Suport de Curs PT Cei 4500 Viitori Formatori

PROIECT: POSDRU 62665 - Formarea continu a cadrelor didactice pentru utilizarea resurselor
informatice moderne n predarea eficient a limbii engleze i evaluarea la nivel european a

competenelor lingvistice
Programul de formare
Dimensiuni europene moderne n
predarea-nvarea limbii engleze
Suport de curs
Autori
Maria Bujan: modulele 5, 8, 9, 10,11, 12
Carmen Georgescu: modulele 1, 3, 6
Ruxandra Nichita: modulele 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Florina - Jasmine Niculescu: modulele 4, 7,13
Dr.Anca - Mariana Pegulescu: modulele 2, 14
Cuprins
PREZENTAREA GENERAL A PROGRAMULUI DE FORMARE___________6
MODULE 1 COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING_______________11
Activity 1: Characteristics of the Communicative Approach____________12
Activity 2: The Communicative Approach and other language teaching
methods____________________________________________________________________14
Activity 3: Communicative approach vs. grammar-translation method
______________________________________________________________________________15
Activity 4: Post Communicative Language Teaching (Post CLT)________17
Activity 5: curriculum online______________________________________________19
References_________________________________________________________________19
MODULE 2 TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES COMMUNICATIVELY-A

COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK APPROACH_____________________20
Activity 1: The communicative language competence__________________21
Activity 2: Cooperative learning__________________________________________23
Activity 3: Multiple Intelligences: Gardner's Theory____________________24
Activity 4: Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)_________________________28
Activity 5: Task based language teaching (TBLT)________________________29
Activity 6: Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)________________________31
Activity 7: The European Portfolio and Passport________________________33
References_________________________________________________________________37
MODULE 3- THE EUROPEAN PROFILE OF TEACHER TRAINING______38

Activity 1: Identifying the Europen profile for language teacher
education___________________________________________________________________39
Activity 2: How to Make English Lessons More Effective and Successful
______________________________________________________________________________41
Activity 3: Educational Technology standards for teachers_____________43
References_________________________________________________________________45
MODULE 4- TYPES OF LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING

GRAMMAR_____________________________________________________________46
Activity 1: Goals and Techniques for Teaching Grammar________________47
Activity 2: Developing Grammar Activities_______________________________50
Activity 3: Teaching Grammar Inductively vs. Deductively_____________51
Activity 4: Tips for teaching grammar____________________________________53
Activity 5: Grammar levels of accuracy (CEFR)__________________________54
Activity 6: Educational links______________________________________________54
References_________________________________________________________________55
MODULE 5 - TEACHING VOCABULARY________________________________56

Activity 1: Teaching vocabulary: Goals___________________________________57
Activity 2: Approaches to teaching vocabulary__________________________58
Activity 3: Teaching vocabulary techniques/Ways of conveying
meaning____________________________________________________________________60
Activity 4: Ingredients of good vocabulary work________________________65
Activity 5: The right time to teach vocabulary___________________________67
Activity 6: Lesson planning and introduction of new language items_68
References_________________________________________________________________70
MODULE 6 TEACHING READING_____________________________________71

Activity 1: Goals and Techniques for Teaching Reading_________________72
Activity 2: Developing Reading Activities________________________________75
Activity 3: Different kinds of reading-extensive vs. intensive__________78
Activity 4: Authentic vs. non-authentic materials_______________________79
Activity 5: Tips for effective reading_____________________________________80
Activity 6: Educational links______________________________________________81
References_________________________________________________________________81
MODULE 7: TYPES OF LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING

LISTENING_____________________________________________________________82
Activity 1: Goals and Techniques for Teaching Listening________________83
Activity 2: Developing Listening Activities_______________________________88
Activity 3: Different kinds of listening -extensive vs. intensive________93
Activity 4: Authentic vs. non-authentic materials_______________________96
Activity 5: Tips for effective listening____________________________________98
Activity 6: Listening levels_______________________________________________99
Activity 7: Educational links_____________________________________________100
References________________________________________________________________100
MODULE 8 - ORAL PRODUCTION____________________________________102

Activity 1: Teaching speaking: Goals__________________________________103
Activity 2: Approaches to teaching speaking___________________________105
Activity 3: Activities to promote speaking______________________________106
Activity 4: Ideas for planning speaking activities______________________109
Activity 5: Correction and Giving Feedback____________________________110
References________________________________________________________________111
MODULE 9 WRITING________________________________________________112
Activity 1: Approaches to Teaching Writing____________________________113
Activity 2: Why Teach Writing?__________________________________________115
Activity 3: Principles of Teaching Writing_______________________________116
Activity 4: Activities to Promote Process Writing_____________________118
Activity 5: Writing to Learn, Functional Writing, Creative Writing____121
References________________________________________________________________124
MODULE 10 - ADJUSTING CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TO THE

EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT_______________________________________126
Activity 1: Classroom Management: Goals_____________________________127
Activity 2: Teachers Roles_______________________________________________131
Activity 3: Teachers Language: Instructions___________________________134
Activity 4: Planning Patterns of Interaction in Class___________________135
Activity 5: Students attitudes to different patterns of interaction__136
Activity 6: Autonomy and learning______________________________________137
Activity 7: Ways to improve teaching and learning by using modern
technology________________________________________________________________139
References________________________________________________________________140
MODULE 11 - INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION_________________________142

Activity 1: Intercultural Education______________________________________143
Activity 2: Problems of Intercultural Communication__________________144
Activity 3: Intercultural Competence___________________________________144
Activity 4: Developing the Intercultural Dimension in Language
Teaching___________________________________________________________________148
Activity 5: Culture as a Fifth Skill_______________________________________149
References________________________________________________________________151
MODULE 12 - TEACHING AIDS, STRATEGIES, METHODOLOGY,

MODERN TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS USED TO FACILITATE GUIDED
AND AUTONOMOUS LEARNING OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE___________________________________________________________152
Activity 1: Motivating tasks_____________________________________________154
Activity 2: Methodology around the clock______________________________157
Activity 3: Language learning and communication strategies________159
Activity 4: Using authentic materials___________________________________161
Activity 5: Modern techniques and tools_______________________________162
References________________________________________________________________171
MODULE 13 LESSON PLANNING___________________________________174

Activity 1: Goals and Techniques for Lesson Planning_________________175
Activity 2: Stages in Lesson Planning___________________________________176
Activity 3: Lesson Planning - Effective vs. Ineffective_________________183
Activity 4: Tips for lesson planning_____________________________________183
Activity 5: Educational links_____________________________________________184
References________________________________________________________________184
MODULE 14 - ASSESSMENT_________________________________________185
Activity 1: Assessment purposes________________________________________186
Activity 2: Test types_____________________________________________________187
Activity 3: Principles of testing__________________________________________189
Activity 4: Self-assessment:The Europass Language Passport________191
Activity 5: Marking scales_______________________________________________194
Activity 6: Samples of tests_____________________________________________197
References________________________________________________________________200
PREZENTAREA
GENERAL A
PROGRAMULUI DE
FORMARE
Introducere
n noul context european, n care unul dintre obiectivele Uniunii Europene este ca to i cet enii s
stpneasc foarte bine limba lor matern i alte dou limbi strine, de la o vrst ct mai
fraged(Reuniunea Consiliului European de la Barcelona, 2002) profesorilor de limbi moderne le
revine un rol esenial n edificarea unei Europe multilingve. Ca urmare, formarea acestei categorii de
profesori capt pe zi ce trece o importan din ce n ce mai mare, iar eforturile de a moderniza i
optimiza predarea i nvarea n acest domeniu sunt tot mai sus inute la nivelul tuturor statelor
membre ale Uniunii Europene.
Din aceast perspectiv, programul Dimensiuni europene moderne n predarea-nv area limbii
engleze se constituie ca o excelent oportunitate de dezvoltare profesional a profesorilor de limba
englez, pe coordonatele unor abordri moderne la nivel european care includ utilizarea TIC i a unor
instrumente software n procesul de evaluare a competen elor lingvistice conform unor documente
importante la nivel european (de ex., Cadrul Comun European de Referin pentru Limbi Strine).
Elemente de identificare a programului

Denumirea programului: Dimensiuni europene moderne n predarea-nvarea limbii engleze
Tipul programului: acreditat CNFP ca program lung, 89 de ore
Numr de credite: 25
Forma de nvmnt: zi
Grupul int:
Grupul tint al programului este format din 4500 de cadre didactice care predau limba englez (ISCED
0-3) din totalul de 11880 existente la nivel naional (conform bazei de date naionale a educaiei). Cele
4500 de cadre didactice incluse n program provin din 4000 de uniti de nvmnt din toate regiunile
de dezvoltare ale rii i din toate judeele.
Scopul programului
Programul vizeaz mbuntirea calitii capitalului uman din educaie, prin dezvoltarea
competenelor personalului didactic de a utiliza tehnologii moderne i instrumente digitale n predarea
eficient a limbii engleze i evaluarea standardizat a competenelor lingvistice.
Obiectivele programului
La finalizarea programului de formare, participanii vor fi capabili:
-
s utilizeze metodele i abordrile comunicative n predarea limbii engleze, corelnd

necesitile de comunicare lingvistic cu Cadrul Comun European de Referin al Limbilor
Strine;
s elaboreze programe de nvare conform Cadrului Comun European de Referin al
Limbilor Strine;
s stabileasc obiectivele unor programe de formare a profesorilor de limbi strine care s se
raporteze la profilul european;
s utilizeze strategii pentru predarea gramaticii care vizeaz competenele stabilite de Cadrul
Comun European de Referin;
s identifice i s utilizeze tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate abordrii vocabularului;
s utilizeze tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea receptrii mesajului citit;
s utilizeze tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru predarea nelegerii unui text
audiat;
s utilizeze tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru producerea de mesaje orale;
s utilizeze modaliti prin care s-i nvee pe elevi s produc diferite tipuri de mesaje scrise
pe baz de criterii generate de analiza nevoilor reale de comunicare;
s practice un management al clasei care s favorizeze dezvoltarea competenelor de
comunicare ale elevilor;
s dezvolte dimensiunea intercultural n predarea limbii engleze;
s integreze n lecie materiale autentice i tehnologia computerizat;
s planifice leciile n raport cu obiectivele vizate i nivelurile de pregtire ale elevilor;
s utilizeze diverse tipuri i instrumente de evaluare, corelate cu exigenele Cadrului
European Comun de Referin al Limbilor Strine
Competene vizate
Programul de formare le va forma/ dezvolta cursanilor urmtoarele competene:
Unitatea de
competen
Competene generale
Competene specifice
1.
Operarea cu documentele i conceptele

specifice predrii limbii engleze
2.
3.
Compatibilizarea coninuturilor prevzute

de programele colare pentru studiul
limbii engleze cu nivelurile de
competene menionate de CEF prin
activiti de nvare centrate pe elev
Utilizarea mijloacelor, metodelor,

tehnicilor i procedeelor didactice
identific elementele caracteristice ale metodei

comunicative folosite n predarea limbii engleze
compar i contrasteaz metoda comunicativ
cu metodele anterior folosite n predarea limbii
engleze
produce scenarii menite sa anticipeze epoca
post-comunicativ n predarea limbii engleze
identific schimbrile aduse de CEF n predarea
limbilor strine cu prioriti comunicative
(learners autonomy, learners centredness,
teachers role as need analyst, facilitator,
counselor, group process manager, researcher,
advisor, co-participant etc., competence based
language teaching, content based instruction,
cooperative learning, lexical approaches, multiple
intelligences, neurolinguistic programming, task
based language learning, whole learning
identific utilitatea cunoaterii profilului european
pentru formarea profesorilor de limbi moderne
definete conceptul de predare eficient a limbii
engleze
identific i descrie competenele cheie necesare
profesorului european pentru predarea limbii
engleze ca limb modern
identific tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate
pentru abordarea gramaticii, vocabularului,
pronuniei, receptrii mesajelor citite, audiate,
producerii de mesaje orale i scrise, interaciunii,
interculturalitii i plurilingvismului etc
proiecteaz activiti de nvare bazate pe
abordarea integrat a deprinderilor de
comunicare
selecteaz activitile de nvare pe baz de
criterii generate de analiza nevoilor reale de
comunicare ale elevilor (vrst, domeniu, loc de
desfurare, interaciuni, deprinderi vizate,
situaii de comunicare, strategii etc)
prezint experiena proprie n domeniu
exprim opinia proprie n legtur cu utilizarea
Unitatea de
competen
Competene generale
Competene specifice
moderne pentru a facilita predarea i

nvarea dirijat i autonom a limbii
engleze
Selectarea i utilizarea resurselor i

materialelor de referin n planificarea
activitilor didactice
4.
Adecvarea managementului clasei n

funcie de mediul educaional
5.
Elaborarea instrumentelor de evaluare

standardizat conform nivelurilor de
competen prevzute de CEF
6.
7.
Folosirea PLE pentru autoevaluare
TIC-ului la clas
identific avantajele i dezavantajele folosirii
mijloacelor i metodelor didactice moderne
produce secvene ale scenariului didactic ce
integreaz mijloacele i metodele discutate
stabilete obiectivele operaionale ale leciei
stabilete coninutul activitii de nvare
alege materiale i resurse suplimentare
selecteaz mijloacele de nvmnt adecvate
creeaz i rezolv situaii problem ce pot
aprea n activitatea la clas
simuleaz gruparea elevilor pentru interaciunea
de grup
identific i interpreteaz diferite roluri ale
profesorului
descrie comportamentul profesorului pentru
diverse tipuri de activiti de comunicare
d feedback referitor la activitile propuse
analizeaz modele de instrumente de evaluare
selecteaz metode de evaluare n funcie de
competenele generale i specifice
elaboreaz obiectivele unui instrument de
evaluare
produce un item pentru o anume competen i
nivel
dezbate utilitatea PLE pentru elev i profesor
reflecteaz i propune o list de documente ce
ar putea fi incluse n PLE
prezint metode i abordri folosite pentru
dezvoltarea propriilor deprinderi de limb i
lrgirea experienei culturale
Tematic i module
Programul de formare ofer cadrelor didactice de limba englez 14 module care vor fi
parcurse ntr-un numr de 89 de ore de formare. Temele acoper o gam variat de coninuturi, care
includ de la aspecte referitoare la metoda comunicativ, tipurile de activiti de nvare pentru
abordarea gramaticii, vocabularului, receptarea mesajului oral, a celui scris i citit, pn la elemente
de proiectare/ planificare, management al clasei, interculturalitate, plurilingvism i evaluarea
competenelor lingvistice conform Cadrului Comun European de Referin (CEF).
Programul Dimensiuni europene moderne n predarea-nv area limbii engleze are
urmtoarea structur i tematic:
Modul
Tematic
Nr. ore
1.
METODA COMUNICATIV folosit n predarea limbii engleze
6 ore
2.
CEF i predarea limbilor strine cu prioriti comunicative
6 ore
3.
PROFILUL EUROPEAN i formarea profesorului de limbi straine
4 ore
4.
Tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea GRAMATICII
8 ore
5.
Tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea VOCABULARULUI
7 ore
6.
Tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea RECEPTRII MESAJULUI CITIT
7 ore
7.
Tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea RECEPTRII MESAJULUI AUDIAT
8 ore
8.
Tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea INTERACIUNII I PRODUCERII

DE MESAJE ORALE
Tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea PRODUCERII DE MESAJE
SCRISE
MANAGEMENTUL CLASEI i mediul educaional
6 ore
Tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea INTERCULTURALITII I

PLURILINGVISMULUI
MATERIALE DIDACTICE, STRATEGII, METODE, TEHNICI I INSTRUMENTE moderne
utilizate pentru a facilita predarea i nvarea dirijat i autonom a limbii engleze
PLANIFICAREA activitilor didactice
5 ore
Instrumente de EVALUARE standardizate conform nivelurilor de competen prevzute de

CEF
6 ore
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
7 ore
7 ore
6 ore
6 ore
Livrarea programului de formare

Programul se va derula pe parcursul anului 2012 i va asigura perfecionarea a 300 de grupe
de cursani, fiecare grup fiind format din 15 de participani.
Cursul va fi livrat n secvene de formare distribuite n 11 zile astfel:
Ziua 1: 8 ore de formare - 4 sesiuni cu durata de 2 ore fiecare
Ziua 11: evaluare final
Monitorizarea i evaluarea programului

Asigurarea calitii programului de formare Dimensiuni europene moderne n predarea-nvarea
limbii engleze se va realiza printr-un sistem de monitorizare evaluare care va viza att
competenele dobndite de cursani, ct i programul de formare n sine i va include diverse forme i
modaliti de evaluare. n etapa de implementare a programului accentul va fi pus pe monitorizare i
evaluarea de proces. n acest sens, programul va beneficia de o echip de monitori care vor efectua
vizite de monitorizare la locul desfurrii activitilor.
Pentru evaluarea progresului cursanilor i a competenelor specifice prevzute prin curriculum-ul
programului, vor fi utilizate forme i instrumente de evaluare diverse: autoevaluare, evaluare
formativ, evaluare sumativ i evaluare final extern (CNFP).
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MODULE 1
COMMUNICATIVE
LANGUAGE TEACHING
11
Activity 1: Characteristics of the Communicative Approach

Activity 2: The Communicative Approach and other language teaching methods
Activity 4: Post Communicative Language Teaching(Post CLT)
Activity 5: Curriculum on line
Objectives:
to get teachers understand concepts and themes related to sustainable development and how
they relate to the school curriculum and competences set by The Common European
Framework of Languages(CEFR);
to present strategies that underline the knowledge, critical thinking, values and citizenship
objectives of education for a sustainable future;
to enable teacher trainers, teachers and students to reorient curriculum and teaching so that
the learning experiences of school students help them meet the demands of linguistic realities
nowadays and actively promote their capacities for thinking creatively;
to provide teachers and students with a model of computerized assisted language learning
(CALL);
to facilitate ease of navigation and use of the internet;
to devise a navigational structure which facilitates choice as to the content-focus and
sequence of their learning activities by providing multiple access points to information, as well
as multiple sources of information ;
to get teacher trainers familiar with learning strategies that invite learners to analyse and
interpret information in a variety of forms (eg text, tables, diagrams, and linked WWW-sites);
to apply the ideas they develop to their own curriculum and teaching contexts and practices;
to help teacher trainers relate to EUROPASS competences.
Activity 1: Characteristics of the Communicative Approach

Characteristics of the Communicative Approach
With the rapid development of EFL teaching in non-English-speaking countries, English teachers
have become more aware that the exclusive use of either the communicative approach or grammartranslation method does not meet the real requirements of real communication. Teachers have also
found out that no single teaching method deals with everything that concerns the form, the use, and
the content of the target language.
Communicative language teaching (CLT) is an approach to the teaching of second and foreign
languages that lays stress on interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a
language.
In Communicative Language Teaching there are some basic characteristics:
1. Learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.
2. The use of authentic texts and tasks into the learning context. It seeks to adapt language to the
students interests
3. Giving students opportunities to focus, not only on language but also on the learning
process itself.
4. Primacy of oral interaction
5. Errors can sometimes occur in language learning
6. Grammar is usually taught less systematically
7. Use of the everyday language
8. The learning task is content-based, theme-based, project-based or some combination of the three .
Instruction in listening and speaking, as well as reading and writing, is given within the context of
achieving
various
learning
tasks,
which
involve
learners
with
language.
12
Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/the-communicative-approach-to-languageteaching-1244891.html#ixzz1JrxSQlB0

9. The focus is not upon listening and speaking but upon using language to communicate and to learn
10. Encouraging students to take advantage of their own personal experience during the learning
process.
11. Getting the students make connections between learning with language activities outside the
classroom.
12. Visual stimuli are often used.
Learners are encouraged to develop communicative competence, which is the ability to use
language knowledge in a social context as well as sociolinguistic parts of a language well enough to
be able to interact. This differs greatly from the audio-lingual method, which used repetition and
practising bits of language or skills separately.
Communicative language teaching is designed to promote the learning of a foreign language
through interaction and context. As far as the class management is concerned, in this form of
instruction teachers often use group and pair interactions. There are also different activities in CLT.
Some of the activities are role-playing, interviews, games, language exchange, surveys, learning by
teaching, role plays, comparing pictures ,come to a consensus, marketplace trading, problem solvinng,
planning for the future, find common likes /dislikes.
Before defining the role of the teacher, it might be worth clarifying what is meant by "communicative
activities". These are task-based or project-based activities. While such activities may involve students
practicing a particular grammatical form, they are likely to do more than this. The key element is that
the activity is based around a realistic situation. This could be anything from a specific activity in a
department store, to a group of friends discussing holiday plans. Within this kind of context, the
students should be required to negotiate for meaning. This is likely to require multiple turn taking.
Step 1.1-IW- Define communicative tasks by choosing the right answer:
1. Communicative tasks are typically:
A. teacher-controlled
B. focused on accuracy
C. synthetic/ holistic
D. analytic
2. .Communicative competence includes grammatical competence as well as
A. sociolinguistic competence
B. discourse competence
C. strategic competence
D. all of the above
3. Strategic competence refers to the ability to
A. produce grammatical correct utterances
B. produce coherent and cohesive utterances
C. solve communication problems as they arise
D. produce socially appropriate utterances
4. Communicative tasks bring about
A. improved grammatical accuracy
B. grater sociolinguistic awareness
C. increased self-correction
D. improved pronunciation
Step1.2-PW- Mark the following sentences as true(T) or false(F), referring to effective learning and
teaching:
1. Learning is always an outcome of teaching____
2. What students learn is influenced by their existing ideas______
3. Progression in learning is usually from the abstract to the concrete______
4. People learn to do well only what they practice doing_____
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5. Effective learning by students requires feedback______

6. Expectations do not affect performance________
Activity 2: The Communicative Approach and other language teaching methods

A.The Grammar-Translation Method
In the Classical or Grammar-Translation method the focus was on studying grammatical rules and
morphology, doing written exercices, memorizing vocabulary, translating texts.
A greater attention to grammar (focus on form/ structure) has now re-emerged as many teachers try
to integrate structures into content focused lessons. But the explicit teaching of grammatical rules in
isolation is rare nowadays.
B.The Direct Method
This method presented discussion in the target language as the major priority.. Grammar learning
became inductive in nature without specific explanations given to student. Teacher/student interaction
became continuous, completing fill-ins, and doing cloze exercises were the order of the day.
Accuracy in pronunciation and oral expression became vital. Examples to be followed became the
main intention.
C.The Audio-Methods
In this method, grounded in the habit formation model of behaviourist psychology and on a
Structural Linguistics theory of language, the emphasis was on memorisation through pattern drills and
conversation practice rather than developing communicative ability.
Characteristics of the Audio-Methods:
New material is presented in dialogue form;
Stress is laid on memorization of set phrases, and overlearning;
Patterns are sequenced by means of contrastive analysis;
Structures are taught using repetitive drills;
There is little or no grammatical explanation. Grammar is taught inductively;
Vocabulary is strictly limited and learned in context;
A lot of language labs and visual aids are used;
Pronunciation is attached great importance;
Very little use of the mother tongue by teachers is permitted;
There is a great effort to get students to produce error-free utterances;
There is a tendency to disregard content.
D. Behaviourism
The behaviourist view of learning relies on the repetitive conditioning of learner responses.
Behaviourism is related to the idea that behaviour can be researched scientifically. Learning is an
automatic process which does not imply any cognitive processes in the brain.
Pavlovs Respondent Conditioning results from the association of two stimuli, such as causing dogs
to salivate at the sound a tuning fork.
Skinner developed Operant Conditioning where the Stimulus-Response association is elicited
through selective reinforcement (rewards or punishments) to shape behaviour.
Behaviourist Language Theory is based upon Structuralist Linguistics and is identified with the
Audiolingual/ Audiovisual method.
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E. Cognitivism
As a reaction to behaviourism, the "cognitive revolution" in the 1950s combined new thinking in
psychology, anthropology and linguistics with the emerging fields of computer science and
neuroscience.
Cognitive Language Theory emerged from the Chomskyan Revolution which gave birth to Cognitive
Code Learning, etc
Cognitive learning goes beyond the behaviourist learning of facts and skills, adding cognitive
processus to the learning process. Learners are asked to work out rules deductively for themselves. It
focuses on building a learners experiences and providing learning tasks that can challenge, but also
helps students learn and progress through the curriculum. Generally speaking, cognitive theory is
interested in how people understand material, and thus it can be placed somewhere between
behavioural and constructivist approach.
Cognitive Code Learning
With the Chomskyan revolution in linguistics, the attention of linguists and language teachers was
drawn towards the deep structure of language and a more cognitive psychology. Chomskys theory of
Transformational-generative Grammar focused attention again on the rule-governed nature of
language and language acquisition rather than habit formation. This gave rise in the 1960s to
Cognitive Code Learning where learners were encouraged to work out grammar rules deductively for
themselves.
Deductive Learning
Inductive Learning
Grammatical explanations or rules are

presented and then applied through practice
in exercices
Learners are presented with examples. They
then discover or induce language rules and
principles on their own
F. Task-based language learning (TBLL)

Task-based language learning (TBLL), also known as task-based language teaching (TBLT) or
task-based instruction (TBI) lays emphasis on the use of authentic language and on getting students
achieve meaningful tasks using the target language. Such tasks can include going shopping ,
reporting an event, or reaching an agreement. Assessment focuses mainly on task outcome rather
than on the accuracy of language forms. This makes TBLL adequate to develop target language
fluency and student confidence.
Step 2.1- Individual activity-What are the advantages and disadvantages of the grammar-translation
method? Give examples to motivate your answer.
Although the grammar-translation method is outdated, students accustomed to this method may
still get benefit from it. Sometimes appropriate grammar analysis is essential, especially for beginners.
Restricted utilization of translation from or to the target language is a necessary part of teaching.
Vocabulary work and pattern drills are also ways of getting the student familiar with sentence
structures. This information helps learners acquire linguistic competence.
In teaching grammar, in case there are no authentic available materials, it is important to make the
language situations and text as realistic as possible. Immediately after providing students with
15
adequate explanations of grammar functions, the teacher can give them

encourage them to effectively use the rules in real-life communication.
suitable situations that
A. Accuracy vs. fluency

It is obvious that both accuracy and fluency are essential in language learning. However, in English
teaching dominated by the grammar-translation method, more emphasis is laid on the accuracy than
on the fluency. Students in such classrooms are extremely interested in learning linguistic details. They
are particular about providing correct answers. They tend to focus on discrete grammar points and
specific syntactic constructions. So the question arises as to the relationship between accuracy and
fluency and which one should be given more importance. These questions must be examined in
relation to what is expected of the students when they graduate and what the teaching conditions are.
Obviously, fluency in language learning is more than that. Soon after the students have mastered
the language forms, they ought to be given practice to develop fluency. Then, as control decreases,
students can use the language more freely. Now, errors should sometimes be accepted, and the
teacher should emphasize that error-making can naturally occur.
Teachers assess the students
performances at the end of each fluency practice so that the students are aware of their weaknesses
and become more and more conscious of their errors. In this way, accuracy and fluency are practiced
almost simultaneously, being interdependent.
B. Linguistic competence vs. communicative competence
As it is underlined in the Common European Framework, the relation between linguistic
competence and communicative competence is important, too At the foundation stage, linguistic
competence is the spontaneous and correct use of the language system. On the other hand
communicative competence requires principles of appropriateness and a readiness on the part of the
learner to use relevant strategies in handling certain language situations. That is why linguistic
competence represents the basis of communicative competence.There can be no communicative
competence without linguistic competence. But communicative competence does not automatically
result from linguistic competence. Different types of classroom activities such as role playing,
simulations, and real-life interactions should be used to provide practice for students to develop
communicative competence while practicing linguistic competence.
Learner-centered orientation
To make language acquisition easier, students need much practice. So, teachers must find the
best procedures to manage interactions and make sure that also students get involved in managing
such activities .To avoid being the center of classroom interactions, teachers should arrange the desks
in such a way that the students can have a face-to-face conversation. This helps create interactions
among the students. The teacher should not be the leader of the class, but class leadership emerges
from within the group.
Teachers role
The teacher facilitates the communicative process among all the learners and between the
students and the various tasks, giving guidance and advice when necessary, instead of being the
central authority in the classroom. Moreover, teachers act as independent participants within the
learning-teaching group. However, this does not mean that once a teaching activity is in progress, the
teacher should become a passive observer. It is still the teachers obligation to monitor the students
potential through external guidance. The teacher should identify the distinctive qualities in the students
and help the students develop them.
16
Yet, in contemporary English teaching, the teachers function is closely related to the objective of
his/her role as communicative activator. These roles refer to a set of secondary roles for the teacher:
first, as a provider of resources and as a resource; and second, as a guide and manager of activities.
The teacher should also be a researcher and learner, making his/her contribution to bringing in the
classroom the appropriate knowledge, abilities.
One of the important components of communicative competence is the ability to select the
linguistic forms that are appropriate for a specific situation .Today language has been redefined as an
integral part of the culture it is a part of. A good command of English grammar, vocabulary, and syntax
are not relevant for a good mastery of English. There is a set of social conventions governing
language form and behavior within a communicative group(CEFF)
Step 3.1-Independent work
Which of the statements below do you think characterizes communicative language teaching( Jack C.
Richards,Communicative Language Teaching Today, 2006)
1. People learn a language best when using it to do things rather than through studying how language
works and practicing rules.
2. Grammar is no longer important in language teaching.
3. People learn a language through communicating in it.
4. Errors are not important in speaking a language.
5. CLT is only concerned with teaching speaking.
6. Classroom activities should be meaningful and involve real communication.
7. Dialogues are not used in CLT.
8. Both accuracy and fluency are goals in CLT.
9. CLT is usually described as a method of teaching.
Activity 4: Post Communicative Language Teaching (Post CLT)

A.Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single method, but instead
draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies
different theories in particular cases...
(Eclecticism in Wikipedia)
"A so-called 'post-communicative' view of language teaching is said to be more eclectic. Language
teaching is seen as an adaptive process rather than as the use of an ideal method or approach. In
broader and more complex communicative contexts which require or favour the learning of actual
abilities to use a language, it is useful for a teacher to develop a repertoire of holistic activities
belonging to a variety of approaches. A teacher's repertoire often includes activities such as simulated
conversations in pairs and small groups, speech making or story telling. All of these holistic activities
act as a framework for the adoption of different approaches and roles, including centrally controlled
teacher- interaction to devolved interaction in which students manage their own discourse."
B. Project-based learning (PBL)

It is best defined as instruction relating questions and technology relative to the students'
everyday lives to classroom projects. Students carry out their own investigation of their own group
which allows students to develop research skills. The students get involved in design, problem solving
and decision making. It allows students to work in groups or by themselves and gets them to come up
with ideas and realistic solutions. PBL:
17
is organized around an open-ended Driving Question or Challenge. These focus

students work and deepen their learning by centering on significant issues, debates,
questions and/or problems.
creates a need to know essential content and skills. Typical projects (and most instruction)
begin by presenting students with knowledge and concepts and then, once learned, give them
the opportunity to apply them. PBL begins with the vision of an end product or presentation
which requires learning specific knowledge and concepts, thus creating a context and reason
to learn and understand the information and concepts.
requires inquiry to learn and/or create something new. Not all learning has to be based on
inquiry, but some should. And this inquiry should lead students to construct something new
an idea, an interpretation, a new way of displaying what they have learned.
incorporates feedback and revision. Students use peer critique to improve their work to
create higher quality products.
results in a publicly presented product or performance. What you know is demonstrated
by what you do, and what you do must be open to public scrutiny and critique.
requires critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and various forms of
communication. Students need to do much more than remember informationthey need to
use higher-order thinking skills. They also have to learn to work as a team and contribute to a
group effort. They must listen to others and make their own ideas clear when speaking, be
able to read a variety of material, write or otherwise express themselves in various modes,
and make effective presentations. These skills, competencies and habits of mind are often
known as "21st Century Skills". For more info: http://www.bie.org/about/21st_century_skills
C. A current major priority in education is differentiated instruction. Recent scientific research

on learning demonstrates that students achieve at higher levels when teachers and students daily call
for these elements of differentiated instruction:
1. Quick and easy access to a wide variety of relevant learning resources for both historic and
current topics that students can read, view, and understand .
2. Learning assignment formats that refer to topics/issues that are relevant to students' lives and
interests
3. Instruments that help students organize, analyze, and synthesize information efficiently for
problem solving and critical thinking
The good news for teachers today is that educational technology makes it possible to implement
differentiated
instruction
with
little
of
the
effort
needed
in
the
past.
D. These are the priorities of 21st Century Literacy and Skills:
Problem-solving and critical thinking vs. traditional rote learning
Collaboration across networks and leading by influence vs. traditional individual effort
Agility and adaptability vs. traditional conformity to norm
Initiative and entrepreneurship vs. traditional "tried and true"
Effective written and oral communication vs. traditional worksheets and multiple choice tests
Accessing and analyzing information vs. traditional remembering the "right" answer
Curiosity and imagination vs. traditional one way to solve problems
Step 4.1- IW- Investigations: Investigations Task Cards included for each topic are designed
to meet the needs of students with differentiated learning styles.
The Learning Styles Key to differentiated instruction can help students identify the type of task
they most enjoy, the one most likely to lead to successful learning experiences. Investigations
encourage individual students to work to their best ability through the choose your challenge
level extension activities.
18
Newspaper Painting
Poem
Read
Aloud
Slogan
Song
Speech
Story
Writing
Timeline
Ask each of your students to choose a card according to his abiltities and preferences. Practice
individually each of these activities. On a checklist record the results on a sheet of paper.. Refer to
their: 1.CEF level related to the respective competence;2. Task achievement; 3. Grammar
accuracy; 4. Vocabulary range; 5.Cohesion and coherence of the oral /written text.
Step 4.2- We have to clarify here, that with the abbreviation of PBL, we refer to Project-Based
Learning and not to Problem-Based Learning. They both have roots in constructivism, as they
engage students in authentic student-centered tasks to enhance learning, and the line between them
is frequently blurred, as they can be used in combination and play complementary roles, but they are
not identical approaches (Camille Esch, 1998 cited in (Schneiderman, Borkowski, Alavi, & Norman,
1998). Explain the difference between them.
Activity 5: curriculum online
A. Online curriculum
The Language Works Online English Curriculum
B. Use of Technology in the classroom
Teachers learn to implement technology in the classroom for enhancing language skills:
Word Processor: At the early level children can recognize letters of the alphabet by using keyboard.
The addition of sound has an audio visual impact. The teacher could move on from letters towards
using phonics and pictures. In later stages the teacher could be using words in sentences and at the
final stage the students could learn to compose creative stories, writing reports.
Multimedia presentations: Multimedia materials could be used by students in the kindergarten stage
where pictures interest them a lot. Even at a higher level pictures could be used to write essays,
stories and used to learn other creative aspect of languages.
World Wide Web: Teachers can use Talking Books to teach reading. Students can see the text and
pictures as well as hear the text being read. They can link up with other schools in other countries and
share books, ideas etc.
Cognitive Constructivism: Microworlds
With microworlds, students "enter" a self-contained computer-based environment to learn. These
microworlds may be supported by a larger classroom environment, but may also stand alone
Step 5.1 Independent workDefine teachercompetences and qualifications( See Common European
Principles for Teacher Competences and Qualifications)
19
Tr
Ca
References
1. Alptekin, C. (2002). Towards intercultural communicative competence in ELT. ELT Journal 56

(1), 57-64.
2. David Nunan--Asian-EFL-Journal--September 5, 2005

3. Dolle, D., & Willems, G. M. (1984). The communicative approach to foreign language
teaching: The teacher's case. "European Journal of Teacher Education," 7(2), 145-54.
4. Ellis, R., (2003). Task-based Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
5. Harmer, J. (2001). How to teach English,(3rd ed.). London: Longman.

6. Richards, J.C. and T. Rodgers (2000). Approaches and methods in language teaching. (2nd
edition).New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Approaches to Second Language Discussion Post CLT Timothy Brockley, The Language
Works Articles, Teachers and Teaching, Approaches to Second Language Discussion-2The Eclectic Paradigm, 2-18-2007.
- The Partnership for 21st Century Skills p21.org
20
MODULE 2 TEACHING
FOREIGN LANGUAGES
COMMUNICATIVELY-A
COMMON EUROPEAN
FRAMEWORK
APPROACH
Activity 1: The communicative language competence

Activity 2: Cooperative Learning
Activity 3: Multiple Intelligences: Gardner's Theory
Activity 4: Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)
Activity 5:Task based language teaching(TBLT)
Activity 6: The Whole-Part-Whole learning
Activity 7: The European Portfolio and Passport
Objectives
The Common European Framework sets the principles of elaborating language syllabuses,
curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc. across Europe. It presents what language
learners must learn in order to develop knowledge and skills they need to communicate effectively.
The description also defines the cultural background of the language.
The Common European Framework is intended to overcome the barriers of communication among
professionals working in the field of modern languages coming from different educational systems in
21
Europe. It is a useful means to administrators, course designers, teachers, teacher trainers, examining
bodies, etc., to ensure that they meet the real needs of the learners for whom they are responsible.
Activity 1: The communicative language competence
The communicative language competence is usually approached at three levels (CEF)
Linguistic
This is the area we are familiar with, being devided into areas of lexical, phonological and
syntactical knowledge. In other words vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar. Yet, the other
areas described by the CEF are perhaps less well known to teachers.
Sociolinguistic
We might call them different cultures with different norms of behaviour which include social
conventions with respect to politeness, class and social groups among other things. In other words
CEF involves becoming familiar with culture in the classroom not only our own culture, but also
those of other countries .
Pragmatic
The CEF presents this in terms of discourse analysis referring to such things as coherence
and cohesion.There is also an interlocutor who is implied in other words our student says
something which can or cannot be comprehended as intended: the student might cause
anger, for example by the use of a gesture or a word not fully understood in terms of
connotation . The CEFR describes what a learner is supposed to be able to do in reading,
listening, speaking and writing at each level.
The CEF is structured as follows:

A. Communication themes
B. Communicative tasks and purposes are( Also see CEF)
1. ORAL PRODUCTION
2. WRITTEN PRODUCTION
3. ORAL RECEPTION
4. VISUAL RECEPTION
5. SPOKEN INTERACTION
6. WRITTEN INTERACTION
C. Mediating activities and strategies
a. oral mediation:
a. written mediation:
D.DECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE (SAVOIR)
E. SOCIOCULTURAL KNOWLEDGE
F.INTERCULTURAL KNOWLEDGE
22
G.PRACTICAL SKILLS (SAVOIR FAIRE)

H. INTERCULTURAL SKILLS
I. EXISTENTIAL ATTITUDES (SAVOIR ETRE)
Common Reference Levels: global scale
level description
Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of
needs of a concrete type. Can introduce him/ herself and others and can ask and answer questions about
A1
personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. Can interact in a
simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.
Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance
(e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can communicate
A2 in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine
matters. Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in
areas of immediate need.
Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work,
school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the
B1 language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest.
Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations
for opinions and plans.
Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical
discussions in his/her field of specialisation. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that
B2 makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. Can produce
clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the
advantages and disadvantages of various options.
Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning. Can express
him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language
C1 flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured,
detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and
cohesive devices.
Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise information from different
spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can
C2
express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even
in the most complex situations.
Common Reference Levels

The Europass communicative competences are included in the European CV .It is briefly presented
below:
A1
A2
B1
B2
C1
C2
Breakthrough
Waystage
Basic User
Vantage
Threshold
Independent
User
Effective proficiency
Mastery
Proficient
Step1.1 - Group/PW - Plan three activities corresponding to three different language competences
from CEF. The activities can be conceived individually or you can develop them jointly. You can work in
pairs or small groups so that you can exchange ideas and share the work.
23
Activity 2: Cooperative learning

A. Cooperative Learning
Many principles have been proposed for cooperative learning. Below is one list of eight such
principles.
1. Heterogeneous Grouping. This principle means that the groups in which students achieve
cooperative learning tasks are made up of a number of variables including sex, ethnicity,
social class, religion, personality, age, language proficiency, and diligence.
2. Collaborative Skills. Collaborative skills, such as asking for information, are those needed to
work with others. Students may lack these skills, the language involved in using the skills, or
the ability to apply the skills. Most books and websites on cooperative learning suggest that
collaborative skills be explicitly taught at a time.
3. Group Autonomy. This principle encourages students to look for resources by themselves
rather than rely only on the teacher. When student groups have difficulty, the teacher tends to
intervene either in a particular group or with the entire class. We may sometimes want to resist
this temptation, because as Roger Johnson writes, Teachers must trust the peer interaction to
do
many
of
the
things
they
have
felt
responsible
for
themselves
(http://www.clcrc.com/pages/qanda.html).
4. Simultaneous Interaction. In traditional classes in which group activities are not used, the
normal interaction pattern is that of the sequential type in which one person at a time usually
the teacher speaks. In contrast, when group activities are used, one student per group is
speaking. In a class of 40 divided into groups of four, ten students are speaking
simultaneously, i.e., 40 students divided into 4 students per group = 10 students (1 per group)
speaking at the same time.
5. Equal Participation . A frequent problem in groups is that one or two group members dominate
the group and, implicitely inhibits the others. Cooperative learning offers many ways of
promoting more equal participation among group members.
6. Individual Accountability. When we promote individual accountability in groups, we give a
chance to everybody to try to learn and to share their knowledge and ideas with others.
7. Positive Interdependence. This principle lies at the heart of CL. Students feel that each
member of the group shares with the others and depend on one another. It is this All for one,
one for all feeling that makes group members want to help each other, and that they are all
responsible for a common goal.
8. Cooperation as a Value. This principle means that cooperation is not only a way to learn, i.e.,
the how of learning, it is also part of the content to be learned, i.e., the what of learning. This
springs from the most crucial cooperative learning principle, the positive interdependence.
Cooperation as a value involves taking the feeling of All for one, one for all and expanding it
beyond the small classroom group to encompass the whole class and the whole school.
Additional Cooperative Learning information is available at the sites listed below:
www.co-operation.org/pages/cl.html
www.iasce.net
www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/Cooperative_Learning.html
www.kaganonline.com
Search Google
Step 2.1-GW-Following the stages below, devise a cooperative type of activity corresponding to level
A2 (CEF)
1. Explain: Give a description of what skill they will be learning, associating it with current
knowledge.
2. Demonstrate: Show how the procedure or process works by demonstration.
3. Practice: Give the students time to practice the procedure or process.
4. Peer Coaching: Have the students coach each other. (See Peer Coaching for more details.)
24
Activity 3: Multiple Intelligences: Gardner's Theory

A. Multiple Intelligences: Gardner's Theory
The theory of multiple intelligences was proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983 to analyze and
better describe the concept of intelligence.
Gardner defines intelligence as "the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are
valued in one or more cultural setting" (Gardner & Hatch, 1989). Using biological as well as
cultural research, he formulated a list of seven types of intelligences. This new outlook on intelligence
differs greatly from the traditional view which usually recognizes only two intelligences, verbal and
computational. The seven intelligences Gardner defines are:
Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence -- well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds,
meanings and rhythms of words
Mathematical-Logical Intelligence -- ability to think conceptually and abstractly, and capacity to
discern logical or numerical patterns
Musical Intelligence -- ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timber
Visual-Spatial Intelligence -- capacity to think in images and pictures, to visualize accurately and
abstractly
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence -- ability to control one's body movements and to handle objects
skillfully
Interpersonal Intelligence -- capacity to detect and respond appropriately to the moods,
motivations and desires of others.
Intrapersonal Intelligence -- capacity to be self-aware and in tune with inner feelings, values,
beliefs and thinking processes
Naturalist Intelligence -- ability to recognize and categorize plants, animals and other objects in
nature
Existential Intelligence -- sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence,
such as the meaning of life, why do we die, and how did we get here.
Although the intelligences are anatomically separated from each other, Gardner claims that the seven
intelligences very rarely operate independently. Rather, the intelligences are used concomitantly and
complement each other as individuals develop skills or solve problems. For example, a dancer can
excel in his art only if he has
strong musical intelligence to understand the rhythm and variations of the music,
interpersonal intelligence to understand how he can inspire or emotionally touch his
audience through his movements, as well as
bodily-kinesthetic intelligence which provides him with the agility to perform the movements
successfully.
This simple grid diagram illustrates Howard Gardner's model of the seven Multiple Intelligences at a
glance.
25
intelligence type
capability and perception
Linguistic
words and language
Logical-Mathematical logic and numbers

Musical
music, sound, rhythm
Bodily-Kinesthetic
body movement control
Spatial-Visual
images and space
Interpersonal
other people's feelings
Intrapersonal
self-awareness
B. Multiple Intelligences Chart

Here is a list of activities that speak to each intelligence.
Verbal-Linguistic
Logical-Mathematical
Visual-Spatial
Bodily-Kinesthetic
choral speaking
declarizing
storytelling
retelling
speaking
debating
presenting
reading aloud
dramatizing
book making
nonfiction reading
researching
listening
process writing
writing journals
problem solving
measuring
coding
sequencing
critical thinking
predicting
playing logic games
collecting data
experimenting
solving puzzles
classifying
using manipulatives
learning the scientific
model
using money
using geometry
graphing
photographing
making visual metaphors
making visual analogies
mapping stories
making 3D projects
painting
illustrating
using charts
using organizers
visualizing
sketching
patterning
visual puzzles
hands on experiments
activities
changing
room
arrangement
creative movement
going on field trips
physical
education
activities
crafts
dramatizing
using cooperative groups
dancing
Musical
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Naturalistic
humming
rapping
playing background music
patterns
form
playing instruments
tapping
out
poetic
rhythms
rhyming
singing
classroom parties
peer editing
cooperative learning
sharing
group work
forming clubs
peer teaching
social awareness
conflict mediation
discussing
cross age tutoring
study group
brainstorming
personal response
individual study
personal goal setting
individual projects
journal log keeping
personal
choice
projects
independent reading
reading outside
cloud watching
identifying insects
building habitats
identifying plants
using a microscope
dissecting
going on a nature walk
build a garden
studying the stars
bird watching
collecting rocks
making bird feeders
going to the zoo
in
26
Read
more
on
TeacherVision:
methods/2204.html#ixzz1Jhkx2RI3
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/intelligence/teaching-
C. What types of learning activities take place at each center?

