Portfolio of Lesson Plans

and Rationale
Approaches to Grammar for Language Teachers PG (11393)
Vietnam Period 2 2021

UC3 - U3230366 - TRAN MY LINH

Dr Thuy Hong CAO

June 28, 2021

 INTRODUCTIO
Educators must develop a set of pedagogical abilities and teaching knowledge to become
qualified foreign language teachers. Both learners and teachers will benefit from pedagogical
abilities gained via application paired with professional knowledge and research. In this essay, as
an EFL teacher, the writer will create a portfolio of three lesson plans based on her work
experience and language-related research, enhancing her capacity to recognize appropriate
approaches and mastering pedagogical information in preparation for her teaching profession.
The lesson plans for the three classes are prepared and linked together in this portfolio. The
grammar is taught in the following order: lexical grammar, sentence-level grammar, and text-
level grammar. Following PET writing part 2 of the Cambridge Assessment, students will retain
and grasp the grammar elements and use the taught structure in writing a 100-word story by the
conclusion of three classes. The writer will explain her applied approaches and techniques,
discuss the benefits, and anticipate problems and figure out if there is room for improvement

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 RATIONAL
The chosen subject is a group of fifteen students, aged 12 to 13, who are currently enrolled in a
private English language centre in Hanoi, Vietnam. Some students attend public schools, while
others attend private schools. Every student must take an admission exam so that the centre may
evaluate them and place them at the right level. According to the CEFR system, their English
language skills range from level A2 (pre-intermediate) to roughly B1 (intermediate). The goal of
this class is to raise learners’ English levels to B1 (intermediate) and obtain the B1 Preliminary
qualification, which was previously known as Cambridge English: Preliminary (PET) (“B1
Preliminary | Cambridge English,” n.d.). Learners must be able to apply intermediate vocabulary
and complicated grammar structures to pass the listening, reading, and writing components, with
the writing component being the most productive and demanding
There is no official course book for the class. Instead, the curriculum is based on the
requirements of level B1 of the CEFR framework, and teachers must prepare the learning
materials using official and reputable resources like Cambridge University Press, Oxford
University Press, or from reference websites such as British Council. Because the students enjoy
expressing their thoughts and developing their egos, they feel at ease and confident while
participating in in-class activities. They dislike solely theoretical classes. As a result, the teacher
must plan the lesson with the integration and interaction of practical activities to be exciting, and
the students are interested.
As the teacher, I must first identify the pupils' level before selecting appropriate approaches or
tactics for teaching grammar. It is necessary since it affects the organization of the lesson.
Following that, the approach must be followed, and the classroom learning materials and
activities must be carefully picked and disseminated. The objective is to create a strategy and
teach grammar courses that will enable young students to employ proper grammatical structures
in their writing projects
The information about learners will remain unchanged because the lesson plans are in the same
class’s sequence.
With the subjected students of the group age of 12-13, who are considered problematic but
energetic students and willing to show their opinions, I decide to choose the eclectic approach. It
includes the lexical approach (based on the aim of the vocabulary acquisition after this lesson)
and learner-centred approaches (communicative language teaching and task-based learning),
following the traditional PPP procedure in all three lesson plans. The PPP approach is one of the

