ICELT Module 1 Task 2

Name: Tutors Names: Date of Submission: Word Count: 1064

The class I observed was Libyan MA/MSc students as well as graduate students who have scholarships to study abroad. The class had 15 willing-to-learn mixed adult
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beginner students aged 25-50. Most of the learners have limited use of English due to non-communicative teaching or having no opportunity to really practise what they have learned. They come with extrinsic motivation being driven by academic requirements. A new ministerial decree in Libya states that postgraduate students will not be granted their degree unless they provide a proof of passing a level of English which is equivalent to FCE A2. The lesson was fluency-based, and the syllabus used was Cutting Edge Starter. The main aim of the lesson was for students to practise question forms as well as talk about routines, family, live, etc. The overall performance of the class was superb, though few students persisted in speaking in their L1 most of the time throughout the lesson. 1- May I ? Context: As the teacher was giving simple instructions to set up an activity, a late comer produced the utterance above as she opened the door and asked for permission to enter the classroom. Comments: Although that may look like a false start, the utterance sounded natural and polite with its rising intonation. Since the teacher was a native speaker, wrong intonation would have caused unintended offence as far as native speakers are concerned. However the student might, at this level, have made a good ear of intonation and uttered it right. 2- My mother is likeliking watch TV. Context: The student was shuffling a set of card provided by the teacher and then chose one entitled: talk about your family Comments: This overt error might demonstrate the learners uncertainty as to which form is required. He might have confused the present simple with the present progressive as well as with the form like + verb+ing. That resulted in momentary hesitation before the student carried on his 30 seconds of speaking. 3- S1: I can drive a lorry. S2: Lorry? S1: Truck. Context: The teacher had the students in groups of threes and fours, and then asked them to talk about what they can and cannot do. Comments: When asked about a word meaning, beginners usually resort to L1. Notwithstanding, s1 evinced that he has a wide range of vocabulary at this low level. Furthermore, this might also indicate that the learner has a good background about British and American English. 4- My sister very nice
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Context: The student was talking to his partner about her family. Comments: According to my teaching experience, omission of copula be, as in the utterance above, is very common among Libyan learners. This could be by reason of negative transfer from the students L1 in which copula be is not used in present tense. 5- I go with my family to Green Square, zoo and drink tea, and juice, and cafe... Context: After talking about her family, the student had a follow-up question concerning what she does with her family. Comments: Apart from some inaccurate pronunciation of words like coffee, the student was fluent enough and did not pay much attention to accuracy as she carried on speaking. 6- System everyday Context: The teacher set up an activity during which students had to ask each other about daily routines. To check students awareness of some vocabulary, the teacher asked the students what routine is. Comments: Although this is just a two-word definition, it manifests the students ability, at this low level, to convey quite a clear meaning of the word. 7- Teacher, it is very hot. Context: In the course of the lesson, a student produced the previous utterance after she had felt hot. Comments: Regardless to register and the non-use of mitigating devices to soften the indirect request, the student made a good use of the function and the illocutionary force of the statement. This might represent a good technique from the student in order to get her message through. 8- My mother is a cooker Context: The teacher asked the students to work in pairs and talk about their own families. After that, he elicited some examples from students concerning their parents jobs. Comments: This is a notorious error that could be owing to overgeneralisation. That is to say, the derivational affix er might have suggested to the student that cooker is a doer of an action rather than a piece of apparatus.

9- What does your father like doing?

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Context: While the teacher was conducting a review during the preliminary stage, he asked students to talk to each other about what their parents usually do in their free time. Comments: A student recast her colleagues utterance What your father like? and reformulated it. This could be a good example of peer correction. This structure could be just above her current level. She might have mastered it in her undergraduate study since the vast majority of the students have studied English at their secondary as well as undergraduate study. 10-I get up at 8 am and pray / 'bre / and have breakfast Context: During a controlled practice, in which students had to choose cards and speak about the topic they see, the student told his colleagues about his daily routine. Comments: The distinction between /p/ and /b/ can be a problematic issue for learners whose L1 is Arabic. Such an error might be because Arabic sound system does not have the /p/ sound. However, such a problem is surely a very minor issue compared to the huge difficulties many learners have in making themselves understood. In sum, a single observation does not offer a complete picture of the classs total language performance. Nevertheless, the aforementioned inaccurate samples could be considered, to the best of my knowledge, as developmental errors. Irrespective of erroneous as well as ill-formed utterances, students were keen to speak English. Being beginners, they are oblivious to the areas they need to work on. Having said that, learners need to have a word of advice on making use of their leisure time to specifically designate a reasonable length of time for self-study. By that means, they can overcome some points of weakness like verb be and third person s on verbs.

* This assignment got distinction