All students learn each day's lesson in seven ways. They build models, dance, make collaborative
decisions, create songs, solve deductive reasoning problems, read, write, and illustrate all in one
school day. Some more specific examples of activities at each center follow:
In the Personal Work Center (Intrapersonal Intelligence), students explore the present area
of study through research, reflection, or individual projects.
In the Working Together Center (Interpersonal Intelligence), they develop cooperative
learning skills as they solve problems, answer questions, create learning games, brainstorm
ideas and discuss that day's topic collaboratively.
In the Music Center (Musical Intelligence), students compose and sing songs about the
subject matter, make their own instruments, and learn in rhythmical ways.
In the Art Center (Spatial Intelligence), they explore a subject area using diverse art media,
manipulables, puzzles, charts, and pictures.
In the Building Center (Kinesthetic Intelligence), they build models, dramatize events, and
dance, all in ways that relate to the content of that day's subject matter.
In the Reading Center (Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence), students read, write, and learn in many
traditional modes. They analyze and organize information in written form.
In the Math & Science Center (Logical/ Mathematical Intelligence), they work with math games,
manipulatives, mathematical concepts, science experiments, deductive reasoning, and problem solving..
http://www.computerhistory.org/exhibits/internet_history/index.page
Step 3.1-Group work - Read the table and complete the second column which refers to
characteristics of student centered activities:
Table 2. Multiple Intelligences: Classroom Application (Table added by Brandy Bellamy and Camille
Baker, 2005)
Teacher Centered
Student Centered
Verbal/Linguistic
Logical/Mathematical
Present content verbally

Ask questions aloud and look for
student feedback
Interviews
Provide
brain
teasers
or
challenging questions to begin
lessons.
Make
logical
connections
between the subject matter and
authentic situations to answer the
question "why?"
27
Use props during lecture

Provide tangible items pertaining
to content for students to examine
Review using sports related

examples (throw a ball to
someone to answer a question)
When presenting the information,

use
visuals
to
explain
content:</br>
PowerPoint
Slides,
Graphs,
cartoons,
overheads, smartboards
Play music in the classroom

during reflection periods
Show examples or create musical

rhythms for students to remember
things
Be aware of body language and

facial expressions
Offer
assistance
whenever
needed
Bodily/Kinesthetic
Charts,
videos,
Visual/Spatial
Musical
Encourage classroom discussion
Encourage journaling as a
positive outlet for expression
Introduce web logging (blogs)
Make
individual
questions
welcome
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Create a positive environment.
Take students outside to enjoy

nature while in learning process
(lecture)
Compare authentic subject matter
to natural occurrences.
28

Naturalistic
Relate subject matter to stages

that occur in nature (plants,
weather, etc)
Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)

Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) developed in the USA in the 1970's. It has become very popular
as a method for communication and personal development. The title, coined by the founders, Bandler
and Grinder (1975a), refers to purported systematic, cybernetic links between a person's internal
experience (neuro), their language (linguistic) and their patterns of behaviour (programming). In
essence NLP is a form of planning that offers clues for a systematic and detailed understanding of
people's subjective experience.
NLP is eclectic, combining models and strategies from a wide range of sources. Different people have
different styles and modes in different situations.
People in visual mode will say things like:
Look! If you see what I mean. From my point of view. Watch it! Picture this. Look here! I cant see
the point. See you soon. Theyre thinking in pictures, and imagining that you are doing the
same. Theyre probably also talking very fast.
People in auditory mode will use phrases like:
Listen! That rings a bell. I hear what youre saying. That sounds right. A word in your ear. Speak
soon. Sounds are their medium, and they think they are yours too.
People in kinaesthetic mode will probably talk more slowly, and theyll say things like:
How do you feel about that? Im comfortable with that. My feeling is. It was
warming/moving/touching. Hold on! The language of feelings needs to stir something in you.
heart-
Tastes and smells also come into language: food for thought, a bitter pill to swallow; digesting a
proposition, a bitter argument; and smells, in particular, demonstrate a deeper level of
consciousness: I smell a rat. Follow your nose. It stinks! She was rather sniffy about it.
Of course, we all switch from mode to mode; but most of us prefer one mode of processing over
others. For example, if you want to sell a car to a visual person, youll need to focus on the overall
effect of the design: do they like the colour? Do they like the visual layout of the dashboard. If the
person is auditory; youll focus on sound of the engine (for a sports car lover), the quality of the
stereo, the quiet inside the car, etc. And, for the kinaesthetic person: the comfort, the accessiblity of
the functions, the feel of the steering wheel, and so on.
One common characteristics in NLP is the emphasis laid on teaching a variety of communication and
persuasion skills, and using self-hypnosis to motivate and change oneself. Most NLP practitioners
advertising on the WWW make grand claims about being able to help just about anybody become just
about anything. The following is typical:
29
Activity 4.1GW- Go to
and develop an activity similar to the ones described at

multiple intelligences tests
Activity 5: Task based language teaching (TBLT)
Task-based learning offers the student an opportunity to do exactly this. The primary focus of
classroom activity is the task and language is the instrument which the students use to complete it.
The task is an activity in which students use language to have a specific result. The activity is based
on real life situations and learners focus on meaning, they are free to use any language they want.
Playing a game, solving a problem or sharing information or experiences, can all be considered as
relevant and authentic tasks.
Here are some of the main features of TBLT:
priority given to the meaning

there is a communication problem to solve
there is some sort of relationship to similar real world activities
task completion is very important
the assessment is based on the outcome/how well the task has been achieved
How can I use TBL in the classroom? Here are the stages of TBLT:
Pre-task
The teacher introduces the topic and gives the students clear instructions on what they will have to do
at the task stage and might help the students to remember some language that may be useful for the
task. The pre-task stage can also often include playing a recording of people doing the task. This gives
the students a clear model of what will be expected of them. The students can take notes and spend
time preparing for the task.
Task
The students achieve a task in pairs or groups using the language resources that they have as the
teacher monitors and offers guidelines.
Planning
Students prepare a short oral or written report to tell the class what happened during their task. They
then practise what they are going to say in their groups. All this time the teacher is available for the
students to ask for clarifications using their own language for questions they may have.
Report
Students then report back to the class orally or read the written report. The teacher may give the
students some quick feedback on the content. At this stage the teacher may also play a recording of
others doing the same task for the students to compare.
Analysis
The teacher then points out relevant parts from the text of the recording for the students to analyse
and compare. They may ask students to notice interesting features within this text. The teacher can
also highlight the language that the students used during the report phase for analysis.
Practice
In the end, the teacher makes a good selection of the language issues to practise based upon the
needs of the students and what came out from the task and report phases. The students then practice
activities to develop fluency and make a note of useful language..
30
Compared to these three essential conditions instruction (explicit rule teaching) is not essential. It
may help, however, if the instruction is well timed in form and content to help a learner take the next
step in her/his language acquisition process.
Task-based learning can be very effective at Intermediate levels and beyond, but many teachers
question its usefulness at lower levels. The methodology requires a change in the traditional teacher's
role. The teacher does not introduce and 'present' language or interfere ('help') during the task cycle.
The teacher is an observer during the task phase and becomes a language informant only during the
'language focus' stage. Here are some examples of activities:
Activity 1.
Write the name of your favourite personality below. Do a search for
them at www.google.com. and find out four interesting things
about them. Write some notes belowName: ______________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
Activity 2.
Magazine Questions.
Choose a magazine from www.google.com and answer the following
questions.
How many famous people can you identify? What do you know
about one of them? Tell your partner. Write notes below if you wish.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Choose an article which interests you. Whats it about? Tell your
partner. Write notes below if you wish.
_____________________________________________________
Activity 3
Internet questions
Write the name of your favourite personality below. Do a search for
them at www.google.com and find out four interesting things
about them. Write some notes belowName: ______________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
Activity 4
Book Questions (Graded Readers)
1. Write four book titles at your level.
a.
b.
c.
d.
2. Find a book that you would like to read this year. Whats the title?
Why does it interest you?
____________________________________________________
31
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Step 5.1-GW- In language teaching, a contrast is drawn between authentic and non-authentic data.
Read the two conversations and identify the similarities and differences between the two.
Conversation 1
A: Excuse me please. Do you know where the nearest bank is?
B: Well, the city bank isnt far from here. Do you know where the main post office is?
A: No, not really. Im just passing through.
B: Well, first go down this street to the traffic light
.A: OK.
B: Then turn left and go west on Sunset Boulevard for about two blocks. The bank is on your right, just
past the post office.
A: All right. Thank you.
B: Youre welcome.
Conversation2
2
A: How do I get to Kensington Road?
B: Well, you go down Fullarton Road
A: what, down Old Belair Road and around ?

B: Yeah. And then you go straight
A: past the hospital?
B: Yeah, keep going straight, past the racecourse to the roundabout. You know the big roundabout?
A: Yeah.
B: And Kensington Roads off to the right.
A: What, off the roundabout?
B: Yeah.
A: Right.
The Whole-Part-Whole learning
The Whole-Part-Whole learning theory is based on the assumption that learners relate new learning to
what they already know. The first part of the learning (whole) builds the context and connects the
learner with the organizational framework. For students, this is connecting to prior learning
experiences. For adult learners, it may be establishing the goals and objectives for the learning and
how they support the organization.Motivation for the new learning may be established by getting
learners predict the outcomes they have in mind. The part is the introduction to the skills, techniques,
processes that constitute the new learning. Given the framework from the whole, learners make sense
of the new learning as they assimilate it into the schema they already have. The final stage, second
whole, provides the linkage of the parts back to the whole. This often includes application of the new
learning. The learner connects the prior knowledge to the new learning and builds the new meaning of
the content up again.
A. Authentic language and literacy experiences are central throughout the curriculum.
That means when students talk, read, and write, they do so for some communicative function. In
whole language classrooms, teachers avoid assigning simplied texts for basal readers. Instead,
children read real literature--whole books and texts that appeal to them. Whole language teachers also
avoid asking children to fill in the blanks of workbooks, to merely copy what others have written, or to
32
write on such topics as "The day I was a pencil." Instead, children are asked to write from personal
experiences and to draw upon their experiences with literature to write poetry, fiction, memoir, and
other kinds of literature; and to write to other audiences outside the classroom: pen pals, legislators,
newspaper editors, environmental organizations.
B. Skills are taught in the context of children's interests, needs, and uses
Students are not asked to practice bits and pieces of language in isolation; whole texts in functional
contexts are good opportunities to study parts and pieces of language as needed (whole-to-part a and
back to whole, not part-to-whole). For example, students are taught to use punctuation when they
want to make their writing clearer and more readable, not in isolated lessons on punctuation marks.
Teachers help young children write letters to represent the sounds in words; call attention to interesting
sound elements like alliteration and rhyme in texts they have read together, and help children use
phonic cues along with prior knowledge and context to identify words as they are reading.
C.
Learning
is
transactional;
meaning
is
actively
constructed
by
the
learner.
This principle reflects the work of researchers and educators like Jean Piaget, John Dewey, and
Lev Vygotsky. What this means in practice is, for example, that children discuss books rather than
answer pre-set questions. In the give-and-take of genuine discussion, children try out their
interpretations of what they've read, listen to others' interpretations (including the teacher's), and thus,
develop a richer understanding of the text. In other areas, too, the curriculum is planned so that
students actively construct meaning. For instance, they do their own science experiments rather than
simply read about the results of others' experiments. Such activity encourages students to be engaged
in their learning
. D. Teachers play various nontraditional roles in whole language classrooms.
In addition to directly teaching information, they often share their knowledge while collaborating
with students on projects: doing experiments to determine effects of acid rain, writing a skit on the
post-Civil War era and so forth. Frequently, they challange students in brainstorming, sharing, and
extending what they know. They facilitate learning by fostering a community of learners in which all
members of the classroom community share what they knew and help each other solve problems.
They support learning by creating an environment in which students can take the risks necessary for
significant learning, however imperfect the students' efforts may be by adult standards.
. E. Teachers and students are all learners, risk-takers, and decision makers.
In whole language classrooms, teachers and students often collaborate in making curricular
decisions. Teachers too take risks, trying new materials (e.g., trade books), new ways of organizing
the curriculum (e.g., reading and writing workshops, theme study), and perhaps most important of all,
new ways of helping students learn and new ways of responding to students' efforts. By observing
their students, teachers learn what kinds of assistance the students need and how they might adapt
their own teaching accordingly
F. Assessment is continuous, intermingled with learning and teaching.
In whole language classrooms, assessment relies heavily on the teacher's daily observations.
When observations are recorded frequently, they give a rich documentation of students' progress.
Student self-evaluation is also relevant in whole language classrooms. Such records preserve data for
both teacher evaluation and student self-evaluation. Whole language teachers know that, taken
together, several such means are far more valid as indicators of student progress than standardized
tests.
33
http://www.educationaltoysplanet.com.
Task 6.1- Pair work- With your partner determine a broad topic (e.g., food for the future) and set
some ideas to guide students in brainstorming subtopics and finally in deciding upon a specific topic
they would like to pursue individually or in a small group.
Activity 7: The European Portfolio and Passport
The European Portfolio and Passport
What is the Portfolio and how can it be used?
The European Language Portfolio(ELP) is aimed at attaining purposes: first, it is an evidence of the
learners language learning history and can include test scores, certificates, samples of studentswork,
and personal evidence, such as tapes or reflective statements. ELP is also a pedagogical tool meant
to increase learner autonomy through self-assessment and reflection..
The European Language Portfolio (ELP) contains three parts: a Language Passport, a Language
Biography and a Dossier. The Language Passport gives an overview of the holders level of
language skills and his/her learning and intercultural experiences. It has a reporting function. The
Language Biography documents the holders personal language learning history and intercultural
experiences. It also contains instruments for self-assessment of language competence. The Dossier
is a collection of work that illustrates what the learner has done and is able to do in different languages
All ELPs that have been validated by the Council of Europe can be found on the website. They all
respect the following principles:
They are based on the standardised European levels and descriptors to be found in the Common
European Framework of Reference
They have both reporting and pedagogic aims and functions
They include both assessment and self-assessment
They are multilingual and will always include at least one of the Council of
Europes official languages English or French
They belong to the holder, not to institutions or teachers
They are easy to understand, describing what a learner can actually do with a specific language skill
at a particular, standardised level.
As the use of the ELP becomes more and more familiar , more and more job applicants will present
the Passport as a record of their language skills. Employers should start by looking at the profile of
language skills
34
Europass Language Passport

SURNAME(S) FIRST NAME(S)
Date of birth (*)
Mother tongue(s)
Other language(s)
Self-assessment of language skills (**)

Understanding
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Spoken interaction
Writing
Spoken production
Diploma(s) or certificate(s) (*)

Title of diploma(s) or certificate(s)
Awarding body
Linguistic experience(s) (*)

Description
Self-assessment of language skills (**)

Understanding
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Spoken interaction
Date
European
level (***)
From
To
Writing
Spoken production
Diploma(s) or certificate(s) (*)

Title of diploma(s) or certificate(s)
Linguistic experience(s) (*)

Description
Awarding body
Date
European
level (***)
From
To
Self-assessment grid
Reception
Interaction
Production
35
Listening
Reading
C2
I have no difficulty
in
understanding
any kind of spoken
language, whether
live or broadcast,
even
when
delivered at fast
native
speed,
provided I have
some time to get
familiar with the
accent.
C1
I can understand
extended speech
even when it is not
clearly structured
and
when
relationships
are
only implied and
not
signalled
explicitly. I can
understand
television
programmes
and
films without too
much effort.
I can read with I

can
take
part
ease virtually alleffortlessly
in
any
forms
of
theconversation
or
written language, discussion and have a
including abstract,good familiarity with
structurally
oridiomatic expressions
linguistically
and colloquialisms. I
complex
textscan express myself
such as manuals, fluently and convey
specialised
finer
shades
of
articles
and meaning precisely. If I
literary works.
do have a problem I
can backtrack and
restructure around the
difficulty so smoothly I can express
that other people are myself
with
hardly aware of it.
clarity
and
precision,relatin
g
to
the
addressee
and
I can understand I can express myself flexibly
long
and fluently
and effectively in an
complex factual spontaneously without assured,
and
literary much
obvious personal style.
texts,
searching
for
appreciating
expressions. I can use
distinctions
of language flexibly and
style.
I
can effectively for social
understand
and
professional
specialised
purposes.
I
can
articles
and formulate ideas and
longer technical opinions with precision
instructions,
and
relate
my
even when they contribution skilfully to
do not relate to those of other speakers
my field.
B2
I can understand I
can
read I can interact with a I
can
write
extended speech articles
and degree of fluency and letters
and lectures and reports
spontaneity that makes highlighting the
follow
even concerned with regular interaction with personal
complex lines of contemporary
native speakers quite significance of
argument provided problems
in possible. I can take an events
and
the
topic
is which the writers active
part
in experiences.
reasonably familiar. adopt particular discussion in familiar
I can understand stances
or contexts,
accounting
most TV news and viewpoints. I can for and sustaining my
current
affairs understand
views.
programmes. I can contemporary
understand
the literary prose.
majority of films in
standard dialect.
I can understand theI can understand I can deal with most I
can
write
main points of cleartexts that consist situations likely to arise personal letters
standard speech onmainly of highwhilst travelling in an describing
familiar
mattersfrequency
area where the language experiences
regularly
everyday or job-is spoken. I can enter and
B1
Spoken Interaction
Written
Interaction
Spoken
Production
Written
Production
I can present a clear,I can write clear,

smoothly-flowing
smoothly flowing
description
ortext
in
an
argument in a style appropriate style.
appropriate to the I
can
write
context and with an complex letters,
effective
logicalreports or articles,
structure
which which present a
helps the recipient to case
with
an
notice
andeffective
logical
remember significantstructure, which
points.
helps the recipient
to notice and
remember
significant points.
I
can
write
summaries
and
reviews
of
professional
or
literary works.
I can present clear, I can express
detailed
myself in clear,
descriptions
of well-structured
complex subjects text, expressing
integrating
sub- points of view at
themes, developing some length. I
particular
points can write detailed
and rounding off expositions
of
with an appropriate complex subjects
conclusion
in an essay or a
report, underlining
what I consider to
be the salient
issues. I can write
different kinds of
texts in a style
appropriate to the
reader in mind.
I can present clear,I can write clear,
detailed descriptionsdetailed text on a
on a wide range of wide
range
of
subjects related tosubjects related to
my field of interest. I my interests. I can
can
explain
awrite an essay or
viewpoint
on
areport, passing on
topical issue giving information
or
the advantages andgiving reasons in
disadvantages
ofsupport
of
or
various options.
against a particular
point of view.
I
can
connectI
can
write
phrases in a simplestraightforward
way in order toconnected text on
describe
topics, which are
experiences
andfamiliar, or of
36
A2
A1
encountered in work, related language. unprepared

intoimpressions.
events, my dreams,personal interest.
school, leisure, etc. I I can understand conversation on topics
hopes & ambitions. I
can understand thethe description of that are familiar, of
can
briefly
give
main point of manyevents, feelingspersonal
interest
or
reasons
and
radio
or
TVand wishes inpertinent to everyday life
explanations
for
programmes
onpersonal letters (e.g. family, hobbies,
opinions and plans. I
current affairs or
work, travel and current
can narrate a story
topics of personal or
events).
or relate the plot of a
professional interest
book or film and
when the delivery is
describe
my
relatively slow and
reactions.
clear.
I can understand I can read very I can communicate in I
can
write I can use a series of I can write a series
phrases and the short,
simple simple and routine short,
simple phrases
andof simple phrases
highest frequency texts. I can find tasks requiring a simple notes
and sentences
toand
sentences
vocabulary related specific,
and direct exchange of messages
describe in simple linked with simple
to areas of most predictable
information on familiar relating
to terms my family and connectors
like
immediate personal information
in topics and activities. I matters in areas other people, living and, but and
relevance
(e.g. simple everyday can handle very short of
immediate conditions,
mybecause.
very basic personal material such as social exchanges, even need. I can educational
and
family advertisements, though I can't usually write a very background and my
information,
prospectuses,
understand enough to simple personal present or most
shopping,
local menus
and keep the conversation letter,
for recent job
geography,
timetables and I going myself.
example
employment). I can can understand
thanking
catch the main short
simple
someone
for
point in short, clear, personal letters
something.
simple messages
and
announcements
I can recognise I can understand I can interact in a I can write a I can use simple I can write simple,
familiar words and familiar names, simple way provided short,
simplephrases
and isolated phrases
very basic phrases words and very the other person is postcard,
forsentences
to and sentences
concerning myself, simple
prepared to repeat or examples
describe where I
my
family
and sentences,
for rephrase things at a sending holidaylive and people I
immediate concrete example
on slower rate of speech greetings. I canknow.
surroundings when notices
and and help me formulate fill in forms with
people
speak posters or in what I'm trying to say. I personal details,
slowly and clearly. catalogues.
can ask and answer for
example
simple questions in entering
my
areas of immediate name, nationality
need or on very familiar and address on a
topics.
hotel registration
form.
Step 7.1- Group work- Make a list of self-assessment materials students can include in their
portfolios
Step 7.2-IW- Fill in the Europass with your information about yourself.
References
1. Avery, C. (1993). And with a light touch. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
2. Atwell, N. (1987/1998). In the middle: Writing, reading, and learning with adolescents.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
3. Bandler and Grinder. Neurolinguistic-programming, 1975
4. Gardner, H. The theory of multiple intelligences, 1983
5. Goodman, K., Bird, L. B., & Goodman, Y. (1991). The whole language catalog.
Santa Rosa, CA: American School Publishers
37
6. Kagan, Spencer and his associates at Kagan Publishing and Professional

Development. Class Activities that use Cooperative Learning,
7. Lewis, M. Implementing the Lexical Approach: Putting Theory into Practice
8. Moudraia, O.Walailak. University, Thailand Lexical Approach To Second Language
Teaching, June 2001
- IATEFL 2011: Download the handout for Jane's IATEFL presentation: The truth
about
Task-based learning: Myth and Reality
- Task-Based Activities: Making the Language Laboratory Interactive. ERIC Digest,
- The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning,
Teaching, Assessment
38
MODULE 3- THE
EUROPEAN PROFILE OF
TEACHER TRAINING
39
Activity 1: Identifying the Europen profile for language teacher education

Activity 3: Educational Technology standards for teachers
Activity 1: Identifying the Europen profile for language teacher education

Identifying the European profile for language teacher education
A. The future European teaching profession

The Common European Principles for Teacher Competences and Qualifications describes the
perspective of the future European teaching profession as follows:
1
A well-qualified profession where teachers are graduates from higher education institutions .
Every teacher has extensive subject knowledge, a good knowledge of pedagogy, the skills and
competences required to support learners.
2
A profession of lifelong learners: teachers are encouraged to continue their professional
development throughout their careers.
3
A mobile profession: mobility is the core of the initial and continous teacher education
programmes. Teachers are given opportunities to work or study in other European countries to raise
their professional level.
A profession based on partnership: teacher education institutions develop their
activities in partnership with schools and local work environments.
B. Initial teacher training
Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is the process by which teachers (like other
professionals) check up their competences, maintain them up to date, and develop them further.
The extent to which education authorities support this process varies, as does the effectiveness of
the different approaches. A growing research suggests that to be most effective, CPD activities should:
be continuous
use collaborative techniques
apply active learning
be practiced with groups of teachers
include periods of practice, coaching, and follow-up
promote reflective activities
encourage experimentation, and
respond to teachers needs.
Initial training of foreign languages teachers represents the responsibility of Member States: they
play a key role in ensuring an adequate level of training of all teachers. There is a significant number
of personal skills and resources required to teach a foreign language well. Initial language teacher
should identify communication skills and techniques through classroom training.
C. EU initiatives on training foreign language teachers
In order to introduce a framework to support the harmonization of qualifications for teachers of
foreign languages across Europe, the European Commission funded a study entitled 'European Profile for
Language Teacher Education - A frame of reference .
40
The reference in the proposed European Profile for language teacher training focuses on:
1. The structure of educational courses
2. Knowledge and comprehension of the underlying language teaching
3. A range of strategies and teaching skills and learning
4. The types of values that the system of language teaching should promote .
This framework is designed to serve as a checklist for teacher training programs in progress and at
the same time as guidelines for the programs currently in development stage.
STRUCTURE
1. A curriculum that combines academic study with teaching practice;
2. An initial continuous and modular training .
3. Explicit principles of teaching practice;
4. What is mentoring and how to work with a mentor;
5. Intercultural and multicultural environment knowledge:
6. Partnerships abroad, including visits, exchanges or ICT links;
7. Periods of work or study in a foreign country .
8. Chances to participate in teaching in more than one country;
9. A European framework for initial assessment, allowing accreditation and mobility;
10. Continuous improvement of teaching skills as part of lifelong learning;
11. Continuous training of trainers;
12. Training mentors in practice mentoring:
13. Links between practitioners who are trained to teach other languages;
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
14. Training methodology to teach foreign languages and most advanced techniques and activities
of class time;
15. Forming a critical and questioning teaching approach;
16. The initial training course which requires linguistic proficiency and evaluates trainees linguistic
competence;
17. Training in the use of information technology in teaching;
18. Training in the application of different assessment procedures:
19. Training in a critical evaluation of the curriculum adopted at national level in
terms of curricular areas, objectives and expected results;
STRATEGIES AND SKILLS
20. Training in adapting teaching approaches to the educational context and studentsneeds:
21. Training in critical assessment, development and practical use of resources,
teaching aids and materials;
22. Training in the continuous use of learning methods ;
23. Training for the development of reflective practice and self-evaluation;
24. Training to develop strategies for independent language learning;
25. Maintaining the ongoing development of teachers skills
26. Training in the practical application of curriculum and syllabus;
27. Training in techniques of observation and feedback;
28. Training in developing relationships with institutions providing education in
countries chosen by the trainers;
29. Training to promote research work;
30. Training in integrating research into teaching;
31. Training in content and language-integrated learning(CLIL)
41
32. Training in the use of European Language Portfolio for self- evaluation;
VALUES
33. Training to promote social and cultural values;
34. Training in the promotion of diversity of languages and cultures;
35. Training in the importance of teaching and learning of foreign languages;
36. Training to increase awareness of European citizenship;
37. Training practice teamwork, collaboration and networking within the lab
and outside the school environment;
38. Training to value the importance of life-long learning.
Step 1.1-Pair-work- One of the priorities for EU Member States is to improve teacher quality and
teacher education. What are the areas they cover?
Step 1.2GW-Explain what the European Profile for language teacher training means and what are the
main points it focuses on.
How to Make English Lessons More Effective and Successful
There are seven key areas for TEFL teachers to keep in mind, which represent part of effective
classroom management skills. These include :
group work and pair work

homework
group size and mixture
planning
motivation
discipline
assessment
A. Pair and group work

Pair and group work give students more independence to organize their lesson. Other advantages
of pair work include: students of the same language can use their own language to achieve the task
more effectively. However, limitations of group/pair work may refer to ignoring who they are
grouped/paired with or one student dominating the others who remain silent and have difficulty
expressing themselves.
B. Importance of Homework in Language Classes
Sometimes homework is not well received: nevertheless , some students may feel it as an
important part of the course. Students may think they have paid for the language course, therefore
homework should be rewarding. Some learners may indeed welcome the opportunity to review at
home what has been taught in class. Homework should not take up too much time but it should not
take up too little either.
C. Group Size
The group size should be used to its advantage; worksheets may be used to achieve tasks which
would have been used as whole class activities if the class were smaller. Pair and group work should
42
be encouraged to increase student participation. Speaking practice may be done using a "chorus
reaction," dividing the class in half to practice dialogues, repetition, questions and answers.
Mixed ability classes may be handled by dividing the class into groups, utilising various different
materials. The same material may also be used, but with different tasks, such as a whole class
listening or reading activity, with basic or more challenging questions.
D. Planning Lessons
If you take one thing home with you from reading this article, let it be the importance of planning in
order to create effective language lessons. Lesson planning gives the teachers the possibility to
logically follow progression, giving the lesson a clear organization.and coherence.
Key areas to be included when planning refer to the aim, class dynamics, activities to achieve the
aim and possible problems. The three necessary elements of any teaching sequence are engage,
study and activate. A lesson plan template of stages, including warmer, presentation, study, practice
and follow-up/warm down may prove helpful. Materials, evaluation methods (e.g. feedback sessions)
and relevant homework should also be included in the lesson plan.
E. Motivation
Motivation in language-learning plays a vital role. It is motivation that produces effective secondlanguage communicators by planting in them the seeds of self-confidence. It also successfully
creates learners who continuously engage themselves in learning even after they complete a
purposeful goal. Above all, three specific elements are strongly believed to build motivation towards
language-learning: self-confidence, experiencing success and satisfaction, and good teacher-learner
relationships as well as positive relationships between learners.
It is widely believed that once students gain self-confidence, it progressively expands, at the same
time with achieving success and satisfaction as well as good relationships.
Experience of success provides students with more power to follow a new goal. It allows
language learners to understand the purpose of trying and have pleasure in communicating with
others. Some people might gain confidence when they can communicate their thoughts to people;
others might feel the sense of success when they complete a challenging task in a targeted language.
F. Discipline in Language Classes
Harmer (1998) highlights the importance of discipline in effective classroom management in
stating, "Learning how to manage students and how to control boisterous classes is one of the most
fundamental skills of teaching." Although discipline is not such an important issue among adult
students, it can be difficult to teach if students are talking or doing some other activities while the
lesson is being taught. Maintaining control and ensuring lessons are well planned is likely to be
sufficient to keep students motivated to learn and remain interested.
Why Discipline Matters in Children and Teenage Language Lessons
In contrast to adult language classes, children and teenage groups require strict and firm
standards of acceptable behaviour. Simple key words should be taught early on, such as 'Stop,' 'Very
Good' and No' in the case of monolingual groups. Younger groups may benefit from reward systems
where points may be gained or lost.
43
Read on
Creating Warmers for TEFL Lessons - English Lesson Planning

Language Books to Help Students Learn Business English
G. Classroom Layout for Successful Lessons

There are four main arrangements for lessons, which include orderly rows, separate tables, circle
and horseshoe seating. While seating in rows allows all students to see the teacher and vice-versa, is
ideal for lecturing , whole class work and discipline, students at the back of the room may have less
opportunity for contact with the teacher and feel detached from the class. Also, as compared to the
circle or horseshoe arrangement, the teacher's position is more dominating. Circle or horseshoe
arrangements may be more suitable for smaller class sizes, with the circle arrangement creating a
sense of equality. A key advantage is that all students can see each other, making it easier for effective
verbal, as well as non-verbal, ways of communication.
H. Correction in the language class
It is important for teachers to be able to correct students without inhibiting them. Tact is vital and as
identified by Harmer (1998), it is the teacher's role to identify what is adequate for a specific student,
within a specific environment. In speaking practice (role play, discussion), teachers should correct in
the feedback session, so as not to destroy the conversational flow.
Mistakes should be dealt with without identifying who made them. Mistakes could be explained in a
feedback time, written on the board, with students first being asked to identify any problems. Writing
may be corrected using symbols such as SP for spelling mistake and WW for wrong word. Some
incorrect sentences may also be written on the board, giving all students the opportunity to correct
them. Other methods of correction, such as shaking the head, asking for the sentence to be repeated
depend on ability and the student/teacher rapport.
Step 2.1- Fill
in the chart to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of different student

groupings to make the lesson more efficient and successful.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Whole-class grouping
Groupwork
Pairwork
Solowork
Activity 3: Educational Technology standards for teachers

Educational Technology standards for teachers
21st Century Skills for Teachers( (networkedteacher.wetpaint.com/page/Activities)
The International Society for Technology Education has re-released its Educational Technology Standards for
Teachers. These standards include 21st century skills such as finding and managing resources,
publishing on the web, and connecting with colleagues, students, parents, and local and global
communities. Teachers must be proficient in these skills in order to develop good practices in their
students and to help students include these skills during the learning process. These activities will give
you a chance to actively participate in using some of the web-based tools that are commonly used in
classrooms and to discuss authentic ideas for using these tools.
44
The Networked Teacher
Teachers also need to engage in continuing professional development in order to be an effective

and reflective practitioner. These might be articulated in a programme of study as follows:
understanding pupils progression in learning

being able to link theory with practice
critical thinking
understanding the social context of communication
understanding causes and effects
teaching through inquiry
The language teacher education curriculum contains both theoretical and practical elements
which lay emphasis on learner-centredness and task- based learning. Much of the learning will be
done through practical experience, reflection on practice and relating theory to practice. Students will
consider (and experience) the following teaching and learning approachesEducational Technology
Standards for Teachers.
45
use of reflective tools such as portfolios. From the start of the teacher education
programme, teacher students are taught to engage in reflection in a structured way,
using several instruments such as:
a practice diary
discussion sessions with tutors and peers about significant teaching practices.
self-monitoring with the reflection circle
15 supervision meetings in small groups about personal teaching experiences
informed reflective practice
constructivist models of learning
learner autonomy
cognitive models such as language learning strategies
content and Language Integrated Learning (see section 6.1.4)
task-based learning through group and individual projects, problem-based learning
techniques
methods for developing language skills (including grammar and vocabulary acquisition)
use of new technologies for language learning including computer assisted language
learning
Step 3.1-Think of two good teachers from your past. What personal qualities do/did they share?
References
1. Abrudan Caciora Simona Veronica: Motivation in language learning

2. Norris-Holt, J.: Motivation as a Contributing Factor in Second Language Acquisition
3. Smith, S.M. (1994). Second Language Learning: Theoretical Foundations. London and New
York: Longman
- The Gateway to 21st Century Skills- a Teachers One Stop Shop for Free Quality Education
Resources
- Lote teacher competencies for professional development
- European Profile for Language Teacher Education, A Frame of Reference
46
MODULE 4- TYPES OF
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
FOR TEACHING
GRAMMAR
47
Activity 1: Goals and Techniques for Teaching Grammar

Activity 2: Developing Grammar Activities
Activity 3: Teaching Grammar Inductively vs. Deductively
Activity 4: Tips for teaching grammar
Activity 5: Grammar levels
Activity 6: Educational links
1
Activity 7: Samples of activities for students
Objectives
to present strategies that underline the knowledge, critical thinking, values and citizenship
objectives of education for a sustainable future;
to develop activities that meet both the curriculum requirements and the competences set by
The Common European Framework of Languages(CEFR);
to develop skills in using a wide range of interactive and learner-centred teaching and
learning;
to present strategies that enable students to assimilate the correct patterns of the language,
correlating them to the demands of linguistic realities nowadays by providing multiple access
points to information, as well as multiple sources of information;
to develop activities involving the mental abilities of reasoning and correct observation,
promoting students capacity for thinking creatively;
to develop teaching strategies that embed grammar instruction within contexts that are
meaningful to the learners, that is, to teach grammar communicatively;
(CALL);
to facilitate ease of navigation and use of the internet;
interpret information in a variety of forms (eg text, tables, diagrams, and linked WWW-sites);
Activity 1: Goals and Techniques for Teaching Grammar
It is believed that grammar is the most important issue in teaching and learning a foreign language. It
is also one of the most difficult aspects when it comes to teaching it.
Usually, the word "grammar" is associated with a fixed set of rules of usage. The goal of studying
grammar is to make students aware not only of the language system and of the typical constructions in
a language, but also of the way the language forms are used.
Teachers make a clear distinction between "good grammar ( e. g. formal language used in writing
and in oral presentations), and "bad grammar ( e. g. language used in everyday conversation). Such
teachers teach grammar by explaining the forms and rules and then drilling students on them. As a
result, they have students who can produce correct forms of language, but who make errors when
they try to use the language in context. Therefore, students do not develop the ability to use grammar
correctly in oral and written interactions by doing mechanical drills, because these drills separate form
from meaning and use. If we see language as a strict set of rules there will be disconnections
between knowing the rules of grammar and being able to apply them.
1
available on the CD version only
48
Therefore, grammar should be taught in order to enable students to communicate properly, that is to
use with accuracy different grammar structures in their everyday interactions.
Overt Grammar Instruction
This technique focuses on rules, explanations and instructions given to the students upon different
language forms. The goal is for students to acquire grammatical competence by following the set of
the target language rules. It is a formal instruction that learners follow in order to attain accuracy.
This technique enables students to understand and assimilate grammatical structures in a foreign
language.
Students should be provided with accurate and appropriate examples. The examples should be
related to particular topics so that students would be able to make the connection between grammar
and vocabulary.
Relevance of Grammar Instruction
This issue relates to the Communicative Approach which focuses on language functions, not language
as a set of rules. The activities are centered on learners ability to use language to communicate, to
produce and understand sentences that are appropriate to a particular situation. Thus, learning
grammar means focus on the language of which grammar is a part.
It does not mean learning by heart rules and applying them, but acquiring a language structure that is
particular to a certain situation.
Error Correction
When it comes to this issue, teachers need to be careful not to focus on error correction to the
detriment of communication, as this will shake the students' confidence in their ability to use the
language, and will probably determine students not to communicate any more for fear they will make
mistakes. Thus they will focus more on the grammatical structures and not on the content of their
communication; and this does not achieve a communicative purpose.
There is disagreement among teachers about what, when, and how to correct, although error
correction needs to be done in order to improve language acquisition. However, teachers can help
their students by using error correction when students are doing activities that focus on development
of new language skills but not when they are engaged in communicative activities.
Step 1.1 Individual work Comment on the following The goal of studying grammar is to make
students aware not only of the typical constructions in a language, but also of the context in which the
language forms are used.
Step 1.2 Individual work Plan an activity teaching past tense simple, using the following picture and
sentences - http://1x.com/photos/everyday/31876/
49
a. There (be) ..a great fire last night in an apartment building near London.
b. The fire (trap)..five people in their apartments.
c.
The firefighters (try).. to rescue them.
d. Unfortunately, the five people (die) ..because the flames (be).too big.
e. The fire last night also (kill)..a firefighter.
f.
His colleagues (not be able to)..save him.
g. The police (come)..and (collect).evidence.

h. The man in the picture (be).devastated.
i.
His brothers (live)..in that building too.
j.
Fortunately, they (leave)for Cairo two days ago.
k.
But the man (not know)about their leaving.
Step 1.3 Group work - Plan an activity teaching future simple, using the following text
-http://www.ijailbreak.com/?s=AutoResponder
Another new tweak was released into Cydia today that I find to be a very cool concept if you find
yourself away from your iPhone a lot! This tweak is called AutoResponder and it will make sure that no
one who texts you will ever feel ignored again! Lets switch over to some questions Have you ever
gotten texts while in a meeting, in school, in a movie, or even while in deep sleep? Well if you have
AutoResponder, it will make sure that anyone who texts you knows that you are unable to respond
and will get back to them as soon as possible. AutoResponder has built in messages for common
activities, or you can even write your own responses!
How does AutoResponder work? Well AutoResponder will reply to any text that you
receive while it is enabled and send the selected message to the person and you
dont even have to do anything or hit any send button! With this tweak you can make
sure your friends and family never feel ignored again!
Step 1.4 Group work - Plan an activity teaching future simple, using the following photoshttp://www.smashingapps.com/2008/09/10/39-masterpieces-of-creative-advertisements.html
http://www.hemmy.net/2006/10/15/creative-advertisements-around-the-world
http://www.smashingapps.com/2008/09/10/39-masterpieces-of-creative-advertisements.html
50
Activity 2: Developing Grammar Activities

Usually, courses and textbooks are organized in a specified sequence of grammatical topics. When
this is the case, classroom activities need to reflect the grammar point that is being introduced or
reviewed. On the other hand, when a course curriculum is organized on a topic sequence, grammar
structures will be studied as they come up.
For those courses that focus on grammatical forms in a specified sequence, teachers need to
develop activities that relate form to meaning and use.
Describe the grammar structure, talking about form, meaning, and use, and give examples;
Ask students to practice the grammar structure in communicative drills;
Involve students in communicative tasks, providing opportunities to use the grammar

structure;
For those courses that follow a sequence of topics, teachers need to develop activities that relate
different topics to meaning and form. Language structures should be shown in authentic contexts so
that they will cater for the learners different needs. Such courses develop grammar in context, and
probably the best way to do it is to get the students attention on a specific linguistic feature in a text
that has been already processed (as far as meaning is concerned); this helps students understand
and consolidate their knowledge of a foreign language. Teachers need to provide oral or written
materials (audiotape, reading selection) that relate to the topic.
Review the grammar structure, using examples from the materials;

Ask students to practice the grammar structure in communicative drills keeping to the topic;
Ask students do a communicative task on the topic.
For example, students who intend to apply for a job will need to know how to answer certain questions
in a job interview. Teachers can use audiotapes to simulate real situations; moreover, teachers need
to teach the grammatical forms that typically occur in such situations; and then ask students to
practice by asking and answering questions that relate to the topic.
51
In both cases, the key- word for the developed activities is practice. Students should do this in order
to be able to use the language they have been exposed to, as the supreme goal is acquiring fluency.
However, teachers should keep in mind the three types of drills:
Mechanical drills that focus on patterns or rules; they are not very useful as they do not
resemble a real communication situation. Learners do not need to understand or communicate
anything so such lessons are boring;
Meaningful drills that focus on the correlation between form and meaning; from this point of
view such drills can help students understand the grammar rules, but the impediment is that
they have only one correct answer, so their resemblance to real communication is limited;
Communicative drills that focus on the relationships among form, meaning, and use. In
such drills students become aware of the mentioned relationship and develop their ability to
use language for communicative purposes. Another advantage is that multiple correct
responses are possible and students use the grammar point under consideration focusing on
their own content and experience.
Step 2.1 individual work Design a mechanical drill for Past Perfect Simple.
(an example of mechanical drills) Put the verbs into Present Perfect Simple; use
affirmative form:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
They (do)..their homework.

Mary (wash)..the dishes.
Mum (feed)..the cat.
The teacher (come)into the classroom.
I (guess).the correct answer.
Mr. Jones (arrive).home from work.
We (read).a contemporary novel.
They (meet)..her at the station.
I (have).dinner.
Step 2.2 - individual work Design a meaningful drill for Present Simple.
(an example of meaningful drill) Choose the correct answer in each sentence:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
You dont / arent listening to me.

Ana and Tom are / is waiting for us.
The girls in our classroom didnt / arent enjoying the film.
Whats that noise? The cat is / are mewing in the garden.
Im not / amnt drinking pizza.
It isnt / arent snowing heavily.
You isnt / arent watching the film.
The boys are / does swimming in the lake.
Tommy is / am sleeping in the car.
Step 2.3 - individual work Consider this photograph and set tasks for communicative drills.
(an example of communicative drill) What are the children in this picture doing?
http://boylston.bbrsd.schoolfusion.us/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1390030/Image/Boy
lston/StartPage/kids-playing-in-the-park.jpg
Use present continuous to make sentences referring to this image:
52
Activity 3: Teaching Grammar Inductively vs. Deductively

Deductive grammar or rule-driven teaching is based on facts and statements and it focuses on the
learners logic. It leads from an explicit presentation of a set of isolated language rules (together with
model sentences), to their application to concrete L 2 representations and practice tasks. That is, the
learners are given the grammatical rule and they are supposed to apply the rule to new sentences.
They are typically expected to memorise the rule. The advantages of this kind of teaching are:
It is time-saving, as it focuses on a specific grammar point;

It involves a cognitive process in language acquisition;
This type of teaching can be related to the traditional way of teaching.
Inductive grammar teaching or rule-discovery teaching is based on experiments. It rejects the idea
of giving the learners a ready-made rule. The learners learn from discovering, from trying different
things, from carefully selected intelligible linguistic data in context, usually in the form of a text
illustrating the use of the particular grammatical structure. On the basis of the model they are
supposed to formulate their own explanation of the rules governing the presented material. Through
experimenting they figure out the grammatical rules all by themselves. The elicited students rules will
then, if necessary, be corrected by the teacher, and the language structure practised.
Teaching grammar inductively is favorable to communicative acquisition and enables the learner
acquire communicative competence. Learners need to know how to use language in context, when,
where and how to use a grammatically correct sentence. An example could be:
how to ask for directions;
how to address people in different real life situations;
how to respond to different requests, invitations, or apologies.
Discovery techniques can make grammar lessons enjoyable.
Whatever method for teaching grammar you ultimately choose, make sure you provide students with
various practical classroom ideas and procedures. But keep in mind that students do best in classes
wherein the teacher varies the approach in order to accommodate all learning styles.
Step 3.1 individual work Design activities for different grammar points - (appropriate for
deductive grammar teaching)- here are two model sentences (e. g. focusing on countable and
uncountable nouns). Using a set of rules for this particular grammar structure, practice the presented
grammar point; complete the blanks with SOME or AN:
53
Model I drank SOME milk.

I ate AN apple.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
He asked for.information.
The children played with stick.
They decided to give meadvice.
I recognized..old man in the street.
The students have.American car.
I have.appointment this evening.
The Chinese people at our table ate .rice and vegetables.
I read.paper on the bus.
Mary got on the car. She didnt have.ticket.
Step 3.2 individual work Design activities for different grammar structures - (the activities should be
appropriate
for
inductive
grammar
teaching);
consider
this
photograph.
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/112251945/Getty-Images-Sport
EXAMPLE:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Seven black-and-white photographs of the Beatles will be sold next week.

Shakira will be awaited by her fans at the airport.
The arrested man will be interrogated in two weeks time.
They will be persuaded to go to that fancy party.
How is this structure formed?

What moment does this structure refer to? (present, past or future)
What does this structure mean?
Step 3.3 individual work Consider the following text and design an activity for teaching (inductively)
Past Simple.
Example: Read Daves sentences about what he did yesterday. Underline the verbs in Past Simple
and then complete the chart by placing the regular verbs in the correct column:
I had a very busy day yesterday. I tidied my room and I watered the
plants. I polished my shoes and I helped my mother in the kitchen.
Then I cleaned the house. I worked hard in the garden. I shopped
and I also telephoned my friends yesterday. We played tennis and
then we decided to go home. I cancelled the meeting with my brother
because I was too tired. I watched TV and tried to fall asleep.
Enjoy enjoyed
Cook cooked
Travel
travelled
Stop stopped
Like - liked
Study studied
54
Can you derive the rules for adding ed?

