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Joohye Oh

Dr. Cho

C&T 491

5 July 2023

Instructional Unit Narrative

Theory and Teaching

Olivia and I designed our lessons to be student-centered. This also means that I see our

teaching as a blend of affective-humanistic, communicative, and comprehension-based

approaches (Celce-Murcia, 2014). This is because we cared about how the EB students were

genuinely doing (affective-humanistic approach); planned time for students to speak with each

other as well as the KU student teachers (communicative approach); and, enunciated our words

so that students could understand as much of the examples and instructions as they could

(comprehension-based approach). For Lesson Plan 1, this blend is evident because students were

prompted to generate a list of as many food-related adjectives as possible. Before starting this

activity, students were provided with a word bank with three categories: texture, taste, and look

(appearance). This word bank was modified after the first two lesson implementations because

some adjectives, like “sparkly”, did not describe a wide range of the selected snacks.

Comprehensible input was increased by creating slides for challenging words. These

words were identified as challenging after a majority of students in the first few classes seemed

confused or unsure of a word’s meaning. Examples of such words were “chewy” and “savory.”

Each word was paired with a simple visual representation along with the Korean translation in a

smaller font. After making this change, Olivia and I noticed that there was much less confusion

and that the students were able to offer their own examples of snacks that could be described
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with these “challenge” adjectives. This change also reflects how Lesson 1 integrates ideas of

communicative language teaching (CLT), which emphasizes “communicating with

others…[over]…literary text analysis” (Duff, 2014, p.15). We wanted to give students the tools

to describe foods beyond snacks so that they could describe food to their friends or when they

encounter other English speakers. Additionally, foods like tteokbokki and bung-eo bbang were

chosen so that students could become familiar with ways to describe some of the most

representative Korean street foods/snacks.

Lesson Plan 2 is inspired by task-based language teaching (TBLT).

This is most apparent from the “Note of Kindness” activity that required students to conjugate

verbs into the “-ing” form (ex. being, listening, sharing, etc.). These notes are simplified letters.

Although email is becoming a more and more popular form of communication, I believe that

learning how to compose a thoughtful letter is still relevant because this has a clear “relationship

to…real world activities” (Nunan, 2014, p. 459). Also, to increase the practical aspect of Lesson

2, Olivia and I showed the students a sample “Note of Kindness;” we later decorated our own

paper copies and read them out loud to the students. As a form of assessment, we used Olivia’s

sample letter to teach students about parts of a letter (greeting, body/message, closing, etc.) and

my letter to review these essential parts. This approach to assessment was low-stakes but

encouraged students to be “active participants in the learning process” (Katz, 2014, p. 321) since

any student from the class could volunteer an answer.

Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 engaged EB students well. Overall, motivated by and for different reasons.

For Lesson 1, students were told that the winning team would receive an individually wrapped Korean

candy of their choice (extrinsic motivation); for Lesson 2, students had the freedom to write their “Notes

of Kindness” to any person that they cared about (leans towards intrinsic motivation). There was a good

level of energy and participation for both lessons. I was a little surprised by the level of participation
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during the second lesson considering that it was for 50 minutes. One thing that made the implementations

of Lesson 2 work well is the fact that Olivia and I were both committed and interested in our topic of

Valentine’s Day. This is an example of how motivated and caring teachers can enhance the classroom

environment by showing that they care about their content as well as the students. The two strategies used

to build motivation for individual learners were to make the lesson relevant (Korea celebrates White and

Black Days which is similar to Valentine’s Day); and, second, increase learner autonomy (Dornyei, 2014).

Both lesson plans were created and implemented so that the EB students could enjoy English

language learning. Olivia and I knew that the students were very interested in snacks, all one needed to do

was walk around the EB hallways during the breaks to see various students eating shrimp chips or

drinking fruit drinks with little jelly pieces. Lesson 1 worked well because students were very familiar

with the snacks that they had to identify and describe. They also liked and regularly enjoyed many of the

snacks such as tteokbokki and Mogu Mogu. Lesson 2 also appealed to the EB students because they had

the chance to decorate as little or as much of the half-sheet of paper as they wanted for the “Note of

Kindness.” Lastly, the readings from C&T 491 especially helped me understand the different approaches

and activities that could be used in language teaching. I specifically think that TBLT as well as

understanding the different types of assessments helped me make sure that students had several

opportunities to learn about English as something practical rather than just a test score or company

application requirement. The above serves as justification for the two innovative lesson plans I co-taught

with Olivia.

