Unit 4

Learning
Activities

Theories of Language Learning

Virtual Task 3

Lister Antonio Ramos Saltos

Universidad Bolivariana del Ecuador

Educational Theories for Language Learning

Simon Griffiths
 Unit 4
Learning
Activities

 Tema: Teaching Practice

 Objetivo: To plan and deliver a lesson demonstrating knowledge of language learning theories and
practical methodologies.
 Actividades para el logro del objetivo (actividad eminentemente práctica):
 1) Class Profile and Needs Analysis
 2) Lesson Plan – Main and Sub Aims
 3) Reflection on Class Delivery
 4) Appendices
 Bibliografía: all available content from Units 1 to 4.
 100 points

Class Profile:

How many learners do you have in the group?

What is their age and approximate level of English (CEFR)?

What do you feel they know well, which skills are strongest, and what do you think needs
improvement?

What recent work have you done with them?

Are there any learners with special educational needs?

Do you anticipate any specific difficulties fulfilling your lesson objectives?

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Learning
Activities
Class Profile

My target group for this activity consist of 25 students, from the Educative Unit,
President “José María Velasco Ibarra”, from Milagro city in Guayas province.

The age of my students in this group goes from 14-15 years old and the level of English they
are according to (CEFR) is A2. They are in the first year of baccalaureate and are having in
person classes after two years of pandemic and one year of school infrastructure adequation
and rehabilitation.

Despite of these inconvenient, I can say they are good at understanding and producing basic
vocabulary and phrases in everyday situations, like greetings, introducing themselves and
others, asking for directions, among others, but they need to expand their vocabulary beyond
basic everyday words and phrases.

In addition, they can understand and produce simple grammatical structures as subject-verb
agreement, simple present and past tenses, basic prepositions, but they need to learn more
complex sentence structures and grammar as conditional sentences, comparatives and
superlatives, or phrasal verbs which are a bit more difficult.

My group of young teens are good at writing and comprehending simple texts, for example;
short messages, simple emails, basic articles. Nonetheless, comprehending longer and more
complex written texts like news articles, or longer and formal emails turns much more
difficult to them due to the lack of vocabulary.

On the other hand, they are able to participate in short, simple conversations on familiar topics
such as hobbies, family, work, and other basic ones, but they need to improve their speaking
skill level and self-confidence for participating in more extended and complex conversations
on a wider range of topics.

We ended our lessons this year learning about the names of the places in town and the
structures for asking and giving directions; such as place prepositions, public building, public
signals of traffic and action verbs for describing movement.

Any of the 25 students of this group is associated with special educational needs or
disabilities, but I have faced special educational needs students on years before.
About anticipating any specific difficulties in order to fulfilling our lesson objectives, I got say
that as essential part of any effective lesson planning, I try to figure out and anticipating
potential difficulties that students might face in achieving the presented lesson objectives such
as; breaking down the lesson objectives into smaller, manageable steps. Looking at each step
and identifying any areas that might be difficult for students to understand or complete.

I also analyze beforehand, what I plan to teach and identify any difficult concepts or skills that
students might struggle to comprehend or apply. When I have students with special
educational needs which is not the case in this group but it has happened in groups before, I do
plan for differentiation to address the diverse needs of my students. Considering and offering
different levels of support, such as scaffolding or extension activities, to help students achieve
the lesson objectives.
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Learning
Activities
Lesson Plan Format:

Topic: Myths and legends from Ecuador

Main Aims: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to write small compositions about myths and
legends from the different regions of our country.

Sub-Aims: Telling stories in past.

- Use of vocabulary to describe; location, time period, and characters from some of the most common
myths and legends in our country.
- To develop students' knowledge and appreciation of myths and legends from Ecuador.
- To develop students' writing skills, including vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure, to
practice the regular and irregular verbs in past tense as well as their spelling and pronunciation.
- To provide an opportunity for students to practice their communication and presentation skills at an
A2 level.
Materials:

- Paper
- Pencils
- Handouts with examples of myths and legends from Ecuador
- Pictures related to myths and legends from Ecuador
Introduction (5 minutes)

- Introducing the topic of the lesson: myths and legends from Ecuador written on the board.
- Show pictures related to myths and legends from Ecuador and ask students if they have ever heard of
them.
- Explain that today's lesson will focus on developing their writing skills by writing compositions of
myths and legends from Ecuador.
Main Activity (30 minutes)

- Provide students with handouts containing examples of myths and legends from Ecuador.
- Instruct students to read and choose one myth or legend to write a composition about.
- Explain that they will have 20 minutes to write their composition.
- While they write, circulate around the classroom and provide support and feedback.
- Once students have finished writing, ask them to exchange their compositions with a partner.
- Instruct students to read their partner's composition.
- Teacher must provide feedback on its strengths and areas of improvement at the end for 5 minutes.
- Ask students to use the feedback to revise their own compositions for another 5 minutes.
- Finally, ask some students to read their compositions aloud to the class.
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Learning
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Conclusion (5 minutes)

- Ask students to reflect on their experience writing a composition of a myth or legend from
Ecuador.
- Encourage students to continue exploring myths and legends from different cultures and to
keep practicing their writing skills.
Assessment:

Assessment can be based on the quality of the compositions, including the vocabulary, grammar, and
sentence structure.

The teacher can also assess students' measuring the ability of performance and creative writing since
students can use their imagination to elaborate a story or myth from a previous starting point.

Total Lesson Time: 40 minutes

Which theory or methodology from the course are you planning to incorporate?

Vygotsky´s theory and his appreciations on social interaction and Language are perfectly bound for this
activity, since Vygotsky believed that children learn by interacting with more knowledgeable peers or
adults in their environment (McLeod, 2018). Vygotsky argued that social interaction and communication
are essential in the cognitive development. According to him, learning takes place through interactions
with more knowledgeable others who can provide support, guidance, and feedback.

On the other hand, on his appreciation about language, Vygotsky believes that language provides a
mean for individuals to communicate their thoughts and ideas to others, and also helps them to
understand and interpret the world around them.
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Learning
Activities

Stage Interaction Procedure Timing

(TTT, TS, SS)

Reflection (600 to 800 words)

 Refer back the intial lesson aims- did you achieve them?
 Did you meet the specific needs of your learners?
 How closely were you able to follow the lesson plan?
 Which aspects of the lesson worked well? Which were less successful, and why?
 What would you do differently next time?
 What will your next lessons with this group involve? How will you follow up what you covered?
 Finally, what did the lesson demonstrate about the theories and methodologies you have studied in
this course?
Answer in paragraph format.
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Learning
Activities
Appendices

(Include here copies/scans/screenshots of the resources you used for class. You may also add a link to any
recordings you make, though this is optional and will not be evaluated).