Activity 4: Tips for teaching grammar
Students should be aware of the fact that grammar affects meaning, so incorrect grammar can lead to
confusion. To avoid such situations (as far as the students are concerned), a teacher needs to give
clear examples and explanations, and must find a balance between accuracy and simplicity in
examples, he or she must present a structure's form and meaning in a simple, accurate and helpful
way.
Here are some tips you can follow when teaching grammar:
When teaching grammar, a teacher needs to take into consideration a bound between
examples and form, meaning, and context;
Make sure you make use of the mother tongue while explaining;
Explanations must be simple and clear;
Provide students with plenty of examples of the grammatical structure;
Make sure the learners understand when and how to use the presented grammatical point;
Explanations must cover the majority of instances because students are sure to encounter
exceptions along the way;
Give the learners the opportunities to compare the grammar point to the same grammar
structure in their mother tongue;
Do not overdo the teaching of too many grammatical structures in one grammar lesson; it will
be confusing for the students;
Give students the chance of practicing by playing with the sentences so they can get a feel
for the language;
Language games can be fun and give students the opportunity to use a grammatical structure
practically.
Activity 5: Grammar levels of accuracy (CEFR)

C2
Maintains consistent grammatical control of complex language, even while attention is
otherwise engaged (e.g. in forward planning, in monitoring others reactions). Can understand with
ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise information from different spoken and written
sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express him/herself
spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most
complex situations. Can use language exibly and effectively for social, academic and professional
purposes.
C1
Consistently maintains a high degree of grammatical accuracy; errors are rare and
difficult to spot. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing
controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.Good grammatical control;
occasional slips or non-systematic errors and minor flaws in sentence structure may still occur, but
they are rare and can often be corrected in retrospect.
B2
Shows a relatively high degree of grammatical control. Does not make mistakes which
lead to misunderstanding. Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a
viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various
options.Communicates with reasonable accuracy, fluency and spontaneity in familiar contexts;
generally good control though with noticeable mother tongue influence. Errors occur, but it is clear
what he/she is trying to express.
B1
Uses reasonably accurately a repertoire of frequently used routines and patterns
associated with more predictable situations. Can produce simple connected text on topics which are
55
familiar or of personal interest. Communicates with reasonable accuracy in familiar contexts; generally
good control though with noticeable mother tongue influence. Errors occur, but it is clear what he/she
is trying to express.
A2
Uses some simple structures correctly, but still systematically makes basic mistakes
for example tends to mix up tenses and forget to mark agreement; nevertheless, it is usually clear
what he/she is trying to say. Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate
environment and matters in areas of immediate need.
A1
Shows only limited control of a few simple grammatical structures and sentence
patterns in a learnt repertoire. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and
clearly.
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar;
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/alle_grammar.htm
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com
http://www.englishclub.com
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk
http://www.eslgold.com/grammar/teaching.html
References
Theory
1.Harmer, Jeremy The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman Publishing House,
Cambridge, 2002;
2.Weaver, Constance Teaching Grammar in Context, Boynton/Cook Publishers, Portsmouth,
1996;
- http://www.coe.int/T/DG4/Portfolio/?M=/main_pages/levels.html
- http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/LanguageSelfAssessmentGrid/en
- http://www.eslgold.com/grammar/teaching_tips.html
- http://esl.about.com/cs/teachingtechnique/a/a_teachgrammar.htm
Grammar
1.Murphy, Raymond Essential Grammar in Use, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006
2.Murphy, Raymond English Grammar in Use, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2010
3.Vince, Michael Elementary Language Practice, Macmillan Publishing House, London, 2004
4. Vince, Michael Intermediate Language Practice, Macmillan Publishing House, London, 2004
5. Vince, Michael Advanced Language Practice, Macmillan Publishing House, London, 1994
- http://www.nonstopenglish.com/
- http://www.english-online.org.uk/
- http://www.eslgold.com/grammar/high_intermediate.html
56
57
MODULE 5 - TEACHING
VOCABULARY
58
Activity 1: Teaching vocabulary: Goals

Activity 2: Approaches to teaching vocabulary
Activity 3: Teaching vocabulary techniques/Ways of conveying meaning
Activity 4: Ingredients of good vocabulary work
Activity 5: The right time to teach vocabulary
Activity 6: Lesson planning and introduction of new language items
Activity 7: Samples of class activities2
Activity 8: Evaluation3
Objectives
to make trainees aware of different approaches to teaching the meaning of language items;
to provide them with reasons for using a certain approach when dealing with vocabulary;
to give them techniques for showing the meaning of new words;
to develop trainees lesson planning competence in vocabulary teaching;
to provide resources for teaching vocabulary.
Activity 1: Teaching vocabulary: Goals

Vocabulary is not an end in itself. A rich vocabulary makes the skills of listening, speaking, reading
and writing easier to perform. Learners growth in vocabulary must be accompanied by
opportunities to become fluent with vocabulary. This fluency can be partly achieved through
activities that lead to the establishment and enrichment of vocabulary knowledge, but the
essential element in developing fluency lies in the opportunity for meaningful use of
vocabulary in tasks with a low cognitive load. (Nation, 1994, p. viii)
1. to meet new vocabulary for the first time;
2. to establish previously met vocabulary;
3. to enrich previously met vocabulary;
4. to develop vocabulary strategies;
5. to develop fluency with known vocabulary
STEP 1.1 (DEBATE): VOCABULARY BALLOON
INSTRUCTIONS
Vocabulary balloon debate (talking about the process and criteria for selecting vocabulary)
PROCEDURES
1. The trainees write down one word on a slip of paper. It should be a content carrying word, for
example a noun, adjective, adverb, verb, and not a preposition, article and so on.
2. Collect the slips of paper and mix them up in a bag.
3. Trainees pick one slip from the bag.
4. They form pairs and have to argue that their word is a more important word to know in English
than their partners.
2
3

59
5. After one minute they have to agree who had the stronger argument. That word wins and goes
into the next round. In other words, both people from the pair will argue for that word.
6. They form new pairs and argue for the word that won the previous round.
7. The activity continues as a knock-out competition until only two or three words remain. Stop
the contest at this point and invite arguments for and against the remaining words. A
consensus may emerge on the winner.
8. Write all the words on the board and ask the trainees in what order they would teach them.
Ask them why they would present the words in that order.
9. Elicit the answers.
STEP 1.2 (PAIR WORK): ACTIVITIES TO INTRODUCE VOCABULARY
INSTRUCTIONS
List some activities through which new vocabulary can be introduced.
STEP 1.3 (PAIR WORK): PREVIOUSLY TAUGHT VOCABULARY
INSTRUCTIONS
List some ways through which previously met vocabulary can be established.
Activity 2: Approaches to teaching vocabulary

Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings. As Steven Stahl (2005) puts it, Vocabulary
knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how
that word fits into the world. Vocabulary knowledge is not something that can ever be fully mastered; it
is something that expands and deepens over the course of a lifetime. Instruction in vocabulary
involves far more than looking up words in a dictionary and using the words in a sentence. Vocabulary
is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure to words and intentionally through explicit
instruction in specific words and word-learning strategies.
A. Direct Vocabulary Teaching
1. Direct vocabulary learning is a conscious effort made by the learner to remember new words. It
occurs when teachers do exercises and activities in class that focus the learners attention on
vocabulary, such as guessing meaning from context, matching exercises, spider grams, vocabulary
games, etc. Vocabulary can also be acquired through incidental learning. Much of a students
vocabulary will have to be learned in the course of doing things other than explicit vocabulary learning.
Repetition, richness of context and motivation may also add to the efficacy of incidental learning of
vocabulary.
2. While incidental learning is still where most vocabulary acquisition takes place, there is room for
more direct teaching methods in the second language classroom, provided such factors are taken
into consideration:
Learners need to come across/be exposed to/ the words in a variety of contexts. Dependence
on a single vocabulary instruction method will not result in optimal learning. Learners best
remember words when they have used them in different ways, so variety is essential for
vocabulary teaching.
Recycling and reviewing vocabulary is an important part of the lesson plan as most new words
are forgotten if not reinforced.
For long-term retention, no more than 10-12 new words should be presented at a time.
Vocabulary learning is effective when it entails active engagement in learning tasks.
60
Vocabulary tasks should be restructured as necessary. It is important to be certain that

students fully understand what
is asked of them in the
context
of
speaking/reading/listening/writing, rather than focusing only on the words to be learned.
Computer technology can be used effectively to help teach vocabulary.
B. What does it take to know a word?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Recognize it in its spoken or written form.

Remember it.
Relate it to an appropriate object or concept.
Use it in the appropriate grammatical form.
Pronounce it in a recognizable way.
Spell it correctly.
Use it with words it correctly goes with, i.e., in the correct collocation.
Use it at the appropriate level of formality.
Be aware of its connotations and associations.
C. Meaning
As far as meaning goes students need to know about meaning in context and they need to know
about sense relations.
The first thing to realise about vocabulary items is that they frequently have more than one meaning.
When they come across a word and try to decipher its meaning they will have to look at the context in
which it is used. The word 'bark', for example, refers to the hard substance that covers a tree, to the
short loud sound that a dog makes, according to one learner's dictionary. But the same dictionary then
goes on to list more meanings of 'bark' used in phrases - barking up the wrong tree, sbs bark is
worse than their bites-.
Sometimes words have meanings in relation to other words. Thus students need to know the
meaning of 'furniture' as a word to describe any one of a number of other things - e.g. chairs, tables,
sofas, etc. 'Furniture' has a general meaning whereas 'chair' is more specific.
The meaning of a word like 'good' is understood in the context of a word like 'bad'. Words have
opposites (antonyms) and they also have other words with similar meanings; (synonyms) - e.g. 'bad'
and 'evil'.
What a word means can be changed, stretched or limited by how it is used and this is something
students need to know about.
By being aware students will be more receptive to the contextual behaviour of words when they first
see them in texts, etc. and they will be better able to manipulate both the meanings and forms of the
word.
STEP 2.1 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): OPINIONS
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Consider the following opinions expressed by teachers and learners. To what extent do you
agree with them?
a. Giving approaches are boring.
b. Giving approaches do not help the learners to remember the meaning of new
language.
c. Giving approaches are impossible with low level classes unless you explain in their
own language. Otherwise, they just dont have the language to understand the
explanation.
d. Guided approaches work best when the meaning of something is complicated.
e. The danger in using guided approaches is that the learners may actually work out the
meaning inappropriately and thus understand something which is inaccurate.
f. Guided approaches encourage learners to become more autonomous in their
learning, and less dependent on the teacher.
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g. Guided approaches reflect more closely the natural mechanisms of language

learning.
2. Choose either of these two approaches and list:
the reason for using it;
any limitations or disadvantages in its use.
STEP 2.2 (PAIR WORK): GUIDING STUDENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
1. CONCEPT QUESTIONS
The teacher can use questions to check that students have understood the meaning of an
item of language. It is often an advantage for these to be simple and direct. They can be
formed by specifying the crucial, defining components of meaning in terms of statements, and
then turning these statements into questions.
What questions might you use to check the meaning of the following?
a. selfish
b. She used to live in London. (used to +bare infinitive)
c. shy
d. She wishes she were at home. (wish + simple past or subjunctive)
e. Hes been painting the ceiling. (present perfect continuous)
f. He managed to open the window. (manage + infinitive)
g. He took it out on the cat. (phrasal verb: to take it out on X)
EXAMPLE
a. Do selfish people enjoy giving things to other people?
b. Does she live in London now?
Did she live in London before?
Was this for a short time?
2. DEVISING TASKS
Using a piece of materials with which you are familiar or using the following dialogue, isolate
an item of language you might want to teach.
Write down exactly how you might guide students to discover the meaning of the item (the
item might be a word or a structure, and you might guide the learners by asking questions
orally, or by giving them an accompanying written task).
DIALOGUE
ROD:
Hello, Brenda! Welcome back! You look marvellous.
BRENDA: Rod! What a surprise! Its lovely to see you again.
ROD:
Sorry I didnt phone you before you left, but I didnt have time, in fact.
BRENDA: Oh! Thats all right. Forget it!
ROD:
Well, how was Italy?
BRENDA: Fun, but tiring. Milan was interesting. Its bigger than I expected. Noisier and dirtier,
too.
ROD:
And Florence? What did you think of Florence?
BRENDA: Well, Ive never been there before. I thought it was beautiful. More beautiful than
Paris, in fact. Have you ever been to Italy?
ROD:
No, never. Id really like to go to Rome. .
Activity 3: Teaching vocabulary techniques/Ways of conveying meaning
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1. Realia
presenting words by bringing the things they represent into the classroom
2. Pictorial representations
board drawings, wall pictures and charts, flashcards, magazine pictures and any other nontechnical visual representation
used to explain the meaning of vocabulary items
3. Demonstrating the word through acting or miming-TPR (Total Physical Response-)
have learners associate a verb to an action (or an emotion to a gesture) by physically acting
out the word
4. Using Opposites
sense relations can be used to teach meaning - the meaning of 'bright' can be presented by
contrasting it with 'dark' these concepts may be presented with pictures or mime, and by drawing attention to the
opposites/contrasts in meaning
5. General/specific meaning
sense relation - general and specific words we can say 'furniture' and explain this by
enumerating or listing various items 6. Connecting words to a personal experience.
learners can think about the way they respond to new words by categorizing them into groups:
the words they like/dislike, or the words they think will be easy (or difficult) to remember, and
why
7. Explanation
can be used with intermediate students - explaining the meaning of a word must include
explaining any facts of word use which are relevant 8. Grouping words by collocations.
manipulating and remembering new words by joining them according to the words they are
often found with
(i.e., 'to ........ your temper' (set/do/make/lose)
9. Changing, stretching and limiting the meaning of a word function how it is used
a. Metaphors: the meaning of some words can be extended, e.g.: I like it when you bring me jewels,
the young lady purred.
b. Idioms: sometimes metaphors are used so often that they become fixed in the language, e.g.: The
detective likes to play cat and mouse with his suspects.
10. Semantic Maps-Teaching Multiple-Meaning Words
can be used as a strategy for students to discover the relationships between vocabulary words
semantic mapping is an active form of learning as it builds on prior knowledge
a semantic map is a graphic organizer that is organized around a word that represents an
important concept (e.g., movement); on the map, related words are clustered around the
target word according to criteria that teachers or students choose
these criteria might include such features as similar or dissimilar attributes, connotative or
denotative meanings, or even shared linguistic components
11. Translating the word into the students' native language

a quick and easy way to present the meaning of words but:
1. it is not always easy to translate words and,
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2. even where translation is possible, it may make it a bit too easy for students by discouraging
them from interacting with the words
12. Vocabulary games
may be used for reinforcing the meaning and helping the students to remember the new words
they have learned before the vocabulary game
everything we learn while relaxing and having fun is assimilated a lot easier and for a longer
period of time
13. Contextual analysis
involves inferring the meaning of an unfamiliar word by scrutinizing the text surrounding it
14. Morphemic analysis
the process of deriving a word's meaning by analyzing its meaningful parts, or morphemes such word parts include root words, prefixes, and suffixes 15. Dictionary use
teaches students about multiple word meanings, as well as the importance of choosing the
appropriate definition to fit the particular context
16. Using computer technology to help teach vocabulary
The greatest potential of computer technology lies in certain capabilities that are not found in print
materials, including:
Game-like formats. Such formats may be more effective at capturing students attention than
textbooks and workbooks.
Hyperlinks. Clickable words and icons placed in online text can offer students opportunities to
encounter new words in multiple contexts by allowing them quick access to text and graphics.
When they are well designed, such extensions can add depth to word learning, particularly in
the area of content-specific words.
Online dictionaries and reference materials. Devices that allow students to click on words
to hear them pronounced and defined may extend students understandings of new words.
Animations. Animated demonstrations of how the human body works or what life was like in
Ancient Times may hold students interest, and when combined with audio narration or text
captions and labels, they offer potential for word learning.
Access to content-area-related websites. These websites, such as those operated by
NASA, the Smithsonian, various museums, and numerous libraries, allow students quick
access to photographs, maps, and voice-over narration and text that may both reinforce
content-area vocabulary and relate new words to existing concepts.
STEP 3.1 (GROUP WORK): CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
INSTRUCTIONS
a. What do you think are the most appropriate ways of teaching vocabulary at different
levels? How useful is contextual analysis? At what level?
b. Look at the following list of words and answer the questions which follow:
anguished astounded depressed glad bored miserable thrilled anxious bored
dismayed heartbroken nervous upset appalled concerned ecstatic horrified pleased
apprehensive pleased cross frightened irritated scared astonished delighted
furious livid terrified
At what level would it be appropriate for students to concentrate on these
vocabulary items?
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How could you make students understand the meaning and connotation of
the words?
What activities would you devise to make students use the new words? List
five activities.
STEP 3.2 (PAIR WORK): ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING IDIOMS

INSTRUCTIONS
Devise two activities to teach the following idioms:
the tip of the iceberg
be green
fair and square
have the cheek
play ones cards right

STEP 3.3 (INDIVIDUAL WORK/PAIR WORK/GROUP WORK): USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
PRE-VIEWING A
INSTRUCTIONS
-Get into groups and list authentic materials that you have used or had access to as you learned
English. The materials can be written; something you have listened to; toys or other tangible objects;
or something you have seen or manipulated in the real world. Once the trainees have created a list,
ask the following questions. Elicit multiple answers.
1. Which of the things on your list did you find most interesting? Most enjoyable?
2. Which of the things on your list did you find most useful in helping you learn the language?
3. What was the source of the things on your list? Where did you find them? Use them?
If the lists are likely to be long, participants can use a graphic organizer such as a Venn diagram or
concept map and then perhaps post them on the walls for others to read. If short, the trainer can make
the results available via the blackboard or overhead projector.
-Have participants compare results. For an overview of graphic organizers that can help with the
process in compare-contrast activities, see one or more of the following.
Compare and Contrast Graphic Organizers from Write Design
Web site: http://www.writedesignonline.com/organizers/comparecontrast.html
Graphic Organizers
Author: North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
Web site: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/learning/lr1grorg.htm
Graphic Organizers for Content Instruction
Author: Judie Haynes
Web site: http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/graphic_organizers.php
As part of the debriefing, bring into the discussion the many kinds of resources that can be authentic
materials, such as maps, advertisements, labels, graphs and charts, schedules, menus, posters,
brochures, songs, speeches, radio programs, video, television, ads, news, and so forth. Bring as many
physical examples as you can to the training event.
TASK A: Video Segment 1, Realia
WHILE-VIEWING TASK A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mgwWhWa0Q8
INSTRUCTIONS
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Look for the following as you view the video.

1. Describe the realia in as much detail as possible.
2. Notice how the teacher is using the realia. List what you think the purpose is for this lesson and for
using this type of realia.
3. Notice the age and proficiency level of the students. Look for behaviours that tell you whether or not
this activity is a good match for these students.
4. Look for behaviours that tell you whether or not students are enjoying this activity and whether or
not they are learning the words and their meanings.
AFTER-VIEWING TASK A
1. How old are the students? What is their English proficiency level? Is the realia appropriate for this
level? How did they demonstrate understanding?
2. How do you think the teacher got the dolls? Could the teacher conduct this lesson without the dolls?
What are the advantages and challenges of using this type of realia and the realia that the older
children brought to class?
3. What are students reactions to the dolls? To the show-and-tell items from home? What are some
things the teacher might do in subsequent lessons to build on each of these lessons? What are some
real-life items you might find in a classroom for teens? For adults?
4. Do you think the realia for each class effectively met the purpose of the lesson? Why or why not?
Could the teacher use the realia again? If yes, for what purpose(s)?
TASK B: Video Segment 2, Printed Text
WHILE-VIEWING TASK B
1. Listen to the young mens description of the student project, and then describe it in your own words.
2. List the different materials that, according to the speakers, were collected for this and other projects
like it. What student activities went into preparing the project?
3. Who is involved in the creation and the use of the project? Where is it stored?
AFTER-VIEWING TASK B
1. How would you describe the students level of language proficiency? What language skills are
students likely to use in a project such as this one?
2. Compare your information with someone in your group, then share with other groups. What other
topics and materials could you use in such a project?
3. Now, think about your own teaching situation. What are some similar projects and topics that your
students could try? In your group, make a list of possible projects, topics, target audiences, and
sources for materials. Think about goals you and/or your students would set for themselves, and
subjects that are most likely to interest them. How will you and your students evaluate their work in the
projects?
TASK C: Video Segment 3, Images
WHILE-VIEWING TASK C
You will see examples of different kinds of authentic materials in image formats.
1. Describe in as much detail as possible the materials that you see; and,
2. Describe the activity that goes with them.
3. In addition, give the proficiency level and the kinds of language skills that you think are part of each
example. You may find an organizational chart such as the following to be useful for recording your
information. Add as many details as you can. The first class example (A) is filled in as an example.
A
Materials
Wall map
Magazines
Pictures
Activity / Topic
Students planned a trip to Washington, D.C. They put
up a map of the trip route. They cut pictures of
Washington, D.C. from magazines. Then
they made posters showing what they planned to do
Level / Skills
Intermediate
Integrated skills
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there.
B
C
D
AFTER-VIEWING TASK C
1. Compare your list of materials and activities with a partner. Combine your lists to be sure you have
listed all the materials and activities shown. Be sure that the activity list includes the topics of the
activities.
2. What were the ages of the students? Do you think that the materials and activities were appropriate
to each of the age groups? How could you adapt the materials and activities from the video to other
topics in your curriculum? To other age groups?
3. What are some authentic materials that could be brought into your classroom? In small groups or as
a whole group, brainstorm materials that you might be able to access for your students. Which ones
on your list would be appropriate for your students in terms of their age, language proficiency, and
reasons for studying English?
4. Now think of activities that you could do with some of those materials. If some of the materials are
not quite appropriate for your students, how could you adapt them or modify activities to make them
more appropriate?
Activity 4: Ingredients of good vocabulary work

The aim of good vocabulary work is to present and practise new language in ways that help the
learner retain the information in their long term memory, so that in the future it can be easily retrieved
and used. The ingredients of good vocabulary work include:
Memorable presentations
The language is presented in such a way that learners can pull on the context developed by the
teacher to help them remember the work. This can be done through contextualization, pictures, clines,
timelines, realia, mime etc.
Engagement
The meaning work is engaging with learners involved in the process of conveyance. The conveyance
method includes a range of techniques e.g. mime, pictures, contextual stories.
Diagnosis
During conveyance diagnosis of what learners already know and developing their knowledge from that
point is essential rather than assume the learners know nothing of the meaning. The teacher works to
elicit from a context what is known by the learners before telling the meaning.
Accuracy
The meaning presented is accurate so learners are confident and can use the language. For example,
many words have multiple meanings (light, foot, set) but the meaning taught needs to be the one used
in the lesson material.
Confirmation of Understanding
Learners have their knowledge checked and confirmed through the use of meaning check questions
(MCQs), elicited examples and diagnostic tasks.
The learners have practice and the opportunity to practise the language in meaningful and
personalised tasks. In this way they can test their own hypothesis. For example: A great scenario is
when learners start asking the teacher Can I say it this way? This shows that they are testing out
how to use the language for themselves and it gives the teacher a chance to diagnose their knowledge
and provide targeted support.
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Full Coverage
In order to use new vocabulary the learners are going to need to know:
Meaning What is the exact meaning of the word as it is presented in
the context? What is the appropriacy, connotation, register etc?
Form What is the form (grammar) of the word? Is it a noun, verb
etc? Does it have a dependent preposition?
Pronunciation How is the word said?
STEP 4.1 (PAIR WORK): REFLECTION
AIM
To deal with
some of the
key issues
To establish
common
ground
PROCEDURES
INSTRUCTIONS
Material Questionnaire on Teaching
Vocabulary
Teachers work through the statements in
pairs Do they agree or disagree with the
statements and why/why not?
Possible conclusions from the discussion:
The best teaching starts with diagnostic work
to focus the information on what the learners
really need
There are many ways to convey
meaning.
Vocabulary needs checking.
Vocabulary teaching takes planning.
Learners can give each other
explanations.
MATERIALS/COMMENT
The discussion about the use of
translation / dictionaries may be
the most contentious.
The answer lies in appropriacy
and effectiveness.
TEACHING VOCABULARY QUESTIONNAIRE
Look at the teacher statements below and decide if you agree or disagree
1. I always use translation when teaching vocabulary.
Disagree strongly 1 ___ 2 ___ 3 ___ 4 ____ 5 ___ agree strongly
2. Using explanation(s) is the best way to teach vocabulary
3. We should teach all the meanings of a word at the same time
4. Its a good idea to ask learners if they understand or not
6. Its a good idea to elicit learners understanding of vocabulary by asking what
does xyz mean?
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STEP 4.2 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): MATCHING TASK-TEACHING VOCABULARY

INSTRUCTIONS
Consider the vocabulary items listed on the left. What would be the most efficient ways of conveying
their meaning to learners of English? Match the items to the methods below. There may be more than
one option.
Vocabulary Item
1. A bedroom ____________
2. Headphones ____________
3. To burp ____________
4. Superb ____________
5. Medicine ____________
6. Hard-working ____________
7. Film star ____________
8. To limp ____________
9. Autobiography ____________
10. To get over something ____________
11. Conscientious objector ___________
12. Humiliated ____________
13. Blended family ____________
14. Revolting ____________
15. Beer ____________
Methods of conveying
a) Picture(s)
b) Mime/gesture
c) Definition
d) In the context of a story
e) Synonym
f) Explanation
g) Examples of type
h) Realia
i) Dictionary
j) Concept questions
k) Drawing on board
l) Famous name
m) Word analysis
n) Cline
o) Antonym
p) Context sentence
STEP 4.3 (PAIR WORK): USING CLINES

AIM
PROCEDURES
INSTRUCTIONS
To focus on In pairs teachers complete matching task. Teachers
different
may have problems with cline. Demonstrate meaning
ways to
by putting the following words on the board in random
convey
order: freezing, cold, cool, warm, hot and boiling. Ask
meaning
teachers to put them in the right place on a line
freezing cold cool warm hot boiling.
The line is the cline. Its a very good way of
conveying/checking meaning for sets of words that
relate, often adverbs.
Possible conclusions from the task:
In order to appeal to different types of learner,
its better to use more than one method of
conveyance at a time if feasible.
Abstract language needs more contextual
information.
Its difficult to teach the words if they are not
within a context - for example to get over
something, as there are multiple meanings -.
MATERIALS/COMMENT
You can demonstrate
good practice and check
teachers
know
the
terminology by conveying
some of the meanings in
the right hand column
and
eliciting
the
correct
answers. e.g. black and
white, heavy and light
are
antonyms.
Activity 5: The right time to teach vocabulary

When deciding what vocabulary to teach the key question of what is the aim of the lesson? has to be
addressed. This will dictate when and if to teach vocabulary. The aim also dictates what to teach, too.
Many lessons go astray and lose focus because the teacher gets sidetracked into explaining non-
69
essential language that is unnecessary to meet the main aim of that particular stage of the lesson. The
table below demonstrates possible aims for dealing with vocabulary at different points in the lesson:
At the
beginning
of the
lesson
Pre - text
Mid text
Post text
After a
production
task
Randomly
This may happen when there is not a supporting text. The teacher may teach a range
of vocabulary in order to help the learners with a task in which they use the
vocabulary.
To ensure learners understand the key lexis in order to be able to complete the
reading or listening tasks.
To support learners to complete the tasks. Not to ensure that they understand every
word of the text.
To focus on the vocabulary as language input once the general and detailed meaning
of the text has been understood. Ideally learners would then go on to use the
language from the text in a controlled or freer practice activity.
The teacher may notice that learners needed certain vocabulary when they were
doing a production task and teaches it once the task is over.
It is also likely that the vocabulary practised and presented is still being avoided by
the learners so they need additional consolidation work.
No teacher can anticipate every problem that learners will have so vocabulary
questions can arise at any point in the lesson. The teacher can respond in a variety
of ways, from telling the learner to look the word up as homework to stopping the
whole class to do meaning work and checking understanding. The teachers decision
should be based on the following:
1. Is the word key target language? If it is then it needs attention and if it is not then
can the learner bypass it for the time being?
2. Is the whole class struggling with the same word or is this just one learner not
understanding the word?
TABLE 1, THE RIGHT TIME TO TEACH VOCABULARY

STEP 5.1 (GROUP WORK): HUNT FOR WORDS
INSTRUCTIONS
Trainees are asked to identify the level of students who might be presented with this text. Then, in
groups, they will anticipate and select the items of language the students might not be familiar with.
They have to come up with suggestions as to when to introduce the inventory list written previously
and which methods of conveying meaning to use.
How and to what extent do the media influence the behaviour of children? When debating
this issue many people have pointed to hugely popular programmes such as The
Simpsons (a cartoon series that took off in 1989 in the US). This was one of the
programmes that really broke the mould. It completely rejected the idea that a TV show
should portray positive role models and promote wholesome family values. The son of
the family, Bart (a name which is actually an anagram of "brat"), cheats, has no respect
for authority figures, does not obey his parents, do his homework, or clean his room. His
motto, "underachiever and proud of it," together with exclamations like "I'm Bart Simpson,
Who the Hell Are You?" were printed on T-shirts that were eagerly bought and worn by
millions of kids across the country. Some parents and educationalists have been
vociferous in their opposition to characters like Bart who do not convey the values of
obedience, honesty and hard work which parents hope to instil in their impressionable
children.
STEP 5.2 (PAIR WORK): PRE-READING
INSTRUCTIONS
Consider teaching vocabulary in a pre-reading activity. Mention:
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how pre-teaching vocabulary can help the learners and the teacher;
the techniques you would use;
the time you would allot to this pre-reading section of the lesson.
Activity 6: Lesson planning and introduction of new language items

There is much heated debate on pre - teaching vocabulary. Broadly there are three main schools of
thought.
1. The first is not to pre-teach any language but to use the text and tasks as a diagnostic tool, testing
through the tasks what the learners may already know. In support of this the learners meet the new
language already contextualised so may be able to deduce meaning from the context. Vocabulary is
then only taught as it is needed in order to do the tasks or as it arises.
2. The next line of reasoning is that it is important to pre-teach any vocabulary that will enable learners
to do the comprehension tasks. The aim of pre-teaching is not to teach all the unknown words in the
text, just those that enable the tasks to be completed. Once the learners understand the main ideas in
the text the lesson focus can shift to the more detailed vocabulary/language meaning.
3. The third is to pre-teach all or many of the new words in the text so that learners will then be able to
focus on the meaning of the text and not get distracted by individual word meanings. They will also
have increased exposure to the new language through the pre-teaching and then seeing it again in the
text.
The key issues with pre-teaching that need to be taken into consideration:
Pre-teaching vocabulary means that the meaning in the contextual information surrounding it
in the text can be lost. Good teachers try to keep the same context when they pre-teach but
there are teachers who take vocabulary from a text about personal relationships and use the
context of a drug war to convey meaning, which can get confusing. The work for the learners
is increased as they try to work out one set of meanings and then another.
Pre-teaching can give the game away in terms of checking comprehension. For example, if
we pre-teach distrustful then it is difficult to ask a gist question such as how would you
describe their relationship?
By pre-teaching we are making the assumption that the language is not known, without firstly
seeing if the learners can understand the meaning within the text. So a lot of time may be
wasted on pre - teaching tasks for language that the learners already know.
Steps in teaching vocabulary

No matter when we teach vocabulary or whether we pre-teach it, there are endless ways of integrating
it in the flow of active speech. What we should carefully consider before planning our lessons is the
logical steps to be taken in task-based activities:
1.Engage
2.Study
3.Activate
1.Engagement activities - meant to engage the interest of the students in the topic and its related
vocabulary.
A text: Its purpose is to arouse the students interest as well as to introduce the vocabulary
and concepts which are to be studied. It also provides a focus for general integrated skill work.
A discussion/interaction: May provide an opportunity for students to consider the topics in
the light of their own experience.
A word task: students do a matching activity as a way of introducing the topic area and giving
them the information they need for a discussion/interaction.
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2.Study activities - meant to explore the words which the topic has introduced in more detail.
Completing charts: charts which focus on word formation, on words which go together, etc.
Fill-ins: fill in the blanks in sentences or paragraphs using words they have been studying-,
select the correct word from a box, select a word and use the correct form (adjective, noun,
verb, etc) in the blanks.
Matching: one set of things with another, a set of words with a set of pictures, words or
expressions with meanings.
Searching for word meaning: find in the text words which have a certain meaning; use a
dictionary to help them to be sure of the meaning of words.
Choosing between different words: students are asked to choose between two different
meanings or two different words e.g. older/elder.
3.Activate activities - meant to give students an opportunity to use words which have been studied.
Telling stories: words studied are used in either oral or written stories.
Writing tasks: words studied are used to write descriptions, dialogues, adverts, etc.
STEP 6.1 (GROUP WORK): LESSON STAGES

INSTRUCTIONS
The following are some of the possible stages of a lesson or part of a lesson in which the teacher is
concerned that the students should learn how to use this new item of language.
Look at the list and answer the questions which follow.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Students supply examples of language relating to their own experience.

The teacher makes the function of the language item clear.
Students repeat the example or model sentence exemplifying the language item.
The teacher makes the meaning of the new language clear.
The teacher uses visual or written prompts to elicit from the students substitutions-further
sentences using the same language.
f. Students do a written exercise focusing on the correct and appropriate use of the language
item.
g. The teacher draws attention to the form.
h. The teacher asks questions to test the students understanding of the meaning and/or function
of the language item.
i. The teacher writes a model/example of the language on the board.
1. The order of these stages is jumbled. Number the stages according to the order in which they
might occur in a lesson. You may want to make two separate lists, exemplifying two different
approaches. You may also omit or add stages if you wish. Before comparing these lists with
those of other groups decide what rationale underlies the sequence(s) you have chosen.
2. Make a list of ways in which the teacher might accomplish stage (d).
Example (Vocabulary) Picture the object
3. Which two completed different objectives might stage (f) be used to achieve (simultaneously
or separately)?
References
1. Duppenthaler, P.Vocabulary Acquisition: The Research and Its Pedagogical Implications
2. Harmer, J.The Practice of English Language Teaching
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3. Nation, P.Teaching and Learning Vocabulary

4. Nist, L.S., Mohr, C. Improving Vocabulary Skills
5. Stahl, S.Teaching Word Meanings
. -http//www.coerll.utexas.edu/methods, Foreign Language Teaching Methods
- http://www.writedesignonline.com/organizers/comparecontrast.html
- http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/learning/lr1grorg.htm
- http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/graphic_organizers.php
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mgwWhWa0Q8
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liQLdRk0Ziw&feature=player_embedded.
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MODULE 6 TEACHING
READING
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Activity 1: Goals and Techniques for Teaching Reading

Activity 2: Developing Reading Activities
Activity 3: Different kinds of reading-extensive vs. intensive
Activity 4: Authentic vs. non-authentic materials
Activity 5: Tips for effective reading
Objectives
to read fluently and clearly a variety of texts for a variety of purposes
to assess strengths and weaknesses in reading and set goals for future growth
to reading as a means of learning and enjoyment
to read for a variety of purposes : to gather information, to follow directions, to give a
response, to form an opinion, to understand information
to read a range of contemporary and classical texts appropriate to their interests and learning
needs
to become aware that reading is an active process in which the reader interacts with the text
to construct meaning relatig himself/herself to his/ her experiences
READING (VISUAL RECEPTION)

Activity 1: Goals and Techniques for Teaching Reading
Teachers want to model students who can cope with different communication situations even if they
do not have complete control of the grammar or an extensive vocabulary. In the case of reading, this
means producing students who can use reading strategies to maximize their comprehension of text
and identify relevant and non-relevant information.
Recent studies have shown that developing reading skills reveals that this issue is more
complicated than it seems.Comprehension requires the reader to be an active builder of meaning.
Reading research has demonstrated that readers do not simply understand the meaning that is in
a text. As a matter of fact, expert readers reconstruct meaning with a text. The research data
show that reading is like a transaction in which the reader brings purposes and life experiences to
cope with the text. This meeting of the reader and the text results in the meaning that is
comprehension. Comprehension stands for what is coded or hidden in the text, but it is also
closely connected with the reader's background experiences, purposes, feelings, and needs. That
is why we can read the same book or story twice and it can have different meanings for us. We, as
readers, are an equal and active partner with the text in the meaning-making process of
comprehension. We make an interactive connection with the text. Authentic texts ( reports,
articles, stories, advertisments, essays) are meant to develop the students` skills in reading and
speaking by connecting prior experiences to the reading.
A. The Reading Process
To accomplish this goal, teachers focus on the process of reading rather than on its product.
They develop students' awareness of the reading process and reading strategies by gettig
students think and talk about how they read in their native language.
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They allow students to practice the full repertoire of reading strategies by using authentic
reading tasks. They encourage students to read in order to learn (and have an authentic
purpose for reading) by giving students some choice of reading material.
When working with reading tasks in class, they show students the strategies that will work
best for the reading purpose and the type of text. They explain how and why students should
use the strategies.
They have students practice reading strategies in class and ask them to practice outside of
class in their reading assignments. They encourage students to be conscious of what they're
doing while they complete reading assignments.
By raising students' awareness of reading as a skill that requires active involvment, and by
teaching them reading strategies, instructors help their students develop both the ability and the
confidence to cope with communication situations they may encounter beyond the classroom. In this
way they give their students the foundation for communicative competence in the new language.
B. Integrating Reading Strategies
Instruction in reading strategies is an integral part of the use of reading activities in the language
classroom. Teachers can help their students become effective readers by teaching them how to use
strategies before, during, and after reading.
Before reading: Plan for the reading task
Set a purpose or decide in advance what the reason for reading is

Decide if more linguistic or background knowledge is needed
During and after reading: Monitor comprehension
Check up predictions
Make a good selection of what is important or unimportant
Read to check comprehension
Ask for help if necessary
After reading: Evaluate comprehension and strategy use
Evaluate comprehension in a certain area

Evaluate progress in reading and in particular types of reading tasks
Decide if the strategies used were appropriate for the purpose and for the task
Change strategies if necessary
C. Using Authentic Materials and Approaches

The Common European Framework of Languages lays stress on the importance of authentic
texts which contain interesting topics related to the students` everyday life. There are reading activities
such as: Reading for gist, Reading for detailed information, Reading to understand text
structure, Reading for specific information. Students` understanding of written texts should go
beyond being able to choose items of factual information : they should be able to distinguish between
main idea and hidden points, between the main idea of a text and specifc detail ; they are required to
remake text structure and deduce meaning and lexical reference and to locate information in certain
sections of the text.
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For students to develop communicative competence in reading, classroom and homework reading
activities must resemble (or be) real-life reading tasks that involve meaningful communication. They
must therefore be authentic in three ways.
1. The reading material must be authentic: It must be the kind of material that students will need
and want to be able to read when traveling, studying abroad, or using the language in other contexts.
Simplifying a text by changing its language, makes it more approachable by eliciting students' existing
knowledge in pre-reading discussion, reviewing new vocabulary before reading, and having students
perform tasks that are within their competence, such as skimming to get the main idea or scanning for
specific information, before they begin intensive reading.
2. The reading task must be authentic: Students must be reading for reasons that make sense and
have relevance to them. "Because the teacher assigned it" is not an authentic reason for reading a
text.
To identify relevant reading needs, ask students how they plan to use the language they are learning
and what topics they are interested in reading and learning about. Let them choose their reading
assignments, and encourage them to use the library, the Internet, and foreign language newsstands
and bookstores to find other things they would like to read.
3. The reading approach must be authentic: Students should read the text in a way that matches
the reading purpose, the type of text, and the way people normally read. This means that reading
aloud will take place only in situations where it would take place outside the classroom, such as
reading for pleasure. The majority of students' reading should be done silently.
D. Reading Aloud in the Classroom
Students do not learn to read by reading aloud. A person who reads aloud and understands the
meaning of the text is coordinating word recognition with comprehension and speaking and
pronunciation ability in highly complex ways. Students whose language skills are limited are not able
to process the information at this level, and end up not being able to remember elements. Usually the
dropped element is comprehension, and reading aloud becomes word calling: simply pronouncing a
series of words without regard for the meaning they carry individually and together.
Step 1.1-IW Say what kind of authentic texts the following ones are; are the tasks authentic, too?
a)
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b)
This is part of a letter you received from an English friend:
You wont believe what Im about to tell you. Last week I came home from school and I found a
wounded pigeon sitting right in front of my door. What would you do if something like that
happened to you?
Now write a letter to Edward, answering his question. (200 words)
Activity 2: Developing Reading Activities
Developing reading activities involves more than identifying a text that is "at the right level," writing
a set of comprehension questions for students to answer after reading, handing out the assignment
and sending students away to do it. A fully-developed reading activity supports students as readers
through prereading, while-reading, and post-reading activities.
As you design reading tasks, keep in mind that complete recall of all the information in a text is an
unrealistic expectation even for native speakers. Reading activities that are meant to increase
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communicative competence should be successfully oriented and build up students' confidence in their
reading skills.
A. Build up the reading activity around a task that is significant for the students .
Make sure students understand what the purpose for reading is: to get the main idea, obtain
specific information, understand most or all of the message, enjoy a story, or decide whether or not to
read more. Recognizing the purpose for reading will help students select appropriate reading
strategies.
B. Define the additional instructional goals and the appropriate type of response
In addition to the main purpose for reading, an activity can also have one or more instructional
purposes, such as practicing or reviewing specific grammatical constructions, introducing new
vocabulary, or familiarizing students with the typical structure of a certain type of text.
C. Check the level of difficulty of the text
The factors listed below can help you judge the relative ease or difficulty of a reading text for a
particular purpose and a particular group of students.
How is the information organized? Does the story line, narrative, or instruction conform to
familiar expectations? Texts in which the events are presented in natural chronological order,
which have an informative title, and which present the information following an obvious
organization (main ideas first, details and examples second) are easier to follow.
How familiar are the students with the topic? Remember that cultural differences can create
major comprehension difficulties.
Is the text redundant ? At the lower levels of proficiency, listeners may find short, simple
messages easier to process, but students with higher proficiency benefit from the natural
redundancy of authentic language.
Does the text have visual support to help in reading comprehension? Visual aids such as
photographs, maps, and diagrams help students preview the content of the text, guess the
meanings of unknown words, and check comprehension while reading.
Remember that the level of difficulty of a text is not the same as the level of difficulty of a reading task.
D. Make a good selection of some pre-reading activities to prepare students for reading
The activities you use during pre-reading can have a preparatory role in several ways. During prereading you may:
Evaluate students' background knowledge of the topic and linguistic content of the text
Give cultural information which may be necessary to comprehend the passage
Make students aware of the type of text they will be reading and the purpose(s) for reading
Create opportunities for group or collaborative work and for class discussion activities
Sample pre-reading activities:
Using the title, subtitles, and divisions within the text to predict content and organization or
sequence of information
Looking at pictures, maps, diagrams, or graphs and their captions
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Talking about the author's background, writing style, and usual topics
Skimming to find the theme or main idea and eliciting related prior knowledge
Reviewing vocabulary or grammatical structures
Pre-reading activities are most important at lower levels of language proficiency and at earlier
stages of reading instruction. As students become more proficient at using reading strategies, you will
be able to reduce the amount of guided pre-reading and allow students to do these activities
themselves.
E. Match while-reading activities to the purpose for reading
In while-reading activities, students check their comprehension as they read. The purpose for
reading determines the appropriate type and level of comprehension.
When reading for information, students need to ask themselves, have I obtained the
information I was looking for or do I understand each main idea and how the author supports it?
When reading for pleasure, students need to ask themselves, Do I understand the story
line/sequence of ideas well enough to enjoy reading this?
When reading for reference we want to know only a small part of the text-airline timetables,
telephone directory, searching for one or more isolated pieces of information. Road signs and
notices are also intented for instruction or advice.
Skimming a text is used to quickly identify the main ideas of a text. When you read a magazine,
you're probably not reading it word-by-word, instead you're scanning the text. Skimming is faster than
normal reading. People often skim when they have lots of material to read in a limited amount of time.
Use skimming when you want to see if an article may be of interest in your research.
You might read the title, subtitles, subheading, and illustrations. Consider reading the first
sentence of each paragraph. Skimming works well to find dates, names, and places. It might be used
to review graphs, tables, and charts.
Scanning the text is a technique you often use when looking up a word in the telephone book or
dictionary. You search for key words or ideas. In most cases, you know what you're looking for, so
you're concentrating on finding a particular answer.
When scanning, look for the author's use of organizers such as numbers, letters, steps, or the
words, first, second, or next. Look for words that are bold faced, italics, or in a different font size, style,
or color. Sometimes the author will put key ideas in the margin.
F. After reading acivities
Students participate in post-reading strategies; consolidate or review their understanding of
what they have read, identify new literacy knowledge, link it with what they already know, automatise
aspects of it to achieve fluency in its use and to respond to it with a positive attitude.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/gibney-sells-her-island-home/storye6frfmqr-1226036889528#ixzz1J8sXtdba
Step 2.1-IW- Do you think these questions belong to the pre reading or after reading stage of a text?
Explain why
1. What is the pharmacist`s main feature of personality?
2. Have you ever got out of a situation in an unbelievable way? How did it happen?
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3. Can faith be decisive in finding solutions for difficult circumstances?

4. How do you feel when you are able to help someone?
Activity 3: Different kinds of reading-extensive vs. intensive
A. Intensive reading
It is related to progress in language learning under the teacher's guidance. It provides a basis for
explaining difficulties of structure and for extending knowledge of vocabulary and idioms. It
provides material for developing control of the language, speech and writing.. Intensive reading is
generally done at a lower speed and requires a higher degree of understanding to develop and
reinforce word study skills, enrich vocabulary, reinforce skills related to sentence structure, increase
active vocabulary, giving details and providing sociocultural insights.
B. Extensive reading
It develops at the student's own pace according to individual reading skills. It is selected at a lower
level of difficulty than that for intensive reading. Material whose choice of structure is habitually less
complex and whose vocabulary range is less extensive is selected. The purpose of extensive reading
is to train the students to read directly and fluently in the target language for enjoyment without
the help of the teacher. Where graded texts are available, structures in texts for extensive reading will
be already familiar, and new items of vocabulary will be introduced slowly in such a way that their
meaning can be deduced from context. Students are usually encouraged to guess the meaning of
unknown items. Materials consist of authentic short stories and plays, or informative or controversial
articles from newspapers and magazines. It means reading in quantity and in order to gain a general
understanding of what is read. It is intended to develop good reading habits, to build up knowledge of
vocabulary and structure and to develop a taste for reading. Increasing total comprehension enables
students to achieve independence in basic skill development.
Both intensive and extensive reading are necessary to prepare students
for the task and texts they encounter in college. Intensive reading with a focus
on skills/strategies instruction has been shown to yield positive effects on
second language reading. At the same time, students need the practice of
extensive reading in order to coordinate and apply intensively acquired
skills/strategies over the larger texts and multiple reading sources that are
required in all academic course work. Task-Based Language Teaching
( TBLT), which focuses on specific tasks, (e.g. testtaking, report writing),
allows students to acquire relevant skills and strategies in the context of tasks
they will eventually encounter in academic courses.
See also Speed Reading Reviewwww.TopTenReviews.com
Step 3.1-IW- Match the following reading strategies to their definitions:
1. Skimming
A. looking quickly over the text looking for a specific
word(s) or meaning.For example, looking for your name
in a list of names, you would scan because you are not
interested in getting a general idea of the other
people's names.
2. Scanning
3. Intensive reading
B. looking quickly over a section of text to get a general

idea of the meaning. For example, if you were in a shop
deciding whether to buy a newspaper, you might very
quickly skim the stories to see if they seemed like
something you would like to read in more detail.
C. studying minute details and trying to wring
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4. Extensive reading
absolutely every drop of information out of a section of

text.
D. trying to cover vast amounts of materials, but just
skip over the parts you don't know and try to get the
general gist of things. It's all about context and the big
picture.

