This document provides a profile of a class preparing for the CAE exam. It describes the 7 students, their strengths, weaknesses, learning styles, and motivation. Their main weakness is listening skills, which is the focus of the upcoming lesson. The teacher aims to help students develop listening strategies and build confidence through pair and group work practicing exam-style tasks from their course book.
This document provides a profile of a class preparing for the CAE exam. It describes the 7 students, their strengths, weaknesses, learning styles, and motivation. Their main weakness is listening skills, which is the focus of the upcoming lesson. The teacher aims to help students develop listening strategies and build confidence through pair and group work practicing exam-style tasks from their course book.
Original Description:
A lesson plan for an innovative dogme lesson I taught whilst doing my DELTA course.
This document provides a profile of a class preparing for the CAE exam. It describes the 7 students, their strengths, weaknesses, learning styles, and motivation. Their main weakness is listening skills, which is the focus of the upcoming lesson. The teacher aims to help students develop listening strategies and build confidence through pair and group work practicing exam-style tasks from their course book.
This document provides a profile of a class preparing for the CAE exam. It describes the 7 students, their strengths, weaknesses, learning styles, and motivation. Their main weakness is listening skills, which is the focus of the upcoming lesson. The teacher aims to help students develop listening strategies and build confidence through pair and group work practicing exam-style tasks from their course book.
Ben Green Developing Students listening skills for part 4 of the CAE exam Page 1
Name: XXXXXXXXX Candidate Number:
Supervisor: XXXXXXXXX Date: 25/02/13 Centre: CLIC International House, Seville Centre Number:
Language Systems Assignment Internal 1: Skills
Contents Page Number
Class Profile 2-4 Background Information 2 Learner Styles and Preferences 2 Motivation 2 Strengths and Weaknesses 3-4 Needs of the Group 4 Lesson Profile 5-6 Main Aim 5 Subsidiary Aims 5 Assumptions 5 Timetable Fit 5 Aids and Materials 6 Professional Development & Personal Aims 6 Anticipated Problems and Solutions 6-7 Commentary 7-8 Procedure 12-13
Background Information
There are 7 students in the class, 3 males and 4 females, aged between 22 and 35. All are native Spanish speakers living in the L1 environment. Two of the students are studying, two are working and three are unemployed. This is the 6 th week into a 10-week intensive course. Classes are held three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 09.30-13.00. Developing students listening skills for part 4 of the CAE exam Class Profile Ben Green Developing Students listening skills for part 4 of the CAE exam Page 2
The class is shared with another teacher Ruby. I teacher the first part of the lesson (form 9.30 to 11.10 and Ruby teaches the second half (11.20-13.00) The class work from the exam preparation course book Ready for CAE, which is geared towards exam practice activities. Four of them have used the book before and have moved from extensive or pre-CAE intensive classes respectively. However the rest of them started using it this year. Homework is given about twice a week from both Ruby and I and often involves writing or exam practice papers. In terms of level, they are all around a C1 level (advanced). I have been teaching them for approximately 6 weeks and the course will finish in the second week of March.
Learner Styles and Preferences
From the needs analysis form I found that all the students have, to some extent, an interpersonal learning style as they like working in pairs and in small groups, There is an element of both linguistic ( Marina and Beatrice) and logical/mathematical learners ( Jaime and Mercedes) within the group.
All except one specified that they preferred to learn in pairs or groups, the one who preferred working alone also stated that she preferred writing to speaking activities which was surprising as she is a very vocal member of the group..The majority of the students do their homework. In terms of perceptually based learning styles, the majority of the students seem to have a visual learning style with one student having a more auditory style to the others. They are incredibly focussed on the forthcoming exam and question how any class activity relates to the exam. For this reason I am always overt in my aims for activities and explain which part of the exam it will be useful for.
Motivation
All of the students main motivation is extrinsic: they are learning in order to pass the exam which they need for their working life, degree or to improve their prospects on the job market. One student (Marina) stated that the reason she wanted the CAE was for her own satisfaction Most stated the belief that good English will also increase their future employment possibilities. A lesser integrative motivation is that they would like to be able to communicate with L1 English speakers when they get the opportunity to travel and/or work abroad which all of them have previous experience of doing. One student (Raquel) is studying German at the same time as a law degree and English, which does affect her capability to complete homework , especially the writings..