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classic approaches and can be used in most structured sessions. In this approach, I will present
the grammar point to be learned, then my students will practice through assigned activities, and
the teacher will be the one to control and evaluate the students through the activities. Though
heavily criticised over the years, PPP is probably the most commonly used lesson structure. This
structure is easy for new teachers to adapt to the lessons. It is not only flexible but also has a
logical sequence. It works for most types of classes, including more extended classes.
Furthermore, most coursebooks use this or a similar method to structure their lessons. However,
this procedure is old and may not be the best way to teach or learn a new language. More
inadequate learners may overuse the target language from the practice session, so it sounds
unnatural. Learners may not be sure how to use the target language in different contexts.
Moreover, it can be boring if used repeatedly for higher-level students (Harmer, 2007).
When applying the PPP process to the lesson, I will take advantage of this structure, so the lesson
is clear, seamless, and easy for students to follow. However, I need to adapt it appropriately and
utilise the advantages and eliminate disadvantages. For the Presentation stage, I should turn the
deductive aspect into an inductive aspect (so learners have to figure out the patterns themselves).
For example, a text containing the target structure examples is given to students. They have to
work together to look for examples, which is an effective way for them to recognise and
remember the form of the structure. In the Practice stage, the teacher will need to control the
activities. The practice activities need to be well-prepared and enhanced from easy to complex. It
is required for the teacher to thoroughly observe the students and take the time to correct the
errors immediately. In particular, in this part, students will make some common mistakes, and it
will be immeasurable if the teacher can detect those mistakes and help students correct them in
time. The production part will be the time when students can practise the language while learning
more freely. Based on the approaches, I choose some activities suitable for this class, meanwhile
keeps following the Bloom’s Taxonomy.
At this time, communication tasks will be included, which are suitable for their preference. I can
facilitate free practice for this group of students. If the teacher controls the activity in the
previous practice stage, then gradually, students have independence in the following steps. In this
section, the lesson is also integrated with language learning skills (writing) and several small
tasks are also added to help students combine sub-skills. The goal of this section is that students
will gain more interactivity and practice using the target language effectively. At this stage, I
assign tasks to students, using the task-based learning approach to assist students to acquire

knowledge and apply it most efficiently. Thus, this procedure supports students to gradually
absorb knowledge and give them opportunities to practice their input and produce their output
For the first lesson plan, which focuses on lexicon grammar, I choose to teach students affixes for
adjectives. This lexical approach is a method of analysing and teaching language based on the
concept that it comprises lexical units rather than grammatical structures. The units here are root
words and other parts. In this lesson, students will recognise the root words formed with different
affixes with new meaning through a text first, and then they will learn the meaning of each affix
and form a new word using those affixes. Then the students will practice in a traditional but
effective way (doing worksheet). During this activity, the teacher can go around the class to
check up on students and provide any help if needed. In this way, the teacher can let students self-
control their practice, which promoting their self-study and also the teacher can provide suitable
support for each individual. After that, students will create their new words with the given affixes
and root words in the production stage, provided that the words are correct, and make their
sentences using those words.
For the sentence-level grammar, I design the second lesson plan focusing on complex sentences
and how to form them. The students are supposed to have learned compound sentences and
coordinating conjunctions before, so there will be a short activity at the beginning of the lesson to
recall the knowledge and create a chance to tell the differences between compound sentences and
complex sentences to be taught in this lesson. In the presentation stage, I also use a given text for
students to read and recognise the form of a complex sentence, then I give the definition and
examples of complex sentences. This activity follows the task-based learning method. According
to Harmer (2007), there are two versions of the task-based learning method. In one of them,
students complete the tasks and focus on language form while they do the tasks and have done
them. In the second one, the teacher provides students with some of the target languages to
perform the tasks before completing them. In this lesson, I choose the latter method. Again,
during the practice stage, the role of the teacher is crucial that the teacher will instruct and correct
if students make any mistakes. For the production part, the difficulty level is increased since
students will have to follow the examples, including the grammar structure and rewrite sentences
using different conjunctions but still keep the same meaning. This is to make sure that students
remember, understand, and apply the grammar structure when writing a sentence
In the last lesson plan, I think it will be better to apply the lexical resources (adjectives with
affixes) and the complex sentence structure into writing a story, which is a task that they have to