Authentic texts have been defined as real-life texts, not written for
pedagogic
purposes (Wallace 1992:145) They are therefore written for native speakers
and contain reallanguage. They are materials that have been produced to
fulfil some social purpose in the language community. (Peacock (1997), in
contrast to non-authentic texts that are especially designed for language
learning purposes. The language in non-authentic texts is artificial and
unvaried, concentrating on something that has to be taught and often
containing a series offalse-text indicators that include:
- perfectly formed sentences (all the time);
- a question using a grammatical structure, gets a full answer;
- repetition of structures;
- very often does not read well.
The artificial nature of the language and structures used, make them very
unlike anything that the learner will encounter in the real world and very often
they do not reflect how the language is really used. They are useful for
teaching structures but are not very good for improving reading skills (for the
simple fact that they read unnaturally). They can be useful for preparing the
learner for the eventual reading of real texts.
The sources of authentic materials that can be used in the classroom are
infinite, but the most common are newspapers, magazines, TV programs,
movies, songs and literature. One of the most useful is the Internet. Whereas
newspapers and any other printed material date very
quickly, the Internet is continuously updated, more visually stimulating as well
as being
interactive, therefore promoting a more active approach to reading rather than
a passive one.
Here are some authentic text-related activities:
reading ads
reading e-mails
reading drivers manual
using Internet search
reading truck licensing
engines
manual
reading and writing letters to

reading book on plumbing
friends
completing food handlers
permit
reading the newspaper
reading instruction manuals
for
reading magazines
household items
reading e-mails
reading childrens books
reading fiction
completing voter registration
cards
reading a menu
reading brochures
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The selected materials, will of course, depend on such factors as:

topic
target language area
skills
students needs and interests
The main advantages of using authentic materials in the classroom therefore include:
- having a positive effect on student motivation;
- providing authentic cultural information;
- exposing students to real language;
- relating more closely to students needs;
- supporting a more creative approach to teaching.
Step 4.1-Group work. Devise an advertisement providing e.g. position, address, deadline,
description of the job etc. Then have the students write down the parts of the advertisement:
- The company its name and a short description
- The job an indication of the job and main duties
- The person the qualification, skills and experience
- Rewards the salary, holidays, company car, mobile phone, bonus etc.
- Methods of application instruction how one should apply
Learners work in pair and try to identify parts of the text and put them in the correct order
Task 4.2-GW The reading purpose determines nearly all the other factors in the reading process
including the choice of the materials. Match the type of text with its corresponding materials:
1. leisure texts
A. Manuals, instructions, regulations, notices, etc.
2. instructional texts
B. Textbooks,journal articles,reports,business letters, etc
3. reference texts
C. Novels, newspaper articles, magazines, personal letters, etc
4. factual texts
D. Directories, cataloques, timetables,TV guides, price lists, etc.
Activity 5: Tips for effective reading

.
Make sure you are aware of what your reason for reading is.
It is always important to focus on how you read and not on how much you read
Build up a constructive attitude towards reading. The more you read the more motivated you will be.
Keep the dictionary beside when you start reading. If the meaning of a word is not known look it up
only if it is essential to understand the paragraph.
Focus on the meaning of the key words. In this way it will be easier to understand and memorize the
material.
Read a great variety of materials.
Learn to underline the key parts/words for further references.
Develop the ability to paraphrase the contents.
If the task requires it transfer the material from the textbook to the notebook so that the best part of
the material is with you..
There are no fixed strategies for reading and the methodology changes when you read text books,
newspapers, magazines, journals and more when you surf online content.
Daily fix some amount of time exclusively for reading and over a period of time it will become a
practice.

External links to reading practice
Film Scripts/TV Scripts (Script-o-rama)

Reading Comprehension Exercises for all levels
Funny News Stories (Hold the front page)
Dictionary of Slang (Ted Duckworth)
Internet TESL Journal
TeachingEnglish.org.uk
EnglishClub.com
References
Hughes, J.The reading process, 2007
Jacobson, E., Degener, S., Purcell-Gates, V.Authentic Materials and Activities for
theAdult Literacy Classroom, 2003
o Loucky, J.P.Combining Extensive and Intensive Reading strategies with Cooperative
and communicative activities, 2008
o Moneyworth, S.Seven Tips for Effective Reading, 21 July 2009
o Smith, B.Breaking Through to College Reading, Brenda Smith, 1999.
- Effective Reading and Note-making, 28 Apr 2005
o
o
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MODULE 7: TYPES OF
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
FOR TEACHING
LISTENING
85
Activity 1: Goals and techniques for teaching listening

Activity 2: Developing listening activities
Activity 3: Different kinds of listening
Activity 5: Tips for effective listening
Activity 6: Listening levels (CEFR)
4
Activity 8: Samples of activities for students
Objectives
to make trainees aware of different approaches to teaching listening;
to provide them with reasons for using a certain approach when developing listening skills;
to provide resources for teaching listening;
to get teachers understand concepts and themes related to sustainable development and how
they relate to the school curriculum and competences set by The Common European
Framework of Languages(CEFR);
to develop listening skills in using a wide range of interactive and learner-centred teaching and
learning;
to enable teacher trainers, teachers and students to reorient curriculum and teaching so that
the learning experiences of school students help them meet the demands of linguistic realities
nowadays and actively promote their capacities for thinking creatively;
(CALL);
interpret information in a variety of forms (eg: text, tables, diagrams, and linked WWW-sites);
The course also provides links to numerous Internet sites in order to provide multiple perspectives or
alternative viewpoints.
These links can be used:
as extra sources of information;
to enrich critical thinking about the emerging concepts of sustainable development and
education for a sustainable future;
as additional and alternative sources of professional development; and
to enrich content and provide information in non-print modes for developing learning
Activity 1: Goals and Techniques for Teaching Listening
Listening has been placed on a secondary position in the English language teaching classroom for a
very long time. This is due, in part, to the fact that, whereas a considerable amount of research has
been conducted into reading, writing and speaking-research which has influenced the approaches to
teaching language and has also influenced how textbooks have been written, there has been a lack of
research interest into listening. Some of the reasons for this lack of research interest are caused by
the fact that speaking was always considered a more "precious" skill to focus on in the classroom; that
researchers and teachers have often considered that listening was something which could just be
picked up.
Although listening has been a relatively ignored skill, it is now beginning to receive more attention.
There is now a greater awareness among teachers to help learners develop their listening skills, rather
than rely on the skill developing itself.
4
Available on the CD version only
86
Teachers want to produce students who, even if they do not have complete control of the grammar or
a rich vocabulary, can manage on their own in communication situations. In the case of listening, this
means producing students who can use listening strategies to maximize their comprehension of aural
input, identify relevant and non-relevant information, and tolerate less than word-by-word
comprehension. When listening is taught, teachers need to teach not only English, but also need to
teach how it is used. Both the language system (grammar and vocabulary etc.) and the use of the
language system, (the skills of language use) need to be taught. The problem with most listening
classes is that they seem to focus on the language system. Too many classes concentrate on teaching
this and miss the skills of language, in this case listening. Our knowledge of the language system
includes our knowledge of words, how these words are properly put in order (syntax or grammar), how
these words are said in connected streams (phonology), how these words are strung together in
longer texts (discourse) and so on. Using the language system involves how we apply this knowledge
of the language system to understand or convey meaning and how we apply particular skills to
understanding and conveying meaning.
Listening was traditionally seen as a passive process by which the listener receives information sent
by a speaker.
More recent models view listening as a much more active and interpretive process in which the
message is not fixed but is created in the interactional space between participants. Meanings are
shaped by context and constructed by the listener who interprets meaning rather than receives it
intact.
Listening skills are often divided into two groups: bottom-up and top-down listening skills. Bottom up
skills are skills which help in decoding, which means the listeners work out the understanding of the
heard language from sounds to words to grammatical relationships in lexical meanings. Examples of
such skills are:
discriminating between intonation outlines in sentences

discriminating between phonemes
listening for word endings
recognizing syllable patterns
being aware of sentence fillers in informal speech
recognizing words, discriminate between word boundaries
picking out details
differentiating between content and function words by stress pattern
finding the stressed syllable
recognizing words with weak or central vowels
recognizing when syllables or words are dropped
recognizing words when they are linked together in streams of speech
using features of stress, intonation and prominence to help identify important information
Top-down skills refer to the attribution of meaning, drawn from one's own world knowledge, to
language input. It involves the listener's ability to bring anterior information to relate to the task of
understanding the "heard" language. Examples of such skills are:
discriminating between emotions

getting the gist
recognizing the topic
using discourse structure to enhance listening strategies
identifying the speaker
evaluating themes
finding the main idea
finding supporting details
making inferences
understanding organizing principals of extended speech
87
A. The Listening Process

To accomplish this goal, teachers focus on the process of listening rather than on its product.
They develop students' awareness of the listening process and listening strategies by asking
students to think and talk about how they listen in their native language.
They allow students to practice the full repertoire of listening strategies by using authentic
listening tasks.
They behave as authentic listeners by responding to student communication as a listener
rather than as a teacher.
When working with listening tasks in class, they show students the strategies that will work
best for the listening purpose and the type of text. They explain how and why students should
use the strategies.
They have students practice listening strategies in class and ask them to practice outside of
class in their listening assignments. They encourage students to be conscious of what they're
doing while they complete listening tape assignments.
They encourage students to evaluate their comprehension and their strategy use immediately
after completing an assignment. They build comprehension checks into in-class and out-ofclass listening assignments, and periodically review how and when to use particular
strategies.
They encourage the development of listening skills and the use of listening strategies by using
the target language to conduct classroom business: making announcements, assigning
homework, describing the content and format of tests.
They do not assume that students will transfer strategy use from one task to another. They
explicitly mention how a particular strategy can be used in a different type of listening task or
with another skill.
By raising students' awareness of listening as a skill that requires active engagement, and by explicitly
teaching listening strategies, instructors help their students develop both the ability and the
confidence to handle communication situations they may encounter beyond the classroom. In this way
they give their students the foundation for communicative competence in the new language.
B. Integrating Metacognitive Strategies
Instruction in listening strategies is an integral part of the use of listening activities in the language
classroom. Teachers can help their students become effective listeners by teaching them how to use
strategies before, during, and after listening.
Before or pre-listening: Plan for the listening task
Set a purpose or decide in advance what to listen for;

Decide if more linguistic or background knowledge is needed;
Determine whether to enter the text from the top down or from the bottom up.
Prepare your students by introducing the topic and finding out what they already know about it. A good
way to do this is to have a brainstorming session and some discussion questions related to the topic.
Then provide any necessary background information and new vocabulary they will need for the
listening activity.
During/ while and after/post listening: Monitor comprehension
Check up predictions and check for inaccurate guesses;

Decide what is and is not important to understand;
Listen/view again to check comprehension;
Ask for help.
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Be specific about what students need to listen for. They can listen for selective details or general
content, or for an emotional tone such as happy, surprised, or angry. If they are not marking answers
or otherwise responding while listening, tell them ahead of time what will be required afterward.
After/post listening: Evaluate comprehension and strategy use
Evaluate comprehension in a particular task or area;

Evaluate overall progress in listening and in particular types of listening tasks;
Decide if the strategies used were appropriate for the purpose and for the task;
Change strategies if necessary.
The following ideas will help make listening activities successful.
Noise
Distractions and noise during the listening segment need to be reduced. Teachers may need
to close doors or windows or ask children in the room to be quiet for a few minutes.
Equipment
Teachers should check the quality of the sound (which should be acceptable) if a cassette
player is used. A counter on the machine will aid tremendously in cueing up tapes. Extra
batteries or an extension cord need to be brought also.
Repetition
Teachers should read or play the text a total of 2-3 times and tell students in advance they will
repeat it. This will reduce their anxiety about not catching it all the first time. They can also be
asked to listen for different information each time through.
Content
Unless the listening text is merely a list of items, teachers will talk about the content as well as
specific language used. The material should be interesting and appropriate for the class level
in topic, speed, and vocabulary. Teachers may need to explain reductions (like 'gonna' for
'going to') and fillers (like 'um' or 'uh-huh').
Recording Your Own Tape
Another idea for the teachers would be to write appropriate text (or use something from the
textbook) and read it onto tape. They could copy the recording three times so they don't need
to rewind. The text should not simply be read three times, because students want to hear
exact repetition of the pronunciation, intonation, and pace, not just the words.
Video
Teachers can play a video clip with the sound off and ask students to make predictions about
what dialog is taking place. Then play it again with sound and discuss why they were right or
wrong in their predictions. They can also play the sound without the video first, and show the
video after students have guessed what is going on.
Homework
Teachers can give students a listening task to do between classes and encourage them to
listen to public announcements in airports, bus stations, supermarkets, etc. and try to write
down what they heard. They could also be told the telephone number of a cinema and asked
to write down the playing times of a specific movie. Give them a tape recording of yourself with
questions, dictation, or a worksheet to complete.
C. Using Authentic Materials and Approaches

The Common European Framework of Languages lays stress on the importance of authentic
listening materials which contain interesting topics related to the students` everyday life. There are
listening activities such as: Listening for gist, Listening for detailed understanding, Listening for
specific information. Students` understanding of audio materials should go beyond being able to
choose items of factual information: they should be able to distinguish between main idea and hidden
points, between the main idea of an audio text and specific detail; they are required to deduce
meaning and lexical reference and to discriminate between true or false ideas related to the audio
material.
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Authentic materials and situations prepare students for the types of listening they will need to do when
using the language outside the classroom.
A. One-Way Communication
Materials:
Radio and television programmes

Public address announcements (airports, train/bus stations, stores)
Speeches and lectures
Telephone customer service recordings
Procedure:
Help students identify the listening goal: to obtain specific information; to decide whether to
continue listening; to understand most or all of the message.
Help students outline predictable sequences in which information may be presented: whowhat-when-where (news stories); who-flight number-arriving/departing-gate number (airport
announcements); "for [function], press [number]" (telephone recordings).
Help students identify key words/phrases to listen for.
B. Two-Way Communication
In authentic two-way communication, the listener focuses on the speaker's meaning rather than the
speaker's language. The focus shifts to language only when meaning is not clear.
Step 1.1 individual work - Comment on the following So when you are listening to somebody,
completely, attentively, then you are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is
being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it.
Step 1.2 group work Devise a pre-listening activity for the following audio text:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1128_london_life/page37.shtml
Source of the picture:
http://www.marlamallett.com/wissawas2.htm
Tapestry
TRANSCRIPT
2
Step 1.3 pair work - Say what kind of authentic materials the following ones are; are the tasks
authentic, too?
TRANSCRIPT
(http://www.esl-lab.com/airport/airportrd1.htm )
90
Listen and complete the sentences.

1.
2.
The announcement is for the _____________of flight 17 for Caracas.

There has been a change of the ________________gate.
3.
The cold weather was the cause of the departure___________.
4.
The air company is offering complimentary round-trip ____________ to some of the

passengers.
5.
They should start ____________about a quarter to the hour.
Activity 2: Developing Listening Activities

Developing listening activities involves more than identifying a listening text that is "at the right level,"
writing a set of comprehension questions for students to answer after listening, handing out the
assignment and sending students away to do it. A fully-developed listening activity supports students
as listeners through pre-listening, while-listening, and post-listening activities.
When designing listening tasks, teachers should keep in mind that complete recall of all the
information in an aural text is an unrealistic expectation to which even native speakers are not usually
held. Listening exercises that are meant to train should be success-oriented and build up students'
confidence in their listening ability.
A. Construct the listening activity around a contextualized task
Contextualized listening activities approximate real-life tasks and give the listener an idea of the type
of information to expect and what to do with it in advance of the actual listening. A beginning level task
would be locating places on a map (one way) or exchanging name and address information (two way).
At an intermediate level students could follow directions for assembling something (one way) or work
in pairs to create a story to tell to the rest of the class (two way).
B. Define the activity's instructional goal and type of response
3
Each activity should have as its goal the improvement of one or more specific listening skills. A
listening activity may have more than one goal or outcome, but be careful not to overburden the
attention of beginning or intermediate listeners.
Recognizing the goal(s) of listening comprehension
select appropriate listening strategies.
in each listening situation will help students
Identification: Recognizing or discriminating specific aspects of the message, such as sounds,

categories of words, morphological distinctions
Orientation: Determining the major facts about a message, such as topic, text type, setting
Main idea comprehension: Identifying the higher-order ideas
Detail comprehension: Identifying supporting details
Replication: Reproducing the message orally or in writing
C. Check the level of difficulty of the listening text

The factors listed below can help you judge the relative ease or difficulty of a listening text for a
particular purpose and a particular group of students.
91
1. How is the information organized? Does the story line, narrative, or instruction conform to familiar
expectations? Texts in which the events are presented in natural chronological order, which have an
informative title, and which present the information following an obvious organization (main ideas
first, details and examples second) are easier to follow.
2. How familiar are the students with the topic? Remember that misapplication of background
knowledge due to cultural differences can create major comprehension difficulties.
3. Does the text contain redundancy? At the lower levels of proficiency, listeners may find short, simple
messages easier to process, but students with higher proficiency benefit from the natural redundancy
of the language.
4. Does the text involve multiple individuals and objects? Are they clearly differentiated? It is easier to
understand a text with a doctor and a patient than one with two doctors, and it is even easier if they
are of the opposite sex. In other words, the more marked the differences, the easier the
comprehension.
5. Does the text offer visual support to aid in the interpretation of what the listeners hear? Visual aids
such as maps, diagrams, pictures, or the images in a video help contextualize the listening input and
provide clues to meaning.
D. Use pre-listening activities to prepare students for what they are going to hear or view
The most important thing in this stage is to provide sufficient context to match what would be
available in real life and to create motivation. This can be realized by helping learners become
conscious of the purpose of the upcoming listening input. Teachers should help listeners narrow down
their attention for the upcoming input and focus their attention on the relevant part so as to lessen the
load of listening. This stage should be restricted to a few minutes. Excessive discussion of the topic
may mean that too much of the content of the listening text has been anticipated. It may only be
necessary for the teacher to present two or three key words without which understanding of the text
would be impossible. This will match real life situation, where learners cannot expect to have unknown
words explained in advance.
The activities chosen during pre-listening may serve as preparation for listening in several ways.
During pre-listening the teacher may
assess students' background knowledge of the topic and linguistic content of the text
provide students with the background knowledge necessary for their comprehension of the
listening passage or activate the existing knowledge that the students possess
clarify any cultural information which may be necessary to comprehend the passage
make students aware of the type of text they will be listening to, the role they will play, and the
purpose(s) for which they will be listening
provide opportunities for group or collaborative work and for background reading or class
discussion activities
Examples of pre-listening activities:
looking at pictures, maps, diagrams, or graphs

reviewing vocabulary or grammatical structures
reading something relevant- provide knowledge input to build confidence for dealing with
listening by giving a related to read, a quiz, etc.
constructing semantic webs (a graphic arrangement of concepts or words showing how they
are related)
activating current knowledge- what do you know about?: other questions like: where are
they? What are they? What problems do they face? Why are they important?, etc.
predicting the content of the listening text
going over the directions or instructions for the activity
92
doing guided practice

brainstorming
discussing the topic of the listening text
pre-teaching/ learning vocabulary- select some vocabulary for the students to study before
listening
checking/ understanding the listening tasks; give students plenty of time to read and
understand the main listening comprehension tasks
E. Match while-listening activities to the instructional goal, the listening purpose, and students'
proficiency level
While-listening is not only a stage to encourage listeners to demonstrate their comprehension and
to make their problems plain to the teacher rather than hide them, but also a stage for teachers to
teach and help learners build up their listening skills and strategies so as to increase listeners
chances of success in listening tasks.
While-listening activities relate directly to the text, and students do them during or immediately after
the time they are listening. Keep these points in mind when planning while-listening activities:
1. If students are to complete a written task during or immediately after listening, allow them to read
through it before listening. Students need to devote all their attention to the listening task. Be sure they
understand the instructions for the written task before listening begins so that they are not distracted
by the need to figure out what to do.
2. Keep writing to a minimum during listening. Remember that the primary goal is comprehension, not
production. Having to write while listening may distract students from this primary goal. If a written
response is to be given after listening, the task can be more demanding.
3. Organize activities so that they guide listeners through the text. Combine global activities such as
getting the main idea, topic, and setting with selective listening activities that focus on details of
content and form.
4. Use questions to focus students' attention on the elements of the text crucial to comprehension of
the whole. Before the listening activity begins, have students review questions they will answer orally
or in writing after listening. Listening for the answers will help students recognize the crucial parts of
the message.
5. Use predicting to encourage students to monitor their comprehension as they listen. Do a predicting
activity before listening, and remind students to review what they are hearing to see if it makes sense
in the context of their prior knowledge and what they already know of the topic or events of the
passage.
6. Give immediate feedback whenever possible. Encourage students to examine how or why their
responses were incorrect.
Examples of while-listening activities:
listening with visuals

information transfer, where students have to fill grids, forms, lists, maps, plans etc.
following a route on a map
ticking off items in a list
listening for the gist
searching for specific clues to meaning
completing fill-in exercises
discriminating between formal and informal registers
matching
93
detecting differences or mistakes from a listening passage; students respond only when they
encounter something different or contrary to what they already knew about the topic or the
speakers
selecting
obeying instructions; where students are given certain instructions and show their
understanding by a physical response (they draw, write, tick, underline, walk, sit, move etc.)
sequencing; where students are asked to give the right order of a series of pictures
information search; that is listening for specific items, e.g. answer a particular question from
the pre-listening stage
choosing the best answer for each question from the four options
matching the items which have the same or opposite meaning as those the students hear, or
matching the pictures with the descriptions heard.
While-listening should be a stage at which listening is accompanied by carefully designed activities

and experience the pleasure of success. Task-based activities are encouraged, such as those
mentioned above. Learners are required to finish some tasks with the information they have extracted
from the text. Compared with traditional multiple choice questions, task-based exercises can
encourage students to use different kinds of listening skills and strategies to achieve understanding in
an active way. Task-based activities of this kind reflect much more closely the type of response that
might be given to a listening experience in real life. They also provide a more reliable way of checking
understanding and the task of filling forms, labelling diagrams on making choices oblige every learner
to try to make something of what they are hearing.
Afterwards teachers should provide necessary clues such as contextual information of the speakers of
the relationship among speakers etc to help learners to cope with their problems they come across in
the process of listening.
F. Use post-listening activities as a means of reinforcing
Activities such as problem solving, summarizing, group discussion and writing as follow-up are
necessary. Instead of spending time examining the grammar of the listening text, we take postlistening as a means of reinforcing recently learned material. If necessary, the teacher can play the
while text again and ask the students to compare their understanding of it in pairs or in groups,
encourage them to disagree with each other, and increase their motivation for a second listening. After
playing the text for the second time, students can revise their views. Instead of telling them who is right
and who is wrong, the teacher can ask students to provide evidence to support their views. In this way
listening becomes a much more interactive activity. At the end of the stage, teachers should make sure
that necessary feedback to learners performance is offered and received. Learners problems are
summarized and dealt with by reviewing the difficult parts, and newly taught skills and strategies will
be reinforced by encouraging learners to apply them in their out-of-class listening practice.
Examples of post-listening activities:
discussing students reactions to the content of the listening selection. Speaking in a form of
debates, interviews, discussions, role-plays, simulations, dramatization etc. as a follow-up
exercise;
asking students thought-provoking questions to encourage discussion;
setting students to work in pairs to create dialogues based on the listening text;
answering multiple-choice or true/false questions to show comprehension of messages;
problem solving activities during which students hear all the information relevant to a particular
problem and then try to solve it by themselves;
summarizing, students are given several possible summary sentences and are asked to say
which of them fit a recording. Summarizing can also be done by elaborating the notes made by
students themselves during the while-listening activities;
jigsaw listening, to describe a listening exercise during which different groups of students listen
to different but connected passages and then the groups exchange information in order to
complete a story to perform a certain task;
writing letters, telegrams, postcards, messages etc. as a follow-up to listening activities.
94
Step 2.1 pair workhttp://www.englishclub.com
Select
pre-listening
activity
for
listening
text
on
Step 2.2 group work- Look at the sequences of this listening activity; consider another listening text
from the educational links and set the tasks for each sequence.
New Zealand- Great walks (http://maryglasgowplus.com )
I. Look at the map. Make a prediction by marking the route the tourists will have. (Source of the
map http://images.scholastic.co.uk )
II. Listen to this audio diary and decide which of the statements (1-5) are true (T) or false (F).
1. During the first day the tourists went to Taranaki Falls._______
2. During the second day they climbed up to a place with a view of Mount Taranaki.
______
3. The Emerald Lakes were called so because they once had emeralds at the bottom.______
4. The third day the tourists went through a forest.________
5. Waihohonu Hut, the place they reached on the fourth day, was built as a place of rest for lost
tourists. _____
III. Listen for words with the same meaning as the following:
1. panorama_________
2. woods___________
3. chalet ___________
4. region ___________
5. carriages ___________
6. started___________
7. path __________
IV. Answer the questions:
1.What is the leisure activity described in the audio diary?
2.Would you go on a trip similar to the one described in the audio diary? Why (not)?
95
3.Would you accept a job as a tour guide in a mountainous area? Why (not)?
4.Why do you think people go to the mountains?
TRANSCRIPT
Activity 3: Different kinds of listening -extensive vs. intensive

A. Intensive listening is when students listen to a text usually on tape or a CD and discuss
detailed aspects of meaning as well as studying language and text construction, usually under the
teacher's guidance.
1. Using audio material
Teachers usually use audio materials on a CD, tape, hard disk or memory stick when they want to
teach listening. According to Jeremy Harmer, this habit has advantages and disadvantages, as
follows:
Advantages
Recordings contain a wide variety of voices and situations, even though these recordings
are sometimes only written dialogues and extracts from plays.
Audio materials are portable and easily available. Teachers can play recorded tracks in
class directly from computers (either stand alone or on a school network)
Disadvantages
Audibility of audio texts in big classrooms with poor acoustics often causes concern. Not
all students in the classroom can hear equally well.
Such an activity- sitting around and listening to a tape recorder or CD player-is not natural.
If students are to get the maximum benefit from a listening, then teachers should re-play it two-three
times, because each listening will help students understand more than they did previously.
2. Live listening
This type of listening is a popular way of ensuring real communication, where the teacher and/or
visitors to the class talk to the students. This provides listening practice in face-to-face interaction and
allows students to practice listening repair strategies, such as using formulaic expressions (Sorry?
What was that? I didnt quite catch that ), repeating up to the point where communication breakdown
occurred, using a rising intonation (She didnt like the?) or rephrasing and seeing if the speaker
confirms the rephrasing (You mean she said she didnt know anything? if the speaker says something
like She denied all knowledge of the affair) (Field 2000: 34)
Another advantage is that students can say if the speaker is going to slowly or too fast.
Examples of live listening:
Reading aloud: the teacher reads aloud to the class. The students hear a clear spoken
version of a written text and can be enjoyable if the teacher reads with conviction and
expression. This also applies in the case of reading or acting out dialogues.
Story-telling: stories , in this case told by teachers, provide excellent listening material.
Students can be asked to predict what is coming next, to describe people in the story or
re-tell the story , which will increase language competence
Interviews: motivate students, especially if the students themselves think up the
questions. Teachers could be the subject of the interviews or have other persons/
strangers visit the class and get interviewed. To make the whole interview more interesting
teachers could take on a different persona.
3. The roles of the teacher in intensive listening
96
Teachers need to motivate and engage students through the way they set up listening tasks. They also
need to build up their confidence by helping them to listen better and not to test their listening
abilities .They also need to detect the difficulties students might have and provide support and
solutions to them.
Organiser: Teachers have to tell students what they are listening for (the purpose) and
give clear instructions. They have to give tasks that can be achieved as well as
comprehensible audio texts to listen.
Machine operator: teacher have to be efficient when using the tape recorder, CD player
etc. This means knowing where the fragment they want to use on the tape, CD or DVD.
To know this, teachers need to test the recording out before taking it into class so that not
to waste time.
If live listening is involved, then teachers have to pay attention to the students-how easily
they can understand them and adjust the way they speak according to the situation.
Feedback organiser: once the listening tasks are completed by students ,
teachers should give feedback on what they have completed. This could be done in
different ways: by having the students compare their answers in pairs and then ask for
answers from the class, for example.
Prompter: teachers can prompt them to listen to the audio text again with the
purpose of noticing a variety of language and spoken features. (Jeremy Harmer)
B. Extensive listening is audio material which is longer than a typical classroom listening text, and
which students often listen to for pleasure. Extensive listening material is often sourced from podcasts,
electronic books, English language broadcasts online etc.
With this type of listening, teachers encourage students to choose for themselves what they want to
listen to and to do so for pleasure and general language improvement. This activity will take place
outside the classroom and will increase students motivation to listen because they can choose what
they want to listen. Teachers can recommend certain CDs, podcasts, sites and ask students to talk
about the ones they enjoyed the most. In order to encourage extensive listening students can be
asked to do various tasks. They can record their answers to what they have listened in a personal
journal, fill in report forms, prepared in advance by the teachers, asking them to list the main
idea/topic, level of difficulty and write a short summary of the contents of the recording. They can also
be asked to write comments on cards or a student website, responses on large class listening posters
etc. All these tasks have the purpose of motivating students to listen more. If they can share their
information with other colleagues, they will feel they have contributed to the progress of the whole
group.
Both intensive and extensive listening are necessary to prepare students for the task and texts
they encounter in college. Intensive listening with a focus on skills/strategies instruction has been
shown to yield positive effects on second language listening. At the same time, students need to
practise extensive listening in order to coordinate and apply intensively acquired skills/strategies over
the larger audio texts and multiple listening sources that are required in all academic course work.
Step 3.1 pair work Are these two tasks (A and B) related to intensive or extensive listening? Why?
A. Listen and comment on the following podcast : http://acupofenglish.libsyn.com
A Cougar in Town
TRANSCRIPT5
For more podcasts - http://acupofenglish.libsyn.com
B.
I. Pre-listening:
What do you know about Scotland? Where is it situated? What language do people speak
there?
II. Listen and match the pictures (A-E) to the words (1-5) in the text:
An Interesting Country
97
TRANSCRIPT6
(www.maryglasgowplus.com )
5
6
Sources of the photos:A http://www.lindaclifford.com;
http://christchurchcitylibraries.com C. http://astaibuna.files.wordpress.com ;
; E. http://chicagoist.com
A.
B.
D. http://0.tqn.com
B.
C.
D.
E.
1-bagpipe
2- haggis
3-kilt
4-Treasure Island
5-Loch Ness Monster
III. Decide which of the following sentences are true(T) or false (F).
1. Robert Burns was a Scottish poet who has his own celebration in Scotland._____
2. Bagpipes are played only at funerals._____
3. Scottish people dont have any traditional food. _____
4. The inventor of the telephone was Scottish. _____
5. Simon loves the traditional Scottish dance. _____
IV. Answer the questions:
1. Would you visit Scotland? Why (not)?
2. What do you think about the national Scottish costume? Whats your opinion about men
wearing these kilts which look like skirts?
3. Do you think theres really a monster in Loch Ness? Give arguments .
4. What would you like to experience if you go to Scotland (from the things mentioned in the
listening fragment)?
98
Step 3.2 pair work- Match the following listening skills to their definitions:
1. Listening for specific information
2. Predicting
3. Listening for gist
A. listening with the purpose of identifying the overall

ideas expressed in the whole recording.
B. fairly quick and perhaps casual listening of a text,
often for pleasure, eg. listening to a podcast or an ebook. Rarely accompanied by tasks.
C. listening to a text followed by completing tasks such
as writing detailed aspects of meaning as well as
studying language and text construction, usually under
the teacher's guidance, eg. listening to a conversation,
instruction on a tape or CD
4. Extensive listening
5. Intensive listening
D. trying to guess key information contained in the

recording before listening
E. listening for particular information at word level, for
example listening for the departure time of a plane in
an airport announcement etc. Often followed by the
writing down the information.

The notion of authenticity has been much discussed. Marrow defined it as a stretch of real language,
produced by a real speaker or writer for a real audience and designed to carry a real message of
some sort.(1977:13) Harmer (1983 146) says that authentic texts (either written or spoken) are
those which are designed for native speakers: They are real text designed not for language students,
but for the speakers of the language in question. Nunan (1989 54) thinks that an authentic material
any material which has not been specifically produced for the purposes of language teaching.
So authentic materials represent real language; produced for the native speakers; designed without
the teaching purposes. In this sense, there are a large amount of authentic materials in our life such as
newspaper and magazine articles, TV and radio broadcast, daily conversations, meetings, documents,
speech, and films. One of the most useful is the Internet. Whereas newspapers and other materials
date very quickly, the Internet is continuously updated, more visually stimulating as well as interactive.
Here are some examples of authentic listening materials:
radio/ TV commercials
quiz shows
cartoons
news
comedy shows
movies
soap operas
radio programmes
songs
documentaries
sales pitches
weather forecasts
public announcements
In literature, phrases like real speech the spontaneous speech live or natural language genuine
instanced of language use natural conversation what people say in real life what native speakers
say when talking to each other have been used to define authentic listening material. A suitable
definition should be that authentic listening materials is unscripted, natural and spontaneous spoken
language materials, such as interviews, lectures, dialogues, discussions, and conversations etc.
The selected materials will, of course, depend on such factors as:
topic
target language area
skills
students needs and interests
99
Using authentic materials has several advantages. According to Brinton (1991), authentic materials
and media can reinforce for students the direct relationship between the language classroom and the
outside world. Gebhard (1996) sees authentic materials as a way to contextualize language learning.
When lessons are centered on comprehending a menu or a TV weather report, students tend to focus
more on content and meaning rather than the language itself. This offers students a valuable source of
language input, so that they are not being exposed only to the language presented by the text and the
teacher. In addition, Melvin and Stout (1987) claim that such materials increase students motivation to
learn, as well as interest in the subject matter, when students use authentic materials for the study of
culture in the language classroom.
Brosnan et al. (1984) justify the importance of the use of authentic language in the classroom in this
way:
1. Language is natural. By simplifying language or altering it for teaching purposes (limiting structures,
controlling vocabulary, etc.), we risk making the task more difficult. We may, in fact, be removing clues
to meaning.
2. Authentic language offers students the chance to deal with a small amount of material which, at the
same time, contains complete and meaningful messages.
3. Authentic printed materials provide students with the opportunity to make use of non-linguistic clues
(layout, pictures, colors, symbols, the physical setting in which it occurs) to help them discover the
meaning more easily.
4. Adults need to be able to see the immediate relevance of what they do in the classroom to what
they need to do outside it, and real-life material treated realistically makes the connection obvious.
While Nunan (1999:27) realizes that it is not realistic for teachers to use only authentic materials in the
classroom, he makes a point that learners should be fed as rich a diet of authentic data as possible,
because, ultimately, if they only encounter contrived dialogues and listening texts, their learning task
would be made more difficult. He continues on this topic by saying that it is important that learners
listen to authentic material of as many different kinds as possible. This will help motivate the students
by bringing the content and the subject matter to life for them, and enable them make the important
connections between the classroom world and the world beyond it.
The main advantages of using authentic materials in the classroom are:
- having a positive effect on student motivation
- providing authentic cultural information
- exposing students to real language
- relating more closely to students needs
- supporting a more creative approach to teaching.
Some disadvantages of using authentic materials are:
- unsuitable material level
-too difficult
-too long or short
- use of grammar or language
-irrelevancy of themes
- not adapted for specific use
- not adapted to student learning styles
While these reasons are certainly present and accountable, they shouldnt stop the use of authentic
materials in the English language learning classroom. Authentic materials can be successfully
incorporated into an English language teaching curriculum or course of study.
Some keys to successful adaptation of authentic materials include:
converting them into workshop activities;
adjusting the length of the materials;
simplifying or explaining key language elements;
converting authentic materials into a variety of exercise types.
Learners benefit from listening materials spoken at normal conversational speed vs. English
100
language learner directed listening materials which have been altered or slowed to enable
improved comprehension.
Authentic language videos, CDs, newscasts and radio programs can provide invaluable insight into
current events and cultural aspects of English-speaking countries for language teachers and learners
in other parts of the world. A benefit of recorded material is the ability to be able to rewind and repeat it
as many times as necessary in order to understand the listening texts.
Step 4.1 - Group work - Design a poster for advertising a radio programme on www.bbc.co.uk, but
leave out the topic, the name of the host/ interviewed people and other relevant pieces of information
Then ask your students to listen to it and work in pairs to fill in the missing information.
Step 4.2 individual work - Listen to the following audio materials: a weather forecast (A), a radio
commercial (B) and a conversation between five persons (C) and explain what the advantages and
disadvantages of using authentic and non-authentic materials can be:
A. Fill in the table with the correct information:
A weather forecast http://weather.gov/lwx/podcasts/?feed=WBCSAFNW2
6
TRANSCRIPT
Part of the day
Weather
downtown
suburbs
both
AFTERNOON
EVENING/NIGHT
B. Listen to the radio commercial and make a poster based on it.

Radio commercial www.normanb.net
7
TRANSCRIPT
C. Listen and then answer the questions:
Food
(www.maryglasgowplus.com )
8
TRANSCRIPT
1. Can you name something healthy and something unhealthy Sophie ate or drank?
2. Why does Ryan think school food is boring in your opinion?
3. What does Jack say about school food?
4. What are the names of the teenagers who appreciate their mothers cooking more than the
schools?
5. Did Sally eat a healthy meal? Why?
Activity 5: Tips for effective listening
6
7
8
Pay attention to what the speaker is saying by putting a hold on all other activities. Make an
active effort to fight distraction and concentrate on your speaker;
Show comprehension and interest by responding verbally or non-verbally, for example by
asking follow-up questions or nodding;
Demonstrate you understand by restating their main idea. This is not to prove you are
listening, but to show that you understand what they are telling you. It is also a way to clarify
miscommunication before it gets too far along;
Show respect to the speaker by meeting them on their ground. In terms of ESL learners this
means rough-tuning your language to their level and giving validity to their ideas despite a lack

101
of linguistic ability. This is especially important when working with adult language learners.
They have fully formed and complicated ideas, but are often frustrated by their lack of ability to
communicate these with the same eloquence they are able to in their own language;
Use approximately the same level of verbal communication in terms of volume, emotional
range, tone, etc;
Focus on content, not delivery errors;
Let the speaker finish before you give a final response or assessment.
Activity 6: Listening levels

OVERALL LISTENING COMPREHENSION (CEF)
C1
Can understand enough to follow extended speech on abstract and complex topics beyond his/her
own field, though he/she may need to confirm occasional details, especially if the accent is unfamiliar.
Can recognise a wide range of idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms, appreciating register shifts.
Can follow extended speech even when it is not clearly structured and when relationships are only
implied and not signalled explicitly.
B2
Can understand standard spoken language, live or broadcast, on both familiar and unfamiliar topics
normally encountered in personal, social, academic or vocational life. Only extreme background noise,
inadequate discourse structure and/or idiomatic usage influences the ability to understand.
Can understand the main ideas of propositionally and linguistically complex speech on both concrete
and abstract topics delivered in a standard dialect, including technical discussions in his/her field of
specialisation.
Can follow extended speech and complex lines of argument provided the topic is reasonably familiar,
and the direction of the talk is sign-posted by explicit markers.
B1
Can understand straightforward factual information about common everyday or job related topics,
identifying both general messages and specific details, provided speech is clearly articulated in a
generally familiar accent.
Can understand the main points of clear standard speech on familiar matters regularly encountered in
work, school, leisure etc., including short narratives.
A2
Can understand enough to be able to meet needs of a concrete type provided speech is clearly and
slowly articulated.
Can understand phrases and expressions related to areas of most immediate priority (e.g. very basic
personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment) provided speech is clearly
and slowly articulated.
A1
Can follow speech which is very slow and carefully articulated, with long pauses for him/her to
assimilate meaning.
UNDERSTANDING CONVERSATION BETWEEN NATIVE SPEAKERS
C1
Can easily follow complex interactions between third parties in group discussion and debate, even on
abstract, complex unfamiliar topics.
B2
Can keep up with an animated conversation between native speakers.
Can with some effort catch much of what is said around him/her, but may find it difficult to participate
effectively in discussion with several native speakers who do not modify their language in any way.
B1
Can generally follow the main points of extended discussion around him/her, provided speech is
clearly articulated in standard dialect.
A2
Can generally identify the topic of discussion around him/her, when it is conducted slowly and clearly.
LISTENING AS A MEMBER OF A LIVE AUDIENCE
C1
Can follow most lectures, discussions and debates with relative ease.
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B2
Can follow the essentials of lectures, talks and reports and other forms of academic/professional
presentation which are propositionally and linguistically complex.
Can follow a lecture or talk within his/her own field, provided the subject matter is familiar and the
presentation straightforward and clearly structured.
B1
Can follow in outline straightforward short talks on familiar topics provided these are delivered in
clearly articulated standard speech.
LISTENING TO ANNOUNCEMENTS AND INSTRUCTIONS
C1
Can extract specific information from poor quality, audibly distorted public announcements, e.g. in a
station, sports stadium etc.
Can understand complex technical information, such as operating instructions, specifications for
familiar products and services.
B2
Can understand announcements and messages on concrete and abstract topics spoken in standard
dialect at normal speed.
B1
Can understand simple technical information, such as operating instructions for everyday equipment.
Can follow detailed directions.
A2
Can catch the main point in short, clear, simple messages and announcements.
Can understand simple directions relating to how to get from X to Y, by foot or public transport.
A1
Can understand instructions addressed carefully and slowly to him/her and follow short, simple
directions.
External links to listening practice
www.esl-lab.com
http://www.elllo.org
http://www.eslfast.com
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
http://www.5minuteenglish.com
EnglishClub.com
http://www.englishmedialab.com/listening.html
http://acupofenglish.libsyn.com
http://breakingnewsenglish.com
http://eflclassroom.ning.com
References
1. Brinton, D.M. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, Boston: Heinle and Heinle
Publishers,1991
2. Field, J). Listening in the Language Classroom. Cambridge : Cambridge University
Press,2008
103
3. Gebhard, J.G. Teaching English as a Foreign Language: A Teacher Self-Development and

Methodology Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press,1996
4. Harmer,J.- The Practice of English Language Teaching- Pearson Longman, fourth edition
5. Leon,P.- Developing Listening Skills III, ETECS ICPNA
6. Nunan, D.. Second Language Teaching and Learning. Boston: Heinle and Heinle
Publishers1999,
7. Porter, D. and Roberts, J.. Authentic listening activities. English Language Teaching Journal,
36 (1), 37-47, 1981
8. Porter, D. and Roberts, J. Authentic listening activities. In M. L. Long (ed.) Methodolog yin
TESOL. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House, 1987
9. Scrivener,J.- Learning Teaching- Macmillan
10. Ur, P.- A Course in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press,1998
- S.P. Nation, Jonathan Newton Teaching EFL/ESL Listening and Speaking ESL & Applied
Linguistics Professional Series ,Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
http://www.nclrc.org
http://www.onestopenglish.com
http://www.eslbase.com
www.maryglasgowplus.com
http://busyteacher.org
Simon Sweeney, Authentic Materials on http://peo.cambridge.org
Gail K. Oura , Authentic Task- Based Materials: Bringing the Real World Into the Classroom on
www.jrc.sophia.ac.jp
Lindsay Miller, Developing Listening Skills with Authentic Materials on http://www.elthillside.com
Effective Listening Activities for ESL Students on http://www.articlesbase.com
Ibtesam Al Amri, Listening strategies used by language learner on http://sweb.squ.edu.om
Erik Christensen, Intensive Listening- an introduction and practical guideline on
www.timespace.dk
Miles Craven , Listening skills: guide on http://www.onestopenglish.com
Improving the Teaching of Listening on www.51share.net
Teaching Listening Better: Is Listening being taught as well as it could be?- article on
http://www.abax.co.jp
Teaching Listening on http://writing.colostate.edu
The Use of Authentic Materials in Teaching EFL Listening , Ji Lingzhu and Zhang Yuanyuan on
http://www.hltmag.co.uk
Tips on Effective Listening http://www.unitefl.com
Use Authentic Materials? - article on http://www.eslbase.com/articles/authentic-materials-2
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105
MODULE 8 - ORAL
PRODUCTION
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Activity 1: Teaching speaking: Goals

Activity 2: Approaches to teaching speaking
Activity 3: Activities to promote speaking
Activity 4: Ideas for planning speaking activities
Activity 5: Correction and Giving Feedback
Objectives
to make trainees aware of different approaches to teaching speaking;

to provide them with reasons for using a balanced activities approach when dealing with
teaching speaking skills;
to develop trainees lesson planning competence in oral production teaching;
to make trainees familiar with learning strategies involving analyzing, interpreting and
conveying information in a variety of forms (texts, tables, diagrams, and linked WWW-sites);
to reinforce the importance of giving feedback how and when-;
to provide resources for teaching speaking.
Activity 1: Teaching speaking: Goals

Speaking is "the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal
symbols, in a variety of contexts" (Chaney, 1998, p. 13). Today's world requires that the goal of
teaching speaking should improve students' communicative skills, because, only in that way, students
can express themselves and learn how to follow the social and cultural rules appropriate in each
communicative circumstance. Therefore, teaching speaking is to teach students to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
produce the English speech sounds and sound patterns;

use word and sentence stress, intonation patterns and the rhythm of the second language;
select appropriate words and sentences according to the proper social setting, audience,
situation and subject matter;
organize their thoughts in a meaningful and logical sequence;
use language as a means of expressing values and judgments;
use the language quickly and confidently with few unnatural pauses, which is called as
fluency. (Nunan, 2003)
STEP 1.1 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): REFLECTION ON NORMAL PRACTICE

INSTRUCTIONS
1. How much do your students speak in class?
2. How do you prepare speaking activities in class?
3. What materials do you use?
4. What particular problems do your students have?
5. In what ways do you encourage real communication to take place in your lessons?
STEP 1.2 (PAIR WORK): COMPONENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
According to Syakur there are at least five components of speaking skill concerned with
comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and fluency (Syakur, 1987: 3). Define the
function of each of the five components listed.
COMPONENT
FUNCTION(S)

10
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Comprehension
Grammar
Vocabulary
Pronunciation
Fluency
In 1980, the applied linguists Canale and Swain published an influential article in which they defined
communicative competence as a global competence that subsumed four separate but related
competencies:
grammatical (ability to create grammatically correct utterances)

sociolinguistic (ability to produce sociolinguistically appropriate utterances)
discourse (ability to produce coherent and cohesive utterances)
strategic (ability to solve communication problems as they arise)
The concept of communication competence emerged as a reaction to earlier approaches to

language that focused exclusively on grammatical competence.
STEP 1.3 (GROUP WORK): SPEAKING ENVIRONMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
In groups decide on the following:
1. Is there any connection between the way we talk and the setting in which it occurs? (Would
you tell the same kinds of jokes in a hospital and at a party?)
2. How does the kind of talk limit the topics introduced? (How does a job interview differ from a
reporters interview of a famous actor?)
3. Do language functions vary from one kind of talk to another? (How do campaign speech and a
charity speech compare with regard to the ways they try to persuade their audiences?)
4. Is a particular talk likely to change if we change the roles of the participants? (Does a doctor
talk to a patient as he would talk to a member of his family in need for medical assistance?)
STEP 1.4 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): CONVERSATION BASED ON SCRIPT
INSTRUCTIONS
Much of our knowledge of the world is organized around scripts, that is, memory for typical episodes
that occur in specific situations. Our knowledge of dentists scripts, meal scripts, school scripts, etc,
enables us to interpret a great deal of the language of everyday lifeBut if we lack a relevant script ,
comprehension may be difficult. Richards (1983:223)
Objectives:
1. recreate the language associated with a particular script
2. compare the results obtained by your group with those of other groups
Situations:
1. You have been invited for dinner at the home of your girlfriend/boyfriend. This is the first time
you have been here. Create a short conversation (4-6 speeches) that would take place as
you arrive and enter the house.
2. The evening is drawing to a close and it is time for you to leave. What do you say? How do
your hosts/parents respond?
3. You want to express your thanks the next day. How do you express your thanks? What do
they answer?
Did you find it easy or difficult to create the conversations for each script?
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Activity 2: Approaches to teaching speaking

