Remedial and

Enrichment
Activities for
Developing Reading
and Writing Skills
TSLB3073
Remedial Activities
WEEK 7
Enrichment Activities
 2

Remedial and Enrichment Activities

for Developing Reading & Writing
Skills
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REMEDIAL
There is no such thing as remedial work.

 TASK 1
In your opinion, is this true? Why? Why
not?
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CRIES OF RAGE
 “They only learnt that last Friday! How can
they have forgotten it already?”
 “Don’t you remember these words from
last lesson?”
 “Why do they always miss off the third
person –s? There’s only one verb change
in the present – it’s so easy!”
FEELING OF FRUSTRATION
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FRUSTRATION
 Frustration comes from teaching a
particular language point, and in the very
next lesson the students make mistakes
with the same point.
 It is rare for ss to understand and use new
language immediately.
 Acquiring language for fluent, accurate
and creative use takes a long time.
 Learning takes longer than we want to
believe.
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Learning takes longer

WHY?
 MEMORY LIMITATION
 INAPPROPRIATE MATERIALS
 POOR LEARNING ATMOSPHERE
 LACK OF MOTIVATION

TASK 2
 Can you add to this list?
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REMEDIAL vs REVISITING
The word remedial suggests failure.
Ss who cannot put language to use
immediately need special treatment.
This is not usually true: they need the same
treatment, just more of it.
 Ss vary enormously.
 Language varies enormously too especially in
its ‘learnability’.
 Learnability varies from person to person.
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TASK 3
Below are 10 words from a foreign language, with
their English meanings.
1. Spend a few minutes studying them.
2. Then write down as many of the 10 words as
possible with their English translations.

takkel – door key (vb) gimsen – pronounce

flignet – shepherd wahmet – light switch
orn – bird dimmenauswach –
inflation
lastnen – divorce (vb) blooed – rich
grompy – grumpy engorgung - blockage
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TASK 3
Try and analyze why some of them were
easier for you than others:
PERHAPS BECAUSE
 They relate more to our special field of
interest.
 They are similar to a word in our own
language.
 Simply because they are vivid in some
way to us.
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A Spanish-speaker will find the word

‘important’ easier to remember than an
Arabic speaker.
 A doctor may recall ‘stethoscope’ rather
than ‘screwdriver’.
In the area of grammar some ‘rules’ seem
easier to absorb than others;
 Ss seem to recall the present perfect
continuous surprisingly easily, whereas
they more commonly miss out the
auxiliary (be, do. have) from the present
continuous.
Eg. Do you know where he has gone?
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TASK 4
Think of English Language (or Foreign
Language),
 Make a list of
a. vocabulary
b. grammatical points
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TASK 4
You have found both particularly easy and
particularly hard to ‘learn’.
Compare notes with another person in the
same situation; do your lists agree?
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 The clear implication is that everything

must be re-taught and re-visited, not just
the elements which come up as
‘mistakes’ in class.
 All language learning is based on
continual exposure, hypothesizing and,
even with the correct hypotheses, testing
and reinforcing the ideas behind them.
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REMEDIAL TEACHING
WITHIN SCHOOL SYSTEMS
 Any student who fails an end-of-course
exam, and is asked to resit, is a remedial
student.
 It shows that they have not learnt fast
enough to keep up with the school
system.
 Everybody learns at different speeds. For
this reason, we have ‘remedial’ classes.
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TASK 5
 Have you ever taught a so-called
‘remedial’ class?
 What were its main characteristics?

The members of a remedial class are very

sensitive to failure.
Motivating the ss to try again is very
important.
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Motivating the ss to try again is very

important.
HOW TO DO IT?
A combination of sensitivity and patience
on the part of the teacher and a freshness
of approach.
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HOW CAN I CHANGE MY APPROACH?

 Using the same material from the same
textbook will end in failure again.
 At least change the textbook. Ideally, the
new one should be based upon different
principles from the original one.
Example; If a structural course (one where
grammatical points decide the ordering of the
material for presentation) has not produced the
hoped-for results, we may consider using material
organised in a non-structural way.
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HOW CAN I CHANGE MY APPROACH?

Non-structural
These courses tend to stress the immediate use of the
new language, and in that sense give the ss a visible
sign of progress and achievement.

Also, an approach where the student is not obliged

to produce language which is correct, but rather
where the teacher waits for students to produce
language voluntarily, which is then responded to in a
positive way (even if it may not be totally ‘correct’).
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HOW CAN I CHANGE MY

APPROACH?
 In
other words where the aims and ideals
are based on longer-term objectives
than normal, may produce a better result.
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MORE RADICAL APPROACHES TO

REMEDIAL WORK
 Every language learner is an individual ,
and learns in an individual way. But they
are often not taught as individuals.
For example, in most classes, all the ss…..
…..sit down to learn the lesson;
…..use the same coursebook;
….are asked to learn the same language points;
….have little control over what they learn;
….learn the lesson in the same room (usually indoors,
in lines or horseshoe etc)


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MORE RADICAL APPROACHES TO

REMEDIAL WORK

 Sincethe conventional methods might be

said to have failed the students , perhaps
radical solutions are required?
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TASK SIX
 What might these solutions be?

 Could at least some of these solutions

influence your teaching now?
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WHAT IS ENRICHMENT?
Enrichment has been defined in a number of ways.
One such is that of Teare (1997), who described it as
 ‘A higher quality of work than the norm for the
age group
 Work covered in more depth
 A broadening of the learning experience
 Promoting a higher level of thinking
 The inclusion of additional subj areas and/or
activities
 The use of supplementary materials beyond the
normal range of resources.’
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Enrichment
 It is sometimes seen as development of
certain qualities of mind which includes:-
problem solving, creative thinking, initiative
and self-direction, discovery, higher order
thinking skills, profound personal interests,
self-acceptance, and the courage to be
different.
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Why is Enrichment
Important?
 Able children need as much motivation
and recognition as other pupils,
sometimes more.
 Enrichment activities can be of great
benefit to a more able student’s
experience of school.
 Able ss are highly motivated by
challenging activities which are different
from those they do in class.
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WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES TO

CONSIDER?
 Identify who should receive them
 Allow ss of high ability to work together on
occasion.
 The session should be arranged and
timetabled sensitively.
 Integrate enrichment opportunities with
the main stream curriculum.
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WHAT KINDS OF ENRICHMENT CAN

WE PROVIDE?
The activities should include:-
 Challenge
 Enjoyment
 Exposure to new knowledge and ideas
 Thinking in different or unusual ways
 Risk-taking
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TUTORIAL TASKS
 Brainstorm
in groups and outline a
remedial and an enrichment activity for
developing a selected writing skill.

 Presentthe outline of the activities to the

class and get feedback from the class.