pass when getting the B1 qualification. First, I activate their knowledge about different story
genres, and then I encourage them to brainstorm about the elements of a story. The purpose is to
give students the generic structure of a story. I start by recounting the events, orientation (scene-
setting), reminding them to list the events in chronological order, and adding further details using
adjectives, adverbs, and words describing senses. Also, the students are reminded about the
narrative tenses (usually past tenses), connectives (in chronological order) and the purposes of the
writing (focus on an individual or third person). In the practice stage, students have a chance to
teamwork. It is a part of the communicative language teaching approach where students express
their ideas and communicate actual meaning. With the given context, students’ ideas should be
natural as possible. They will brainstorm ideas together to write a story; then, they will present
their work and receive feedback from the teacher and their peers. Through teacher’s correction
and peer’s feedback, students are guided and can write independently at home. Students can
watch and learn from others and develop their ability of self-study, self-motivation and self-
correction. The homework can help students recycle the knowledge learned in class, also help
them rearrange, improve and transfer what they have done in class into their own individual
written assignments. The standard for this part will not be perfect since it is a newly introduced
practice exercise for students. Therefore the teacher can give them a sample for PET writing part
2 to take references from it. Homework will be corrected individually in the next lesson
In conclusion, the teacher needs to adapt the appropriate material and include student-centred
approaches consistent with the learning and output goals. In these three lessons, the language
points are lexicon grammar, sentence-level grammar and text-level grammar, combined with the
critical skill of writing. To develop exciting and easy-to-difficult lesson content, the teacher
chooses the lexical approach, communicative approach, and task-based learning, following the
PPP procedure. Some techniques used in the lecture include explicit teaching and computer-based
games. At the end of the unit, students are expected to remember and understand the meaning and
form of grammar at word-level, sentence-level and text-level and to apply them in writing in an
authentic context. During the lesson, some problems may arise (from class management to
inadequate levels of students). If these problems occur, the teacher should be flexible and know
how to adapt the activities to suit the students to ensure the lessons’ objectives
Hence, to become a competent foreign language teacher, educators are expected to gather skills.
Pedagogical skills gained from practice combined with professional knowledge and research will
be valuable lessons for both learners and teachers.

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 REFERENCE
[1] Armstrong, P. Bloom’s Taxonomy. Retrieved from:
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy
[2] B1 Preliminary | Cambridge English. Retrieved from:
https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-tests/preliminary/
[3] Harmer, J. (2007). The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th ed.). Harlow, United
Kingdom: Pearson Education Limited
[4] Kahoot! | Learning games. Retrieved from:
https://kahoot.co
[5] Redman, S. English vocabulary in use (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press
[6] The Ugly Duckling. LearnEnglish Kids | British Council. (2016). Retrieved from:
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/short-stories/the-ugly-ducklin

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 LESSON PLAN 1 (LEXICON-GRAMMAR

Class description:
Student’s level: CEFR A2+ (pre-intermediate)
Age: 12-13 (grade 6-7
Class size: 1
Time: 90 minute
Language focus: Adjective prefixes and suffixes
Lesson objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to
- get to know the form, meaning and function of affixe
- form a new adjective with prefixes and suffixes from the adjective give

Stages Teacher’s activities Student’s activities Materials

Lead-in Objectives
(10’) - Teacher attracts students’ interest in the topic
- Teacher activates students’ ideas about affixes.
- T asks a question: “Do you know the film - Ss interacts with T.
“Mission Impossible” and its Vietnamese
title?
- T takes an example from “impossible” and
“possible” and asks Ss to tell the difference
in their forms and meanings
- T talks about the idea that a new word with
a new meaning can be formed with the root
word and its suitable affixes.
Presentatio Objectives
(30’) - Students recognize and familiarize with the words formed with affixes from the
text T gives them.

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 Stages Teacher’s activities Student’s activities Materials

- T gives a text and says: “Find all words See
that you think they are formed with affixes. appendix
- T assigns Ss to work in pairs and finish the - Ss do the activity in for the
activity in 5 minutes pairs text.
- T takes answers from different pairs and - Ss show the words
shows on whiteboard they find
- T gives explanations of the word “jobless”
with the suffix -less and the word “unhappy”
with the prefix un-
- T checks if Ss get the meaning of the - Ss interacts with T
words by giving more examples and asking
questions
- T gives explanation about the position and - Ss take notes.
meaning of some prefixes and suffixes for
adjectives.
Practic Objectives
(20’) - Students remember and understand the use of prefixes and suffixes
- Teacher evaluates students’ performance when practicing.
- T gives Ss the handout. T explains what Ss - Ss finish the See
have to do. T assigns Ss to finish the handout within the appendix
handout in 10 minutes time given for the
- T calls each individual S to the board to - Ss go to the board handout.
practice. T corrects S’s answer. and write their
answer.
Production Objectives
(15’) - Students form the correct adjectives based on the given affixes
- Students apply the knowledge by producing their own sentences using the
newly formed adjectives
- Teacher observes and evaluates students’ in-class performance.