The goal of teaching speaking skills is to ensure that students are able to make themselves
understood, using their current proficiency to the fullest. They should try to avoid confusion in the
message due to mispronunciation, faulty grammar, or vocabulary, and to observe the social and
cultural rules that apply in each communication situation.
To help students develop communicative efficiency in speaking, teachers can use activities that
combine language input, structured output, and communicative output approaches.
1. Language input comes in the form of the language heard and read outside of class, listening
activities, class interaction, and it gives students the material they need to begin producing language
themselves.
Language input may focus on content or form.
Focus on Content input involves information. It may also include descriptions of learning
strategies and examples of their use.
Focus on Form input involves ways of using the language: guidance from the teacher or
another source on vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar (linguistic competence);
appropriate things to say in specific contexts (discourse competence); expectations for rate of
speech, pause length, turn-taking, and other social aspects of language use (sociolinguistic
competence); and explicit instruction in phrases to use to ask for clarification and repair
miscommunication (strategic competence).
In the presentation part of a lesson, a teacher combines content-oriented and form-oriented input.
The amount of input that is actually provided in the target language depends on students' proficiency
and also on the situation.
2. Language output
Structured output focuses on students using correct language forms/structures. They may
have options for responses, but all of the options require them to use the specific form or
structure that the teacher has just introduced. Structured output is designed to make
learners comfortable producing specific language items recently introduced, sometimes in
combination with previously learned items.
In communicative output, the students' main purpose is to complete a task. To complete the
task, they may use the language that the teacher has just presented, but they also may use
any other vocabulary, grammar, and communication strategies that they know. In
communicative output activities, the criterion of success is whether the student gets the
message across. Fluency and not accuracy is a consideration, unless the lack of the latter
interferes with the message.
In everyday communication, spoken exchanges take place because there is some sort of
information gap between the participants. Communicative output activities involve a similar
real information gap. In order to complete the task, students must reduce or eliminate the
information gap. In these activities, language is a tool, not an end in itself.
In the communicative model of language teaching, teachers help their students develop knowledge
by providing authentic practice that prepares students for real-life communication situations. To help
students develop communicative efficiency speaking, teachers can use a balanced activities
approach that combines language input, structured output, and communicative output.
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STEP 2.1 (PAIR WORK): SUCCESSFUL SPEAKING

INSTRUCTIONS
List which are, according to you, the characteristics of successful speaking activities.
STEP 2.2 (GROUP WORK): REFLECT
INSTRUCTIONS
As a teacher what do you find most challenging about oral communication tasks?
STEP 2.3 (GROUP WORK): COMMUNICATIVE OUTPUT ACTIVITIES
INSTRUCTIONS
Communicative output activities allow students to practise using all of the language they know in
situations that resemble real settings. In these activities, students must work together to develop a
plan, resolve a problem, or complete a task. The most common types of communicative output activity
are role plays and discussions.
PROCEDURES
10. The trainees work in groups. Three groups are supposed to decide, in their groups, on the
steps the teacher should take in order to succeed with role plays. The other three groups do
the same for discussions.
11. The three groups working on role plays and the three working on discussions exchange
information.
12. The groups decide on what to report to their colleagues.
13. Presentations on blackboard/flipcharts/video presentation.
Activity 3: Activities to promote speaking
1. Discussions
foster critical thinking and quick decision making; students learn how to express and justify
themselves in polite ways while disagreeing with the others;
teachers set the purpose of the discussion activity before the discussion, so that students do
not spend their time chatting with each other about irrelevant things;
students become involved in agree/disagree discussions;
students are encouraged to ask questions, paraphrase ideas, express support, check for
clarification.
2. Role Play
students pretend they are in various social contexts and have a variety of social roles;
the teacher assigns roles (gives information to the learners such as who they are and what
they think or feel).
3. Simulations
similar to role-plays but more elaborate -students can bring items to the class to create a
realistic environment-;
role plays and simulations are entertaining, motivate the students and increase the selfconfidence of the shy ones
4. Information Gap
students are supposed to be working in pairs - one student will have the information that other
partner does not have and the partners will share their information-;
advantages: in solving a problem or collecting information, each partner plays an important
role because the task cannot be completed if the partners do not provide the information the
others need; everybody has the opportunity to talk extensively in the target language
5. Brainstorming/problem solving
students are required to produce ideas on a given topic in a given time period;
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can be done individually/in pairs/groups;

is effective - students generate ideas quickly and freely;
students are not criticized for their ideas so they are open to sharing new ideas.
6. Storytelling
fosters creative thinking;
helps students express ideas in the format of beginning, development, and ending, including
the characters and setting a story has to have.
7. Interviews
students are required to conduct interviews on selected topics with various people;
the teacher may provide a rubric to students so that they know what type of questions they
can ask, but it is the students who prepare their own interview questions.
advantages: give students a chance to practice their speaking ability not only in class but also
outside; help them becoming socialized..
8. Story Completion
a very enjoyable, whole-class, free-speaking activity;
the teacher may provide the beginning of a story, then, each student starts to narrate from the
point where the previous one stopped;
each student is supposed to add a suggested number of sentences.
advantages: relaxed atmosphere, fosters creativity, students express ideas in the format of
development, and ending, including the characters and setting a story has to have (they may
add new characters, events, descriptions), everybody has the opportunity to talk in the target
language.
9. Reporting
students are asked to read a newspaper or magazine before coming to class, watch a video
clip;
in class, they report to their friends what they find as the most interesting news.
10. Picture Narrating
activity based on several sequential pictures;
the teacher provides a rubric (rubrics can include the vocabulary or structures students need
to use while narrating);
students are asked to tell the story taking place in the sequential pictures by paying attention
to the criteria provided by the teacher as a rubric.
11. Picture Describing
students are supposed to be working in groups;
each group is given a different picture;
students discuss the picture with their groups, then a spokesperson for each group describes
the picture to the whole class.
advantages: fosters the creativity and imagination of the learners as well as their public
speaking skills.
12. Find the Difference
students work in pairs and each couple is given two different pictures;
students in pairs discuss the similarities and/or differences in the pictures.
13. Oral presentations on a given topic
CRITERIA FOR EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS
I.
CONTENT-RELATED
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II.
ORGANISATION-RELATED
III.
Relevance of ideas to topic (pertinent examples; no unnecessary details)

Overall coherence ( logical, natural flow of ideas)
Lexical range (variety of words/phrases to suit complexity of topic)
Register (appropriate choice and consistent use of either formal or informal level,
depending on the audience)
Effective introduction (catchy opening : relevant joke/anecdote, statistics, quotation)

Clear signposting (statement of goals, indication of stages, emphasis on
conclusions/results)
Emphasizing key points (insisting on/repeating main points and stating the presenters
conclusion)
Length (organization of materials to fit time limit, 3-5 mins.)
DELIVERY-RELATED
Clarity and pronunciation

Stress and intonation
Volume
Pace
Body language, eye contact, manner
PLAN FOR ORAL PRESENTATIONS

1. INTRODUCTION
State the general theme
2. THE BODY
Refer to learning from ones own experience: give examples.
Refer to learning from the experiences of others: give examples.
3. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Refer briefly to two or three main ideas mentioned in the body.
State your own conclusions about the theme.
STEP 3.1 (PAIR WORK): ACTIVITIES
INSTRUCTIONS
Below is a list of various activity types designed to help learners to develop their oral fluency.
Some of the types may overlap-for example, a jigsaw activity may involve an information gap
(although the reverse is not necessarily true).
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
Information-gap activities
Ranking activities
Jigsaw activities
Guessing activities
Problem-solving activities
Role-play
Group discussion
Project-based activities
Prepared monologues
For each activity types (a-i) brainstorm an example activity.

Example: Activity A: A spot the difference exercise is an example of an information-gap
activity. (Students work in pairs and each member of the pair has a slightly different picture. Without
looking at each others pictures they have to identify the differences between their two pictures.)
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STEP 3.2 (PAIR WORK): FAILURE OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

INSTRUCTIONS
Try to identify reasons why communicative activities, especially discussions, in the classroom often
fail. Report to the other pairs.
STEP 3.3 (GROUP WORK): INFORMATION-GAP ACTIVITIES
INSTRUCTIONS
Choose four of the activity types and brainstorm further kinds of material and activity which
might be used.
Example: The following are all examples of information-gap activities:
One student describes a picture to another student. The second student has to draw it.
One student arranges objects on the table and directs the second student to arrange similar
objects in the same way. The students sit so that they cannot see each others objects.
One student has a sequence of pictures which tell a story. The second student has the same
pictures in a jumbled order. The first student describes the sequence to his/her partner. The
partner has to arrange his/her pictures into the correct order.
STEP 3.4 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): DEVELOPING TASKS
INSTRUCTIONS
Develop an information-gap task for your students.
1. identify a context (a social event/a game/a puzzle)
2. create a visual aid (a spider gram/a map) for students to fill in as they gather information from
their partners
3. mention the time limit you will give this task
Activity 4: Ideas for planning speaking activities

Here are some ideas to keep in mind as you plan your speaking activities.
Context
the content should be practical and usable in real-life situations;
avoid too much new vocabulary or grammar;
focus on speaking with the language the students have.
Correcting Errors
provide appropriate feedback and correction, but don't interrupt the flow of communication;
take notes while pairs or groups are talking and address problems to the class after the
activity without embarrassing the student(s) who made the error;
write the errors on the board and ask who can correct them.
Quantity vs. Quality
address both interactive fluency and accuracy, striving foremost for communication;
get to know each learner's personality and encourage the quieter ones to take more risks.
Conversation Strategies
encourage strategies like asking for clarification, paraphrasing, gestures, and initiating ('hey,'
'so,' 'by the way').
Teachers Intervention
when a speaking activity loses steam, you may need to jump into a role-play, ask more
discussion questions, clarify your instructions, or stop an activity that is too difficult or boring.
STEP 4.1 (PAIR WORK): ADAPTABILITY
INSTRUCTIONS
In pairs, decide how teachers can:
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1. Provide students with opportunities for practising specific speaking skills.

2. Teach students to adapt their speech to specific situations.
3. Provide opportunities to practise speaking before larger groups.
STEP 4.2 (GROUP WORK): GROUP DISCUSSION
INSTRUCTIONS
A teacher wants his/her students to develop the skills necessary for taking part in a group
discussion. He/she also genuinely wants them to exchange their opinions about problems of transport
in their home city.
1. What linguistic preparation might be appropriate?
2. In what ways might he/she organize this?
3. In what ways can he/she stimulate interest in the topic?
4. In what ways can he/she encourage shy members of the class to express their views?
5. What might he/she do about a very dominant student who is predisposed to monopolize any
activity?
6. How might he/she choose to organize the classroom?
7. What might his/her own role in the activity be?
8. The following is an excerpt from a transcript of the teachers lesson. What advice would you
give to the teacher?
Teacher: Today we are going to talk about transport in our city. What do you think
about this, Jane?
Student: Mmmm. I think is bad.
Teacher: Good. It is bad. What dont you like about it?
Student: The buses.
Teacher: Good. The buses. Do you think they are too slow or too expensive?
Student: Too slow.
Teacher: Good. Do you agree, Diane?
Activity 5: Correction and Giving Feedback
In some ways, a speaking activity is like a writing activity - students would probably complain if
teachers didn't correct their writing, so why should speaking be different?
Students will feel that they are not wasting time when they speak because they get feedback.
It shows students how and where they are improving, as well as what they need to work on.
Teachers can focus on discourse features as well as on lexis and any grammatical structures
they have been working on, and so recycle them.
There are many ways that teachers can give feedback to students, and many aspects that they can
focus on. Here are some ideas:
Feedback should be positive as well as negative teachers should tell students what they do
well, as well as what they are getting wrong.
They can give feedback to the whole class, to small groups or pairs or to individuals.
The way teachers deal with these different groupings will vary. Sometimes they will want to give
feedback on the board, but it may often be oral: the way they choose will depend on how much time
they want to spend on it, how serious they feel the point is, what they are correcting.
STEP 5.1 (PAIR WORK): FEEDBACK 1
INSTRUCTIONS
In pairs, decide when it is advisable to give feedback to the whole class/to small groups/to individuals.
STEP 5.2 (GROUP WORK): FEEDBACK 2
INSTRUCTIONS
In groups, decide on ideas for giving feedback to 1. the whole class/2. to small groups/3. to individuals.
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STEP 5.3 (INDEPENDENT WORK): ATTITUDE OF SOME LEARNERS

INSTRUCTIONS
The following comments were made by students attending a conversation class.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
My teacher never corrects me so how can I learn?

I wanted a conversation class but all we do is play games.
Yesterday we talked about nuclear energy but I didnt.
I know what to say but when its my turn I cant.
I dont have enough words.
1. What do you think the underlying problems are?

2. What advice might you give to the teacher?
References
1.Burkart, G., S. Spoken Language,: What it is and How to teach it
2.Harmer, J.The Practice of English Language Teaching
3.Hayriye Kayi, Teaching
Speaking: Activities to Promote Speaking in a Second Language,
www.scribd.com/
- http://www.weatherwizkids.com
- Pathway to English, English Horizons, Oxford University Press
- www.coerll.utexas.edu/methods, Foreign Language Teaching Methods
- www.lkka.lt/~r.gulbinas/
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MODULE 9 WRITING
116
Activity 1: Approaches to teaching writing

Activity 2: Why teach writing?
Activity 3: Principles of teaching writing
Activity 4: Activities to promote process writing
Activity 5: Writing to Learn, Functional Writing, Creative Writing
Activity 6: Using linked WWW-sites in class activities 11
Objectives
to make trainees aware of different approaches to teaching writing;

to provide resources for teaching writing;
to make trainees reflect on their own experience of learning to write in a foreign language;
to familiarize them with terms and concepts which are central to a consideration of effective
writing;
to invite them apply these terms and concepts in analyzing writing tasks and samples of
learners written English;
to extend their awareness of a range of factors involved in teaching writing skills, and to help
explore factors relating to a variety of approaches.
Activity 1: Approaches to Teaching Writing

STEP 1.1 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): SOME BASIC ISSUES
INSTRUCTIONS
Effective writing involves conveying a message in such a way as to affect the audience as the writer
intends.
Depending on the precise purpose in writing, this may, for example, involve seizing and maintaining
the interest of the intended readers, conveying information clearly, delighting or amusing the readers
or persuading them of a particular point of view. The writer needs to be able to imagine the readers
and to assess their knowledge of the topic, their assumptions about the topic and their attitudes
towards it and interest in it.
In achieving the purpose for writing, the writer makes choices about a number of factors. Look at the
following list of some of these factors:
grammar
vocabulary
cohesion
coherence
rhetorical organization
layout
underlining/italics
handwriting
paragraphing
formulae
spelling
capitalization
punctuation
1. Add further factors to this list if you think there is anything missing. (Style is not included in
this list as an independent item as this term normally refers to appropriate choices of
vocabulary or grammar.)
2. Which of the terms in the list refer to:
a) The organization of functions within a text? (For example, a letter of initial complaint
will conventionally begin with a description of the background, then state the problem,
and will then indirectly request action.)
b) The physical arrangement of information on the page? (For example, the fact that in a
letter, the senders address normally appears in the top right-hand corner.)
11
12
13

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c) The use of stock phrases? (For example, Thank you for your letter of 16th of July)
There are several approaches to teaching writing as presented by (Raimes,A, 1983):
A. The Controlled-to-Free Approach
In the 1950s and early 1960s, the audio-lingual method dominated second-language learning. This
method stressed that speech and writing aimed at mastery of grammatical and syntactic forms. The
controlled-to-free approach is sequential: students are first given sentence exercises, then
paragraphs to copy or manipulate grammatically by changing questions to statements, present to past,
or plural to singular. They might also change words to clauses or combine sentences. With these
controlled compositions, it is relatively easy for students to write and yet avoid errors, which makes
error correction easy. This approach emphasizes accuracy rather than fluency or originality.
B. The Free-Writing Approach
This approach focuses on writing quantity rather than quality. The emphasis in this approach is
on content and fluency rather than on accuracy and form. Teachers may begin their classes by asking
students to write freely on any topic without worrying about grammar and spelling for five or ten
minutes. Teachers do not correct these pieces of free writing. They only read them and comment on
the ideas the students expressed. Alternatively, students may volunteer to read their own writing aloud
to the class. Concern for audience and content are important in this approach.
C. The Paragraph-Pattern Approach
Instead of accuracy of grammar or fluency of content, the Paragraph-Pattern-Approach stresses on
organization. They put scrambled sentences into paragraph order. They identify general and specific
statements and choose to invent an appropriate topic sentence or insert or delete sentences. This
approach is based on the principle that in different cultures people construct and organize
communication with each other in different ways.
D. The Grammar-Syntax-Organization Approach
Teachers who follow this approach consider that writing cannot be seen as composed of separate
skills which are learned sequentially. Therefore, students should be trained to pay attention to
organization while they also work on the necessary grammar and syntax. This approach links the
purpose of writing to the forms that are needed to convey message.
E. The Communicative Approach
This approach encourages students to behave like writers in real life and ask themselves the crucial
questions about purpose and audience: Because writing is seen as a communicative act, the
readership may be extended to classmates and pen pals.
F. The Process Approach
In this approach, students are trained to generate ideas for writing, think of the purpose and audience,
write multiple drafts in order to present written products that communicate their own ideas. Writing
becomes a process of discovery for the students as they discover new ideas and new language forms
to express them. A writing process approach requires that teachers should give students
greater responsibility for, and ownership of, their own learning. Students make decisions and
collaborate as they write.
During the writing process, students engage in pre-writing, planning, drafting, and post-writing
activities. However, as the writing process is recursive in nature, they do not necessarily engage in
these activities in that order.
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STEP 1.2 (GROUP WORK): DEVISING TASKS

INSTRUCTIONS
In groups devise for your students the following tasks:
a. Ask students to complete a description paragraph/write a description from questions.
b. Give students a set of slash sentences and ask them to write a short narrative paragraph.
c. Ask students to interview their partner (pair work) on a certain topic and then write about what
they have learned.
d. Fill in the table by putting a tick in the appropriate columns to indicate what approach
addresses what elements of writing:
conten proces audienc word
organizatio mechanic grammar/synt
t
s
e
choic n
s
ax
e
Controlled-to
free
Free -writing
Paragraphpattern
Grammarsyntaxorganisation
Communicati
ve
Process
writing
e. Compare the results of your tasks with those of the other groups.
f. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each of these approaches.
g. Which would you use with your students? At what level? Why?
Activity 2: Why Teach Writing?
Writing should be taught for its own sake in a L2 class because:
It is a prevalent form of communication in real life, especially nowadays- there are blogs,
people use computer-mediated communication, they text a lot-. We use writing for a variety of
everyday communicative purposes, from making a shopping list to writing essays for school.
In a computer-mediated age, being able to write is an essential skill in any language.
It may be helpful for students to reflect, practise and express themselves in the foreign
language in a more adult-like manner with more complex thoughts than when they have to
speak without planning
It may raise cognitive awareness of the language, can help practise sound-symbol
associations, connections between related lexical items, relationships between lexical items
and grammar.
Creative assignments may lead to higher levels of motivation in the students.
Harmer (1998, p. 79) describes that the reasons for teaching writing to students of English as a foreign
language include reinforcement, language development, learning style and, most important, writing as
a skill in its own right.
1. Reinforcement
some students acquire a language in a purely oral/ aural way, but others benefit greatly from
seeing the language written down
writing reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms and vocabulary that students have
learned
2. Language development
writing helps students in acquiring a language because the process demands them to think
and choose the sentences as well as words that they will use to express the ideas
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the relationship between writing and thinking makes writing a valuable part of any language
courses
3. Learning style
by looking and listening
by thinking and reflecting what they have learned
4. Writing as a skill
writing is a basic language skill, just as important as speaking, listening and reading
students need to know how to write letters, how to put written reports together, they need to
know some of writings special conventions such as punctuation, paragraph construction, etc
just as they need to know how to pronounce spoken English appropriately.
STEP 2.1 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): REASONS FOR WRITING
INSTRUCTIONS
The following are some of the reasons learners of English may be asked to write:
a. For diagnostic purposes.
b. To develop linguistic competence (for example, copying a model of new language or writing a
short text to practise or test knowledge of language which has been taught).
c. To encourage the development of fluency.
d. To train/provide practice in aspects of writing skills, per se, for example:
selecting characteristic features of particular text types according to the purpose in
writing;
including appropriate stages in the process of composition;
assessing the knowledge, assumptions, attitudes and interest of the intended
audience and addressing them accordingly.
1. How clear to your students do you make the purpose of any writing activity?
2. How might the purpose of a writing activity determine your approach to preparing the activity in
class?
3. How might the purpose of a writing activity determine your approach to correction?
4. For which of these purposes might students be encouraged to write collaboratively?
STEP 2.2 (GROUP WORK): PREPARATION, MOTIVATION AND COMMUNICATION
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Make a list of ways in which the teacher can motivate students to write by encouraging
confidence and enthusiasm.
Example: She can get students to watch part of a selected TV documentary (in English or in
their own language) as a stimulus for ideas to help them in writing.
2. How important do you consider it is that the writing task incorporates an element of real
communication?
3. How might a writing task incorporate this element of real communication?
Activity 3: Principles of Teaching Writing

Bryne (1988) suggests the principles for teaching writing with the following points:
1. Teach students to write
classroom writing tasks need to be set up in ways that reflect the writing process in good
writers
students need to be encouraged to go through a process of planning, organizing, composing,
and revising
2. Provide adequate and relevant experience of the written language
selection of text types for both reading and writing should be made bearing in mind that
students can usually read language that is more advanced than they can produce
3. Show students how the written language functions as a system of communication
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when students understand the context they are much likely to write effectively so, when setting
writing tasks, teachers need:
1. to vary the audience,
2. identify who the readers are,
3. try to make every piece of writing fulfil some kind of communicative purpose, either real or
simulated
4. Teach students how to write texts
encourage the production of whole texts to teach, all the important features that can help to
make a text coherent
5. Teach students different kinds of texts
provide for students opportunities to practice various forms and functions in writing and within
these to develop the different skills involved in producing written texts
6. Make writing tasks realistic and relevant
writing tasks should enable students to write whole texts which form connected,
conceptualized, and appropriate pieces of communication
7. Integrate writing with other skills
design tasks/activities in which you integrate writing with other skills listening, reading8. Use a variety of techniques and practice formats
provide various writing activities: controlled writing, guided writing, free writing
each activity will need different techniques and practice
collaborative writing in the classroom generates discussions and activities which encourage
an effective process of writing
9. Provide appropriate support
make revision an integral part of the process of writing by:
1. devising a range of activities involving students as well as teachers
STEP 3.1 (PAIR WORK): TEACHING THE FEATURES OF PARTICULAR TEXT TYPES
INSTRUCTIONS
Before asking the students to write an example of a particular text type you might want to go through
some of the following stages. The order, here, is jumbled. Put them into an appropriate order and
justify your decisions.
a. Guided writing practice-the students write (parts of) a parallel text guided by prompts (e.g.
pictures or sentences which summarise paragraphs).
b. Exercises which practise particular features of the text type (e.g. ordering paragraphs in the
text, combining sentences using a relative clause).
c. Reading examples of the text type.
d. Analysing texts to isolate characteristic features of that text type.
ORDER
1
2
3
4
STAGE
STEP 3.2 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): CORRECTION OF WRITTEN WORK

INSTRUCTIONS
1. In your own experience of learning languages, what kinds of feedback did your teachers give
you? How useful did you find this feedback?
Consider the following comments made by learners of English. In each case attempt to define
in what ways the expectations and personal philosophies of the teacher and the learner are
similar or appear to differ. Write your own considerations in the grid (no more than 20 words /
comment) and save it as a Word.doc.
Example: Comment (a): From her own experience as a learner or from her training as a
teacher, the teacher may have internalized the view that red ink is perceived by learners to be
intimidating or discouraging. She appears not to have questioned this, or at least she has not
solicited the views of this learners class. It may be the case that very few of her students
share her reluctance to use red ink.
a. I wish the teacher would use red ink so that I could see things clearly.
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b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
I wish the teacher would write in the corrections instead of using that code.
She corrects every mistake. Its really discouraging.
She seems to think that grammar and spelling are everything.
She writes really nice comments at the bottom.
She goes over our mistakes individually, one by one. Its such a waste of time.
She writes good at the bottom, but I know it isnt.
Id love to know what other students write.
COMMENT
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
YOUR OWN CONSIDERATIONS
Activity 4: Activities to Promote Process Writing

The process approach
treats all writing as a creative act which requires time and positive feedback to be done well
has the teacher move away from being someone who sets students a writing topic and
receives the finished product for correction without any intervention in the writing process
itself
has the students encouraged to think about audience: who is the writing for?
has the students realise that what they write can be changed: things can be deleted, added,
restructured, etc.
1. Pre-writing activities- in this stage, the most important thing is the flow of ideas
prepare students for a writing task and activate, review or builds sub-skills that prepare them
for completing the main writing task;
focus on the audience, the content, and the vocabulary necessary for the task. (typically
word and phrase level activities);
the role of the teacher is to stimulate students' creativity, to get them thinking how to approach
a writing topic.
2. During-writing activities
engage students in recursive writing, self-editing and revisions;
as students are guided through writing and re-writing, the teacher should guide them through
areas such as syntax.
3. Post-writing activities
help students reflect on and revise their writing based on feedback from an audience, such as
peers and/or their teacher.
1. Pre-writing tasks
a.Brainstorming
students divided into groups produce words and ideas about the writing
b.Planning
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students make a plan of the writing before they start;

these plans can be compared and discussed in groups before writing takes place.
c.Generating ideas
students write about the subject in six different ways - they:

1. describe it
2. compare it
3. associate it
4. analyze it
5. apply it
6. argue for or against it.
d.Questioning
In groups, students generate questions about the topic (this helps them focus upon audience as
they consider what the reader needs to know). The answers to these questions will form the basis
to the writing.
e.Prompts
a well chosen picture or song

written prompts (provided by the teacher or generated through brainstorming by the students).
They can follow the five Ws and the H from journalism: who, what, when, where, why, how.
f. Responding to tasks
When students respond to tasks, whether written or oral, they can learn new vocabulary,
expressions, grammatical structures and, pragmatic information (how to structure a review, an
e-mail, etc).
g. Focusing ideas
Fast writing
The students write quickly on a topic for five to ten minutes without worrying about correct language or
punctuation. They write as quickly as possible, if they cannot think of a word they leave a space or
write it in their own language. The important thing is to keep writing. Later this text is revised.
Group compositions
Working together in groups, sharing ideas. This collaborative writing is especially valuable as it
involves other skills (speaking in particular).
Changing viewpoints
A good writing activity to follow a role-play or storytelling activity. Different students choose different
points of view and think about /discuss what this character would write in a diary, witness statement,
etc.
Varying form
Similar to the activity above, but instead of different viewpoints, different text types are selected. How
the text would be different if it were written as a letter, or a newspaper article, etc.
STEP 4.1 (GROUP WORK): SHAPING IDEAS
INSTRUCTIONS
Once students have something on the page to work with, they can begin the decision-making process
crucial to developing a coherent idea or argument. At this point, students will choose which ideas most
appeal to them, which ideas seem to fit together, which ideas need to be set aside, and which ideas
need further exploration. Devise an activity to help students make decisions as they shape ideas.
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STEP 4.2 (GROUP WORK): PROCESS APPROACHES TO TEACHING WRITING SKILLS

INSTRUCTIONS
In recent years attention has focused on the process of writing, and the criticism has been made that
teachers sometimes expect learners to produce written texts without allowing, encouraging or training
them in the stages which are necessary for producing good texts.
1. The stages of the writing process
a. Complete the following chronological list of the stages writers go through in writing something
in which they are concerned with expressing themselves very exactly (for example, an essay
or an important letter). Fill in the grid (no more than 50 words)
1. Mulling over and discussing ideas
2. Jotting down notes in no particular order
3.
4.
5.
etc
b.
2.
3.
4.
Note that it would be inappropriate to go through all these stages in every instance of writingthe nature of the process depends on the purpose for writing, the length of the text, the
complexity of the ideas and the time available to the writer. Moreover, in practice these stages
will rarely be discrete-there may be considerable overlap between them and there may be
regressions to earlier stages.
Think of different written assignments you might set your students. Specify one in which it
would be appropriate to encourage them to work systematically through these stages, and one
in which this would be inappropriate.
Choices of approach
To what extent is a process-based approach to teaching written skills compatible with a texttype based approach? (See Step 2 -Module 3- for an explanation of a text-type based
approach.)
Technology
How might access to word processors affect the organization of a lesson intended to develop
process-writing skills?
Interaction
How might a lesson be organized so that students help each other in the processes of revision
and re-drafting?
2. During-writing activities
students are ready to write - they need clear instructions and resources to complete the next
steps in the process: writing drafts, revising, self-editing, expanding-;
students are allowed to use notes from the pre-writing tasks. They may also use a dictionary
or spell-checker.
STEP 4.3 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): DURING TASK
INSTRUCTIONS
Devise a During Writing Task.
3. Post-writing activities
Re-read you story, make sure sentences make sense

Add phrases to make the story flow smoothly (cohesion markers, pronouns,
conjunctions)
Eliminate unnecessary/redundant details
Proofread for spelling, vocabulary, grammar checklistPeer editing and proof-reading (the texts are interchanged and the evaluation is done
by other students. In the real world, it is common for writers to ask friends and
colleagues to check texts for spelling, etc. You could also ask the students to reduce
the texts, to edit them, concentrating on the most important information.
Share with audience (website, online blog, a wiki entry, etc)
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STEP 4.4 (GROUP WORK): TASK DESIGN

INSTRUCTIONS
Design an assignment for your students and answer the following questions:
1. What is the learning objective? (writing, vocabulary, grammar, reading, etc)
2. What are the sub-skills needed to complete the task?
3. What pre-writing activities can help students prepare to complete the task?
4. What guidelines/materials would you give the students during the writing task?
5. What are some post-writing activities you could use?
STEP 4.5 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): WRITING CLASS
INSTRUCTIONS
Comment on these:
A writing classroom has:
lots and lots of literature shared and read

lots of talking and sharing of ideas and beliefs
planned instruction in the writing process
much practice in using the writing process
people writing individually, with a partner, in a small group
lots of reflecting on writing - whole class, small group
selecting and organizing writing portfolios
teacher-led mini-lessons on specific writing skills
Why consider collaborative writing assignments?
Collaborative groups draw upon the strengths of all their members. Although one student may
be stronger in critical thinking skills, another may excel in organizing. By working in groups,
students learn from each other while they complete assigned tasks.
More and more workplace activities involve project teams. Giving students opportunities to
work collaboratively on projects can help prepare them for the advantages and pitfalls of
collaborative work on the job.
Students working in collaborative groups can take advantage of group members for built-in
peer review as they complete writing projects.
Not least important, collaborative writing assignments usually entail much less grading time for
the teacher.
Not all writing assignments can be converted from individual writing tasks to group writing tasks, nor
should they all. But at least some of the writing students do work best in collaborative groups.
STEP 4.6 (PAIR WORK): PROBLEM SOLVING
INSTRUCTIONS
In groups, find solutions to the listed problems. Fill in the table. Report to the class.
Possible Problem
Solution(s)
uneven proficiency
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large group sizes

off-task behaviour
Activity 5: Writing to Learn, Functional Writing, Creative Writing

In "Writing to Learn Means Learning to Think," Syrene Forsman makes the following point about
writing to learn:
As teachers we can choose between (a) sentencing students to thoughtless mechanical operations
and (b) facilitating their ability to think. If students' readiness for more involved thought processes is
bypassed in favour of jamming more facts and figures into their heads, they will stagnate at the lower
levels of thinking. But if students are encouraged to try a variety of thought processes in classes, they
can, regardless of their ages, develop considerable mental power. Writing is one of the most effective
ways to develop thinking. (p. 162)
1. Writing to learn activities can happen frequently or infrequently in class; some can extend over
the entire semester; some can be extended to include a wide variety of writing tasks in different
formats and to different audiences.
Here are some examples:
The reading journal

Generic and focused summaries
Annotations
Response papers
Synthesis papers
The discussion starter
Focusing a discussion
The learning log
Analyzing the process
Problem statement
Solving real problems
Believing and doubting game
Analysis of events
Project notebooks
The writing journal
STEP 5.1 PAIR WORK): WRITING JOURNAL

INSTRUCTIONS
In pairs, decide on what can go into a writing journal.
2. Functional writing
the practice of expressing specific information meant to mirror real-life scenarios such as how
to make or do something, giving advice, inviting someone to something or telling what
happened in a specific situation;
includes letters, memoranda, directories, manuals, forms, recipes, and minutes;
to succeed in producing effective functional texts, learners must have a clear sense of
purpose and audience (learners awareness of audience and purpose will facilitate the
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selection of appropriate language, style and format which will further support the piece of
writing).
STEP 5.2 (GROUP WORK): LETTERS
INSTRUCTIONS
In groups, decide on how to teach your students: formal/informal letter writing/article writing/proposal
writing. Decide on the format, the task and the length requirement.
3 .Creative Writing
makes it possible for students to experiment and play with the language
is engaging and motivating
helps students see language as a communicative tool, with focus on meaning, not merely on a
linguistic system
Short stories, poems songs, drama, screenplay are all examples of creative writing tasks that have
been suggested for use in a foreign language class.
STEP 5.3 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): ALTERNATE ENDINGS
INSTRUCTIONS
Alternate ending activities include:
coming up with a different ending to a known text
predict an ending of a story from the class reading
write a sequel to a story
have students re-write the story/part of the story from another characters perspective
How would you devise such a task? Focus on:
the requirement(s)
group work/pair work
length requirements
evaluation objective(s)
marking scheme
time allotted
dissemination
STEP 5.4 (PAIR WORK): COHERENCE AND COHESION
INSTRUCTIONS
Cohesion and coherence are central to all instances of language use, and indeed, to communication
of any kind. However, it is in writing that learners of a foreign language often find that any problems
they have in these areas become highlighted.
1. Look at the following extracts from compositions written by learners of English. Both students
have problems with cohesion, which is why the texts seem odd even though mistakes of
grammar and vocabulary have been corrected.
(a)
My landlady is an old woman. My landlady is very kind to me. She
does not give me pork to eat. My landlady does not know I am used
to eating a lot of pork. In my country people of my country tend to eat
a lot of pork.
(b)
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My landlady is called Mrs Smiths. She lives on a ground floor of

house. It is a very old house. Sometimes it rains. Water comes
through a roof. My room is not at top of a house. My room is dry.
Rewrite these extracts so that they read naturally. What problems does each student have
with cohesion? (Other mistakes have been corrected.)
2. Define cohesion and make a list of words which commonly act as cohesive devices.
3. Look at the following two sentences. Both are cohesive, but one has a problem of coherence.
Which one?
a. Yesterday I got up late and had a quick breakfast.
b. Yesterday I got up late and bought a new car.
Coherence describes the logical relations between the ideas and information
embodied in discourse. In coherent text it is clear how sentences relate to sentences,
and paragraphs to paragraphs (exemplifying a point made, countering a point made,
extending a point made, etc). Coherence is helped by cohesion, but often a writer
assumes that the reader will use particular aspects of general knowledge and
knowledge of the specific conventions of certain kinds of texts to supply the necessary
logical connections.
In sentence (a) above, it is clear that the relationship between getting up late and
having a quick breakfast is one of cause and effect. In sentence (b), the two parts of
the sentence appear to be unrelated and it is difficult to infer any connection. In this
sentence there is a problem of coherence.
The second of the sentences in (c) below is grammatically similar to sentence (a)
above. Again it is perfectly coherent. However, in this case the relationship between the
two parts of the sentence is not one of cause and effect but of equivalence-both parts
of the sentence illustrate and expand the information contained in the preceding
sentence:
c. I had a wonderful weekend. Yesterday I got up late and had a leisurely breakfast.
In both sentences (a) and (c) and provides the cohesion. However, the relationship it
implies can be derived only through the context and through knowledge (in these
cases, of conventional human behaviour) which the reader brings to bear in the act of
interpreting.
4. Look back at the preceding paragraph in this task. Define the relationship between the
paragraphs beginning Coherence describes and In the sentence (a) above, .
5. In writing English, which appears to present more problems to your learners, cohesion or
coherence?
6. Would this be equally true of the process of reading?
References
1. Byrne, D.Teaching Writing Skills

2.Forsman, D.Writing to Learn Means Learning to Think
3.Harmer, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching
4.Musumeci, D.Writing in the foreign Language Curriculum
5.Raimes, A.Techniques in Teaching Writing
- Pathway to English, English Horizons, Oxford University Press
- Approaches to Teaching Writing, www.hona.ahlamontada.net/
- www.coerll.utexas.edu/methods, Foreign Language Teaching Methods
- http://www.listen-and-write.com/audio
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- http://www.learner.org/interactives/spelling/
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MODULE 10 - ADJUSTING
CLASSROOM
MANAGEMENT TO THE
EDUCATIONAL
ENVIRONMENT
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Activity 1: Classroom Management: Goals

Activity 2: Teachers roles
Activity 3: Teachers language: instructions
Activity 4: Planning patterns of interaction in class
Activity 5: Students attitudes to different patterns of interaction
Activity 6: Autonomy and learning
Activity 7: Ways to improve teaching and learning by using modern technology
Objectives
to develop awareness of different roles teachers perform and consider the appropriateness of
different roles;
to develop a more principled basis on which to make decisions about the planning and
teaching of lessons, particularly with regard to the range of roles available;
to consider alternative ways of giving instructions;
to explore problems that might arise in giving instructions;
to become more aware of the rationale underlying the range of choices available with regard
to grouping students for different activities;
to provide a framework within which to learn more about students attitudes to different
patterns of interaction in the classroom;
to draw attention of the trainees to the extent to which different kinds of activity encourage (or
do not encourage) the learners development of autonomous learning skills;
to encourage trainees to explore and evaluate the desirability and appropriateness of these
skills with reference to their own experience of learning and teaching methods.
Activity 1: Classroom Management: Goals

Classroom Management Goals are:
Provide a productive, safe environment conducive to learning

Foster self-respect, responsibility, and empathy in students
Spark enthusiasm for learning
Identify the roles of the teacher and use them according to the nature of the proposed
activities
Ensure Differentiated Learning
Foster Self-Directed Learning
Create a Learning Community
Encourage Collaborative Learning
Challenge Students Academically
Provide feedback on the effectiveness of the activities
Identify ways for teachers and students to improve learning by using modern technology
A. Provide a productive, safe environment conducive to learning
14
Organizing Physical Space: safety and arrangement of furniture; accessibility to learning

and use of physical resources; create Classroom Seating Charts to prevent students from
disrupting your class.
Managing Student Behaviour: expectations; monitoring of student behaviour; response to
student misbehaviour. Students participate in the development of classroom behavioural
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expectations and norms (e.g., provide input regarding rules or procedures; are involved in
conflict resolution).
Creating an Environment of Respect and Collaboration: good teacher-student/studentstudent interactions; teacher responds to students needs
B. Foster self-respect, responsibility, and empathy in students
Respect: classroom interactions between students and teacher or between peers reflect
respect for others.
Responsibility: teaching students to take more responsibility for their actions and school
work is an excellent lesson not only for your class, but for life as well.
Empathy: the ability to imagine with some degree of accuracy what it is like to be in the
predicament of the other person and to communicate that awareness so the other person
feels understood; role playing can be a useful tool in helping students to become
empathic.
C. Spark enthusiasm for learning
Feel passionate about what you are teaching; get students excited about their learning;
get students actively involved in their learning ( gives them the opportunity to put
themselves into the equation)-get students moving around the classroom, create
mysteries/problems for them to solve/pose questions that challenge students to think
through the answers or research information to solve the puzzle.
D. Identify the roles of the teacher and use them according to the nature of the
proposed activities
E. Ensure Differentiated Learning
Every student is different. Devising lessons that every student will want to learn is difficult.
Differentiation is not only having multiple learning modalities in one lesson, it is using
many lessons that concentrate on different learning modalities. Almost everyone is a
visual learner, but those same people are kinaesthetic learners also. Teachers should be
aware of which learning modality they are targeting in a lesson and try to target a different
modality the next class. This keeps their class fresh and interesting for all students. When
possible, it is advisable to incorporate multiple learning styles in our classes.
F. Foster Self-Directed Learning (SDL)
Students express their opinions and provide suggestions regarding their own learning.
Keeping a journal, setting goals, planning and taking action are key tools. Selfimprovement, personal development and the development of character are central themes
of Self-Directed Learning. In schools, teachers can work toward SDL a stage at a time.
Teaching emphasizes SDL skills, processes, and systems rather than content coverage
and tests. For the individual, SDL involves initiating personal challenge activities and
developing the personal qualities to pursue them successfully.
G. Create a Learning Community
Students support one another in group learning activities and include lowstatus/historically marginalized students. They show respect for multicultural and gender
perspectives expressed by others. By the very process of learning how to transcend
differences to successfully achieve a common goal the group becomes a community.
A learning community requires that everyone be emotionally present and not just
physically present. They learn something about being vulnerable and about caring for
others. Through their experience they learn what it means to be human in a work
environment. The group learns how to listen.
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School is hard work, and a time for celebration occasionally is a wonderful way to excite
a class and to remind them that success is important everywhere and not just in the
classroom.
H. Encourage Collaborative Learning
Collaborative learning represents a significant shift away from the typical teacher cantered
classrooms. Teachers who use collaborative learning approaches tend to think of
themselves less as expert transmitters of knowledge to students, and more as expert
designers of intellectual experiences for students. Collaborative learning activities vary
widely, but most centre on students exploration or application of the course material, not
simply the teachers presentation or explication of it.
Students working together has many benefits. It lets the student become the teacher.
Working together lets students get their question answered by someone who is not going
to grade them. It lets students talk and get to know each other during class. Working in
groups lets high school and middle school students rely on each other when they have to
do something that is challenging.
Collaborative Learning is a relationship among learners that requires positive
interdependence (a sense of sink or swim together), individual accountability (each of us
has to contribute and learn), interpersonal skills (communication, trust, leadership,
decision making, and conflict resolution), face-to-face promotive interaction, and
processing (reflecting on how well the team is functioning and how to function even
better).
I.
Challenge Students Academically
This rule is about curriculum. If students are not academically challenged, they can
become bored and off task. Once a student is off task, you have a management problem.
All students want to feel that they are a part of the class. This includes performing
students and students who are close to dropping out.
Good teachers know how to challenge their students, simply because they get to know
their students as individuals, and what they need. The more a teacher understands the
students, and learns about what the students find interesting and not so interesting, the
better able they are to adapt their teaching methods, to help the students grasp the
material. Whatever subject a good teacher is trying to get across to the students, the
interest on the part of the students has to be there first. This is where supportive ideas
come in. They create a challenge and gain the attention of the students.
Learning has to be interesting, understandable and fun in order to keep the attention of
students. The students must feel they can relate somehow to the material. Here is where
a good teacher can do extra research to get some hidden gems. Presenting the material
to the class in this manner, more than likely, will turn a boring subject into an interesting
one.
STEP 1.1 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Instructions:
Imagine you were asked to send an up-to-date teaching philosophy in order to get a teaching position.
Go to http://www.edulink.org/portfolio/philosophies.htm and read the suggestions presented in the
article. If you feel like finding out more details about what other teachers encountered when faced with
such a requirement, click on Teaching Philosophy.
Now write a philosophical statement on your beliefs about classroom management.
STEP 1.2 (ASSESSMENT): COMPONENTS OF CLASS MANAGEMENT
Instructions: Answer the question.
What does a well managed classroom look like? Whats involved in:
(i) creating an environment of respect and rapport; (ii) establishing a culture for learning; (iii) managing
classroom procedures; (iv) managing student behaviour; and (iii) organizing physical space?
STEP 1.3 (GROUP WORK): SIMULATED PROBLEM SOLVING
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Instructions:
Suggest solutions to the following classroom management problems:
Norm Setting
Problems
1. A student is excluded from participating in
group work.
2. When making groups students are vocal
towards those that they would like to be in a
group with and those that they do not want to
be with. They then chose not to work with
anyone else besides their friends.
3. During group and class discussions there are
students who do not participate and instead
distract other students from learning by talking
to their friends or else talking out.
4. The same students are always the ones who
make sure the materials are picked up and put
away at the end of class.
5. The class is broken into small groups for
group work and is unproductive.
6. After a teachers attempt to get the classs
attention, the students are aware what the
teacher wants (for them to be quiet) but they
all just keep talking anyways.
Classroom Organization
Problems
1. Students are working in class and accomplish
tasks at different rates some students are
done very quickly and some take much more
time.
2. When class is working collaboratively in small
groups in the classroom, how do you regain
their attention and refocus them when it is time
to come back together?
3. The physical limitations of the environment,
which may impede an ideal seating
arrangement or group work arrangement.
4. A lesson bombs or some other mistake, which
makes it hard to stay with the plan. What do
you do with the class at that time how do you
recover?
5. Students are not interested how to get the
classs attention.
6. During transition times the students get out of
their seats, talk with their friends, and generally
make the transition times twice as long as they
need to be.
Solutions
Solutions
STEP 1.4 (BRAINSTORMING): LEARNING COMMUNITY SET UP

Instructions:
Produce a description of how you will set up your classroom and teaching so that students participate
in a learning community that supports student learning and well-being. Be sure to include:
a. preventative measures (proactive ways you will set up democratic classroom and
curriculum to meet students needs. This will include plans for establishing a culture for
learning; student use of classroom space & facilities; procedures during whole class
activities; procedures during small group work; expectations regarding student
responsibility for work; etc).
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b. supportive measures (how you will guide students back to accepted behaviour).
c. corrective measures- consequences (last resort, must be clear what steps lead up to this
stage and what you will do to correct).
STEP 1.5 (PAIR WORK): PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Instructions:
In order to design your Physical Space provide a map, or maps for different types of activities including
a student seating arrangement, teacher desk, resources, displays, etc. You should include a written
explanation of your choice of arrangement(s).
ACTIVITY
Evaluating projects
Class debate
Displaying students products in
interaction: tourism fairs (stands,
brochures, leaflets, role play,
marketing, etc)
Creating posters in class
MAP
WHY?
STEP 1.6 (GROUP WORK): TEACHING TECHNIQUES

Instructions:
Devise a short scenario which involves at least 2 techniques to make class meetings create and
enhance Learning Community. Justify your choices. Make sure you mention:
1. Competence, level
2. Objective(s)
3. Interactions
4. Timing
5. Feedback/Evaluation
STEP 1.7 (DEBATE): REFLECT
Give your comments on the following:
1. Are collaborative learning activities good for students with behavioural difficulties?
2. What are the ways in which introducing collaborative learning makes teaching easier and
more pleasurable?
3. Surely collaborative work will hold gifted and talented students back.
4. Collaborative activities take up too much time.
5. How does collaborative work help with assessment?
6. There is nothing to show at the end of a group work session.
Activity 2: Teachers Roles
Depending on the activities he/she proposes, the teacher takes on one or several roles. The list may
include:
1. controller - teachers tend to do a lot of the talking;
advantage - frequently it is the teacher, talking at the students' level of comprehension, who is
the most important source they have for comprehensible input;
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disadvantage - we may feel uneasy about the effect this has on the possibilities for student
talking time.
2. assessor - a major part of the teacher's job is to assess the students' work, to see how well they
are performing or how well they performed. This is both important pedagogically, and the students
expect it.
3. organizer - the most important and difficult role of the teacher when organising an activity is to tell
the students what they are going to talk about (or write or read about), give clear instructions about
what exactly their task is, get the activity going, and then organise feedback when it is over. The
success of the activities depends on good organization and on the students knowing exactly what they
are to do.
4. prompter - often the teacher needs to encourage students to participate or needs to make
suggestions about how students may proceed in an activity when there is a silence or when they are
confused about what to do next. The role of prompter has to be performed with discretion; teachers
should be helping them only when it is necessary.
5. participant - teachers might join simulations as participants, sometimes playing roles themselves. It
will give the students a chance to practise English with someone who speaks it better than they do.
6. resource - while it is important that teachers should not intervene in genuinely communicative
activities taking place in the classroom they should always be ready to offer help if it is needed. Thus
they make themselves available so that students can consult them when (and only when) they wish.
7. tutor - the teacher as a tutor is someone who acts as a coach and as a resource with students
involved in their own work, and who call upon the teacher mainly for advice and guidance.
8. investigator - teachers can develop by themselves or with colleagues. The best way to do this is by
investigating what is going on, observing what works well in class and what does not, trying out new
techniques and activities and evaluating their appropriacy.
STEP 2.1 (BRAINSTORMING): ELICITING TEACHERS ROLE
Instructions:
Make a list of further categories you might use to classify the roles a teacher performs.
Example: Entertainer
STEP 2.2 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): MATCHING
Instructions:
Look at the lesson plan below. First, provide the aim for each of the activities in the stage. Then, using
your preferred system for classifying a teachers roles, specify the role the teacher is likely to adopt at
each of the points marked R. Compare your answers with those of other members of the group. How
do you account for any differences?
Example: R2 Manager: The teacher is involved here in the physical management of the classroom,
organizing the location and grouping of students in the room.
LESSON PLAN
People often check in to hotels in the movies, so they are a good source of language models. In this
activity, video is used to reinforce and consolidate student-produced language.
Objective:
o Students will be able to anticipate the questions and topics that occur during real-life
hotel check-in and respond appropriately.
Level:
o Low-Intermediate to Intermediate
Materials:
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Handout and short video segment showing a person checking in to a hotel. Movies
that include hotel check in scenes are:
The Graduate
Home Alone II
Only You
It Could Happen to You
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Preparation:
The teacher watches the video segment and makes a note for his/her own reference of which
of the topics and conversational moves listed on the handout are used and in what order
during the check-in scene.
PROCEDURES
STAGE
AIM
TEACHER ACTIVITY
Distributes the handout and

goes through the meanings of
each
conversational
move/topic on the list.
Forms pairs.
Asks each pair to construct a
possible dialogue including all
of
the
topics
and
conversational moves.
Reminds them that the Front
Clerk does not always start
each
conversational
exchange. Sometimes the
Hotel Guest would bring up
the topic first.
Circulates the room providing
assistance as needed.
Selects some (or all) of the
pairs
to
perform
their
dialogues.
Plays the video segment and
checks off the conversational
moves or topics that occur in
the scene.
Plays the segment again and
asks SS to make a note of the
order of the moves/topics.
Plays a third time and asks
SS to make a note of any
expressions used in the video
that are similar to those
constructed in the student
dialogues.
TEACHERS
ROLE
R1
STUDENT
ACTIVITY
Actively listen.
R2
R3
Get into pairs.

