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Module 1: Teaching Foundations

All images are Shutterstock and used under license.

Introduction
Why do you teach in the way you do? How do learners learn in the way they do? This module looks at possible answers to these questions by focusing on the branch of psychology concerned with the learning process and the psychological aspects associated with the teaching and training of students including learning, motivation, instruction and assessment. In this module we look at the influence of three most prominent schools of thought in educational psychology and their influence on TEFL. These schools of thought help inform the development of effective teaching techniques as well as investigating the process whereby skills, knowledge and concepts are acquired.

Module Objective
In this module you will analyze the main schools of thought in educational psychology to understand how they influence English language teaching. You will identify key factors that affect learning and identify the principles behind effective language teaching. By the end of this module you will have: analyzed different schools of thought of educational psychology (behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism) and be able to distinguish

between them, identified different factors that influence learning and reflected on how these can be incorporated into teaching practice, integrated and reflected on key concepts to become aware how different principles and schools of thought appear in ones teaching practice.

For more details, please refer to the module plan below. Recommended Reading from the CET Online Basic Bibliography: Brown, H.D. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (2007) 5th Edition,White Plains, NY: Longman
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Module PlanFile

Module Calendar
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Module CalendarFile

Social Media
o News Forum A forum for your tutor to post general news and announcements o Question and Answer Forum This forum is for you to ask questions to your tutor. If you believe that the answer to your question might be of interest to other students, post it here, and your tutor will reply with an answer that everyone can see. o Social Forum A social forum for students to freely interact, socialize, philosophize, whatever takes their fancy.

In this module your tutor will use Blackboard Collaborate sessions to keep in touch with you. There will be one session per week on Wednesday at 8:00 pm. Your tutor will give a presentation of about 15 minutes on the topic for that week and then there will be time for general questions. Sessions will be recorded and the links posted below for those who are unable to attend.
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Session 1: Session

Wednesday 15th of M 2013 at 8:00 pm Click to enter.

Click here to see reco of session after the session has finished.

Wednesday 22nd of M 2013 at 8:00 pm Click

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to enter.

Click here to see reco of session after the session has finished.

Session 3:

Wednesday 29th of M 2013 at 8:00 pm Click to enter.

Click here to see reco of session after the session has finished.

Session 4:
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Wednesday 5th of Jun 2013 at 8:00 pm Click to enter.

Click here to see reco of session after the session has finished.

e-tivity 1

Module Glossary
There are a lot of key technical terms for talking about language covered in this module. It is essential that you learn these words and know how to use them correctly. We will build a group glossary during the module and you will have a quiz on these terms at the end. Your tutor will give you some words to add to the glossary. You should add these words and others to make a total of 5 words. It is important that you add the terms that you are given by your tutor and that all the definitions are related to the study of language. You should not use a general dictionary to define these terms. To get full marks for this activity you need to add your 5 words by the end of week three of the module.

At the end of this module you will have a test on the words in this glossary. It is important that your definitions are meaningful and useful. It is also important that you study this glossary regularly and try to use these terms in your assignments for this module. Please open the helpsheet below to see an example of how to structure your glossary entries. Also read therubric below carefully to see how you will be graded for this activity. This activity represents 5% of your final module grade.
e-tivity 1: Module Glossary Enter the terms given to you by your tutor and add meaningful definitions.
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Glossary HelpsheetFile Glossary RubricFile

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e-tivity 2

Schools of Thought in

Second Language Acquisition

For many years, second language researches and applied linguists have been studying the complex process that takes place when people learn a second language. They have tried to answer questions like: What is language? What is communication? How does learning take place? How can a person ensure success in language learning? What cognitive processes are used in second language learning? They have analyzed the acquisition of language from different perspectives and even with all the possible disagreement, they have agreed on some principles that can be studied from three different schools of thought on second language acquisition.

Conceptual Map
In this e-tivity you will develop a conceptual map to represent the three main schools of thought (Behaviorism, Cognitivism and Constructivism) of educational psychology and relate each one to language teaching practice.