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 Stages Teacher’s activities Student’s activities Materials

- T gives Ss the handout. T explains what Ss - Ss listen to the See
have to do. T assigns Ss to finish the instruction, finish the appendix
handout in 15 minutes handout and ask if for the
- T goes around the classroom to observe they are not clear handout.
and support Ss if needed about anything
- T collects all handouts for marking. - Ss hand in their
work.
Wrap u Objectives
(10’) - Students go through the items learned and revise
- Students develop teamwork skills.
- T shows the Kahoot! activity on board and - Ss form group of 2 Link:
leads the activity. or 3, using their https://
devices (phone, create.kah
laptop) to participate oot.it/
in the activity. share/
adjectives
-prefixes-
and-
suffixes/
4a4a0c37-
66e7-46cc
-864b-
d7c6561b
f0c2
Homework - T gives Ss the handout and informs the due - Ss follow instruction See
(2’) date for the homework. and finish their appendix
homework before for the
next class. handout.

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 LESSON PLAN 2 (SENTENCE-LEVEL GRAMMAR

Class description:
Student’s level: CEFR A2+ (pre-intermediate)
Age: 12-13 (grade 6-7
Class size: 1
Time: 90 minute
Language focus: Subordinating conjunctions showing reason and contrast, complex sentences
Lesson objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to
- remember the form, meaning and function of subordinating conjunction
- make complex sentences using subordinating conjunctions showing reason and contras

Stages Teacher’s activities Student’s activities Materials

Pre- Objectives
teaching - Teacher reviews students’ knowledge about coordinating conjunctions and
(15’) compound sentence
- Teacher activates students’ ideas about a different type of sentence: complex
sentence.

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 Stages Teacher’s activities Student’s activities Materials

- T shows the activity on board with - Ss take part in the Link:
projector and interact with Ss (5’-7’) activity https://
- When finishing, T writes a compound - Ss interact with T wordwall.
sentence from the activity on board. T asks net/
Ss if a clause from the sentence can be resource/
eliminated and the other clause can stand 4784936/
alone or not coordinati
E.g. We can get a pizza, or we can cook ng-
something conjunctio
- T gives another example and again, asks Ss ns
the same previous question
E.g. We can order a pizza because it takes
less time than cooking
- In this sentence, T shows that a clause of - Ss make questions if
this sentence can’t stand alone, and that is an they are not clear
example of complex sentence. about anything.
Presentatio Objectives
(30’) - Students recognize and familiarize with the form of complex sentences from
the text T gives them
- Students know the meaning of because/because of, although/despite/in spite of
in a sentence.

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 Stages Teacher’s activities Student’s activities Materials

- T gives Ss a text and says: “Underline all See
complex sentences you can find in the text” appendix
- T assigns Ss to work in pairs and finish the - Ss do the activity in for the
activity in 10 minutes pairs text.
- T takes answers from different pairs and - Ss show the
shows the sentences on whiteboard. T sentences they find
underlines the clauses in each sentence to - Ss interact with T
make sure that Ss find the correct answer
- T asks Ss to tell which the sentences are
showing reasons, and which ones are
showing contrast
- T lists all the words showing reasons - Ss take notes
(because, because of) and the words
showing contrast (although, despite, in spite
of) and explains they are called
“subordinating conjunction”
- T gives more examples using those - Ss interact with T.
conjunctions to make sure Ss understand the
meaning of them.
Practic Objectives
(25’) - Students remember and understand the use of because/because of, although/
despite/in spite of in a sentence
- Teacher evaluates students’ performance when practicing.
- T gives Ss the handout. T explains what Ss - Ss finish the See
have to do. T assigns Ss to finish the handout within the appendix
handout in 15 minutes time given for the
- T calls each individual S to the board to - Ss go to the board handout.
practice. T corrects S’s answer. and write their
answer.