Actively listen.
R4
Actively listen.
R5
Work.
R6
Act the dialogue.
R7
Watch & answer.
R8
Make a note of
the order of the
moves/topics
&
report to the class.
Make
notes&
report to the class.
R9
MATERIAL
handouts
video tape
HANDOUT
CHECKING INTO A HOTEL
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Topics/Conversational Moves
Opening/Greeting
Request Room
Specify Room Type and Number of Occupants
Length of Stay
Help with Luggage
Special Needs (wake up call, room service, laundry)
Sign the Register Book
Other Business (Can you think of anything else?)
Closing/Farewell
STEP 2.3 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURE

Instructions:
Watch a 10-minute section of a videoed lesson. As you watch it a second time, record the changes
which take place in the teachers roles. Compare your list of changes with those of other members of
the group. How do you account for any differences between the lists?
Activity 3: Teachers Language: Instructions

Lack of explaining instructions clearly eats away a valuable class time. Model whenever you can and
tone your language to suit large mixed ability classes, small groups, weak students, and finally, the
age of your students.
Here are a few suggestions:
Plan what you are going to say ahead of time by writing your instructions out on paper. It is
highly impractical to keep this up for a long period of time, but by going through this process,
you should be able to teach yourself new habits.
Work on giving short instructions.
Edit out complex language.
Make sure your instructions are in a logical order. Forget about sentences like, before you do
this... and try to focus on sequential signposting like, first, second, next... etc.
Demonstrate what they should be doing when possible.
Check that students understand the instructions before letting them start (and avoid asking
them yes/no questions like "Do you understand?"; chances are they will say "yes" even if they
don't have a clue!)
Think about how you would respond to your instructions. Would you be able to remember as
much as you expect your students to remember? If you think it might be too much for yourself,
then it might be a good idea to trim it down even more.
Also, make sure to get your students' attention before you start giving out the instructions. If
they are not listening or paying attention to you, it will not matter how clear your instructions
are!
STEP 3.1 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): REFLECT

Instructions:
Consider the following:
a) How carefully do you prepare the way you will give instructions in a particular lesson?
b) In what ways do you give instructions?
c) What (if any) problems arise with regard to students understanding your instructions?
STEP 3.2 (DEBATE): NON VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS VS VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS
Instructions:
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Comment on the following two points of view. Does either of them seem to be more acceptable than
the other? (If you feel that depends on particular circumstances, qualify your answer with specific
reference to these circumstances.)
a) Teachers should aim to demonstrate to students as simply and as clearly as possible what
they have to do. Non-verbal instructions are often more effective than verbal.
b) The giving of instructions in the classroom is one of the few genuinely communicative acts
which take place. The teacher should thus exploit this opportunity by making his/her
instructions as natural as possible. If they are complicated and difficult for the students to
understand, learners and the teacher are consequently obliged to negotiate meaning to
achieve an authentic communicative purpose.
STEP 3.3 (ROLE PLAY-PAIR WORK): EVALUATING INSTRUCTIONS
Instructions:
Divide the trainees into two groups. One group will act the first situation described below. The other
group will evaluate the effectiveness of the instruction, keeping in mind any conclusions they may
have reached in discussing the previous question. Then they switch roles.
a) Teacher: 1. Now, Id like you to get into pairs, A and B. A, I want you to ask questions to find
out what is in Bs picture. B, be careful not to let A see your picture. OK, here are the pictures.
Thats right, Ann, turn away from Jane so she cant see it. Everyone, look at Ann and Jane
and see how they are sitting. Thats right. Good.
b) The teacher gets the attention of the whole class. Then she gives a picture to Ann and
gestures to her not to reveal it to others. The teacher asks Ann three or four questions to find
out what is in the picture. She then gestures to Tom (who is on the opposite side of the room)
to continue the questions. She then uses gesture to divide the students into pairs and gives
one student in each pair a picture. She says, OK? Now, you.
STEP 3.4 (GROUP WORK): PROBLEM SOLVING SIMULATION
Instructions:
Look at the following situations and identify what might have gone wrong. What else could the teacher
have done? Present your findings to the other groups.
a) (Class of any level) The teacher hands out a passage for the students to read. She then tells them
to read it very quickly in order to extract the gist. The students begin to read painstakingly.
b)
i)
ii)
iii)
(Lower-intermediate class) The teacher wants to teach the question How long +Present
Perfect Continuous. She wants the students to repeat How long have you been studying
English? but, instead, the students answer her Six months.
(Lower-intermediate class) The teacher has drilled the question How long have you been
studying English?, and now wants the students to ask each other across the class and to
elicit the appropriate answers. However, the students keep repeating the question.
(Elementary class) The class is learning and practising the simple present. The teacher
has drilled the question What time do you get up? and now wants the students to ask
other questions beginning What time do you? However, the students keep asking
What time do you get up?
c) (Elementary class) The teacher wants the students to do an exercise from their work books for
homework. She explains that she wants the students to write the answers on a piece of paper to hand
in. In the next lesson she discovers that most of the students have written their answers in the
workbook. She cannot collect these in because they will need them for their homework.
d) (Advanced class) The teacher has asked each student to prepare a short presentation on a topic of
their own interest to give to the rest of the class. She discovers that many of the students have written
down the text of the presentation and feel unprepared to give it without reading out what they have
written.
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Activity 4: Planning Patterns of Interaction in Class

Interaction between teacher and students is an essential part of teaching learning process. Classroom
interaction encompasses the communication exchanges between the teacher and the students (and
among students themselves) together with all the strategies used by the teacher to:
facilitate comprehension;
gather and maintain students attention and involvement in the activities;
encourage and ensure the participation of all students;
provide feedback, deal with disruptive behaviour;

STEP 4.1 (GROUP WORK): TO GROUP WORK OR NOT TO GROUP WORK?
Instructions:
Divide trainees in groups and ask them to answer the first question. Elicit the best ones and write them
on a flipchart. Follow the same procedure for question 2. For question 3, the groups will have to make
a poster to be used in a workshop on classroom interaction, designed for in-service training.
1. Make a list of arguments that a teacher might advance against the use of pair work and group
work in the classroom.
2. Make a list of arguments that students might advance against the use of pair work and group
work in the classroom.
3. Make a list of arguments you might use in order to persuade teachers and students who were
resistant to the idea of working in pairs and groups and who advanced the points you have
listed in answering questions 1 and 2.
Example: An argument which might be advanced against the use of pair work and group work is that
this may encourage students to speak in their own language.
STEP 4.2 (PAIR WORK): GROUPING PATTERNS
Instructions:
Look at the following list of some of the activities students might engage in the classroom. Indicate by
placing a tick in the appropriate column whether you think the most appropriate grouping for the
activity would be pairs (P), groups of three to five (G) or individual work (I). Discuss the reasons for
your decisions.
ACTIVITY
Doing course book grammar exercises

Doing course book vocabulary exercises
Reading comprehension passages
Answering comprehension questions
Preparing arguments for a discussion for written
composition
Writing dialogues
Brainstorming a lexical field
Doing a revision test
Talking about topics of personal life
Using a dictionary to research vocabulary relating to a
special topic
Repeating words and phrases to improve pronunciation
Role-playing a situation to practise exponents of a
particular function (e.g. inviting)
Activity 5: Students attitudes to different patterns of interaction

Different learners and groups of learners may have different attitudes. These attitudes may have been
conditioned by their having had very little exposure or very little productive exposure to particular
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patterns of interaction (for example, some groups of learners may have had no experience of group
work in the class).
STEP 5.1 (GROUP WORK): QUESTIONNAIRE
Instructions:
Devise a very brief questionnaire (maximum 5 items) to help you discover the attitude of some of your
students towards aspects of group work and pair work.
Different members of your group may decide to explore different aspects of this question. For
example, one teacher may compare the responses of different levels of students to one question only.
Another may ask questions to see how the nature of the activity affects students preferences, and yet
another might explore how the students preferences are affected by who they are paired with.
The following is an example of some of the kinds of items you might want to include in the
questionnaire.
Example:
Sometimes you work in class:
on your own (e.g. silent reading)
with the whole class (e.g. listening to the teacher)
with one other student
with other students in a small group
When you work on a grammar exercise from the course book, do you like:
working on your own?
working with one other student?
working with other students in a small group?
Indicate your preferences by putting a number by each of the possibilities:
I dont like this.
I quite like this.
I like this a lot
STEP 5.2 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): PROBLEM SOLVING
Instructions:
Identify the possible causes residing at the level of classroom interaction for the following negative
experiences encountered by students; then make some suggestions on how to avoid them:
POSSIBLE
CAUSES
WHAT STUDENTS SAY
POSSIBLE
REMEDIES
We spent ten lessons conjugating the past

tense, but on the test there were only two
conjugations.
I never learn anything from tests because the
teacher never corrects the mistakes I make, so I
end up at the same place I was before I took the
tests, except now I also have a bad grade.
The teacher bases the grade on one test, so if I
do not feel well on the same day the test was
given, I flunk the course.
I dont have a clue about what the text was
about but I got 98% on the reading test.
I dont see the connection between the test and
my knowledge. Otherwise, how can I explain
the fact that I get good grades on English tests,
but last week when I met an American I couldnt
say anything in English? How come we never
speak in tests?
I feel that in order to do well in the test you have
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to get in the head of the examiner.
Activity 6: Autonomy and learning

It is often argued that among the attributes of a good language learner is the ability and willingness to
take responsibility for learning, to initiate and to take risks-the good learner is one who:
-takes decisions with regard to:
areas of language to focus on
activities to facilitate learning
strategies to apply in learning, and
-actively seeks:
information
opportunities for practice
assistance from proficient language users and general resources (dictionaries, reference
grammars, etc)
STEP 6.1(FRONTAL): REFLECT
Instructions:
To what extent does your own experience of learning and teaching validate the argument about the
attributes of a good language learner? (For example, can you find examples of successful learning by
teacher-dependent learners who resist taking responsibility for their learning?)
STEP 6.2 (PAIR WORK): GOOD LEARNER
To what extent do the following classroom activities encourage the development of the qualities
previously mentioned?
a. The teacher presents some vocabulary using pictures, mime, explanation and
translation.
b. The teacher asks the class to research a topic and (using a bilingual dictionary) to
look up six words of key relevance to the topic that they know in their own language
but whose meaning they are unable to express in English. In the next lesson he asks
the students to pool the information that they acquire through this.
c. The teacher asks the class to prepare a reading passage by looking up unfamiliar
words at home before it is studied in class.
d. The teacher distributes a reading passage to the class. After a set period of time he
asks individual students questions about the information contained in the text. He
expands and corrects the answers elicited.
e. Students are appointed to find passages for the class to study. The teacher devises
comprehension tasks. Working in groups, students choose tasks and collaborate in
answering them.
f. Students visit the school library in class time and select books to read. Time for
reading is provided in class and ultimately class time is also devoted to discussion of
what the students have read.
g. Time in class is devoted to competition activities in which students answer questions
about grammar and vocabulary by locating and reading the relevant information in
reference grammars.
h. Grammar exercises are set for homework and the teacher subsequently goes over
these in class.
i. Students are asked to write a composition at home after the language and the topic
have been prepared in class.
j. The teacher decides to abandon the course materials for a period of time. Instead the
class is engaged in working on a project to produce a series of handouts presenting
information about their town in English. He provides models for the class to read (from
tourist brochures about British cities), and cassettes of expatriate native speakers
discussing problems they may have (real or contrived) about finding things to do in
their leisure time.
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Example Item a): Ostensibly this approach is likely to encourage dependence on the teacher rather
than the development of autonomous learning (an autonomy-encouraging approach might involve the
learners selecting vocabulary items they want to learn, researching vocabulary in dictionaries or
working out the meaning of words from context and the grammatical characteristics of the words from
context and the grammatical characteristics of the words from analogy with other English words they
know). However, even within this teachers approach there is a little room for encouraging autonomy.
For example, giving students time to recall or guess words in response to a picture would be more
helpful in this respect than simply telling the students the word.
STEP 6.3 (BRAINSTORMING): DEVELOPING AUTONOMY
Instructions:
Answer the question, providing examples from your own teaching experience.
In what ways do you or might you develop learner autonomy in your own class?
Activity 7: Ways to improve teaching and learning by using modern technology

A traditional class contains limitations and challenges that affect language learning. The time a teacher
spends with each student is limited. L2 teachers are not native teachers; therefore, it is difficult to
expose students in a classroom to authentic language, especially oral language. Another problem
would be that language learning often focuses on isolated parts that become detached from real
speech. The use of technology provides students with more time on task and a way to minimize these
class limitations.
Today, anyone who has access to the Internet has instant access to other languages. The use of
multimedia helps expose students to these authentic speech exchanges, increases time of on task
and the effectiveness of the study time.
Benefits of using technology
increasing time on task

on line videos can also be used to reinforce in-class teaching activities
technology provides context (technology can help imitate and create the associations, the
social settings, the events, the sounds, the sights, etc. Through video we see things in context;
through audio we make associations from the sounds we hear; through online social programs
we exchange real information with real people who understand what we communicate)
contextualized learning environment (the multimedia combines audio, video, pictures, and text
in new ways that help to create a unique rich learning environment; this type of context allows
students to make new combinations for enhanced learning)
technology frees us from the limitations of a course book (as teachers we are always
supplementing our lessons with our own materials)
technology provides ways to
1. increase the foreign language input that learners are exposed to and
2. enhances the process of how input is converted into intake
Key Words
1. input is all the written and spoken target language that a learner
encounters, whether it is fully comprehended or not
2. intake is limited to the comprehended input that impacts the learner's
developing linguistic system
STEP 7.1 (PAIR WORK): TECHNOLOGY AND CLASS MANAGEMENT
Instructions:
Think of how you could incorporate online video clips into your classroom, for your group of students.
STEP 7.2 (PAIR WORK): AUTONOMOUS PRACTICE USING TECHNOLOGY
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Instructions:
List three ways in which technology can be used to reinforce what was covered in class and to focus
on items that were not covered in class.
STEP 7.3 (INDEPENDENT WORK): REFLECT
Instructions:
Considering autonomy and individual learning styles, what ideas come to your mind related to how
technology can help you increase the time that you spend studying a foreign language?
STEP 7.4 (INDEPENDENT WORK): BLOGGING
Instructions:
Do you think that a discussion blog may provide a context for a teacher, to help in deciding what kind
of follow-up might be appropriate for classroom time? Log on a discussion blog dealing with
autonomy:
http://spacethatnotexist.blogspot.com/;
http://fernandoexperiences.blogspot.com/2010/04/324autonomous-learners.html; http://eisensei.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-will-autonomous-learner-thinkof.html; etc
and look at the user comments. Based on those comments, prepare of list of topics that a teacher
could use as a follow-up for a classroom activity.
STEP 7.5 (INDEPENDENT WORK): MULTIMEDIA
Instructions:
How can the use of technology and multimedia help teachers avoid passive teaching and learning?
STEP 7.6. (GROUP WORK): APPLICATIONS
Instructions:
Consider one of these applications or one of your choice:
Evernote
An application that allows users to copy, collect, sort, and annotate information, either from the Internet
or from direct input
Netvibes
An application that works as a start page with tabs and widgets, including mail, photos, podcasting,
RSS readers, etc
Twitter
A micro-blogging service that allows users to send brief messages to those who are listed as friends
Create a teaching sequence in English based on one of these applications. Remember to keep in
mind:
1. time on task,
2. context,
3. contextualized learning environment,
4. input vs. intake.
References
1.Blatner, A.Using role playing in teaching empathy
2.Harmer, J.The Practice of English Language Teaching
3.Leigh Smith, B. and MacGregor, J.T. What is Collaborative Learning?
4.McDonald, E.Sparking the Minds of Students in Inspiring Teachers
5.Sasson, D.The Teacher as a Classroom Manager, www.suite/
6.Wells, R.Community in the Classroom
www.selfdirectedlearning.com/, Self-Directed Learning
www.coerll.utexas.edu/methods, Foreign Language Teaching Methods
144
1.http://alternativelearningprocesses.blogspot.com/p/ways-to-improve-autonomouslearning.html
http://www.edulink.org/portfolio/philosophies.htm
http://www.classroom-management-success.org/classroom-management-plan sample.htm
http://www.mariajordano.com/articles/autonomous_learning_and_blogs.pdf
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2003/03/2003032702c.htm
16.http://www.academicleadership.org/article/The_influence_of_assertive_classroom_man
agement_strategy_use_on_student-teacher_pedagogical_skills
17. http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ai234/esl-test.php
www.lessonplansinc.com, Classroom Management Strategies
145
MODULE 11 INTERCULTURAL
EDUCATION
146
Activity 1: Intercultural Education

Activity 2: Problems of Intercultural Communication
Activity 3: Intercultural Competence
Activity 4: Developing the Intercultural Dimension in Language Teaching
Activity 5: Culture as a Fifth Skill
Objectives
to increase teachers intercultural awareness, building up their competence to address cultural

diversity in education -to educate with regard to a plurality of ideas (to consider human
diversity in ethnic, racial, social and religious terms as a source for cultural enrichment)-;
to defend equal opportunities;
to make the trainees aware of the necessity of the change from a mono-cultural perspective to
a multiple perspective (in every subject: history, literature, music, art, etc);
to focus on developing a learning community where teaching and learning are conceived as
an active and cooperative process, that inevitably occurs within a social context;
to provide suggestions about how educators can acquire a greater intercultural competence.;
to provide suggestions for linguocultural teaching;
to familiarize the trainees with the concept of culture as a fifth skill (which emphasizes the
learners ability to perceive, to understand and ultimately, accept cultural relativity).
Activity 1: Intercultural Education

Cardoso (1998: 13-14) defines intercultural education as a series of attempts to engage with diverse
cultures and lifestyles showing respect. Intercultural education should promote understanding and
respect for other people and cultures, fight racism and xenophobia, and promote equal opportunities
for all. European countries are characterised by diversity despite efforts to produce an idea of
Europeaness. Europe is multicultural and multilinguistic and therefore interculturality in Europe implies
openness to plurality of values, religions, beliefs and ways of life. (Go to Step 2.1)
Key Words
Multiculturality refers to an undeniable fact: the existence of different cultures.
Pluriculturality may be defined as the most characteristic feature of modern cultures, given that our
present culture (all knowledge and values) have been compiled throughout centuries of contact with
different cultures, and have become a whole, shared by a society.
Interculturality implies interaction among different cultures on the basis of equality and respect.
STEP 1.1 (PAIR WORK): WHAT IS INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION?
INSTRUCTIONS
Consider the following definitions of intercultural education. Choose one definition, expand on it and
then report to the other pairs.
Definitions of intercultural education- suggestions-:
1. Intercultural education engages with diverse cultures and lifestyles showing respect for them.
2. Intercultural education develops transcultural understanding.
3. Intercultural education is about examining differences in cultures and peoples.
4. Intercultural education implies the realisation that the others are different from ourselves and that
they make us re-analyse our own system of values.
5. Intercultural education requires a new attitude in relation to the other and to ourselves.
6. Intercultural education challenges the inherently dominant modes of doing things and thinking about
them.
7. Intercultural education is about stimulating the understanding for otherness.
8. Interculturality admits the mutual influencing of cultures and deals with conflicts among cultures
or/and with their solution.
9. Interculturality recognises that cultures are open one to another and mutually interdependent.
10. Intercultural education requires that we give attention to books/media presentations from different
147
cultures in order to reduce prejudice and to develop analytical and critical thinking.
STEP 1.2 (PAIR WORK): HOW CAN TEACHERS PROMOTE INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION?
INSTRUCTIONS
Use brainstorming to get as many suggestions as you can. Report to the other pairs.
STEP 1.3 (PAIR WORK): WHAT SHOULD BE VALUED AS INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION?
INSTRUCTIONS
Agree on what should be valued as intercultural education.
Activity 2: Problems of Intercultural Communication

STEP 2.1 (PAIR WORK): MULTICULTURAL REALITY IN CLASS
INSTRUCTIONS
Imagine a day at a multicultural school and see whether/how Interculturality is achieved. Consider the
following approaches to Multicultural Reality in class:
1. Lack of adequate response
2. Cultural Assimilation
3. Segregationism
4. Insertion
5. Tolerance
6. Integration
a. Similar to insertion, but implies looking down on somebody.

I accept them, but my culture is the good one.
b.-traditional minority ghetto culture;
-self-imposed (finds safety in group/mere inclusion at school).
c. I want to go on believing in my values but I do not make
you give up yours to become accepted.
d. Total loss of own culture. Gives up his tradition to be
accepted.
e. Unable to communicate/isolation.
f. Accepted but remains different, a foreigner, even if he/she
speaks the language. He/shes often being reminded that
he/she is different.
a. In pairs, match the given approaches with their definitions.

b. Find an example for one of these situations and report to the class.
Ex: Astrid is from Norway. Shes Norwegian but youd only tell because of her physical aspect. She
speaks English with a good accent, and behaves like an English girl in everything she does. She says
she does not miss Norway at all. (cultural assimilation/total loss of own culture)
STEP 2.2 (PAIR WORK): DEVELOPING AWARENESS OF BELONGING TO A WIDER AND
COMPLEX MULTICULTURAL SYSTEM
INSTRUCTIONS
It is not easy to develop an awareness of belonging to a wider and complex multicultural system. Think
of how this can be done.
Activity 3: Intercultural Competence
Inter-comprehension is certainly not the solution to the many problems of intercultural communication,
but it is a prospect of an initial relational approach. Multi-language learning helps one to achieve
consciousness of the various ways of relating in societies characterized by cultures tied to feelings of
belonging. To communicate means in this sense to interact culturally, to be able to see ones own
culture in relation to the culture of the countries of which one studies the languages, and implies the
ability to go beyond stereotyped modalities of relating. So, the concept of Communicative Competence
has evolved into the idea of Intercultural Communicative Competence, given that becoming fluent
in a language undeniably requires the ability to establish relationships with individuals from different
cultural origins.
148
A plurality of languages as a matter of fact leads to a plurality of visions, and commits one to the effort
of decentralizing ones own point of view in order to have a dialogue with different systems of values
and codes of behaviour.
The components of intercultural competence are knowledge, skills and attitudes,
complemented by the values one holds because of one's belonging to a number of social
groups. These values are part of one's social identities.
STEP 3.1 (GROUP WORK): REFLECT
INSTRUCTIONS
Consider the following definitions. Then, answer the questions.
Intercultural attitudes: curiosity and openness, readiness to suspend disbelief about other cultures
and belief about ones own.
Knowledge: can be defined as having two major components: knowledge of social processes, and
knowledge of illustrations of those processes and products; the latter includes knowledge about how
other people are likely to perceive you, as well as some knowledge about other people.
Skills of interpreting and relating: ability to interpret a document or event from another culture, to
explain it and relate it to documents or events from ones own.
Skills of discovery and interaction: ability to acquire new knowledge of a culture and cultural
practices and the ability to operate knowledge, attitudes and skills under the constraints of real-time
communication and interaction.
Critical cultural awareness: an ability to evaluate, critically and on the basis of explicit criteria,
perspectives, practices and products in ones own and other cultures and countries
1. Can the acquisition of intercultural competence be complete and perfect? Justify your Yes/No
answer.
2. What are the skills of comparison, of interpreting and relating crucial for?
3. Why do intercultural speakers need skills of discovery and interaction?
4. How can language teachers contribute to developing intercultural competence?
5. What should intercultural education be concerned with?
STEP 3.2 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): WHAT IS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE?
INSTRUCTIONS
Read the story below and try to identify knowledge, skills and attitudes of the characters that might
have something to do with intercultural competence.
FISH IS FISH
At the edge of the woods there was a pond, and there a minnow and a tadpole swam among
the weeds. They were inseparable friends.
One morning the tadpole discovered that during the night he had grown two little legs. Look, he
said triumphantly. Look, I am a frog! Nonsense, said the minnow. How could you be a frog if
only last night you were a little fish, just like me! They argued and argued until finally the
tadpole said, Frogs are frogs and fish is fish and that is that!
In the weeks that followed, the tadpole grew tiny front legs and his tail got smaller and smaller.
And then one fine day, a real frog now, he climbed out of the water and onto the grassy bank.
The minnow too had grown and had become a fully-fledged fish. He often wondered where his
four-footed friend had gone. But days and weeks went by and the frog did not return.
Then one day, with a happy splash that shook the weeds, the frog jumped into the pond. Where
have you been? asked the fish excitedly. I have been about the world, hopping here and there,
said the frog, and I have seen extraordinary things.
Like what? asked the fish.
Birds, said the frog mysteriously.
Birds! And he told the fish about the birds who had wings, and two legs, and many, many
colours.
As the frog talked, his friend saw the birds fly through his mind like large feathered fish. What
else? asked the fish impatiently.
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Cows, said the frog. Cows! They have four legs, horns, eat grass, and carry pink bags of
milk.
And people! said the frog. Men, women, children!
And he talked and talked until it was dark in the pond.
But the picture in the fishs mind was full of lights and colours and marvellous things and he
couldnt sleep. Ah, if he could only jump about like his friend, and see that wonderful world.
And so the days went by. The frog had gone and the fish just lay there dreaming about birds in
flight, grazing cows, and those strange animals, all dressed up, that his friend called people.
One day he finally decided that come what may, he too must see them. And so, with a mighty
whack of the tail, he jumped clear out of the water onto the bank. He landed in the dry, warm
grass and there he lay gasping for air, unable to breathe or to move.
Help, he groaned feebly.
Luckily the frog, who had been hunting butterflies nearby, saw him and with all his strength
pushed him back into the pond. Still stunned, the fish floated about for an instant. Then he
breathed deeply, letting the clean cool water run through his gills. Now he felt weightless again
and with an ever-so-slight motion of the tail he could move to and fro, up and down, as before.
The sunrays reached down within the weeds and gently shifted patches of luminous colour.
This world was surely the most beautiful of all worlds. He smiled at his friend the frog, who sat
watching from a lily leaf.
You were right, he said. Fish is fish.
STEP 3.3 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): CASE STUDY
According to FREPA (The Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches to Languages and
Cultures), the final product of a project coordinated by The European Centre for Modern Languages of
The Council of Europe, intercultural competence includes:
1. Competence in the construction and broadening of a plural linguistic and cultural repertoire
a competence in profiting from ones own inter-cultural / inter-language experiences
whether they are positive, problematic or frankly negative;
a competence in applying systematic and controlled learning approaches in a context
of otherness, in either an institutional or school context, in groups or individually.
2. Competence in managing linguistic and cultural communication in a context of otherness
a
competence
in
resolving
conflict,
overcoming
obstacles,
clarifying
misunderstandings
a competence in negotiation, which is the foundation for establishing contacts and
relationships in a context of otherness;
a competence in mediation, which is the foundation for establishing relationships between
languages, between cultures and between people;
a competence of adaptability, which calls on all the resources one has to approach what is
unfamiliar, different.
3. Intermediate competences, which clearly fit into the two zones:
a competence of decentring, which describes a key feature of the aims of pluralistic

approaches, involving a change of vantage point, seeing things in a relative way, thanks to a
number of resources stemming from attitudes, skills and knowledge;
a competence in making sense of unfamiliar linguistic and/or cultural features, refusing
to accept (communicative or learning) failure, using all the resources available, especially
those based on inter-comprehension;
a competence of distancing which, based on a range of resources, allows a critical
approach to situations, keeping control, and avoids being completely immersed in the
immediate interaction or learning activity;
a competence in critical analysis of the (communicative and/or learning) activities one
is involved in (close to what is sometimes called critical awareness) which puts the focus on
the resources applied after the distancing has been carried out;
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a competence for recognising the Other, and otherness, in what is different and similar.
Here we have an expression (see the notes on terminology) which can be applied to both
skills (recognise) and attitudes (accept).
INSTRUCTIONS
Considering the description of intercultural competence according to FREPA, end the following
sentences/answer the questions that follow:
1. What happened to the fish?
It was ....
a.
b.
c.
2. The fish did have ...... .
a.
b.
c.
3. But the moment it left the water the fish failed because it had:
a.
b.
c.
4. Having a few, isolated resources, the fish remained ..................... .
Ex. 1. What happened to the fish?
a. It was surprised to see the tadpole change into a frog
b. It was curious to hear about the new world the frog described upon his return
c. It was only able to partly understand the world outside the water, and only from its own point
of view
STEP 3.4 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): INTERCULTURAL EXPERIENCE
INSTRUCTIONS
Lets leave the fish there for the moment, and lets transpose ourselves to our cultural world. Lets
have a look at the cross-cultural experiences of two ladies: a Pole and a French lady. Then comment
on the situations presented in terms of cultural misunderstanding that led to them.
Im Polish, and I was invited for dinner while in Paris together with an Englishman and a
Spaniard. We all arrived at the door at the same time. Our host asked us to come in. Being
the only lady in the group I tried to go in first, but I did not have the time as the Englishman
preceded me. The Spaniard then kept the door open for me and made a gesture inviting me
in before him. We passed a comment about how rude the Englishman was!
Im French. Before going to China I learned a few essential phrases and felt very confident in
my ability to communicate. Soon after I arrived there, I found myself in front of a cake stall. I
pointed my finger at the object I desired and said Those two in Chinese, pointing my finger
at the object. The seller hesitated a little, looked at my fingers and started to put more and
more cakes in the bag. No, no, two I repeated again putting two fingers on my nose. She
filled the bag and asked me to pay for my custom. I was very frustrated, and only later did I
learn that placing the thumb and the index finger on my nose pointing outwards meant eight.
STEP 3.5 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): GOOD GUYS!

INSTRUCTIONS
Read what a teacher wrote when asked to share a personal intercultural experience
I was part of an international group of colleagues about to enter an Austrian restaurant for an evening
meal. Next to me was an Austrian gentleman who, as soon as we got to the door rushed to open it. At
first I thought he was really polite and so I quickly moved forward towards the door. However, to my
amazement, he stepped ahead of me, and entered before me.
151
I was slightly offended, but once we were seated he explained to me that in Austria it was considered
polite for a man to precede the woman upon entering, and to let the woman out first when leaving the
building!
I think he had noticed that I felt uncomfortable with his action, and gave me the opportunity to discuss
our customs and expectations for a while.
After that little talk I enjoyed the meal better!
Now identify the relevant competences that The Austrian gentleman had, according to FREPA.
Activity 4: Developing the Intercultural Dimension in Language Teaching
The 'Common European Framework' introduces the 'Intercultural Dimension' into the aims of language
teaching. Its essence is to help language learners to interact with speakers of other languages on
equal terms, and to be aware of their own identities and those of their interlocutors. It is the hope that
language learners who thus become 'intercultural speakers' will be successful not only in
communicating information but also in developing a human relationship with people of other languages
and cultures.
Developing the intercultural dimension in language teaching involves recognising that the aims are:
1. to give learners intercultural competence as well as linguistic competence;
2. to prepare them for interaction with people of other cultures;
3. to enable them to understand and accept people from other cultures as individuals with other
distinctive perspectives, values and behaviours;
4. to help them to see that such interaction is an enriching experience.
Language teaching with an intercultural dimension aims at helping learners to acquire the linguistic
competence needed to communicate in speaking or writing, to formulate what they want to say/write
in correct and appropriate ways.
But it also develops their intercultural competence i.e. their ability to ensure a shared understanding
by people of different social identities, and their ability to interact with people as complex human
beings with multiple identities and their own individuality.
When developing intercultural skills, teachers can make use of:
1. Themes treated in text-books can lend themselves to development in an intercultural and critical
perspective. The key principle is to get learners to compare the theme in a familiar situation with
examples from an unfamiliar context.
For instance the theme of sport can be examined from many perspectives, including:
Gender are there sports that are, in the familiar context or in the unfamiliar context, predominantly
played by men or by women? Are things changing?
Age are there sports for younger people and older people?
Region are there local sports? Do people, including the learners, identify with local teams? Do
some teams have a particular cultural tradition?
Religion are there religious objections to playing sport, or days when some people choose not to
do sport because of religious observance?
Racism is this found in spectator sports? Are the players of foreign teams, or foreign players in
local teams always treated with respect? Are there incidents of racist chants or insults?
Other themes e.g. food, homes, school, tourism, leisure, can receive a similarly critical perspective.
2. Grammatical exercises which can reinforce prejudice and stereotypes or challenge them. For
instance female subjects may be linked to stereotypically female activities or actions (Mary likes
cooking; John likes football); stereotyping generalisations may be encouraged about groups (The
Chinese like; Germans are..; Older people..). Teachers can encourage learners to comment on
such statements and challenge them.
Similar exercises can be proposed, which include a broader view of culture (e.g. use a wider range of
names; include activities more likely to be enjoyed by minority groups, or clothes worn by minorities;
include a wide range of names of countries and peoples, not just European and North American).
152
Starting from the exercises proposed by the text-book, learners can devise further exercises,
reinforcing the same grammatical structures, but using a different range of contexts and examples.
They can then swap exercises and work on examples provided by other learners.
3. The inclusion of vocabulary that helps learners talk about cultural diversity. This can include
terms such as: human rights; equality; dignity; gender; bias; prejudice; stereotype; racism; ethnic
minority; and the names of ethnic groups, including white groups.
STEP 4.1 (GROUP WORK): HOW CAN TEACHERS DEVELOP THE INTERCULTURAL
DIMENSION IN TEACHING?
INSTRUCTIONS
Brainstorm and agree on what a teacher could do to develop the intercultural dimension in language
teaching. Report to the other groups.
STEP 4.2 (GROUP WORK): EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IS POWERFUL IN DEVELOPING SELFAWARENESS AS WELL AS PERCEPTIONS OF OTHER COUNTRIES.
INSTRUCTIONS
Starting from the statement Experiential learning is powerful in developing self-awareness as well as
perceptions of other countries., devise two activities to stimulate the intercultural dimension in
language teaching.
STEP 4.3 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): TEACHERS ROLE
1. Which is, according to you, the role of the teacher interested in developing the intercultural
dimension in language teaching?
2. Should the teachers be concerned about how much information they provide or about other
competences? If so, which would be these other competences?
STEP 4.4 (GROUP WORK): MEANS
INSTRUCTIONS
In groups, devise three activities to develop intercultural skills making use of:
1. Themes
2. Grammatical exercises
3. Vocabulary
Activity 5: Culture as a Fifth Skill
Where culture leads, language will follow
Culture is an essential part of our language, our past, our present. Language without cultural
relevance is useless. In keeping with the convention within the field of Foreign Language education of
referring to language abilities as separate skills ( e.g. , listening, speaking, reading, writing), teachers
often refer to culture as the fifth skill. Unlike vocabulary and grammar, which are concrete in their
content, culture is difficult to define.
In general, culture as the fifth skill emphasizes the learners ability to perceive, to understand and
ultimately, accept cultural relativity.
Culture as a fifth skill refers to a set of abilities:
1. the ability to perceive and recognize cultural differences
2. the ability to accept cultural differences
3. the ability to appreciate and value cultural differences
STEP 5.1 (PAIR WORK):
INSTRUCTIONS
Consider the following definitions of Culture:
1. Learning language in isolation of its cultural roots prevents one from becoming socialized into
its contextual use. Knowledge of linguistic structure alone does not carry with it any special
insight into the political, social, religious, or economic system. (1976) Need Seelye-.
153
2. We must focus on both appropriate content and activities that enable students to assimilate
the content. Activities should encourage them to go beyond fact, so they begin to perceive
and experience vicariously the deeper levels of the culture of the speakers of the language
(1981).- Wilga RiversA. How might you delineate the differences between linguistic competence and cultural
competence in Seelyes terms?
Do you think that non-native speakers/learners of language should as Rivers suggests, try to
approximate near-native proficiency? Or will they always be perceived as foreign, so why bother with
all of the cultural details?
STEP 5.2 (PAIR WORK): USING ART TO TEACH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
INSTRUCTIONS
Devise a lesson plan for a unit intended to Teach Language and Culture Using Art.
(I)
(II)
(III)
(IV)
(V)
(VI)
(VII)
define your target group: students level (justify your choice);

specify the objectives and the skills you intend to focus on;
devise the activities by means of which you reach your objectives and specify the
estimated time for each;
specify the strategies you intend to use;
specify the materials you intend to use;
specify the teachers role and the results of the activities;
specify the number of classes you plan for the whole activity.
For ideas and a sample lesson you may go to http//www.bbc.co.uk (the Culture section). Do not
forget to place the chosen link embedded in your materials.
Linguoculture
In the process of learning, the union of language and information relating to the national culture is
called linguocultural teaching Kostomrov and Vereshchagin, Language Teaching Methods:Culture
Video-based Instruction
Video materials provide a unique opportunity to present, teach and internalize authentic information
linguistic, cultural and visual about the target country. Because these materials can be edited for
presentation, they are also excellent venues for focusing the students attention on specific details and
for creating exercise materials based on the video itself. Judicious use of these materials can
substantially increase the quantity and quality of time spent on task with language and culture.
STEP 5.3 (GROUP WORK): AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Choose a video commercial/travel add/piece of news as an example of an authentic video segment.
Use the following criteria for assessing audio/visual correlation to determine whether or not this
segment might be suitable for an English class:
Is the video track essential to complete understanding?

Does the video track facilitate comprehension of the text?
Can the visuals stand alone without the text?
For suggestions and materials you may go to http//www.bbc.co.uk (the video section). Do not forget
to place the chosen link embedded in your materials.
2. Devise Preview, Task Viewing, and Follow-up exercises for the chosen video commercial/travel
add/piece of news. Include items based on discreet points of language (particular lexicon, a point of
grammar, a unique usage, etc), as well as on cultural information.
154
References
1. Byram, M., Gribkova, B. and Starkey, H. Developing The Intercultural Dimension In Language
Teaching
2. Nicolaescu, C.Linguistic Education and Interculturality
3. Martn Dez, S. Interculturality in Education
- http://youtu.be/J8RhRY_541Q
- http//iteslj.org/Lessons
- http://www.coerll.utexas.edu/methods, Foreign Language Teaching Methods
- Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches to Languages and Cultures, Version 3 May
2010
- http://carap.ecml.at/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=ePy2ctGbLnI%3D&tabid=425&language=en-GB
- Modules on intercultural Education, http://www.readcom.info/2.doc
155
MODULE 12 - TEACHING
AIDS, STRATEGIES,
METHODOLOGY,
MODERN TECHNIQUES
AND TOOLS USED TO
FACILITATE GUIDED
AND AUTONOMOUS
LEARNING OF ENGLISH
AS A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE
156
157
Activity 1: Motivating tasks

Activity 2: Methodology around the clock
Activity 3: Language learning and communication strategies
Activity 4: Authentic Materials
Activity 5: Modern techniques and tools: Podcast, Audacity, Survey Monkey,
conference, Wiki
Audio
Objectives
to make trainees aware of the importance of selecting class materials in order to motivate their
students
to have trainees explore the history and applications of English Language Teaching, through a
series of communicative tasks
to build participants awareness of the existence and use of learning strategies in individual
learners
to have participants think about teaching strategies they can use in their classes that will help
their learners develop their own set of learning strategies to facilitate learning
to make trainees begin thinking positively and creatively about what authentic materials they
can find and adapt to their own local teaching situations.;
to get trainees familiar with new online tools;
to provide resources for teachers.
Activity 1: Motivating tasks

Can teaching aids motivate students?
STEP 1.1 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): REFLECT
INSTRUCTIONS
Lets consider the usefulness of the Internet as a classroom resource. Firstly, think about:
What is motivation?
What motivates you?
What motivates your students?
Then, armed with this knowledge, you are going to choose 2 tasks that would motivate your students,
for you to use in your language classroom.
STEP 1.2 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): SIMULATION
INSTRUCTIONS
Imagine the following situation:
You have been commissioned by an EFL magazine to produce a poster presentation for your next
national conference on the subject of motivation. The editor wants you to combine theory and practical
activities.
To complete this Web quest, you will need to do the following:
15
2.1. Internet Research - find out about motivated people

2.2. Make a chart of motivating/demotivating factors
2.3. Internet Research choose a motivating task from TEFL websites
2.4. Do a Poster presentation
2.5. Do a Self-evaluation
158
STEP 1.2.1 (GROUP WORK): FINDING OUT ABOUT MOTIVATING PEOPLE

INSTRUCTIONS
Some people achieve many incredible things in their lifetime and we can all learn a lot from them. In
fact some of them are paid to talk about what motivates them. Your first task is to find out about these
motivated people.
Follow the link to this site- http://www.inspirationalspeakers.co.uk and find the answers to these
questions. Then write 3 more questions of your own for someone else in your group.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
What happened to Nigel Vardy on Mount McKinley?