Strengths and Weaknesses
Grammar
Most of my students have a good grasp of grammar. Their experience of learning has mainly been discrete-item and they are used to working with grammar rules, whether this is deductive or inductive. Their knowledge of meta-language, like many Spanish students, is good, which is beneficial when dealing with problems or trying to understand concepts. The main problem comes in encouraging them to actively use this in their writing and speaking. Ben Green Developing Students listening skills for part 4 of the CAE exam Page 3
They may well be able to identify a particular grammatical structure or discrete item but are much less likely to be able to use this productively.
As a group, they are quick to remember grammar previously studied and quick to grasp new notions that they havent met before. Beatrice, Marina and Victor are particularly good at grammar, possibly as structures suit their learner style. Raquel, Mercedes and Alberto, on the other hand, can struggle at times, although once they get the concept, they are generally good at using it. This can be problematic as the focus in the second half of the book moves away from grammar so these three are often trying to catch up with the rest in terms of comprehension which can affect the pace of the class. Guided-discovery approaches often suit them better as they are of the level where working things out for themselves comes naturally to them.
Lexis
In general, this class has quite a mixed range of vocabulary for this level. They enjoy learning new vocabulary, particularly informal and colloquial language but, unlike some students who religiously copy everything from the new vocabulary section of the board into their notebooks, they need to be encouraged to do this and to regularly review this vocabulary. Sometimes this lack of lexical depth can hinder receptive activities, particularly for Marina and Jaime who are both intolerant of ambiguity which can affect the pace of reading activities. Beatrice and Victor are the stronger members of the group with regard to lexis.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is quite a weak area over all and its something that, according to the needs analysis, they all want to work on. They enjoy learning about features of connected speech and when taught this are quite quick to pick it up.Most of them havecome across the phonemic chart before and I am trying to include more of this in my lessons in order to help them to improve their pronunciation. Some of the students L1 accent is quite strong (Beatrice and Mercedes) and in can hinder communication especially with Beatrice who often reverts to L1 in the classroom. Pronunciation has been something I have been focussing on for the past six weeks.
Discourse
In general, the students are good at going beyond the sentence level. They communicate well between each other and can organise their thoughts into a longer productive speech or writing given time to plan. They do, however, tend to rely heavily on certain stock linking expressions regardless of text type or requirements of register. In terms of spoken discourse they are familiar with turn-taking and are able to use back channelling and clarification techniques effectively although they sometimes need to expand on their points and be less worried about producing mistakes..
Reading
Ben Green Developing Students listening skills for part 4 of the CAE exam Page 4
Reading is a relative strength and they tend to do well at reading tasks. They do need to be encouraged to take note of new vocabulary and collocations, which are particularly important in the exam, in order to expand their vocabulary. They are generally good at reading for detail but a couple of them struggle with reading for gist because they want to know the meaning of every word. This is particularly true of Jaime and Marina, who both seem to be quite intolerant of ambiguity. Listening
This is an area which is weak across the board and they all said that they find listening difficult, particularly concentrating while listening. I need to help them to develop more strategies for when they are listening and to build their confidence in it. They also tend to see listening as boring, which makes sense as the majority of them seem to have a more visual than auditory learning style. That said, in the needs analysis they all said that listening was something they need to improve and something that they wanted more of in the class. I have tried to encourage them to listen to films/music etc that interest them outside of the class and the students that are stronger at listening (Jaime and Alberto) do actively make an effort to listen to English music and watch films in their original English version whenever possible. Writing
There is a greater degree of ability in this skill than in any other area. Marina and Beatrice are very strong, but Victor and Raquel struggle to create organised, cohesive pieces of work When I highlight errors on their written work they are often able to self correct these and they need to get into the habit of proof reading their work both for errors and also to try and make it better, even if it is already accurate. They seem to like this way of thinking. Victor also has a problem with incoherent handwriting which will have a negative impact on the examiner who is marking his written work.