A concept map is different from a mental map. Concept maps consist of enclosures (boxes/circles), connecting lines and linking phrases. To understand the theory of concept maps and how they should be constructed, refer to the following article:http://cmap.ihmc.us/publications/researchpapers/theorycmaps/theo ryunderlyingconceptmaps.htm There are many programs available online to help you build concept maps. Some are simple and others are complicated, but give you more flexibility. Perhaps the most famous is CmapTools (http://cmap.ihmc.us/). You may do a web search on the Internet to find a variety of concept map makers, but one that seems intuitive is bubbl.us (https://bubbl.us/). Another possibility is Creately, which you can find at http://creately.com/. In the end you need to choose a tool that works for you. Your map should include details that address at least the following aspects for each school: a) Origins: When? Where? Who? Why? b) Underlying theory or philosophy; theoretical justification? c) Main theorists d) key concepts/terms. To learn about the mainschools of thought in educational psychology, you should start by reading Chapter 1 (pp. 1-19) of Brown, D. (2007) Principles of Language Teaching, Pearson, USA. This is one of the books in the basic bibliography of CET online so you should have already acquired it. If you do not have a copy, an older version (2000) appears to be online at this link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/37225272/Teaching-byPrinciples-o Another interesting source is chapters 2 and 3 of WAYS OF LEARNING: Learning Theories and Learning Styles in the Classroom by Pritchard, A. (2008) Taylor & Francis. After doing this background reading the chapters, you should look for other references. You should do your own investigation to find out about the three main schools of thought in educational psychology, but you may find the following link to be useful. Link 1 When you have completed your conceptual map, save it as an image and upload it to the forum below as a reply to the post your tutor started. Once you have uploaded your map, you will be able to see what your partners

have posted. Reply to at least three of your partners identifying the differences you find between your representation and theirs. Refer to the rubric below before starting this activity. This e-tivity represents 20% of the module grade.
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e-tivity 2: Conceptual Map Forum Conceptual Map RubricFile

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e-tivity 3

First Reflection
After having read about different schools of thought of educational psychology, you probably related to some of the beliefs. Post an entry of at least 300 words to your Moodle Blog answering the following question: What type of teacher do you think you are? You should also submit the same reflection using the link below as a Word document entitled "First_Reflection.docx" so that your tutor can give you feed back.

Remember that no school of thought is any more valid than any other, though some are currently more popular. Do not feel obliged to take a certain ideological position. It is more important to reflect on what you do in the classroom and the reasons why. If you have not used your Moodle blog before, refer to the helpsheet below. This is an initial reflection, but you should make reference to academic texts to support your ideas. Please refer to the rubric below to understand how you will be graded for this activity. This activity represents 10% of your final module grade.
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Helpsheet for BlogFile e-tivity 3: First Reflection - copy for tutorAssignment (2.2) First Reflection RubricFile
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e-tivity 4

Teaching Perspectives Inventory

You will make a second entry to your blog answering the question: "What beliefs underlie your teaching practice?" To do this, you will first complete the TPI, analyze the results and read an article. Start by taking the survey known as the Teaching Perspectives Inventory. Click on the following link: http://teachingperspectives.com/drupal/takesurvey and enter details about your teaching context. Then click on 'continue' and start the TPI survey. The results will be sent to your email account, so it is important that you enter your details correctly.

Second Reflection
Now read the article Good Teaching: One size fits all? written by Daniel Pratt. Next reflect on the results of the questionnaire and what it tells you about you as a teacher. Do you agree? Look back at the first blog entry you made in e-tivity 2. Do your results for the TPI fit with what you posted? Why? Why not? Finally write a second post of at least 500 words in your blog and reflect on the kind of teacher you are.

You should also submit the same reflection using the link below as a Word document entitled "Second_Reflection.docx" so that your tutor can give you feed back. Make sure you make reference to Pratt's five perspectives, amd the schools of thought on education you looked at in e-tivity 2. Please refer to the rubric below before starting the activity to understand how you will be assessed. This activity represents 15% of your final module grade.
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e-tivity 4: Second Reflection - copy for tutorAssignment (2.2) Second Reflection RubricFile
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e-tivity 5

Motivation
In this e-tivity we will focus on the importance of motivation for success in learning a foreign language. By the end of this e-tivity, you should be able to distinguish different sources of motivation in your students and describe teaching principles for maintaining a healthy motivation to learn. You should also understand that developing motivation is a lot more than just having fun in class. Start by reading Chapter 5 (pp. 72-84) of Brown, D. (2007) Teaching by Principles, Pearson, USA. If you do not access to a physical copy of this book, there appears to be an older version online at the following link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/37225272/Teaching-by-Principles-o Also read the article Motivation as a Contributing Factor in Second Language Acquisition and Motivation where does it come from? Where does it go? You may also want to do some further research on your own on the topic of motivation. Now complete the following activities:
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e-tivity 5.1: Worksheet

Complete the worksheet below on the different types of motivation. Your tutor will assign you a group to work with. The worksheet is housed in a Wiki and you will all be able to edit it. This is a collaborative activity. You will all receive the same grade, and anyone can make changes to the work of anyone else. You will need to discuss your understanding of the terms using the comments tab and then click on the edit tab when you are ready to complete the tables. Please write to your tutor if you are unsure of how to use the Wiki. Please refer to the rubric below before starting the activity to understand how you will be assessed. This activity represents 10% of your final module grade.