How many years was Roger Black in high level athletics for?
What is Frank Furness job?
Which further education institute did Danielle graduate from? What was her grade?
Which sport does Jayant Mistry compete in?
Now, browse this site looking at the bio data of people that interest you. If you had to invite one of
these inspirational people to give a talk to your students who would you choose? Why? Share your
ideas with your partner/group.
STEP 1.2.2 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): RESEARCH MAKE A CHART
INSTRUCTIONS
Now you need to read about what motivation is and consequently what motivates groups of people.
Think of one of your learner groups (pre-teens/ late-teens /adults). You could also consider how
gender affects motivation.
Look at the following websites and make a list of things that motivate and demotivate people:
http://www.d.umn.edu/student/loon/acad/strat/motivate.html
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/motivation/motivate.html
http://www.hltmag.co.uk/jan04/mart2.htm
http://www.greatday.com/motivate/
http://www.tefl.net/esl-articles/motivation-esl.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_7888586_motivate-esl-students-learn.html
Tip: Making your chart.
Now that you have your information, you need to think about how you are going to present it. You will
need to put this onto your poster presentation. Avoid any long text. Consider a table (Fig. 4), Venn
Diagram (Fig. 5) or any other visual presentation. A Venn Diagram efficiently shows individual areas &
areas that overlap. It can be adapted for at least 2 areas.
Motivates
Demotivates
Fig 4 Table
159
Fig 5 Venn Diagram

STEP 1.2.3 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): MORE RESEARCH: CHOOSE A MOTIVATING TASK FROM
TEFL WEBSITES
INSTRUCTIONS
Choose a skill/topic from below (A, B, C, D, E, F, or G). Scan through the websites in your section to
find a motivating activity to put into your poster presentation. Bookmark sites and links that you like
(add to favourites).
Section A. Reading
www.onestopenglish.com
www.oup.com/elt
www.longman-elt.com
www.eslcafe.com
www.linguistic-funland.com
www.english-forum.com
www.englishnow.co.uk
Section B. Listening Resources
www.esl-lab.com
www.englishlistening.com
Section C. News/Media
1 www.bbc.co.uk
2 www.newspapers.com
3 www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
Comprehensive BBC website

Newspapers online
Useful vocab news items
Section D. Films
www.hollywood.com
www.imdb.com
www.film.com
Hollywood site
The Internet movie database
Trailers, news and reviews
Section E. Song Lyrics

1 www.letssingit.com
Section F. Reference
1 http://titania.cobuild.collins.co.uk
2 www.encarta.msn.com/encartahome.asp
3 www.britannica.com
4 www.biography.com
5 www.s9.com/biography
COBUILD dictionary homepage

Encarta encyclopedia homepage
Encyclopedia Britannica
Biographies of famous people
(see ETP 17 for classroom ideas)
Section G. Tests/Exams
1 www.cambridge-efl.org.uk
2 www.ielts.org
3 www.toefl.org
4 www.toeic.org
STEP 1.2.4 (GROUP WORK): POSTER PRESENTATION
INSTRUCTIONS
Look at how to do a poster presentation. This site gives lots of useful tips on how /how not to put your
poster together. Take notes of points that are relevant to you and your teaching situation.
http://www.kumc.edu/SAH/OTEd/jradel/Poster_Presentations/PstrStart.html
You could also choose a catchy title.
e.g. Theres no greater inspiration than a role model.
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This site http://www.greatday.com/motivate/ sends you daily motivating messages by email
Activity 2: Methodology around the clock

STEP 2.1 (INDIVIDUAL WORK): Individual task
INSTRUCTIONS
To gain a fuller picture of some of the alternative methodologies, we are going to look at eight of them
in detail. You will be asked to choose only one of these to research.
Communicative Language Teaching is recognised as the norm in western ELT practice, but it has
drawn on many of the preceding experimental methods and approaches, which we are going to look at
now.
Working individually, read and make brief notes on just one of the following methodologies or
approaches:
select your chosen topic from the headings below (Grammar-Translation to the Lexical
Approach) and claim your title;
having secured your topic, please read the relevant articles provided, then make up five
questions to ask your course mates, on your chosen topic;
these questions should be capable of eliciting a sensible overview of the methodology /
approach concerned, but should require only short answers, for example: If I walked into your
classroom, how would it look?
save your questions in a word doc entitled (my topic) questions (eg: My Grammar Translation
Questions).
Grammar-Translation
http://www.nthuleen.com/papers/720report.html
http://www.aber.ac.uk/~mflwww/seclangacq/langteach3.html
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/m/x/mxh392/insys441/Methodology/grammar_translation.htm
Silent Way
http://www.englishraven.com/method_silent.html
Suggestopedia
http://www.jwelford.demon.co.uk/brainwaremap/suggest.html
http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aa042699.htm
http://www.englishraven.com/method_suggest.html
Audiolingual
http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/esl0308.html
http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/esl0312.html
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ge9m-mtmt/audioandcommu.htm
The Natural Approach
http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/LANGUAGELEARNING/WaysToApproachLanguageLearning/TheNatural
Approach.htm
http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/NatApprTheory-Eng/Default.htm
Direct method
http://www.aber.ac.uk/~mflwww/seclangacq/langteach5.html
http://www.aber.ac.uk/%7Emflwww/seclangacq/langteach5.html
http://www.arlt.co.uk/dhtml/directmethod1.php how to teach Latin using the Direct Method!
Community Language learning
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/cll.shtml
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http://members.fortunecity.com/nadabs/communitylearn.html
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/cll.shtml
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Koba-CLL.html
Task-Based Learning
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/task_based.shtml
http://www.languages.dk/methods/documents/TBL_presentation.pdf
TPR
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/tpr.shtml
http://www.tpr-world.com/ABC.html
http://www.tprsource.com/asher.htm
Lexical Approach
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/lexical_approach1.shtml
http://writing.berkeley.edu/TESL-EJ/ej09/r10.html
http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0102lexical.html
http://www.nspeak.com/lexical.htm
The Big Name Gallery search the websites and put a name to the photo, and a method to
the name!
Caleb Gattengo / James Asher / Stephen Krashen

Check your answers on these web links:
a) http://www.google.com/u/atm?q=Gattegno+Anthology&sa=Go...
b) http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html
c) http://www.tpr-world.com/originator.html
STEP 2.2 (GROUP WORK): SHARING
INSTRUCTIONS
This next task is designed so as to provide you with a brief overview of all the methods and
approaches you have been studying together. Go back to the project forum or to the flipchart and post
your replies to each of the set of five questions your course mates have set you.
These additional links will help you:
http://www.auburn.edu/~nunnath/engl6240/principl.html
http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/ALMMethods.htm
Mark your posts (your topic Answers eg: Grammar Translation Answers).
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Activity 3: Language learning and communication strategies

Learning Strategies
Students can become better learners if they are able to use learning strategies. Good language
learners develop their own set of these strategies. In second language acquisition literature, strategies
carry different definitions and fall into a variety of categories. Some common concepts are:
Learning or academic strategies.
Metacognitive and cognitive strategies.
Social and affective strategies.
The teachers role is to consciously build strategy training into the lessons to help students develop
their own strategies. First, teachers need to learn about their students backgrounds, identify student
problems, and find out what strategies learners are currently using. They can do this through
observation, by informally talking with the students, interviewing them, or having formal consultations.
They then need to help students figure out which strategies might work best for them. As students
become more adept at identifying and applying strategies for themselves, they become better selfteachers.
STEP 3.1 (INDIVIDUAL WORK/GROUP WORK): STRATEGIES
PRE-VIEWING
INSTRUCTIONS
Go through Readings A and B prior to viewing the video.
WHILE-VIEWING
TASK A.
INSTRUCTIONS
At the beginning of the video, you will hear and see a list a characteristics and strategies that are
shared by successful language learners. While listening, try to make notes on as many of them as you
can recall. Check with others and compare your lists, adding them as needed. Can you agree on a
definition for success in your learners?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siNy5vXWbOY
TASK B.
INSTRUCTIONS
Types of strategies in the classroom
1. Note that teaching and learning strategies are closely related. What strategies do the articles
describe? As you watch the video, make note of any strategies from the readings that you see or hear
the teacher talks about in the video.
Language-specific skills
2. View the video again. List the language-specific skills that students use in the class and the
activities that students are doing. Note which skills are used during each activity and how they are
integrated. What strategies might be at work?
Affective factors
3. View the tape a third time and try to list affective factors, both those that the teacher planned or
used and those that seem part of the class dynamic. What strategies might be at work from this
perspective?
AFTER-VIEWING
INSTRUCTIONS
I. Compare your notes with those of others in your group for items 1-3 from WHILE-VIEWING TASK
B. Discuss what was the same or different and why. Use the following reflection questions as a
discussion guide.
1. How would you categorize most of the strategies that you observed (whether directly or
through inference)? Were they teaching or learning strategies, or some combination of both?
When is learning self-teaching in a strategies context? Which specific strategies do you think
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the students in this class are utilizing as they do the activities? One thing the teacher talked
about was the challenges her students had. What were some of these challenges and how did
they affect learning? What kinds of challenges do your own students face?
2. Compare notes on language-specific skills and activities. How are the skills integrated in the
activities? What strategies does the teacher model or use to help students focus on important
points and understand content? Do you use any of these? If so, which ones, and how do you
use them?
3. What affective factors were present in the organization of the classroom space? In the lesson
format and way the teacher had students do the work? Do you think they were effective?
Explain your answer to others in your group.
II. FOLLOW UP
INSTRUCTIONS
II.1.
In the resources provided in this section, you have seen a few examples and ideas from other
teachers classes.
How could you use some of the strategies and techniques listed to accomplish or improve on work you
have already done with the following items?
Create a trusting classroom atmosphere that encourages risk-taking and participation.

Build student confidence in their ability to use the language.
Improve learners cognitive processing.
Activate schema.
Help students transfer their skills to appropriate language use in your situation, perhaps for
content classes that are taught in English, for Internet accessibility, for understanding music
and movies, or for talking with foreigners.
Talk about your ideas with a partner or with your group.

II.2.
INSTRUCTIONS
By yourself or with a partner, design a portion of a lesson that includes the use of some of the
strategies you listed.
II.3.
Share your plan with others. Explain what activity would come before and after your segment. Get
peer ideas and feedback.
OTHER SUGGESTED RESOURCES
How to Make a Great Poster
Author: Dina F. Mandoli, University of Washington, Department of Botany
Web site: http://www.aspb.org/education/poster.cfm
ProTeacher! Bulletin Board Ideas
Web site: http://www.proteacher.com/030004.shtml
Teacher Helpers, Bulletin Board Ideas
Author: Kathy Schrock
Web site: http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/bulletin/
RESOURCE ARTICLES
Reading A, ERIC EC Digest #E638: Strategy Instruction
Author: Pat Beckman
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/e638.html
Reading B, Strategy Training for Second Language Learners, Eric Digest EDO-FL-03-02
Author: Andrew Cohen
164
http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/digest_pdfs/0302cohen.pdf
Activity 4: Using authentic materials
Authentic Materials
The textbook is a powerful teaching tool that provides many benefits to teachers. Recently, textbooks
have begun to include more authentic materials. Teachers are also using more and more authentic
materials to supplement the textbook. Authentic materials are those used in the target culture for
actual communicative needs.
Here are some reasons for using authentic materials in the classroom:
They enable the learner to hear, read, and produce language as it is used in the target culture.
They reflect real use of language in culturally appropriate contexts.
They are interesting and motivating.
They can be chosen according to learner interests or needs, or be chosen by learners themselves for
their own purposes.
Through their use, learners can begin to develop survival language skills, learning to develop a
tolerance for what they cannot understand in order to get as much information as they can from what
they do understand.
STEP 4.1 (INDIVIDUAL WORK/GROUP WORK): AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mgwWhWa0Q8: Video Segment 4, Multimedia
WHILE-VIEWING
INSTRUCTIONS
Various forms of multimedia can be valuable tools in the language learning classroom. In this segment
you will see several examples of multimedia use and one activity using video.
1. Make note of the various types of multimedia materials you notice or hear about in this segment.
AFTER-VIEWING
INSTRUCTIONS
Answer:
1. Have you used video or other multimedia materials in your own classroom or when you were
learning English? If so, which ones were effective? Interesting?
For more ideas on the use of video in the language classroom, see:
EFL / ESL Lessons and Lesson Plans from Internet TESL Journal (go to the Video section)
Web site: http://iteslj.org/Lessons/
Web-based Resources for English Language Teaching & Learning: Video
Author: Leslie Opp-Beckman
Web site: http://oelp.uoregon.edu/teach_video.html
FOLLOW-UP
In the resources provided in this section, you have seen a few examples and ideas from other
teachers classes.
Step 1
INSTRUCTIONS
Now, think about your own classes. How well do you know your students (or students of an
age you are likely to teach)?
What are some general interests of students that age? Of the girls? Of the boys?
What are some likely individual interests of students in the group?
From what sources are they most likely to hear authentic use of English?
In what situations might they need to use English?
If you dont know the answers, how will you get them (hint: ask the students!). Discuss your ideas with
others.
Step 2
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INSTRUCTIONS
Design a lesson that includes the use of some authentic materials that you can find locally and
that you think will fit with your answers in Step 1.
Step 3
INSTRUCTIONS
Share your plan with others. Explain what activities might be used with your materials. Get ideas and
formative feedback.
Step 4
INSTRUCTIONS
Update your design, as needed. Try it with your class. If you are not teaching, ask the trainer or
another experienced teacher for feedback
Activity 5: Modern techniques and tools

Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is reaching an up most position in the pedagogical field
of English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL). Its powerful presence has fostered learner
autonomy and a wide range of opportunities for authentic interaction in the target language (English) in
computer-based conditions. Web-based learning is becoming an even more powerful interactive
source that increases learners' knowledge and that guarantees quantity and quality of language input
and output. Added to this, the changing role of the teacher is more responsive to students self directed
learning: that of teaching learners how to learn, stimulating learners to do by themselves, and
acknowledging learners of their commitment for self-motivated opportunities to use the language for
authentic communicative purposes.
A. PODCASTING FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING
What is it?
A podcast is a series of regularly-updated audio or video files that can be played on a number of
devices (either portable, such as mp3 players or mobile phones, but also static, such as desktop
computers) and are distributed over the internet via a subscription service. The key differences
between podcasts and other audio or video file distribution formats is that podcasts form part of a
series, which are automatically delivered to subscribers via RSS subscription and that once
downloaded they can be accessed anytime and anyplace, as opposed to requiring the user to be in
front of a computer with an internet connection. However, in practice, many individuals and institutions
talk about podcasts when referring to any media file distributed online, regardless of whether it is part
of a series or whether it can be subscribed to through an RSS feed. Without RSS syndication,
however, podcasting is no different from streaming or downloadable audio, and its impact is not the
same.
How to find / download podcasts?
Podcasts can be accessed from aggregators (websites or software that allow the user to download or
subscribe to the media files). The most common and popular of podcast aggregators is iTunes. As
well as being an entertainment shop (where customers can purchase music, video, and apps), iTunes
has a podcast section, where podcast providers distribute their audio and video files free of charge.
Podcasts can be downloaded individually or the user can subscribe to them to automatically receive
new instalments of a series.
Why would I use podcasts in my teaching?
The popularity of portable media players and podcasting has increased in the last few years. Some
researchers were quick to identify the potential uses and benefits of podcasting for language learning:
Podcasting can support principles advocated by several theories of learning, such as the use
of authentic materials, informal and lifelong learning, the use of learning objects for the
provision of learning materials and just in time teaching (Rosell-Aguilar, 2007).
Podcasting also fits with mobile learning, which takes place when the learner is not at a fixed,
predetermined location, or when the learner takes advantage of the learning opportunities
offered by mobile technologies (Kukulska-Hulme, 2005, p. 1).
Podcasting offers many potential benefits: for instance, the materials are delivered in a format
that is portable, convenient and easy to use, and easy to access. The user can control the
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pace at which the information is delivered to them using the pause button, for example. The
format is also motivating and attractive: short, often professionally made resources on a whole
range of topics. And they are free.
Some researchers also mention the potential to allow contact time with students in the
classroom to focus on interaction, shifting preparatory work to outside times and locations
(Blaisdell, 2006) as well as integrating in-class and out-of-class activities and materials
(Thorne & Payne, 2005). For example, students can be asked to watch or listen to material as
preparation work for discussion during a class, allowing the instructor to make the most of
their contact time with students. The delivery medium, format, portability, and the fact that the
materials can be subscribed to and do not have to be sourced from a library make this quite a
different proposition to reading a chapter or article as homework.
One of the ways you can use podcasts is by uploading them to environments such as VLEs or
your school or college website. You can use podcasts together with other tools, such as
forums, to enable students to listen to a piece of audio at their own pace, and then to respond
to it and comment on it with other learners using a forum, for instance, or write a collaborative
piece on it in a wiki.
Suggestions for teachers
You may wish to think of podcasts as spoken websites. Just like you might ask your language
students to go online to find language learning resources or information in the target language, you
can do the same with the audio and video material available as podcasts.
Here are some suggestions to engage students with podcasts for language learning:
Ask them to do a search in the target language iTunes store for authentic materials on either a
topic that is relevant to your teaching or any topic that is of interest to them personally. When
they have found something, ask them to read the description, ratings, and the comments from
other listeners to ascertain how others have rated the material. Ask them to listen to the first
two minutes to decide if its worth listening any further. Can they grasp the content of the
material? Remind them that when listening to authentic materials, language learners should
not expect to understand every word they hear. Depending on their level, 5 or 10% or just
grasping what it's about is enough.
Alternatively ask students to do a search for language learning podcasts. There are many with
many different approaches including vocabulary lists, useful expressions, short
conversations some of these include support materials such as transcripts. Ask them to
search for different types. Which do they like best? Why?
Ask your own students! Depending on their ages, they are likely to be more familiar with the
technology and probably know more than you. Its probably best to carry out these activities
outside class time and then engage the students in presenting what they have found.
Another option is to ask students to create their own audio or video podcast projects
describing their house, town or school in the target language. This can be very motivating and
technically easy to do there are very good guides to do this available online. Then upload it
to iTunes and get them to tell all their friends.
B. USING AUDACITY FOR LANGUAGE TEACHING
What is it?
Audacity is a free, open source software distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL),
which means that you can use it for any personal, commercial or educational purpose, including
installing it on as many different computers as you wish.
With its user-friendly interface Audacity enables teachers to create oral activities for face-to-face
and/or online language teaching environments (i.e. pronunciation, listening comprehension and oral
production activities) by:
recording live audio;
recording Podcasts and audio clips from the Internet;
editing audio files (cut, copy, paste);
mixing sounds together;
applying different effects on the audio file (such as changing the speed or pitch of a recording,
removing noise, amplifying sounds);
converting old tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs;
exporting audio files in formats such as MP3, WAV, AIFF or Ogg Vorbis;
167
It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and you can download it from the net at
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Why would you want to use Audacity for your teaching?
1. Because it allows you to expose students to a diversity of authentic L2 audio resources.
You can record radio programs (or the audio track of a TV program), music and songs
from ITunes, Podcasts and audio clips from the Internet, authentic interactions
between native speakers, etc. and easily develop listening comprehension activities
using the editing tools of Audacity.
2. Because it enables you to continue to use analogue resources in a digital environment.
If you have been teaching for a while, you have probably developed a collection of
interesting audio resources on tapes over the years. Audacity allows you to digitalize
all these analogue resources for easier, more flexible and more diverse uses (for
instance, you can share them with your students and your colleagues more easily, edit
them, etc.).
3. Because it allows you to develop custom pronunciation activities.
Using the editing and the sound effects tools of Audacity (cutting, copying, and
pasting audio clips, changing the speed or pitch of a recording, removing noise,
amplifying sound, adding silences), it becomes very easy to create activities specific
to the pronunciation needs of one or several students, in a face-to-face or online
environment.
4. Because it supports the development of metacognitive skills and strategies of your students.
Students can easily listen, visualize, and compare all or very specific parts of their (or
their peers') recorded productions. They can save their oral productions to listen to
them again later on and assess/monitor their progress (as part of for their student
portfolio).
5. Because it encourages creativity.
Teachers AND students can easily create audio and musical documents in L2.
6. Because it facilitates a task-based approach to learning
It allows students to learn the language while creating original audio resources
(learning by doing).
7. Because it appeals to the students - this technology is part of their world.
For instance, your students are likely to have used Audacity to export songs and
audio files in MP3, edit audio files, or mix sounds together for their mobile devices.
Just like with any other classroom material, you need to keep the pedagogical considerations in mind
(e.g. learning objectives, authenticity, language focus, task-based approach, etc.).
Audacity is an interesting and easy-to-use tool for the teacher to work on L2 pronunciation, listening
comprehension and oral production. It also allows students to individually and at their own pace,
create, listen to, record, and mix audio files on their computer. They can then submit their work to their
teacher, or share it with their peers, via email or a course management system such as Moodle.
Listening tasks
Using the Copy/Cut/Paste buttons, or the Insert silence button, allows for creative mixing and editing
of audio files originated from different sources, to develop custom listening comprehension activities,
depending on the teachers' needs and the students' level of language proficiency. The Change tempo
button from the Effect menu allows for changing the speed of the audio without changing the pitch, an
interesting effect to play with when dealing with different levels of difficulty for listening to authentic
material.
Aural discrimination and pronunciation activities
Although research has consistently indicated the importance of pronunciation training in foreign
language classes, it is often considered as secondary. Teachers might feel that they don't have the
proper training in phonetics to teach pronunciation, that they have so much content to cover in their
classes that they do not have time to go into the intricacies of phonetics, or that the technology needed
168
to work in depth on students' pronunciation is too cumbersome. Audacity allows the teacher to easily
record authentic or pre-edited materials to create specific aural discrimination activities (for instance
activities allowing ESL students to hear and discriminate between stressed and unstressed syllables,
intonation units and contours, or sounds such as "close" [kloz] and "closed" [klozd], all of which have
strong incidences on the ability to capture the meaning of an oral interaction) and pronunciation
exercises, adding periods of silence in between utterances as a free space for the student to repeat
them. Each student, individually and at his/her own pace, can listen to and repeat the utterances. In
order to do that, he/she needs to go to Preferences in the Audacity menu and check the "Play other
tracks while recording new one" box in the Audio I/O tab.
The student can then listen to his/her pronunciation and compare it with the model, redo the activity if
he/she is not satisfied, save his/her file in his/her portfolio and/or email it to his/her teacher or to peers
for peer-evaluation.
Speaking activities
Using Audacity students can individually or collaboratively record many types of speaking
assignments, listen to it for self and/or peer assessment, edit their work to perfect it, and submit it to
their instructor. The tasks of collecting, saving, archiving, and organizing all these speaking
assignments is made extremely efficient and easy for the teacher who receives all these audio files via
email, forums or electronic drop boxes.
C. Using Survey Monkey in class
What is Survey Monkey?
Survey Monkey is a tool that allows users to create their own surveys using question format templates.
The basic version of Survey Monkey is free; an enhanced version is also available at a cost.
(http://www.surveymonkey.com/ )
Survey Monkey offers self-guided tutorials, so one way of getting to grips with the basics is to go to the
website, click on Take a Tour; and follow the explanations; they cover creating a survey, getting
responses and analyzing results. You can also watch the YouTube video created by Cool Teachers
Chris Haskell and Barbara Schroeder which takes you through the steps of setting up a survey and
analyzing it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ytk0tVT_0A8).
Why would I want to use Survey Monkey in my classroom?
1. Because you can use it in face-to-face and online teaching and learning environments.
You can create a survey and discuss the results either in your face-to-face class or in a
synchronous or asynchronous environment.
2. Because it is a relatively simple way of getting the students to interact with each other
It gives you possibilities to tackle a topic in a more interactive way
3. Because it creates some input for class discussions or even assessment purposes
It is just a matter of finding an appropriate topic
4. Because the authenticity of the material and the communicative situation allows students to
focus on both language and content
You can give students the chance to ask their own questions.
5. Because it appeals to the students usually it is part of their world
For instance, your students are likely to have filled in online questionnaires.
6. Because it facilitates a task-based approach to learning,
it allows student to learn the language while creating, carrying out and analyzing surveys
(learning by doing)
Just like with any other classroom material, you need to keep the pedagogical considerations in mind
(e.g. learning objectives, authenticity, language focus, etc.).
There are two main ways of using Survey Monkey with your students. Firstly, you can create a survey
yourself about any aspect of your course, your teaching, your students interests etc.; secondly, you
can get the students to do their own survey and question either their class mates or other people.
169
The topic that you choose for the activity needs to be one which is of interest to your students, e.g.
at beginners level and with younger students the activity could focus on hobbies, pets, or their
daily routine;
mature students at intermediate level could explore aspects around the world of work, the use
of the media, or the future of the traditional family;
at a more advanced level you could link it into an examination of intercultural issues, political
opinion polls, or other more sensitive topics students might feel reluctant discussing in class.
In terms of integrating the survey into your syllabus, you have two options:
You can introduce the topic in class before students tackle the survey so they have the
opportunity to discuss some of the issues and are exposed to some of the vocabulary needed.
You can start with the students creating their own survey and carrying it out, and then use their
findings as a stimulus for introducing a new topic and a possible way of de-personalising
sensitive issues.
Students should work in small groups and you may want to ensure that every group includes
somebody who is confident about using technology.
Sample activity
This is a task that is appropriate for an upper intermediate / advanced group of university or mature
students. It should be part of a teaching block dealing with intercultural communication and can be
combined with using materials from the INCA project (http://www.incaproject.org/index.htm).
The objectives of the sample activity are as follows:
learning about intercultural competence;
practising relevant vocabulary;
designing, carrying out and analyzing a survey;
discussing findings of the survey;
The task is organized into four 6090 min sessions. Students can organize sessions 2 and 3 in their
own time but some teacher input might be useful. Sufficient time will have to be allowed in-between
session 2 and session 3 so people can respond to the survey.
SM =
SURVEY
MONKEY
STEPS
Lead-in
LEARNER
OBJECTIVES
DURATION
Raising issues
around topic;
rehearsing
relevant
language
Initial
familiarization
with SM
Session 1
20 mins
Task
instructions
and group
formation
Getting
overview of
task and
forming
groups
Session 1
10 mins
Language
focus
Revising how
to ask
questions;
learning
relevant
expressions
Session 1
30 mins
Presentation
of tool
Session 1
30 mins
CLASS ACTIVITIES
AND INTERACTIONS
TO ACHIEVE THE
OBJECTIVES
Discussion: What is
intercultural competence
and how can it be
determined?
MATERIAL /
TOOLS
FORMAT
Whiteboard for
notes and
vocabulary
Whole
class
Teacher talks students

through the tool, hands
out instructions and
possibly gets the
students to fill in a brief
SM questionnaire
Teacher explains task:
students plan and carry
out survey on
intercultural competence;
students are organized
into small groups
Various language
activities focusing on
asking questions and on
words and expressions
used in surveys
Computer;
handout with
instructions;
possibly SM
questionnaire
Whole
class
Poss. handout
with instructions
Whole
class
Handouts
Whole
class
170
used in
surveys
Preparation of
survey (1)
Designing
questions
Session 2
30 mins
(poss. outside
class time but
teacher input
useful)
Students discuss
possible questions
(synchronously or
asynchronously) (10
max)
Whiteboard
Small
groups
Preparation of
survey (2)
Creating
survey in SM
Session 2
30 mins
(poss. outside
class time)
Students upload
questions into SM,
discuss who they will
target, and send link to
potential participants in
survey
SM
Small
groups
Survey takes
place
Collecting
data
Analysis of
survey
Analyzing
survey results
At least 1 wk
(outside class
time
asynchronous
work)
Session 3
3060 mins
(poss. Outside
class time)
Students examine results

from survey and
summarize them
SM
Small
groups
Presentation
of survey
results
Presenting
survey results
Session 4
30 mins
Groups present their

findings to the class
Ppt presentation
or handout;
SM stats (poss.
As printouts)
Whole
class
Discussion of
results;
discussion of
survey
Discussing
survey results
Session 4
30 mins
Possible
follow-up
Writing report
Outside class
time / homework
Identification of
interesting / surprising
results; discussion of
results; discussion of
usefulness of survey
questions
Based on the survey
results and discussions,
re-using language
generated
Whole
class
Small
groups or
individual
work
STEP 5.1 (PAIR WORK): PLANNING

INSTRUCTIONS
Choose a topic for advanced students (other than the one in the sample lesson plan) and fill in the
table. Write: a lead-in, 2 activities for the Language focus section, a marking scheme for the
presentation of the survey results, as well as a follow up.
SM =
SURVEY
MONKEY
STEPS
Lead-in
LEARNER
OBJECTIVE
S
DURATION
CLASS ACTIVITIES
AND INTERACTIONS
TO ACHIEVE THE
OBJECTIVES
MATERIAL /
TOOLS
FORMAT
Language
focus
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Follow up
MARKING SCHEME
Assessment
descriptors
Analytical scales
POOR
AVERAGE
TOTAL
100 P
EXCELLENT
D. USING AUDIO-CONFERENCING FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING TASKS

Audio-conferencing tools enable users to talk to (and sometimes see one another) in real time over the
Internet. In this activity we will explore how these tools can be used to provide learners with
opportunities to practise their speaking online in pairs or small groups.
Due to its widespread popularity and ease of use, we will concentrate specifically on Skype, although
much of the general information is also relevant for the other audio-conferencing tools. As we shall
see, Skype sessions can be easily recorded using call recording software, thus enabling teachers and
students to replay the conversations.
What is audio-conferencing software?
Audio-conferencing software uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to allow two or more
users to have a spoken conversation online in real time. Examples of four freely available audioconferencing tools are:
Skype: www.skype.com
Google Talk: http://www.google.com/talk/
Elluminate vRoom: http://www.learncentral.org/user/vroomreg
FlashMeeting: http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3101
Why would I want to use audio-conferencing in my classroom?
There are a number of reasons why you might want to use audio-conferencing in a foreign language
class. One of the most obvious would be for a tandem speaking exchange to allow your learners to
come into contact with native speakers of the language they are learning. If the native speakers are
also learning the language of your students, the benefits for both groups could be reciprocal, with
approximately half the time devoted to the language your students are learning and the other half to
the language the others are studying. If you are interested in setting up such an exchange, the
following sites are excellent sources of information:
The International Tandem Network: http://www.cisi.unito.it/tandem/email/idxeng00.html
The eTwinning Project: http://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/index.htm
Tandem exchanges, however, are not the only possible use for audio-conferencing. Students
belonging to the same class could be asked to do pair or small group speaking tasks online outside of
class as homework.
When designing an online speaking task, the basic principles of face-to-face pair or small-group
speaking tasks still apply. First of all, students must be provided with a reason to talk to and, crucially,
to listen to one another. Remember that tasks that only require students to give their opinion on a topic
tend not to generate much meaningful interaction. Unless participants have a compelling reason to
pay attention and react to what their interlocutors say, this type of task often results in a series of mini-
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monologues. With this in mind, below are a few examples of task types that are more likely to yield
meaningful interaction:
Information gap tasks (i.e., Each participant has bits of information the others dont have. In
order to complete the task successfully, this information must be communicated to and
comprehended by the other participants.)
Ranking tasks
Problem-solving tasks
Simulations
Cultural exchanges (for ideas for tasks, see the following from the Tandem Server:
http://www.slf.rub.de/tandem/kultur/english/index.html)
Online speaking tasks must be carefully structured and have clear instructions so that students know
exactly what they are expected to do. Unlike face-to-face contexts where the teacher can immediately
answer questions, this is not possible in a situation where students are in an audio-conference on their
own. Therefore, it is important that areas that might be confusing be pre-empted as much as possible.
Another consideration is how to provide students with input or visual stimuli in order to do the task. In a
face-to-face classroom, the teacher might give one photocopy to student A and another to student B.
This is obviously not possible in an online situation, so careful thought needs to be given on how to
deliver the input to the students. One way to do this is to upload different documents to the Web and
provide students with the URLs.
Remember that when planning cultural exchanges between different countries you should take into
account the different time zones and other possible time constraints for the synchronous online
meetings.
STEP 5.2 (INDEPENDENT WORK): AUDIO CONFERENCING USING SKYPE
INSTRUCTIONS
Find-the-differences tasks are examples of two-way information gap tasks. In order to complete the
activity successfully each participant has information that must be communicated to the other.
Research has shown that these types of tasks are much more effective in generating talk than those in
which students simply exchange their opinions.
With this in mind, how would you use an audio conferencing tool such as Skype to encourage your
students to communicate with one another? Consider the following aspects: possible
pairings/groupings, activity topics, feedback, integration into curriculum. Can you think of another
information gap task your students could do using Skype? How would you set this up (i.e., direct them
to different Web pages, provide them with different print documents, etc.)?
STEP 5.3 (PAIR WORK): STUDENTS AND AUDIO CONFERENCING
INSTRUCTIONS
If you have already implemented a task using audio conferencing with your students, consider the
following questions:
1. How did the activity go? What was your experience as the teacher? What was the learners
experience? What were the most and least successful aspects of the activity? Which aspects would
you improve if you repeated the activity with another group?
E. USING WIKI IN CLASS
What is wiki?
wikiwiki -Hawaiian for very quick
Wikis are simple webpages with only two functionalities, namely reading and editing. They can be
written and updated very quickly using text editing. The skills users need to write and update a wiki are
comparable to simple text production in word processing software, e.g. Word. Wikis also allow the
import of images and other media files into the webpage.
Because the wiki is so simple, wikipages can be edited within seconds and made available to the next
user. This makes them ideal collaborative writing and reading spaces on the web.
Wikis fit well within the practice of constructivist teaching and learning. Basically, if you believe that
students learn better by actively participating in the learning process, generating their own theories
about how language works, and practising language in collaboration with peers, then wikis are a tool
you cannot neglect.
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Wikis support this kind of collaborative learning as they allow users to develop their own rough version
of a text (or theory) which can then be updated and edited by others. Writing becomes a collaborative
process, and every contributor becomes at once a critic of other entries, an author or co-author and a
reader. Checking, correcting and up-dating the wiki entries can be a potentially valuable way of
learning to write in a foreign language, with help and support from peers (rather than solely from the
teacher), and also with a ready-made audience.
Why would I want to use wikis?
A few good reasons for using wikis in language teaching:
1. They are quick and simple to use and allow collaboration, independently of time and space,
via easily accessible online spaces.
2. They offer authentic writing practice.
3. They allow students to be actively engaged in reading and writing: correcting, editing, and updating.
4. They teach students the skills of collaboration alongside language skills.
5. They present the student writers with a ready-made audience and critics.
6. They are flexible enough to incorporate multi-media content (without clogging up your email).
7. They can potentially be shared with a wider audience and made public.
8. Most students will already know at least one wiki (Wikipedia).
In addition, wikis can also support teachers in their classroom management.
Wikis are especially suitable for reading and writing. They are less useful for listening activities.
Because most wikis focus on writing, students need to already have a minimum level in the language
they learn and be able to produce some words, phrases, or sentences.
STEP 5.2 (INDEPENDENT WORK): AUDIO CONFERENCING USING SKYPE
INSTRUCTIONS
Find-the-differences tasks are examples of two-way information gap tasks. In order to complete the
activity successfully each participant has information that must be communicated to the other.
Research has shown that these types of tasks are much more effective in generating talk than those in
which students simply exchange their opinions.
With this in mind, how would you use an audio conferencing tool such as Skype to encourage your
students to communicate with one another? Consider the following aspects: possible
pairings/groupings, activity topics, feedback, integration into curriculum. Can you think of another
information gap task your students could do using Skype? How would you set this up (i.e., direct them
to different Web pages, provide them with different print documents, etc.)?
STEP 5.3 (PAIR WORK): STUDENTS AND AUDIO CONFERENCING
INSTRUCTIONS
If you have already implemented a task using audio conferencing with your students, consider the
following questions:
1. How did the activity go? What was your experience as the teacher? What was the learners
experience? What were the most and least successful aspects of the activity? Which aspects would
you improve if you repeated the activity with another group?
STEP 5.4 (GROUP WORK): WIKI OR NOT?
INSTRUCTIONS
In groups, make a list of benefits and drawbacks of wikis.
STEP 5.5 (GROUP WORK): WIKI SCENARIO
INSTRUCTIONS
Create a seven steps to successful wikis scenario, providing the missing ones:
Step 1:
Show students an example of a successful wiki to motivate them.
Step 2:
174
Allow students to choose their own tasks, agreed upon collaboratively, in order to stimulate and
maintain their interest.
Step 3:
Seed corn the wiki. Write the start of the first sentence on the wiki page. Writing on an empty page is
always difficult, so start the wiki yourself with a short entry or a set of linked pages.
Step 4:
Step 5:
Step 6:
Step 7:
References
1. Blaisdell, M. (2006). In iPod we trust. T.H.E. Journal, 33(8), 30-36.

2. Hyland, K. Language-Learning Simulations: A Practical Guide
3. Thorne, S. L., & Payne, J. S. (2005). Internet-Mediated Text and Multi-Modal Expression in Foreign
Language Education .
- http://www.d.umn.edu/student/loon/acad/strat/motivate.html
- http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/motivation/motivate.html
- http://www.hltmag.co.uk/jan04/mart2.htm
- http://www.greatday.com/motivate/
- http://www.tefl.net/esl-articles/motivation-esl.htm
- http://www.ehow.com/how_7888586_motivate-esl-students-learn.html
- http://www.inspirationalspeakers.co.uk
- http://www.onestopenglish.com
- http://www.oup.com/elt
- http://www.longman-elt.com
- http://www.eslcafe.com
- http://www.linguistic-funland.com
- http://www.english-forum.com
- http://www.englishnow.co.uk
- www.esl-lab.com
- www.englishlistening.com
- www.bbc.co.uk
- www.newspapers.com
- www.hollywood.com
- www.imdb.com
- www.film.com
- www.letssingit.com
- http://titania.cobuild.collins.co.uk
- www.encarta.msn.com/encartahome.asp
- www.britannica.com
- www.biography.com
- www.s9.com/biography
- www.cambridge-efl.org.uk
- www.ielts.org
- www.toefl.org
- www.toeic.org
- http://www.kumc.edu/SAH/OTEd/jradel/Poster_Presentations/PstrStart.html
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- http://www.greatday.com/motivate/
- http://www.presentationhelper.co.uk
- http://www.eslbase.com/resources/theory/
- http://bogglesworldesl.com/glossary.htm
- http://www.nthuleen.com/papers/720report.html
- http://www.aber.ac.uk/~mflwww/seclangacq/langteach3.html
- http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/m/x/mxh392/insys441/Methodology/grammar_transltion.htm
- http://www.englishraven.com/method_silent.html
- http://www.jwelford.demon.co.uk/brainwaremap/suggest.html
- http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aa042699.htm
- http://www.englishraven.com/method_suggest.html
- http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/esl0308.html
- http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ge9m-mtmt/audioandcommu.htm
http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/LANGUAGELEARNING/WaysToApproachLanguageLearning/TheNatural
Approach.htm
- http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/NatApprTheory-Eng/Default.htm
- http://www.aber.ac.uk/~mflwww/seclangacq/langteach5.html
- http://www.aber.ac.uk/%7Emflwww/seclangacq/langteach5.html
- http://www.arlt.co.uk/dhtml/directmethod1.php
- http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/cll.shtml
- http://members.fortunecity.com/nadabs/communitylearn.html
- http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/cll.shtml
- http://iteslj.org/Articles/Koba-CLL.html
- http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/task_based.shtml
- http://www.languages.dk/methods/documents/TBL_presentation.pdf
- http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/tpr.shtml
- http://www.tpr-world.com/ABC.html
- http://www.tprsource.com/asher.htm
- http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/lexical_approach1.shtml
- http://writing.berkeley.edu/TESL-EJ/ej09/r10.html
- http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0102lexical.html
- http://www.nspeak.com/lexical.htm
- http://www.google.com/u/atm?q=Gattegno+Anthology&sa=Go...
- http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html
- http://www.tpr-world.com/originator.html
- http://www.auburn.edu/~nunnath/engl6240/principl.html
- http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/ALMMethods.htm
http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/LANGUAGELEARNING/WaysToApproachLanguageLearning/Communic
ativeLanguageTeaching.htm
- http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/gallow01.html
- http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ge9m-mtmt/audioandcommu.htm
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siNy5vXWbOY
- http://www.aspb.org/education/poster.cfm
- http://www.proteacher.com/030004.shtml
- http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/bulletin/
- http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/e638.html
- http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/digest_pdfs/0302cohen.pdf
- http://iteslj.org/Lessons/
- http://oelp.uoregon.edu/teach_video.html
- http://www.eslmag.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=18
- http://podcastingforpp.pbworks.com/f/Rosell-Agular+Languages.pdf
- http://www.lsri.nottingham.ac.uk/msh/Papers/KukulskaHulme%20et%20al.%20IJMBL%20preprint.pdf
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MODULE 13 LESSON
PLANNING
178
Activity 1: Goals and Techniques for Lesson Planning

Activity 2: Stages in Lesson Planning
Activity 3: Lesson Planning - Effective vs. Ineffective
Activity 4: Tips for lesson planning
16
Activity 6: Samples of lesson plans
Objectives
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
to help the teacher to face the different educational situations aided by a high degree
of self-confidence;
to help the teacher to avoid the awkward situations in front of his pupils or whenever
classroom problems may rise;
to help in the teachers continuous professional growth;
to help the teacher in organizing pupils learning via organizing the sides of the
educational situation that are( the teacher, the student, educational experience and
the class environment);
to help the teacher in achieving the educational objectives easily on behalf of his
pupils;
to help the teacher in improving, enriching and developing the curricula;
to enable the teacher to know the priorities of the teaching process;
to give the teacher the opportunity to predict possible problems and therefore consider
solutions;
to make sure that lesson is balanced and appropriate for class;
to give the teacher confidence;
to emphasize the fact that to plan lessons is generally good practice and a sign of
professionalism;
Activity 1: Goals and Techniques for Lesson Planning

Planning and organizing skills are useful throughout life because whenever we have a major objective,
we need to plan the steps that have to be taken to achieve it and organize the resources, actions and
time required to accomplish each step. In planning to achieve an objective we must first identify it and
do research to find out what steps to take along the way and what resources will be needed. Each
step is a goal in its own right. Meeting a series of small goals helps show clear progress towards the
objective.
According to Clark & Dunn (1991), planning is a psychological process of envisioning the future, and
considering goals and ways of achieving them. From this point of view, lesson planning can be defined
as a systematic development of instructional requirements, arrangement, conditions, and materials
and activities,
as well as testing and evaluation of teaching and learning.
(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/ )
Setting goals when planning a lesson can help teachers lay out a course of action for meeting those
goals. A well thought out lesson plan will have clearly defined goals. Next the steps that must be taken
to achieve the goal should be outlined. At this stage a goal may be broken down into several mini
goals, to increase instant success and provide the winning feeling that boosts each person towards
more intense efforts to reach the final objective. Possible obstacles must also be recognized and
addressed; plans can be laid to combat these blocks and ultimately achieve the goal. Finally, a firm
deadline should be set in place for completion of each goal and milestone on the way to the goal. This
will create the time line for the goals achievement.
In order for something to qualify as a goal, it should be personally important to the individual, within
their power to accomplish, clearly defined and must be combined with a course of action laid out for
achieving it.
16
179
A goal must be:

Specific - This is a Goal Statement, and should be a short paragraph of one or two sentences
describing the goal.
Measurable - This is a description of how to measure the goal; how can you tell when the goal is
accomplished?
Achievable - This portion of the work sheet should go over what actions may be required to reach the
goal, what obstacles may arise, and how such blocks can be handled and overcome.
Relevant - Why is this the goal? How is this important to you, and what benefits will come to you by
reaching this goal? ("R" can also stand for Realistic).
Timely - This is the section where you lay out your time line - there should be a definite start and end
date and any milestones should have clearly defined parameters.
Lesson planning is a special skill that is learned in much the same way as other skills. One of the
primary roles that you will perform as a teacher is that of designer and implementor of instruction.
Teachers at every level prepare plans that aid in the organization and delivery of their daily lessons.
These plans vary widely in the style and degree of specificity but regardless of the format, all teachers
need to make wise decisions about the strategies and methods they will employ to help students move
systematically toward learner goals.
Being able to create your own lesson plans means you have taken a giant step toward "owning" the
content you teach and the methods you use. Acquiring this skill is far more valuable than being able to
use lesson plans developed by others. It is a skill that will help to define you as a teacher.
There are fundamental components of all lesson plans that you should learn to write, revise, and
improve. The old adage, "Practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect" is at the core
of learning this skill.
Good lesson plans do not ensure students will learn what is intended, but they certainly contribute to it.
Lesson plans also help new or inexperienced teachers organize content, materials, and methods.
When you are learning the craft of teaching, organizing your subject-matter content via lesson plans is
fundamental. Like most skills, you'll get better at it the more you do it and think of ways of improving
your planning and teaching based on feedback from your students, their parents, and other teachers.
Developing your own lesson plans also helps you "own" the subject matter content you are teaching,
and that is central to everything good teachers do.
It's simple - effective lesson plans communicate, ineffective ones don't. Teachers create lesson plans
to communicate their instructional activities regarding specific subject-matter. Almost all lesson plans
developed by teachers contain student learning objectives, instructional procedures, the required
materials, and some written description of how the students will be evaluated. All lesson plans begin,
or should begin with an objective.
Find out more on: http://www.adprima.com/wlo5.htm
Activity 2: Stages in Lesson Planning
A lesson plan identifies the enabling objectives necessary to meet the lesson objective, the materials
and equipment needed, and the activities appropriate to accomplish the objective.
Enabling objectives are the basic skills (language skills such as vocabulary, grammar and
pronunciation) and the life skills (including cultural information) that are necessary to accomplish the
objective.
Materials and equipment should be identified and secured well before class time to
ensure that activities can be carried out as planned. These may include realia (real life
180
materials like bus schedules and childrens report cards), visual aids, teacher made
handouts, textbooks, flip chart and markers, overhead projector, tape recorder, etc.
Activities generally move from more controlled (e.g., repetition) to a less structured
or free format (e.g., interviewing each other). They should be varied in type (e.g., whole group, paired,
individual) and modality (e.g., speaking, listening, writing).
Good lesson design begins with a review of previously learned material. New material is then
introduced, followed by opportunities for learners to practice and be evaluated on what they are
learning. In general, a lesson is composed of the following stages:
1. Warm-up/Reviewencourages learners to use what they have been taught in
previous lessons
2. Introduction to a new lessonfocuses the learners attention on the objective of the new lesson
and relates the objective to their lives
3. Presentationintroduces new information, checks learner comprehension of the new material, and
models the tasks that the learners will do in the practice stage
4. Practiceprovides opportunities to practice and apply the new language or information
5. Evaluationenables the instructor and learners to assess how well they have grasped the lesson
A good lesson plan involves consideration of more than just what is going to be taught (the objective)
and how it will be taught (materials, equipment, and activities). The following elements also need to be
thought about and planned for:
SequencingDo the activities move logically so learners are progressively building on
what they already know? Do the activities flow well? Are transitions between activities
smooth?
PacingAre activities the right length and varied so that learners remain engaged and
enthused?
Gauging difficultyDo the learners have enough skill and knowledge to do the planned
activities? Are the instructions clear?
Accounting for individual differencesDo the activities allow for learners of varying
proficiency levels to receive extra attention they might need, whether below or above the
norm? Are all students actively involved?
Monitoring learner versus teacher talkWhat is the balance between learner talk and
teacher talk? Does the lesson allow a time for learners to interact, producing and initiating
language?
TimingWas the amount of time allotted for each part of the lesson sufficient? If the
planned lesson finishes early, is there a backup activity ready? If the lesson wasnt
completed as planned, how can the next class be adjusted to finish the material
Step 2.1 individual work What do you think are the benefits of preparing lesson plans?
Step 2.2 individual work What do you think are the difficulties of preparing lesson plans?
Step 2.3 individual work Design a lesson plan for the topic Shopping follow the stages
mentioned above and dont forget to mention the objectives, materials /equipment and activities you
will use to teach this topic. Look at the sample lesson plan format below:
181
182
(taken from www.cal.org )

2.1 Pre- planning lesson activities
Plan for your pupils. First of all you need to know as much as possible about the class before
you decide what to teach. You have to consider their level of language, their background, their
motivation and their learning styles. Besides knowing your pupils, you also need to know the syllabus.
In your lesson plan you will need to include four main elements: activities, skills, language and
content (Harmer, 2001).
Decide what the pupils will be doing in the classroom and how they will be grouped. Think
what kind of activity would fit them at any particular point in the lesson. The activities
should be chosen appropriately so that each pupil will be motivated and will be an active
participant.
Think of the language skill(s) you will develop in that lesson. Although your choice may be
limited by the syllabus or the textbook, you still need to plan how the pupils will work on
those skill(s) .
The next step is the language (e.g. lexical items, grammar structures) you need to
introduce and practise.
The textbook should be a starting point so check it and select the content. You shouldnt
consider the textbook as the teaching tool that will decide the direction of the lesson. Consider it as a
guide, you shouldnt feel compelled to use all the activities in it etc. You can replace what is given in
the textbook with something else. You are, after all, the class teacher who knows the pupils personally
and can predict which topics will be found interesting and which boring. Remember however, that the
most interesting topic will become boring if the task set for the pupils is uninteresting and that, on the
other hand, topics that are not particularly interesting can become very successful if you assign a task
that your pupils find engaging.
Step 2.1. Choose a textbook and identify a certain lesson. Baring in mind the information presented
above, think of the activities you will keep and those you will add, of the skills, language and content
you will teach.
2.2. The formal lesson plan
According to Scrivener(Learning Teaching 2005), formal lesson plans are often divided into three
sections:
background information about the class, the teacher, the materials and the overall aim of the
lesson;
language analysis of items that will be worked on in the class;
a detailed chronological stage-to-stage description of the intended procedure for the lesson
Most formal lesson plans need to include:
a clear statement of appropriate aims for the whole lesson;

a clear list of stages in the lesson, with a description of activities, their aims and estimated
timing;
a list of specific target language items(if it is a language that includes language system work)
183
After writing the background information, an important part of the plan is a statement of the intended
procedure of the lesson(Scrivener). This means writing a list of separate stages containing
indications of what the teacher and students will do, the duration, interaction, the aims of the
stage etc. Each stage can be numbered or named as mentioned earlier (warm-up, introduction,
presentation, practice, evaluation/ feedback).
The plan should give simple and clear outlines for each stage and should include (Scrivener):
the essential steps of each stage;

classroom management information, such as pair-work, group-work, individual , who will talk
etc.;
assumptions regarding certain problems.
Its not advisable to:
give long descriptions of everything that will happen;

describe in detail the routine actions (e.g. stand up etc.);
give word-for-word texts of all the instructions and explanations
Here we have a sample of a formal lesson plan (short version)- the blank form is taken from
Scriveners Learning Teaching.
184
Teachers name
Greta
Class name
5th B-Elementary
Date/ Lesson start time
12th May
Length of lesson
50 minutes
Main lesson aims
Personal goals
By the end of the lesson the pupils will be able to:
compare school subjects, using the long adjectives in the

comparative and superlative forms
use the verb to have in discussions about their timetable and

compare it with other pupils
form accurate oral and written sentences using comparative and

superlative forms of long adjectives
In this lesson Im going to use visual aids to teach degrees of comparison
of long adjectives as well as a Power Point presentation.
I want to have my pupils motivated and active, so Ill try to use a game with
school subjects and adjectives
Timetable fit
Pupils have been practicing degrees of comparison of short adjectives for

the past two lessons. They have listened to a description of several
persons and they have checked the correct information in a table for
example, they have formed sentences with degrees of comparison of
short adjectives, they have studied vocabulary related to physical
appearance.
Talking about degrees of comparison of irregular adjectives will be the next
step
Assumptions
Pupils already have some knowledge about the verb to have, so

discussing and comparing timetables using this verb should not be a
problem.
Predicted problems
Incorrectly using the word than in superlative sentences.

