Written Assignment 1 – Focus on the Learner

NAME SUBMISSION DATE WORD COUNT

Hnin Wut Yee Oo 8.8.2021 997

Candidates are reminded of the Centre’s policy on plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined as submitting as one’s own work, irrespective
of intent to deceive, that which derives in part or in its entirety from the work of others without due acknowledgement. It is both poor
scholarship and a breach of academic integrity.

I CONFIRM THAT THIS SUBMISSION IS ALL MY OWN WORK.

SIGNED: Hnin DATE: 8.8.2021

Reserved for the tutor

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA (CELTA Syllabus and Assessment Guidelines - Fifth Edition)
st
1 submission 2nd submission

can show awareness of how a learner’s/learners’ background(s), previous learning experience and learning
preferences affect learning (Section A and C)

can identify the learner’s (s’) language/skills needs (Sections A and B)

can correctly use terminology relating to the description of language systems and/or language skills (Sections,
A, B and C)
can select appropriate material and/or resources to aid the learner’s/learners’ language and/or skills develop-
ment (Sections B and C)
can provide a rationale for using specific activities with a learner/learners
(Section C)
can find, select and reference information from one or more sources using written language that is clear, accu-
rate and appropriate to the task (Sections A, B, and C)

FIRST SUBMISSION Result PASS RE-SUBMISSION

Tutor comments:

Signed: Date: Double mark:

SECOND SUBMISSION Result PASS FAIL

Tutor comments:

Signed: Date: Double mark:

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 Referencing

Your assignments need to be written in clear, accurate and academic English with appropriate in text referencing. You should use
mainly indirect quotes, meaning that you paraphrased the text. If specific quotes are used, they should be referenced using
author(s)’ surname(s), year of publication and page numbers quoted, e.g. (Richards 2001:98). Page numbers are not required if
indirect quotes are used. E.g. Richards (2001).

The bibliography should be presented in alphabetical order of author’s surname. Year of publication, city and publisher should be
included. This should be presented after the assignment and before the appendices, and should only include publications referred
to in the text itself.

Referencing should follow a recognised format throughout the assignment.

Here are examples of references according to the APA Publication Manual, (6th ed., 2009); for more information see
www.apastyle.org or visit https://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm for additional examples.

Single author book

Richards, J.C. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Section of edited book

Messick, S. (1989). Validity. In R. Linn (Ed.), Educational measurement. (pp. 13–103). New York: Macmillan.

Journal article
Chapelle, C. (1999). Validity in language assessment. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. 19, 254–272.

Edited book
Graves, K. (Ed.) (1996). Teachers as course developers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Electronic source
British Educational Research Association. (1992). Ethical guidelines. Retrieved 22 April, 2021, from:
http://www.bera.ac.uk/guidelines.html

Cambridge dictionary (n.d.) Bamboozle Retrieved 22 April, 2021, from:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/bamboozle

*(n.d.) = no date available

Please note that the bibliography is not included in the word count

Plagiarism

Please note that plagiarism includes:

§ copying another’s language or ideas as if they were your own;

§ unauthorised collusion;
§ quoting directly without making it clear by standard referencing and the use of quotation marks and/or layout (indented
paragraphs, for example) that you are doing so;
§ using text downloaded from the internet without referencing the source conventionally;
§ closely paraphrasing a text;
§ submitting work which has been undertaken wholly or in part by someone else.

Instructions

Section A (250 words approximately)

§ write a profile of your group. Use the information gathered on day one to help.
§ please share info. with others in your TP group but do the writing alone.
§ you can mention students by name, especially if it’s useful to explain who the exceptions are.

Section B (350 words approximately)

§ provide example weaknesses in your students’ language use, one each for grammar, lexis and pronunciation.
§ again, this should be specific quotes of things they have said/written.
§ remember to focus on useful errors for the level, and language points which can be usefully practised in class eg. 3rd
person sing. ‘s’ is not challenging for intermediate sts.

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Section C (300 words approximately)

§ provide exercise focusing on one of the pronunciation errors from section B.