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 Stages Teacher’s activities Student’s activities Materials

Production Objectives
(15’) - Students apply the knowledge by rewriting sentences and making their own
sentences using the given conjunction
- Teacher observes and evaluates students’ in-class performance.
- T gives Ss the handout. T explains what Ss - Ss listen to the See
have to do. T assigns Ss to finish the instruction, finish the appendix
handout in 15 minutes handout and ask if for the
- T goes around the classroom to observe they are not clear handout.
and support Ss if needed about anything
- T collects all handouts for marking. - Ss hand in their
work.
Wrap u Objectives
(5’) - Students go through the items learned and revise.
- T draws a mind map on board, asking Ss to - Ss revise the
list all conjunctions learned in the lesson and knowledge.
make sentences about the topic “Rain” using
those conjunctions.
Homework - T gives Ss the handout and informs the due - Ss follow instruction See
(2’) date for the homework. and finish their appendix
homework before for the
next class. handout.

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 LESSON PLAN 3 (TEXT-LEVEL GRAMMAR

Class description:
Student’s level: CEFR A2+ (pre-intermediate)
Age: 12-13 (grade 6-7
Class size: 1
Time: 90 minute
Language focus: Writing
Lesson objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to
- write a short story for PET Writing part
- use the given words and complex sentence structures in the stor

Stages Teacher’s activities Student’s activities Materials

Lead-i Objectives
(10’) - Teacher activates students’ ideas about different story genres
- T shows the activity on board with - Ss take part in the Link:
projector and interact with Ss (5’-7’) activity https://
- When finishing, T asks Ss if they can name - Ss interact with T wordwall.
some of the stories they read and their net/
genres resource/
- T states that stories can be written in many 545715
different and creative ways, but still, there
are some basic elements in a story that Ss
need to know.
Presentatio Objectives
(15’) - Students know the structure and basic elements of a story
- Students know the language features of a story (tenses, connectives, purposes)
- T draws a mind map of the elements on - Ss brainstorms with
board including: plot, characters, scene- T
setting, narrative tenses, connectives,
additional details, time markers.
- T calls Ss to add information to the map - Ss interact with T.

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 Stages Teacher’s activities Student’s activities Materials

Practic Objectives
(25’) - Students can realize and familiarize with the structure of a story.
- T gives Ss a story and assigns Ss to work - Ss work in pairs See
in pairs and read it in 10 minutes, then make within the time given. appendix
a similar mind map including the for the
information from that story in 10 minutes story.
- T collects answers from different groups
- T restates all the things Ss need to pay
attention when writing a story.
Production Objectives
(40’) - Students can develop ideas for a story with a given beginning sentence
- Students can write their own story in about 100 words.
- T gives Ss a sentence: “It was such a - Ss listen to the
memorable day that I will never forget.” instruction and ask if
- T asks Ss to brainstorm ideas for the story they are not clear
beginning with that sentence, with the
elements from the mind map
- T adds requirements: The story must be
written in about 100 words, including at
least ONE adjective with suffix/prefix and
ONE complex sentence
- T assigns Ss to work in group of 3 (5 - Ss work in group
groups) in 20 minutes and finish their of 3 within the time
writing given
- T observes and supports Ss if needed
- T collects the writings and shows in front
of the class.
- T and other groups give constructive - Ss read other
comments on each group’s writing. group’s writing and
give comments.

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 Stages Teacher’s activities Student’s activities Materials

Wrap u Objectives
(5’) - Students go through all the steps when writing a story.
- T restates all the points required when - Ss revise the
writing a story. knowledge.
Homework - T gives instruction and informs the due - Ss rewrite the story
(2’) date for the homework. which they have
worked in groups and
improve it from T’s
and peers' comments.

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 APPENDI
LESSON PLAN 1 - SAMPLE TEX
In my personal view, the party was fantastic. The place was decorated with edible things made
out of fruits and crackers, which was unique. The dancers were beautiful and skilful. The
magician’s performance was so creative that we couldn’t take my eyes off it. There was fire,
which seemed dangerous, but it ended up nothing flammable there. We also met some new
people. Some of them were so funny, while some were brainy. The host was so supportive that
we felt comfortable there.

LESSON PLAN 1 - HOMEWOR

Exercise 1: Write an adjective (or adjectives) formed from these nouns or verbs.