e-tivity 5.1. Types of Motivation Wiki

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Wiki Worksheet RubricFile

e-tivity 5.2: Forum

Now enter the forum below and answer the following questions: a. What is motivation? b. What different definitions of motivation are there? c. Why are some students more motivated to learn than others? d. What can a teacher do to develop student motivation? Your answers should be written in an academic style and you must make reference to sources to support your ideas. Fifteen minutes after you have posted your answers you will be able to see the answers of your partners. Respond to your partners to develop a discussion and reach a consensus on the role of motivation in the language classroom. Please refer to the rubric below before starting the activity to understand how you will be assessed. This activity represents 10% of your final module grade.

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e-tivity 5.2: Motivation Forum Forum RubricFile

e-tivity 5.3: Micro-teaching

During CET online you will complete several observation tasks to focus on the practical implications of the theory covered in each module. In module one, we have included a micro-teaching task on games, motivation and learning. Click on the link below to watch the observation video and answer the reflective questions. The video is divided into two short sessions of the same class. The class objective is to ask and answer questions about routines using the present simple and frequency adverbs.

Please refer to the rubric below before starting the activity to understand how you will be assessed. This activity represents 10% of your final module grade.
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e-tivity 5.3: Micro Teaching TaskQuiz Micro Teaching RubricFile

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e-tivity 6

Principles in Action
Learning a language is a complex process. There are many factors that influence learning, and understanding them may contribute to improve teaching practice. According to Brown (2007) there are twelve principles of second language learning that have important implications in the classroom. In this e-tivity you need to do some action research on the presence of Browns 12 principles of Language Teaching your classroom.

To do this, you will first need to read Chapter 4 Brown, D. (2007) Teaching by Principles, Pearson, USA and perhaps look for other references of your own. This is not one of the books in the basic bibliography of CET online, however there is an older version online at the following link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/37225272/Teaching-by-Principles-o Now, do some research by observing 6 students in class, and interviewing them. For each student, complete the observation record found below to record your observations/findings. The important thing is to collect the data so that you can interpret the results later.
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Observation FormatFile Observation Format DigitalFile

Third Reflection
Brown highlights twelve principles of language learning that can form the bases of an approach to language teaching. Observe students learning English in your teaching context to discover evidence of these principles in action. Identify the principles that are clearly evident and those that are less present in your students as they learn English. Now reflect on what you do and the choices you make in the classroom. Your reflection should answer the following question: "What relation can you find between your beliefs about education, your classroom practice and the development of Brown's learning principles in your students?"

Once you have completed the observation, start working on a reflection that ties together your classroom practice, the beliefs and theory that underlie this practice and what you have learned from the reflective process in this module. Will you change anything about what you do after taking this module? You will post this reflection in your blog. You should also submit the same reflection using the link below as a Word document entitled "Final_Reflection.docx" so that your tutor can give you feedback. This reflection should be at least 600 words. Make sure you have proof read carefully and cited academic sources to support your findings. Please refer to the rubric below before starting this activity. This e-tivity carries 15% of the final grade.
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e-tivity 6: Third Reflection - copy for your tutorAssignment (2.2) Third Reflection RubricFile
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e-tivity 7
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Glossary Quiz and Test

Your tutor will create a formative quiz and a summative test based on the glossary entries that your group has created. The first will be formed from a large number of the words and you will be able to take this quiz as many times as you like during the fourth week. This will allow you to practice for the test. The test will consist of a carefully selected group of words. You will only be able to take the test twice on the last day (Sunday) of the module. The second test represents 5% of your module grade.

Formative Glossary Quiz

During the fourth week, you will develop your knowledge of the glossary you have built collaboratively by taking a quiz. This quiz is formative; it is only to practice for the final test on Sunday. You will be given 15 terms at random and have to match each term with the correct definition. The terms and definitions are taken directly from your glossary. You can take this test as many times as you wish, and each time you will get different questions.

Formative Glossary Quiz

Summative Glossary Test

This is the final glossary quiz available only on the last day of the Module, Sunday of the fourth week. You have only two chances at this test and your highest mark will be recorded. The time limit is set at 20 minutes. The quiz chooses 20 words at random from a bank of 30 chosen by your tutor. Good luck!
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e-tivity 7: Glossary TestQuiz

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Your Opinion Counts

Evaluating the Module

When you have completed all the activities, please take a moment to evaluate the module your tutor and the service you recieved. We value your comments to keep improving your learning experience.

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