respond to pressure
- How do you teach the difference between Pres Con. and Pres. Simple
Role play
Interview for employment as a teacher in a language centre.
References:
Mary: mary@ihdublin.com
Carmel: ados@ihdublin.com
You can collect your portfolio before 19/11/2011