Speaking
They are generally quite confident speaking but make a number of errors when they do so. They enjoy learning useful chunks of language and enjoy speaking and discussing things with each other. Its not often that they stop speaking before I have to ask them to! The fluency of Marina, Jaime and Alberto are good for the level. They could improve their accuracy though. Beatrice and Mercedes struggle more with fluency than accuracy. The group is very strong in this area and work well in activities that require interaction and communication. What they need is more practice in spoken production under test-like conditions, as currently their nerves get in the way and their fluency, accuracy and pronunciation suffer. The students are keen to have as much speaking practice in class, as they feel confident in this area, but also feel it is important.
Needs of the Group
Ben Green Developing Students listening skills for part 4 of the CAE exam Page 5
The main need of the group is to pass the CAE exam in March. They all want and need to improve their listening skills, whilst at the same time admitting that they find listening difficult and find it difficult to concentrate on. They all want to practise their speaking, grammar and broaden their vocabulary. As a group they are generally more confident with reading. Although they can be a little shy with drilling activities, they appreciate their importance and are keen to improve their pronunciation.
Main Aims
By the end of the lesson the students will:
Have developed listening skill techniques that will help them in part 4 of the CAE exam.
Subsidiary Aims
By the end of the lesson my students will: Have distinguished and practised using different intonation to convey meaning /attitude in natural speech.
Assumptions
As I know that the students have practised part 4 of the test on numerous occasions, I expect that they will know the format of this part of the exam and what is required. In addition, Beatrice and Victor can struggle to pay attention during listening, so I will need to ensure that they are keeping on task and be aware if they become lost or lose concentration during the listening.
Timetable Fit
As the exam is getting closer we are now honing in the parts of the exam that the students have the opportunity to improve the most thereby maximizing their chances of performing well on exam day. We have taken a broad approach to improving all aspects of the students skills however we believe that it is now more beneficial to be more discriminatory and to look at a more targeted approach. We have almost finished the Exam preparation course book and are able to revise areas which are the most challenging. In terms of methodology, we have been doing a mixture of deductive and inductive approaches. This class, however, would be a good opportunity to include a guided discovery approach which will activate deeper cognitive processes making the skill development more memorable
Lesson Profile Ben Green Developing Students listening skills for part 4 of the CAE exam Page 6
Aids and Materials
Whiteboard (wb), Interactive White Board, (IWB) pens and board rubber Handout with gist listening questions Handout for CAE exam Listening part 4. Computer for playing listening Exam Listening exercise part 4 Tapescript from exercise
Professional Development & Personal Aims
Monitor effectively and provide on the spot and summarised error correction Prepare and use more concept questions to check understanding. Concentrate on a more focussed approach to the whiteboard in terms of word families and relevant information for new lexical items.
Problem 1: Some of the students may have trouble with comprehension and get stuck on new lexis in the listening.
Solution 1: By looking at techniques to try and predict lexis from the listening by analysing the theme, rubric and context I hope to minimize the risk of students being blocked by unknown or unfamiliar vocabulary. The emphasis on a top down approach for this part of the exam will hopefully activate the schemata and fully prepare the students before the listening commences.
Problem 2: Some students may have problems with the nature of the task i.e. the fact that they have to complete two tasks simultaneously while listening.
Solution 2: I aim to look at a variety of techniques that may aid students who struggle with this task.
Problem 3: Students may have problems with the variety of accents or some unusual from the listening.
Solution 3: We will look at the tape script post listening and highlight any expressions, lexis or features of connected speech that students find particularly tricky.
Problem 4: Students may not be aware or prosodic features, for example the use of a flat sarcastic intonation and this may distract them or lead to them misunderstanding the meaning /attitude of the speaker(s).
Solution 4 : We will look at an extract from the text and analyse how intonation can be used in different ways to affect the meaning in speech.
Anticipated Problems and Solutions Commentary Ben Green Developing Students listening skills for part 4 of the CAE exam Page 7
Why have I chosen listening skills?
Of the four skills listening is the one that causes the most problems for the students and it is the one that they find the most challenging. I believe it will be incredibly useful if my students can learn techniques so that they dont feel overwhelmed by the listening in the exam and in English environments in general.
Why have I chosen part 4 of the listening exam?