Teaching Context

This section will discuss EB demographics, class dynamics, native Korean co-teachers, and

extracurriculars.
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The EB students are a friendly group of girls with varying English proficiency. Some

students are still learning basic phrases such as “I’m okay” while others are able to describe their

personal dreams for their future: one girl wants to become an illustrator because she has been

drawing for several years! Another characteristic of the EB students is that they are comfortable

with us as well as each other to ask questions in English during the KU student teachers’

self-introductions. Several of them were interested in the KU student teachers’ favorite colors,

animals, and K-pop Songs. Although several of them seemed to be very invested in studying,

whether for school or for their hagwons, they really enjoyed connecting with the KU student

teachers via Korean popular culture. Another interesting aspect of the EB students was that each

class had a different dynamic. Some classes were very shy and delegated one student to translate

for the others while other classes, like class 101, were always ready to learn.

Each class dynamic is taken into consideration by Steve, the native English teacher at the

EB. He is taller than most of his students and has a clear voice. He is originally from Canada but

has lived in the Gwangju area for at least a few years. He uses vocabulary words in Korean to

better communicate with the students when doing activities. One example is when he was asking

the students to practice their Morning English. Steve uses slides that use both Korean and

English sentences to engage his students. Students seem to follow the lesson better because they

are not spending time away from learning the necessary sentence structures. Steve often makes

sure that students are able to volunteer as long as those who have not participated much have

already spoken.

Korean co-teachers are involved in the classroom to varying degrees. One of the most

involved and caring co-teachers is Ms. Jiyoung Lee. She motivates struggling students by

walking over to them and telling them that they are doing a good job. A good example of this is
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when there was a student in the very back who started to get very upset because they were not

able to fully express themselves in English. Just before the first round of the Scattergories game

started, Ms. Lee was able to find an acceptable group for this student. In contrast to this level of

student support and interaction, there is a male co-teacher for a different class who mostly stands

towards the left side of the classroom. He lets Steve direct most of the English conversation

lessons and will occasionally check-in on some especially sleepy students. This teacher does not

detract or add to Steve’s lessons, he seems to monitor behavior more than the students’ use of

English. Lastly, a female co-teacher for one of the third-year classes was involved in Steve’s

class by pairing up with a student for Morning English dialogue work. This was a smaller class

(around 18 students) but I was not expecting this level of close relationships between the

co-teacher and her students.

During my time at the EB, I learned that EB students participate in a wide range of

extracurriculars. Most students head to hagwons right after school for additional classes such as

English. I remember one EB student complaining to her friend that her parents were highly

encouraging her to attend another English language cram school. I could hear frustration and

resentment in her voice while she realized that she only had a sliver of choice. I know that it is

common for students to attend three or four cram schools so that they are best prepared for the

different subject tests that they will take periodically throughout the year. Other common cram

school subjects seem to be math; other specialized subjects like dancing are less common. In

comparison to my expectations that students would be speaking more about their hagwon

experiences, I heard more students speak about their late-night study habits.

My six weeks at the EB have been full of different activities and lots and lots of stairs. I

enjoyed learning from Steve, my peers, and my EB students. I have liked that these students are
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so eager to use their English no matter their proficiency. One memorable moment from my two

weeks of teaching is when a few of the EB students stopped by the KU student teachers’ office

and handed out some candy as a farewell gift. Several of them also were interested in class

photos, so the KU teachers took some photos with them. Later, when I visited one of the most

energetic classes, a few of the EB students were telling a fellow KU student teacher and I not to

leave the EB. In the end, I hope that the EB students are able to use their English language

awareness so that they can pursue what they would like to do. I know that I have been part of

their language learning journey for a brief but impactful amount of time.
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References

Celce-Murcia, M. (2014). An overview of language teaching and methods. In Celce-Murcia, M.,

Brinton, D., & Snow, M. A. (Eds.). Teaching English as a second or foreign language

(4th ed.). National Geographic Learning.

Dornyei, Z. (2014). Motivation in Second language learning. In Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D.,

& Snow, M. A. (Eds.). Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed.).

National Geographic Learning.

Duff, P. A. (2014). Communicative language teaching.In Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D., &

Snow, M. A. (Eds.). Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., p. 15).

National Geographic Learning.

Katz, A. (2014). Assessment in second language learning classrooms. In Celce-Murcia, M.,

Brinton, D., & Snow, M. A. (Eds.). Teaching English as a second or foreign language

(4th ed., p. 321). National Geographic Learning.

Nunan, D. (2014). Task-based teaching and learning. In Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D., & Snow,

M. A. (Eds.). Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., p. 459).

National Geographic Learning.