Exercise 2: Fill the gaps with suitable adjectives.

Exercise 3: Make 10 sentences using the adjectives in the previous exercises

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LESSON PLAN 1 - GRAMMAR HANDOUT

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LESSON PLAN 2 - SAMPLE TEX
I had a strange dream last night. In my dream, my family suddenly moved to Japan. My father
had to work at his company for more than twelve hours per day. Although my mom was a
talented businesswoman, she couldn’t find a job in Japan and stayed home as a housewife. My
brother went to a university to learn about technology though he never knew how the Internet
was invented. I didn’t remember why I was invisible in that dream. I just observed my family
members and felt like life was so hard in Japan. Four years later, my brother graduated and
applied for a job in a small company. He managed to save a lot of money in spite of his small
salary. Later, he became rich, so he planned to buy a big house, and my parents didn’t have to
work anymore. He said: “Despite the death of my sister four years ago, I am so glad that we can
overcome and live happily now.” When I awoke, I realized it had all been a dream. I had such a
bizarre dream last night because of drinking so much coffee

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 LESSON PLAN 2 - GRAMMAR HANDOU

Exercise 1: Write the correct linking word
1. (for / owing to
Lucy was very unhappy, ________________________ she missed James
2. (as / owning to
I was very happy with my present, ________________________ it was exactly what I
wanted
3. (due to / since
Keiko ordered her meal without meat, ________________________ she is a vegetarian
4. (because of / as
I didn’t want to leave ________________________ I was having a great time
5. (owing to / since
Luca bought the shoes ________________________ they were perfect
6. (because of / because
We were late for the plane ________________________ the traffic
7. (because of / as
________________________ it was really cold, I put on my gloves and my hat
8. (due to / because
She couldn’t come ________________________ she had to work
9. (owning to / because
________________________ its high price, we didn’t rent the flat
10. (because of / since
________________________ his great cooking, we love going to dinner at Taka’s house

Exercise 2: Rewrite these sentences in TWO ways

Note: Pay attention when using DESPITE/IN SPITE OF. You should only use V-ing when
the two subjects are the same
Example: She is beautiful but everyone doesn’t like her
ALTHOUGH she is beautiful, everyone doesn’t like her
DESPITE her beauty, everyone doesn’t like her

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 It was cold but Mary didn’t put on her coat

DESPIT
ALTHOUG

Clare was ill but she finished the work

DESPIT
ALTHOUG

The weather was bad but we had a good time

ALTHOUG
IN SPITE O

We worked hard but a lot of things went wrong

DESPIT
ALTHOUG

I was feeling very ill but I still went to work

DESPIT
ALTHOUG

The salary was low but she accepted the job

DESPIT
ALTHOUG

The salary was high but she refused the job

DESPIT
ALTHOUG

He is very old but he runs fast

IN SPITE O
ALTHOUG

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 LESSON PLAN 3 - SAMPLE TEX

The Ugly Ducklin
Mummy Duck lived on a farm. In her nest, she had five little eggs and one big egg. One day, the
five little eggs started to crack. Tap, tap, tap! Five pretty, yellow baby ducklings came out
Then the big egg started to crack. Bang, bang, bang! One big, ugly duckling came out. ‘That’s
strange,’ thought Mummy Duck
Nobody wanted to play with him. ‘Go away,’ said his brothers and sisters. ‘You’re ugly!’ The
ugly duckling was sad. So he went to find some new friends
‘Go away!’ said the pig. ‘Go away!’ said the sheep. ‘Go away!’ said the cow. ‘Go away!’ said the
horse
No one wanted to be his friend. It started to get cold. It started to snow! Although the ugly
duckling found an empty barn and lived there, he was cold, sad and alone
Then spring came. The ugly duckling left the barn and went back to the pond. He was very thirsty
and put his beak into the water. He saw a beautiful, white bird! ‘Wow!’ he said. ‘Who’s that?
‘It’s you,’ said another beautiful, white bird
‘Me? But I’m an ugly duckling.
‘Not any more. You’re a beautiful swan, like me. Do you want to be my friend?’ ‘Yes,’ he smiled
All the other animals watched as the two swans flew away, friends forever
(223 words

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