Part 4 of the listening is the part that causes the most problems when we have done exam practice listenings. For this reason I believe the students will find it more beneficial, to look deeper into the reason why this part has been problematic and explore techniques that may help them with this section of the exam
Why have I chosen to teach this lesson using an exam practice listening and not my own materials? It is extremely difficult recreating this type of exam type question with the numerous distracters. I believe I would be better spent using an existing exam practise paper which would then be more authentic in terms of the exam if not a real life situation. Students will see more validity if the exam practice is from a previous Cambridge exam as opposed to my own hand made listening. I can then analyse the listening in terms of distracters, connected speech, potential problems etc and look into techniques for the students in order to overcome these difficulties.
Why have I chosen to concentrate on Top-down processing?
I believe developing top down processing skills will prove more useful for this part of the exam. In the CAE handbook it states that this part of the exam is more of a gist listening than a detail listening and students need to be aware of prosodic features of attitude and mood as opposed to listening for specific lexis. Obviously in the exam the students wont have a huge amount of time to activate the schemata before the listening but if these skills can be developed hopefully it will speed up the process and these skills can be utilised both pre-listening and during the completion of the tasks.
How has research for my background assignment affected the planning of this lesson?
As I researched listening it became clear to me that this skill was the least understood and written about of the four skills. Analysis of this part of the exam has led me to the conclusion that a focus on a top down approach will be of more benefit than a bottom up approach. Although I am using more interactive approach looking at both aspects. I am also focussing on looking at transactional communication as opposed to interactional as this is the one featured in part 4 of the exam.
Ben Green Developing Students listening skills for part 4 of the CAE exam Page 8
How have the needs of my students affected the planning of this lesson?
The students exam needs are paramount and so I have incorporated a real exam practice question to look at and so they will be able to see the direct transfer to what they need to do in the exam. By looking at a number of tangible strategies that the students can use in the exam they will be able to apply the technique that suits them best and enables them to do as well as possible in this task.
How have my professional development goals affected the planning of this lesson?
As I want to improve my whiteboard use and be more discriminating regarding what and how to display lexical items. I have spent more time at the planning stage analysing vocabulary and expressions from the text and am using a more considered approach to how I am going to use the whiteboard to show relevant aspects of this lexis. E.g. word families and common collocations.
Commentary Word Count: 634
Ben Green Developing Students listening skills for part 4 of the CAE exam Page 9
Timing (mins) Stages and Aims Interactio n Procedure Possible Problems 10-15
To create interest and to practice question forms
TS ST
Show students object (Owl Key-ring) Elicit questions from students regarding the object Tell story of object filling in any gaps not covered by the questions. Board any necessary vocabulary and correct question forms if required
Ss Students may have be uncomfortab le with
30- 40 For students to be able to choose what they want to discuss and language they are interested in. S-S Ask students to choose an object form their bags/pockets which they think others may be interested in. Go around the class eliciting questions with students taking it in turns to show an object and tell the story of their object. Board new vocabulary and any relevant language that the students need or display interest in. Monitor and error correct if required Students may not have objects to show. Students might be reluctant to expand or may not have many question s to ask. 10-20
Consoli dation of new
TS SS
Drill new boarded language. Expand on any lexis in terms of related vocabulary collocations
Procedure Ben Green Developing Students listening skills for part 4 of the CAE exam Page 10
langua ge
T
etc.
5 Technique practice for the pre- listening.
Ss may resist trying new technique preferring their own tried and tested method 5 Listen to speaker 2 and 3 Students employ techniques for listening comprehension
SS
SS
SS listen to speaker 2 and use their technique to try and find the correct answers. Both groups change techniques and try out the other 2 prediction methods and then listen to speaker 3
5
Reflection Students evaluate techniques
TS
SS ST
Provide Ss with technique feedback questions In new groups of 3 or 4 Ss compare and evaluate all of the different techniquesusefulness Group feedback
5
Listen to speaker 4 and 5
SS
Ss choose their preferred technique for the final two listenings
8-10 Listen to all 5 Ss underline task 1 and task 2 Ben Green Developing Students listening skills for part 4 of the CAE exam Page 11
speakers with tape script answers in tape script SS compare underlined parts
5-8 New lexis analysis Look at useful colloquial language (3 or 4 lexis) from text and look at form, meaning and pronunciation Drill
10 Intonation Look at intonation of expression from text and contrast how it can be used to add sarcasm or not. Ss practise intonation to add sarcasm
Ben Green Developing Students listening skills for part 4 of the CAE exam Page 12