Using more in superlative sentences and the most in comparative ones.
Materials used
Power-Point presentation, worksheets with exercises, flashcards,

timetables of different pupils in UK
On the other hand, Harmer says in his The Practice of English Language Teaching that no one can
say exactly what a formal plan should look like, or what information should be given. However, a
formal plan should have the following (some of them can be seen in Scriveners version above):
185
Aims the results which we will try to achieve. Aims should represent what a teacher hopes the
pupils will be able to do (by the end of the lesson), not what the teacher is going to do.
A lesson will have more then one aim, usually an overall objective (for example practicing listening
skills) and specific aims (for example listening for specific information, guessing or predicting the
content)
Assumptions: teachers should assume what the pupils know and can do.
Personal aims: these are what teachers try out (which they have never done before) or try to improve
a teaching techniques. An example of such personal aim can be read in the table above.
Skills and language focus: naming the structures, functions, vocabulary or pronunciation
Timetable fit: this means the lesson which is about to be taught needs to be placed in a sequence of
classes, what happens before and after it. An example can be found in the table above.
Assumed problems and possible solutions: Every teacher should take into considerations the
weak spots of the lesson, what the pupils might find difficult and should also come up with
possible solutions. For example the pupils might find it difficult to understand the use of Present
Perfect Simple, in which case the teacher should bring extra exercises which should focus on it.
2.3 Post-planning considerations
A lesson plan may not work as well as expected due to a number of extraneous circumstances.
Teachers should not get discouraged it happens to even the most experienced ones! No one
can move forward without some reflection and improvement and a desire to evolve. So the last
step a teacher needs to do is to have a short post-lesson reflection time by asking himself/herself
questions such as:
What went well in the lesson?
What problems did I experience?
Are there things I could have done differently?
How can I build on this lesson to make future lessons successful?
Identifying successful and less successful organization of class time and activities
would make it
easier to adjust to the contingencies of the classroom. For additional feedback on planning and
managing class time, you can use the following resources: student feedback, self reflection, peer
observation, viewing a videotape of your teaching and consultation with a staff member.
Student feedback
Receiving student feedback in the middle of the semester can help you know what you are doing that
facilitates the learning of the students and it will help make you aware of any difficulties they may be
having with your instruction. It allows you to make adjustments needed by students in your class
before the end of the semester and will foster a feeling among your students that you care about your
teaching. Often minor adjustments on your part can make a tremendous difference in the classroom.
Self Reflection
Keeping a teaching journal can be a useful tool to help you reflect on your teaching and can assist you
as you work to develop your own personal teaching style. Following are some ways you might use
such a journal
- As you are planning your instruction, write in your journal the goals of a class session and how you
plan to reach those goals. If you articulate what you want students to be able to do after a particular
class period, it will help you design more effective instruction.
- Immediately after a class session, reflect on whether you reached the goals, what worked, what
didn't work as well as you would like, and alternative things you might try another time. Also write down
186
anything you learned: e.g., observations about a particular student, a combination of students in small
groups that worked well, or something that you learned about yourself as a teacher.
Peer Observation
Having another teacher sit in on a class period can be a rich source of information. As an observer,
this person often can help you understand the dynamics of your classroom. Many teachers find it
beneficial to pair up with another teacher and sit in on each other's classes--this paves the way for
discussion about teaching that can be beneficial to both teachers.
Videotapes and Consultation
One of the most powerful and helpful forms of feedback on your teaching can be the viewing of a
videotape of one of your class sessions. It will give you information on your teaching unavailable any
other way--it will help you see yourself as others see you. Viewing the tape with a consultant can be
even more useful. A consultant can help you see the whole picture, assist you in focusing on your
behaviors that facilitate student learning and stimulate a discussion about alternative ways of
approaching aspects of your teaching that you would like to change.
Activity 3: Lesson Planning - Effective vs. Ineffective
To be effective, the lesson plan does not have to be an exhaustive document that describes each and
every possible classroom scenario. Nor does it have to anticipate each and every students response
or question. Instead, it should provide you with a general outline of your teaching goals, learning
objectives, and means to accomplish them. It is a reminder of what you want to do and how you want
to do it. A productive lesson is not one in which everything goes exactly as planned, but one in which
both students and instructor learn from each other.
Good planning or effective planning should :
keep the teachers and pupils on track;
achieve the objectives;
help teachers avoid unpleasant surprises;
enhance student achievement;
provide the road map and visuals in a logical sequence;
encourage reflection and improvement;
Poor planning, which is ineffective, leads to:
frustration for the teacher and pupils;
unmet objectives;
no connections to prior learning;
lack of needed materials;
disorganization;
a waste of time;
poor management.
Activity 4: Tips for lesson planning
Lesson planning will help you teach with confidence. The longer your class session, the more
important it is to have a good lesson plan. Here are some tips to consider.
Plan Alternative Activities - always have one or two alternative activities in case the material
you've selected doesn't take all the time you thought it would. How will you fill an extra 10
minutes? 20 minutes?
Build on Previous Material - try to continuously practice material that you've covered
recently. It's often possible to teach the same theme several sessions in a row which can help
ingrain vocabulary and concepts.
187
Balance the Challenge of Content and Activity Type -iIf your content is challenging, choose
activities that are relatively easy to do like fill-in-the-blank exercises or guided discussion
questions. If your content is fairly simple, try more challenging activities like role plays or
problem-solving.
Create Your Own Materials - build your own library of materials to support your lessons. You
can find several ideas in the Lesson Preparation section of this guide. Be creative. If you
invest some time into developing and collecting materials, you'll cut down on your preparation
time when you are actually planning lessons.
Center Lessons Around the Student - keep the focus on the learners and minimize the time
you spend talking as a teacher. In other words, make the lesson as interactive as possible.
Focus on communication.
Assess Needs - periodically take time to think through your particular learners' needs. Think
about cultural factors as well as language deficiencies. This can help you prioritize what you
choose to study. Are any of your students dealing with culture shock? What kind of language
skills might help alleviate it? Try asking the students themselves what they would like to learn.
Keep a Log - after each class, write a brief log of what you did. Include notes about what
worked or didn't with ideas for improvement. Write down specific page numbers you covered
in a textbook. You could also keep your lesson plans collected together, making sure to write
notes on them about the success of various activities and whether you modified the lesson
during class.

http://www.nclrc.org
http://www.onestopenglish.com
http://www.elthillside.com
http://www.eslbase.com
http://findarticles.com/p/articles
http://www.adprima.com/wlo5.htm
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/esl/lessontips.cfm
References
1.
Brinton, D.M. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, Boston: Heinle and Heinle
Publishers,1991
2. Cehan, A.- Methodology 4- a university course
3. Harmer, Jeremy The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman Publishing House,
Cambridge, 2002
4. Murphy, Raymond Essential Grammar in Use, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006
5. Scrivener, J.- Learning Teaching- Macmillan, 2005
6. Ur, P.- A Course in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press,1998
- Lesson Planning and Lesson Plan Ideas on http://www.scribd.com/doc/38539721/Lesson-Planning
- Tools for ESL Lesson Planning (second edition); ESL and Citizenship Programs Division of Adult and
Career Education Los Angeles Unified School District 2004 (revised) available on http://www.scribd.com
- Lesson Planning Resource Guide, Febr. 2008,developed by SABES and ACLSavailable on
http://www.scribd.com
- English Dictionary, Macmillan Publishing House, London, 2004
- the English Curriculum for 5th grade, Bucureti, 2009
- http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/FoxCrow.shtml
- http://www.nclrc.org
- http://www.onestopenglish.com
- http://www.elthillside.com
- http://www.eslbase.com
- http://findarticles.com/p/articles
- http://www.adprima.com/wlo5.htm
- www.crlt.umich.edu
- http://www.scribd.com
188
MODULE 14 ASSESSMENT
189
Activity 1: Assessment purposes

Activity 2: Test types
Activity 3: Principles of testing
Activity 4: Self-assessment:The Europass Language Passport
Activity 5: Marking scales
Activity 6: Samples of tests
Activity 1: Assessment purposes
Classroom Assessment can be defined according to its purpose; tests can be:
1. Placement tests - tests usually given to a student entering an educational institution to determine
specific knowledge or proficiency in various subjects for the purpose of assignment to appropriate
courses or classes
2. Achievement tests- tests designed to measure the knowledge or proficiency of an individual in
something that has been learned or taught over a period of time.
3. Progress tests- These tests measure progress in a specific textbook series. Teachers usually
prepare their own progress tests, although many textbook series often present some progress or unit
tests.
4. Standardized testing
Standardized testing is any testing which is given to large numbers of students under standard
conditions and with standardized procedures. Usually they are multiple choice. Today many schools
administer a standardized achievement test to prepare for their state's annual assessment ( in
Romania- BAC )
5. Public examinations and proficiency tests- (exit tests) determine what level a student has
reached at any one time and are used by employers and universities who want a reliable measure of a
students language abilities.This type of testing is offered by The University of Cambridge ESOL,
Pitman or Trinity College in the UK and in the US, the University of Michigan and TOEFL.
Norm-referenced and Criterion-referenced assessment
A distinction in testing is made between norm-referenced and criterion-referenced assessment as
well. A test can be used, for example, to compare a student with other students, whether locally (e.g.,
in a class), regionally, or nationally as in SAT tests. Classroom, regional, or national norms may be
established to interpret just how one student compares with another. Sometimes teachers speak of
using a curve, which simply means that they test a students performance in comparison with that of
other students in the same class or in other classes.(contests, Olympiads). A test can also be used to
determine whether a respondent has met certain instructional objectives or criteria. For this reason,
such a test would be referred to as criterion-referenced assessment.( BAC, CAMBRIDGE, TOEFL).
Step 1.1-IW- High jumping is criterion-referenced- can athletes jump 1m 50, 1m 60 or1m 70 , and so
on? If they can, they have met the criterion; if they cant, they havent. Complete the list with other
examples of criterion-referenced tests of language:
1. can students produce Past Tense forms?
2.
3.
4.
5. ..
190
Step 1.2-IW- Which of the three types of analysis normally preceeds a proficiency test( deficiency,
error or needs analysis? Why?
Activity 2: Test types
1. According to the purpose of testing there can be:
A. Summative assessment
Is usually applied at the end of a predetermined period of instruction (for example, mid-term,
final)
Rates the student in relation to an external standard of correctness (how many right answers
are given)
Is the usual traditional and standardized tests approach
B. Formative assessment
Takes place on an ongoing basis as instruction is developing

Rates the student in terms of functional ability to communicate, using criteria that the student
has helped to identify
Helps students identify ways of improving their learning
Is more of an an alternative assessment approach
2. When designing tests we can distinguish between:

A.Discrete A completely discrete-point item tests simply one point or objective such as t esting for
the meaning of a word in Gap-fill e.g. Fill in the space with one word only.
People have been diving without mechanical aids....... ancient times.
Answer: since
Multiple choice e.g. Decide which word (A, B, C or D) best fits each space.
The elephant has some.......... relatives called mammoths, which lived in the Stone Age.
A. far B. distant C. remote D. distinct
Answer: B. distant
B.Integrative Integrative tests( see further on-Direct tests items)
Such tests require the students to demonstrate simultaneous control over several aspects of
language, just as they would in real language use situations ( two or more language skills to complete
a task)-eg. cloze-procedure, dictation, information transfer(a non or semi-verbal text map,
diagram, picture-contains all the most important information from all or a large part of the text.It
assesses global comprehension)
3. Another distinction can be made between
A. Indirect tests items- different ways of testing the students knowledge of language elements
Multiple choice where students are required to choose the correct answer from three or more
alternatives and dual choice to test reading or listening comprehension. When constructing
the test, assessors should be very careful about distractors ( the incorrect alternatives) which
have to make it quite difficult for students to choose the correct answer, due to its degree of
similarity with the incorrect answers.
191
Assessment by true/false or multiple-choice can be reliable but it has a negative washback

effect since it can hardly help training students become better language learners.
Fill-in items are easy to write , making marking a little more complexe
Cloze procedure gaps are put into a text at regular intervals and students have to produce
a wide range of different words based on different grammar categories.
Modified cloze- As random selection of gaps can give rise to difficulties to guess the correct
word or to many alternatives, most designers use modified cloze to counteract this situation.
B. Transformation items require students to change the form of words and phrases to show their
knowledge of syntax and word grammar.
C. Direct test items refer to reading, listening, speaking and writing competences and their specific
(CEF) identifying what students can do with the language in different circumstances instead of testing
how the language itself works.-eg ( follow text instructions , give an oral presentation on a topic,
ineract orally or in written with someone.). Many reading and listening tests are a blend of direct and
indirect testing. We can ask students to be text-focused( direct language) or testing their global
understanding.
These itams, which are considered an alternative type of assessment ,highlight what students can
do with language, laying stress on their strengths more than on their weaknesses. Alternative
assessment tools are not only designed and patterned differently from traditional tests, but are also
graded or scored differently. Because alternative assessment is performance based, it helps teachers
emphasize that the point of language learning is communication for meaningful purposes.
The following criteria define authentic assessment activities:
They are desined around topics or issues of interest to the students

They are real-world communication like contexts and situations
They define stage tasks and real problems that ask for creative use of language rather than
simple repetition
Their evaluation criteria and standards are known to the student
They imply interaction between assessor (instructor, peers, self) and person assessed
They allow for self-evaluation and self-correction as they develop
According to CEF there can be:

1 Achievement assessment
2. Proficiency assessment
3 Norm-referencing (NR)
4Criterion-referencing (CR)
5Mastery learning CR
6Continuum CR
7 Continuous assessment
8Fixed assessment points
9 Formative assessment
10Summative assessment
11 Direct assessment
12Indirect assessment
13 Performance assessment
14Knowledge assessment
192
15 Subjective assessment
16Objective assessment
17 Checklist rating
18Performance rating
19 Impression
20Guided judgement
21 Holistic assessment
22Analytic assessment
23 Series assessment
24Category assessment
25Assessment by others
26Self-assessment
Step 2.1- Develop an authentic type of test, adaminister it to the class and explain:
- who the test was desined for;
- why- the purpose of the test;
- what language items you included in the test and why;
- how- which testing techniques you chose and why;
- when and where you administer the test and any special problems, constraints and
circumstances
Step2. 2- Here is a list of the main techniques of objective testing. Classify each one as either discrete
point (D) or integrative (I)
D
1Matching elements
2Transformation
3Blank completion
4Adding elements
5Dictation
6Cloze procedure
7Replacing elements
8Multiple choice
9Arranging elements
10Dual choice
11Information transfer
Activity 3: Principles of testing

Even though trends in testing change in time, some principles of assessment are permanent and
are not affected by current approaches. They must be kept in mind by assessors whenever they build
a test, whether this be a common class activity, an essay or an examination for certification . The most
important of these principles are: validity, reliability and washback.
1. Validity
'Validity' is related to questions about what the test is actually assessing. Is the test telling you what
you want to know? Does it measure what it is intended to measure? A test is not valid, for example, if it
is intended to test a student's level of reading comprehension in a foreign language but instead tests
intelligence or background knowledge.
A teacher devising a classroom activity may not have the time or the special concern to check
whether the test is valid, but the constructors of an examination which will affect candidates' futures
193
have to examine as many aspects of validity as possible. It should be remembered that it is not the
test itself, but the use of the test for a particular purpose, that should be examined.
2. Reliability
The reliability of a test is an estimate of the consistency of its marks; a reliable test is one where, for
example, a student will get the same mark if he or she takes the test, possibly with a different
examiner, on a Monday morning or a Tuesday afternoon. A test must be reliable, as a test cannot be
valid unless it is reliable. However, the converse is not true: it is perfectly possible to have a reliable
test which is not valid. For example, a multiple-choice test of grammatical structures may be
wonderfully reliable, but it is not valid if teachers are not interested in the grammatical abilities of their
students and/or if grammar is not taught in the related language course.
If the test consists of right/wrong items such as multiple-choice items or some sorts of short
answer questions, a reliability estimate such as the Alpha Coefficient or Kuder Richardson 21 may be
calculated (see Alderson, Clapham & Wall 1995: 87-89); but if the test consists of an essay or an oral
interview, for example, then other forms of test reliability must be estimated.
3. Washback
Any language test or piece of assessment must have positive washback (backwash), by which I
mean that the effect of the test on the teaching must be beneficial. This should be kept in mind by the
test builders; it is only too easy to construct a test which leads, for example, to candidates learning
material by heart or achieving high marks by simply applying test-taking skills rather than genuine
language skills (see Wall 1997).
4. Practicality
One of the criteria by which a test is assessed. Practicality is the extent to which a test is quick and
convenient to administer and score.Tests with high practicality usually test large numbers of students
at the same time, in a short time, with little equipment, are easy and economical to supervise and are
quick and simple to score.They tend, therefore to be descrete-point and objective and to test receptive
language skills rather than productive ones.
Step 3.1-PW- It is generally agreed on that objective(O) and subjective(S) tests have particular and
and contrasting characteristics. Mark O or S in the appropriate box to identify these characteristics.
Easier to set
Easier to score
Only one right answer
Right/wrong scoring
Better reliability
Better face validity
Easier to guess answer
Each item tests one
thing
Harder to set
Harder to score
No single right answer
Scoring based on
opinion
Poorer reliability
Poorer face validity
Harder to guess
answers
Each item tests many
things
Step 3.2-GW- Discuss the test below, drawing up a checklist for assessing its communicativeness
.Here is a series of questions with which you evaluate your test.The more Yes answers it receives,
the more communicative it is.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Does the test assess meaning and content as well as form?

Does the test assess integrative rather than discrete-point language?
Are the input texts authentic or authentic like?
Does the task give the learner a real-world purpose?Does the task replicate a realworld real task?
194
5.
6.
7.
8.
Does the task require the learner to interact with someone( in writing or in speech)?
Does the task involve an information-gap?
Is the output authentic?
Is the communicative situation one which learners can recognise as plausible or
necessary in the real world?
9. Does the test have a positive washback effect?
10. Is it easy to administer?
Activity 4: Self-assessment:The Europass Language Passport
A. Self- Assessment
Students can become better language learners when they feel responsable for what they are
learning and how they are learning it. That is why, students tend to ignore the learning process thinking
more about their learning strategies and their progress as language learners. Such self assessment
encourages students to become independent learners and can increase their motivation.
The successful use of student self- assessment depends on three key elements:
Goal setting is very important because students can evaluate their progress more clearly when
they have aims they can relate their performance to. In addition, students' motivation to learn
increases when they have self-defined, and therefore relevant, learning goals.
One way to begin the process of introducing students to self-assessment is to create studentteacher contracts. Contracts are written agreements between students and instructors, which
commonly involve determining the number and type of assignments that are required .
B. Guided practice with assessment tools
Students do not learn to monitor or assess their learning by themselves; they need to be shown
strategies for self- monitoring and self- assessment. The teacher models the technique (use of a
checklist or rubric, for example); students then try the technique ; finally, students discuss whether and
how well the technique has worked and what has to be changed next time.
Students can use not only checklists and rubrics for specific communication tasks, but also
broader self-assessment tools to make a good selection of topics they have studied, skills they have
learned and their study habits.
C. Portfolios
Portfolios are purposeful, organized collections of student work that tell the story of a student's efforts,
progress, and achievement in specific areas. Portfolio assessment is a joint process for teacher and
student.
Portfolios assess students' progress, processes, and performance over time. They:
Represent a collaborative approach to assessment
Assess a student's performance in reading, writing, speaking, and listening as well as cultural
understanding
Highlight what students can do rather than what they cannot do
Represent a student's progress over time
Get students establish ongoing learning goals and assess their progress towards those goals
Measure each student's achievement while allowing for individual differences between
students in a class
Reveal improvement, effort, and achievement
Enable assessment of process and product
195
Link teaching and assessment to learning
Europass language passport

The Europass Language Passport is a document in which you can record your skills and
competences in Languages, after you make a self-assessment of your language skills in
understanding (listening and reading), speaking (spoken interaction and spoken production), and
writing. This self-assessment is made according to the Common European Framework of Reference,
which is a six-level grid developed by the Council of Europe. The grid consists of three broad levels as
follows:
Basic user (levels A1 and A2)
Independent user (levels B1 and B2)
Proficient user (levels C1 and C2)
196
European language levels - Self Assessment Grid

A1
A2
B1
B2
C1
C2
I can understand the
main points of clear
I can understand
standard speech on I can understand
phrases and the highest
familiar matters
extended speech and I can understand
frequency vocabulary
I can understand
regularly
lectures and follow
extended speech even I have no difficulty in
related to areas of most
familiar words and
encountered in work, even complex lines of when it is not clearly understanding any kind
immediate personal
very basic phrases
school, leisure, etc. I argument provided the structured and when of spoken language,
relevance (e.g. very
concerning myself,
can understand the topic is reasonably
relationships are only whether live or
basic personal and
Listening my family and
main point of many familiar. I can
implied and not
broadcast, even when
family information,
immediate concrete
radio or TV
understand most TV signalled explicitly. I delivered at fast native
U
shopping, local area,
surroundings when
programmes on
news and current
can understand
speed, provided. I hav
n
employment). I can
people speak slowly
current affairs or
affairs programmes. I television programmes some time to get
d
catch the main point in
and clearly.
topics of personal or can understand the
and films without too familiar with the accen
e
short, clear, simple
professional interest majority of films in
much effort.
rs
messages and
when the delivery is standard dialect.
ta
announcements.
relatively slow and
n
clear.
di
n
I can understand long
I can read very short,
I can understand
I can read articles and
g
and complex factual I can read with ease
simple texts. I can find texts that consist
reports concerned
I can understand
and literary texts,
virtually all forms of the
specific, predictable
mainly of high
with contemporary
familiar names,
appreciating
written language,
information in simple
frequency everyday problems in which the
words and very
distinctions of style. I including abstract,
everyday material such or job-related
writers adopt
Reading simple sentences,
can understand
structurally or
as advertisements,
language. I can
particular attitudes or
for example on
specialised articles
linguistically complex
prospectuses, menus understand the
viewpoints. I can
notices and posters
and longer technical texts such as manuals
and timetables and I can description of events, understand
or in catalogues.
instructions, even
specialised articles and
understand short simple feelings and wishes contemporary literary
when they do not
literary works.
personal letters.
in personal letters. prose.
relate to my field.
I can take part
I can express myself
I can deal with most
effortlessly in any
I can interact in a
fluently and
situations likely to
conversation or
simple way provided I can communicate in
I can interact with a spontaneously without
arise whilst travelling
discussion and have a
the other person is simple and routine tasks
degree of fluency and much obvious
in an area where the
good familiarity with
prepared to repeat requiring a simple and
spontaneity that
searching for
language is spoken. I
idiomatic expressions
or rephrase things direct exchange of
makes regular
expressions. I can use
can enter
and colloquialisms. I
at a slower rate of information on familiar
interaction with native language flexibly and
unprepared into
can express myself
Spoken
speech and help me topics and activities. I
speakers quite
effectively for social
conversation on
fluently and convey fin
interaction formulate what I'm can handle very short
possible. I can take an and professional
topics that are
shades of meaning
trying to say. I can social exchanges, even
active part in
purposes. I can
familiar, of personal
precisely. If I do have a
ask and answer
though I can't usually
discussion in familiar formulate ideas and
interest or pertinent
problem I can backtrac
simple questions in understand enough to
contexts, accounting opinions with precision
to everyday life (e.g.
and restructure around
areas of immediate keep the conversation
for and sustaining my and relate my
S
family, hobbies,
the difficulty so
need or on very
going myself.
views.
contribution skilfully to
p
work, travel and
smoothly that other
familiar topics.
those of other
e
current events).
people are hardly awa
speakers.
a
of it.
ki
I can connect
n
phrases in a simple
g
way in order to
I can present clear,
I can present a clear,
I can use a series of
describe experiences
I can present clear,
detailed descriptions
smoothly-flowing
phrases and sentences and events, my
detailed descriptions
I can use simple
on a wide range of
description or argumen
to describe in simple
dreams, hopes and
of complex subjects
phrases and
subjects related to my
in a style appropriate t
terms my family and
ambitions. I can
integrating subSpoken
sentences to
field of interest. I can
the context and with an
other people, living
briefly give reasons
themes, developing
production describe where I
explain a viewpoint on
effective logical
conditions, my
and explanations for
particular points and
live and people I
a topical issue giving
structure which helps
educational background opinions and plans. I
rounding off with an
know.
the advantages and
the recipient to notice
and my present or most can narrate a story or
appropriate
disadvantages of
and remember
recent job.
relate the plot of a
conclusion.
various options.
significant points.
book or film and
describe my
reactions.
I can write a short, I can write short, simple I can write simple
I can write clear,
I can express myself I can write clear,
simple postcard, for notes and messages. I connected text on
detailed text on a wide in clear, wellsmoothly-flowing text i
example sending
can write a very simple topics which are
range of subjects
structured text,
an appropriate style. I
Writing
holiday greetings. I personal letter, for
familiar or of
related to my
expressing points of can write complex
can fill in forms with example thanking
personal interest. I interests. I can write view at some length. I letters, reports or
personal details, for someone for something. can write personal an essay or report,
can write about
articles which present
197
example entering
my name,
nationality and
address on a hotel
registration form.
letters describing
experiences and
impressions.
passing on
information or giving
reasons in support of
or against a particular
point of view. I can
write letters
highlighting the
personal significance
of events and
experiences.
complex subjects in a
letter, an essay or a
report, underlining
what I consider to be
the salient issues. I
can select a style
appropriate to the
reader in mind.
case with an effective

logical structure which
helps the recipient to
notice and remember
significant points. I can
write summaries and
reviews of professiona
or literary works.
Proficient user (levels C1 and C2)
Step 4.1- Fill in the chart with information about yourself ( self-assessment grid)
LOTE Teacher Competencies for Professional Development COMMUNITIES STRAND
CORE
KNOWLEDGE
SAMPLE PRACTICES
I know ways
to access and
use the
language and
its cultural
resources
beyond the
school setting.
I:
motivate
students to independently pursue personal

enrichment activities using the language (e.g., travel,
research, reading, networking).
provide
experiences and implements learning activities

wherelanguage skills are used for personal enrichment
(e.g., participation in social, civic, and vocational events).
help
students discover how the language and culture

can be used in various careers and shows students where
and how they may access this information (e.g.,
uses career situations and business literature/forms in
classroom activities).
assist
students in finding applications for the language in

job settings (e.g., internship programs).
bring
local and area resources and resource persons into

the classroom to advise and interest students in
career applications for language.
encourage
students to see themselves as world citizens

and helps them understand that language proficiency is an
asset that will help them function successfully in the world
community
I:
motivate
students to independently pursue personal

enrichment activities using the language (e.g., travel,
research, reading, networking).
provide
experiences and implements learning activities

wherelanguage skills are used for personal enrichment
(e.g., participation in social, civic, and avocational events).
help
students discover how the language and culture

can be used in various careers and shows students where
and how they may access this information (e.g.,
uses career situations and business literature/forms in
classroom activities).
assist
students in finding applications for the language in

job settings (e.g., internship programs).
bring
local and area resources and resource persons into

the classroom to advise and interest students in
career applications for language.
encourage
students to see themselves as world citizens

and helps them understand that language proficiency is an
asset that will help them function successfully in the world
community
I know how
to use the
language for
lifelong
learning,
personal
enrichment, and
career
development.
GOOD
(some of
the time
BETTER
(most of
the time)
EXEMPLARY
(almost all of
the time)
Activity 5: Marking scales
198
According to CEF there are basically three ways in which descriptors can be presented for use as
assessment criteria:
Firstly, descriptors can be presented as a scale often combining descriptors for different
categories into one holistic paragraph per level. This is a very common approach.
Secondly, they can be presented as a checklist, usually with one checklist per relevant
level, often with descriptors grouped under headings, i.e. under categories. Checklists are less usual
for live assessment.
Thirdly, they can be presented as a grid of selected categories, in effect as a set of parallel
scales for separate categories. This approach makes it possible to give a diagnostic
profile. However, there are limits to the number of categories that assessors can
cope with.
There are two distinctly different ways in which one can provide a grid of sub-scales:
Proficiency Scale: by providing a profile grid defining the relevant levels for certain categories, for
example from Levels A2 to B2. Assessment is then made directly onto those levels, possibly using
further refinements like a second digit or pluses to give greater differentiation if desired. Thus even
though the performance test was aimed at Level B1, and even if none of the learners had reached
Level B2, it would still be possible for stronger learners to be credited with B1+, B1++
Examination Rating Scale: by selecting or defining a descriptor for each relevant
category which describes the desired pass standard or norm for a particular module or examination for
that category. That descriptor is then named Pass or 3 and the scale is norm-referenced around that
standard (a very weak performance = 1, an excellent performance = 5).
The marking of tests is not difficult if students only have to tick boxes or individual words.
Assessment becomes more complex when we have to evaluate an integrative type of activity.
Objective tests are easy to assess. The paper can be given an overall score ( 10 or 100 or 75%,
etc). As for the subjective type of testing assessors usually use marking schemes which can make
evaluation more objective.
MARKING SCALES LETTERS, STORIES
MARKS
Task
Achievement
Language Accuracy
Register and
vocabulary
Organisation, cohesion, l
9-10
-Coverage of all
points required
-Total relevance to
task
-No/very few grammar

errors
-No/very few spelling
errors
-Wide range of grammar
structure
-Wide range of vocabulary

-Appropriate register
-Very clear organization

-Many linking devices
-Fully correct paragraphing
-Fully correct layout
7-8
-Coverage of all
points required
-Partial relevance
to task
-Coverage of most
points required
-Some relevance to
task
-Coverage of a few
points required
-Little relevance to
task
-Coverage of few
points required
-Very little
relevance to task
-few grammar errors

-few spelling errors
-good range of grammar
structure
-Some grammar errors
-Some spelling errors
-Good range of grammar
structure
-Many grammar errors
-Many spelling errors
-Limited range of
grammar structure
-Grammar errors
sometimes hinder
communication
-Spelling errors
sometimes hinder
communication
-Limited range of
grammar structure
-Grammar errors often
hinder communication
-Spelling errors often
-Varied vocabulary
-Appropriate register
-Very clear organization

-Enough linking devices
-Mostly correct paragraphing
-Mostly correct layout
-clear organization
some linking devices
-mostly correct paragraphing
-mostly correct layout
-Unclear organization
-Few linking devices
-Mostly incorrect paragraphing
-Mostly incorrect layout
-Unclear organization
-Very few (inappropriate) linking device
-Incorrect paragraphing
-Incorrect layout
5-6
3-4
1-2
-Coverage of few
points required
-No relevance to
-Somewhat varied
vocabulary
-Mostly appropriate
register
-Basic vocabulary
-Mostly appropriate
register
-Basic vocabulary
-Sometimes inappropriate
register
-Basic vocabulary
-Mostly inappropriate
register
-Total lack of organization

-Total lack of linking devices
199
task
Analytical
criteria
Task
achievem
ent
Organizat
ion and
cohesion
Vocabular
y
Structure
s
General
effect
hinder communication
-Very limited range of
grammar structure
FORMAL/ INFORMAL LETTER
Good
Very good
100-90
The letter is completely
relevant to the task, fully
developing all content
points; the format of the
letter is fully observed;
the purpose of the letter is
clearly and fully explained;
the register is appropriate
throughout.
There is a logical
progression throughout;
the paragraphs are well
built, well extended, the
topic sentence is clear; a
wide range of cohesive
devices is used
effectively.
A wide range of
vocabulary is used
appropriately and
accurately; precise
meaning is conveyed;
minor errors are rare;
spelling is very well
controlled.
A wide range of
grammatical structures is
used accurately and
flexibly; minor errors are
rare; punctuation is very
well controlled.
The interest of the reader
is aroused and sustained
throughout.
80-70
The letter covers the
requirements of the task but
the content points could be
more fully extended; the
format of the letter is
observed; the purpose of
the letter is presented; the
register is appropriate ,
although minor
inconsistencies are possible.
There is a logical
progression although minor
inconsistencies are possible;
the paragraphs are well built
but could be more extended;
a range of cohesive devices
is used effectively.
A range of vocabulary is
used appropriately and
accurately; occasional errors
in word choice/ formation
are possible; spelling is well
controlled with occasional
slips.
A range of grammatical
structures is used
accurately and with some
flexibility; occasional errors
are possible; punctuation is
well controlled with
occasional slips.
The text has a good effect
on the reader.
Adequate
Weak
60-50
The letter addresses the
requirements of the task but
not all content points are
included; the format may be
faulty at times; the purpose of
the letter is presented but it is
not very clear; there are
inconsistencies in register.
40-30
The letter does not cover the
requirements of the task; bulle
attempted but many irrelevant
included; the format is faulty; t
for writing is missing; there are
inconsistencies in register.
The text is generally coherent

but the internal organization of
some paragraphs may be
faulty; the topic sentence is not
always clear or may be
missing; cohesive devices are
used but sometimes they are
not accurate.
The range of vocabulary is
adequate; errors in word
choice/ formation are present
when more sophisticated items
of vocabulary are attempted;
spelling can be faulty at times.
There is serious inconsistency

organization of the text; the se
ideas can be followed with diffi
paragraphing may be missing;
devices are limited or most of t
faulty.
A mix of complex and simple

grammatical structures is
present; errors are present
when complex language is
attempted; punctuation can be
faulty at times.
A limited range of grammatical

is present; complex language i
may be often faulty; punctuatio
can make text understanding
The effect on the reader is

satisfactory.
The text has not a relevant effe

reader.
A limited range of vocabulary

less common items of vocabu
rare and may be often faulty; s
errors can make text understa
difficult.
The scales of descriptors make up a conceptual grid which can be used to:
a) relate national and institutional frameworks to each other, through the medium of
the Common Framework;
b) map the objectives of particular examinations and course modules using the categories
and levels of the scales.
Speaking Analytical scales
1) Discourse management
- relevance if ideas
- coherence and cohesion
- time constraints
- fluency
2) Grammatical resource
- accuracy
- range of structures
3) Vocabulary resource
- appropriacy
40 marks
10 marks
10 marks
10 marks
10 marks
20 marks
10 marks
10 marks
20 marks
10 marks
200
- range
4) Pronunciation
- pronunciation and intonation
- stress and rhythm
Total
10 marks
20 marks
10 marks
10 marks
100 marks
Step 5.1- GW- Discuss the issue of subjectivity when it comes to marking tests and show how marking
scales can solve this problem
Activity 6: Samples of tests
A. RECEPTIVE SKILLS
Reading
Item 1-objective-dual choice
Theme-Public domain
Competence- understanding reading
Activiy-reading for detailed understanding of the text
Level B2
Read the text and decide if the following sentence is true (T) or false (F).
Did you know that coffee beans are the seeds of a fruit similar to a cherry? Did you know that
most of the worlds coffee is grown by small-scale coffee farming families? Coffee is actually the
worlds second most traded commodity, taking a backseat only to petroleum, with the coffee market
earning nearly sixty billion dollars annually.
Coffee is the first world`s traded product
Correct answer F
Item 2 semiobjective-matching
Theme-Personal domain
Activity-Reading for detailed understanding of the text
Level B2
Read the essay below and then match the beginning of each sentence with its corresponding
ending:
Watching TV is my favourite hobby
Watching TV plays an important role in our daily lives. In fact it is one of my favorite hobbies. Almost
everybody watches TV some time every day making it perhaps the most common hobby in modern
society. It brings us a lot of benefits. Watching TV can increase our knowledge of the world, gives us
information to improve our lives and provides a lot of fun. Watching TV widens our horizons. There are
numerous TV programmes representing all the worldwide affairs. People learn many things through
TV such as economics, history, geography, and culture. Many TV programs provide the latest news of
domestic and international events. Watching news every night on TV is many peoples most important
routine. For example, people who are living in Canada but have never been to Mexico are able to
know about Mexican history, culture and climate by watching a TV programme called Discover Mexico.
It is the same for other countries. I still remember clearly when I saw African tribes on the screen. I
was fascinated by the marvellous jungles, the colorful weapons, the fierce animals and the fantastic
wild game
Parents say that these kids are couch potatoes and indifferent to nearly everything. Find the right
channels, and you will have programmes of education. If you are a conscientious student, the TV will
be a great aid to you. Watching TV is an indispensable hobby for everybody. Moreover, for getting help
and entertainment people can tune in to a popular programme called Bind Date, which helps people
find a girlfriend or boyfriend. Today, many children spend too much time before the little screen,
ignoring their studies, outdoor activities and even their families. Watching TV has become part of our
lives. TV, as a convenient communication tool, is very useful for us in many areas. Various
programmes fit everyones need, like cooking and exercise to keep the body fit. Nearly every family
201
owns a TV and watches TV programmes. We should teach the kids to spend their time wisely with
other hobbies and outdoor activities. Nothing is more entertaining and relaxing for me than watching
TV after a whole day of study. These kinds of programmes always help us do better in our daily living.
Some of them teach us about such things as home decorating, home renovating and carpentry .It is
not unusual to see the people and places totally different from your own anymore because people can
see these things through TV.
1.The most common hobby in our society is
2. Watching TV can increase
3. People learn many things
4. People who are living in Canada but have never
been to Mexico
5.Parents say that these kids are couch potatoes
6.Today many children spend too much time before the
little screen
7.Some of the programmes teach us about
a) such as economics, history, geography

b) our knowledge of the world
c) watching TV
d) and indifferent to nearly everything
e) ignoring their studies, outdoor activities
and families
f) home decorating , home renovating and carpentry
g) are able to know about Mexican history, culture and
climate
1._____2._____3.______4.______5.______6._______7.______
Answer key : 1c 2b 3a 4g 5d 6e 7f
Item 3.
Theme-Public domain
Activity-Reading for gist
Level B2
Read the article about air pollution and choose the most suitable heading from the list A-F for
each part(1-5) of the text. There is one extra heading which you do not need to use. There is an
example at the beginning:
A. unavoidable causes
B. the real threat
C. excessively polluted places
D. unseen poison
E. pollution caused by human activity
F. harmless pollution
1.
Air pollution
D
There are many different chemical substances that contribute to air pollution. These chemicals come
from a variety of sources. Among the many types of air pollutants are nitrogen oxides, carbon
monoxides, and organic compounds that can evaporate and enter the atmosphere.
2.
Air pollutants have sources that are both natural and human. Forest fires, volcanic eruptions, wind
erosion, pollen dispersal, evaporation of organic compounds, and natural radioactivity are all among
the natural causes of air pollution.
3.
Usually, natural air pollution does not occur in abundance in particular locations. The pollution is
spread around throughout the world, and as a result, poses little threat to the health of people and
ecosystems.
4.
202
Though some pollution comes from these natural sources, most pollution is the result of human
activity. The biggest causes are the operation of fossil fuel-burning power plants and automobiles that
combust fuel. Combined, these two sources are responsible for about 90% of all air pollution in the
United States.
5.
Some cities suffer severely because of heavy industrial use of chemicals that cause air pollution.
Places like Mexico City and Sao Paulo have some of the most deadly pollution levels in the world.
Answer key
1D
4B
5C 2A 3F
B. PRODUCTIVE SKILLS
1. Speaking
Item 1-subjective
Theme-Personal domain
Competence- oral production
Specific competence-describing events
Level A2
You attended a relatives wedding. Describe your experience. Refer to:
- what the atmosphere was like
- who you met there
- what the bride and groom looked like
- what you did there
Assessment form for oral presentations
Poor
1. Discourse management
Relevance of ideas
Coherence and cohesion
Time constraints
Fluency
2. Grammatical resource
Accuracy
range of structures
3. Vocabulary resource
Appropriacy
Range
4. Pronunciation
Pronunciation and intonation
Stress and rhythm
Average
Excellent
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
6
6
6
6
7
7
7
7
8
8
8
8
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
10
4
4
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
9
9
10
10
4
4
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
9
9
10
10
4
4
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
9
9
10
10
2. Writing
Item 2-structured essay
Theme-personal domain
Competence-written production-personal lettes
Specific competence-describing events
Level-B1
Write a letter to a penfriend describing a birthday (150 words/15 lines). Use the following plan.
Paragraph 1: people who came names, presents they brought; Paragraph 2: describe their clothes;
Paragraph 3: what you did and ate; Paragraph 4: your impression.
Marking scale
-task achievement
- grammar accuracy
- range of vocabulary
- organisation, layout, cohesion
- register, style
C.GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE
203
Item 1-semiobjective
Competence-using language structures correctly
Level-B2
Complete the sentences using the word in bold. Use two to five words.
Just after he left, he realized he had left the documents behind.
than
No.he realized he had left the documents behind.
Answer key- No sooner had he left than he realized he had left the documents behind.
Item 2-semiobjective
Competence-using language structures correctly; reading comprehension
Level B1
Read the text below and fill in the word which best fits each space. Use only one word in each
space.
The home is not only a shelter to you and your family but to your pets as 1._______ It is not a
surprise that most home owners would provide special structures or provisions for their beloved
animals in and 2_________the house. For dogs example, their owners would build a dog house
accordingly. The tiny house has the right insulation and cover to keep the dog warm and safe when
they 3_________a place to sleep. Sometimes, there is even a cushioned sleeping basket inside for
the dog to lie down and serve as their bed. Although most dogs 4__________ prefer to sleep inside
the house itself, there are times when they need to be trained to stay in their dog house. Some owners
even make it as a consequence to sleep outside for bad behavior performed by the dog. But this is not
at all that harsh as proper ventilation and insulation keeps the pet comfortable 5____________cold or
hot nights. This also teaches the dog in behaving in good conduct to suffer from a far less comfortable
resting place.
Answer key
1. well 2. outside 3. need 4. would 5. during
Item 3-objective
Competence-using language structures correctly
Level A2
Circle the correct answer (A, B, C, D)
As soon as Harry .. Bucharest he was called back to Rome.
A. is reaching
B. reach
C. will reach
D. reached
Answer key D
References
1. Alderson, J. C. (2000) Assessing Reading. Cambridge Language Assessment Series.
Cambridge:Cambridge University Press
2. Cohen, A. D. (1994a). Assessing language ability in the classroom. 2nd Edition. Boston:
Newbury House/Heinle & Heinle.
3. Hamp-Lyons, L., Condon, W., & Farr, M. (Eds.), (2000). Assessing the portfolio : Principles
for practice, theory, and research (written language). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
4. Maki, Peggy L. 2004. Assessing for learning: Building a sustainable commitment across the
institution. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
- Primarily institution-level and program-level assessment
- Multilingual Glossary of Language Testing Terms (1998). Edited by ALTE members
- Middle States Commission on Higher Education. 2003. Student learning assessment: Options
and resources. Philadelphia: Middle States Commission on Higher Education
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PROIECT: POSDRU 62665 - Formarea continu a cadrelor didactice pentru utilizarea resurselor

informatice moderne n predarea eficient a limbii engleze i evaluarea la nivel european a

MODULE 2 TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES COMMUNICATIVELY-A

MODULE 3- THE EUROPEAN PROFILE OF TEACHER TRAINING______38

MODULE 4- TYPES OF LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING

MODULE 5 - TEACHING VOCABULARY________________________________56

MODULE 6 TEACHING READING_____________________________________71

MODULE 7: TYPES OF LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING

MODULE 8 - ORAL PRODUCTION____________________________________102

MODULE 10 - ADJUSTING CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TO THE

MODULE 11 - INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION_________________________142

MODULE 12 - TEACHING AIDS, STRATEGIES, METHODOLOGY,

MODULE 13 LESSON PLANNING___________________________________174

Elemente de identificare a programului

s utilizeze metodele i abordrile comunicative n predarea limbii engleze, corelnd

Operarea cu documentele i conceptele

Compatibilizarea coninuturilor prevzute

Utilizarea mijloacelor, metodelor,

identific elementele caracteristice ale metodei

moderne pentru a facilita predarea i

Selectarea i utilizarea resurselor i

Adecvarea managementului clasei n

Elaborarea instrumentelor de evaluare

Folosirea PLE pentru autoevaluare

METODA COMUNICATIV folosit n predarea limbii engleze

CEF i predarea limbilor strine cu prioriti comunicative

PROFILUL EUROPEAN i formarea profesorului de limbi straine

Tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea GRAMATICII

Tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea VOCABULARULUI

Tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea RECEPTRII MESAJULUI CITIT

Tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea RECEPTRII MESAJULUI AUDIAT

Tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea INTERACIUNII I PRODUCERII

Tipuri de activiti de nvare adecvate pentru abordarea INTERCULTURALITII I

Instrumente de EVALUARE standardizate conform nivelurilor de competen prevzute de

Livrarea programului de formare

Monitorizarea i evaluarea programului

Activity 1: Characteristics of the Communicative Approach

Activity 1: Characteristics of the Communicative Approach

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/the-communicative-approach-to-languageteaching-1244891.html#ixzz1JrxSQlB0

5. Effective learning by students requires feedback______

Activity 2: The Communicative Approach and other language teaching methods

Grammatical explanations or rules are

F. Task-based language learning (TBLL)

adequate explanations of grammar functions, the teacher can give them

suitable situations that

A. Accuracy vs. fluency

Activity 4: Post Communicative Language Teaching (Post CLT)

B. Project-based learning (PBL)

is organized around an open-ended Driving Question or Challenge. These focus

C. A current major priority in education is differentiated instruction. Recent scientific research

1. Alptekin, C. (2002). Towards intercultural communicative competence in ELT. ELT Journal 56

2. David Nunan--Asian-EFL-Journal--September 5, 2005

5. Harmer, J. (2001). How to teach English,(3rd ed.). London: Longman.

Activity 1: The communicative language competence

The CEF is structured as follows:

G.PRACTICAL SKILLS (SAVOIR FAIRE)

Common Reference Levels

Activity 2: Cooperative learning

Activity 3: Multiple Intelligences: Gardner's Theory

capability and perception

words and language

Logical-Mathematical logic and numbers

music, sound, rhythm