§ provide exercise focusing on one of the grammar errors from section B.
§ consider adapting material to suit students’ reasons for learning (a work context?) and/or their classroom preferences
(kinaesthetic? Visual?). Refer here to section A.
§ you could use CELTA RESOURCES folder to find activities.

The length of the assignment must be between 750 and 1000 words. Any submission exceeding the word limit is an
automatic resubmission. Appendices are NOT INCLUDED in the word count.

Please write in continuous prose throughout.

Recommendations

Section A

§ answer all the questions and avoid omitting information (e.g. level, ages, interests, etc.).

Section B

§ GRAMMAR - select examples of grammar errors that match the level of ability of the learners. Consult the table of
contents of the course book used by your learners to identify grammar structures typical at that level of proficiency.
Consult appropriate reference books (e.g., Learner English, Swan) to validate problems caused by L1 interference;
§ PRONUNCIATION – select 2-3 examples for each pronunciation error. This will validate / corroborate the error. Make
sure you use standard IPA to exemplify the phonology.
§ LEXIS – use errors related to meaning, appropriacy, register, word class, word form, collocation, connotation, etc. Avoid
using a misspelled word as a lexical error.

Section C

§ Choose ONE of the pronunciation errors from Section B that you would like to help learners with.
§ Choose one practice activity to help learners improve their use of this pronunciation point.
§ Do the same for the grammar error.
§ The activities can come from the TP coursebook, the resource pack and/or other coursebooks in “CELTA
RESOURCES” folder. Alternatively, find some resources online. One activity can be self-developed but at least one
must be from a published source (it can be a website or a book).
§ Make sure that the activities match the nature of the error (i.e. spoken or written). Make sure that the activities deal with
the error directly (i.e. the focus of the activity must match the error). Make sure the activities include practice of the
specific error made by the learner(s) (e.g. the learner said ‘I have buyed a new computer’ > the activity should also
provide practice of the past participle of the verb “to buy’).
§ When adapting published material, make sure new lists of words / sentence (i.e. those which you intend learners to
focus on and practice) are submitted together with the original activity.
§ Don’t forget to include the activities as appendices.

Reference books
For typical errors made by L1 speakers of Thai
§ Thai speakers by David Smyth. In Learner English – A teacher’s guide to interference and other problems by Michael
Swan and Bernard Smith. Published by Cambridge University Press.

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Find out from the rest of your TP group the information everyone has collected about the students, and using this
information write a summary of the group in the boxes below.
Learners’ level, ages,
interests, reasons for
learning English, learner
preferences, preferred
activity types, previous
learning experiences.
How have these factors
affected the students’
learning? Consider how the
learners have studied
English in the past. What
are the learners’
language/skills needs?
Comment briefly on the
group’s communicative
ability (making themselves
clear, dealing with not
understanding, fluency).
Comment briefly on the
group’s ability to do
reading, listening and
writing tasks successfully.
Observe the students carefully during TP and note down two specific examples of their weaknesses in grammar and
pronunciation, and one for lexis. You can refer to either spoken language or written language (but specify which). Simply
complete the boxes below. N.B. You can choose the same areas of weakness as your peers, but the analysis should be
your own.
What the student said/wrote
(delete as necessary)
What is wrong
Why did the learner make
this error?
SECTION A - Learner Backgrounds
In my class, there are Upper-intermediate students who come from
Myanmar, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, and Africa. Their ages range from twenty to
forty years. Most of them are interested in reading books, watching English movies
and listening to songs. They always come to the class with “intrinsic” motivation
although some students learn English with “extrinsic” motivation as they want to get
a job and to study abroad. Being active learners, they prefer to interact and learn
from each other. They actively participate in pair works and group works. Some
Myanmar students have learnt English as a subject for twelve years.
As students come from different countries, they will be familiar with different
accents and develop in speaking skill. In addition, learner autonomy can be
successfully promoted as they do not rely on teacher. They have learnt grammar
and language phrases by memorizing. Therefore, they should practise speaking and
pronunciation without memorizing. Furthermore, they are encouraged to use a wide
range of vocabulary and to focus on listening skill.
Students are able to use the specific language phrases fluently.
Furthermore, they provide good model of target language and correct errors each
other. They are encouraged to speak in correct intonation and stress because they
do not pronounce without stress.
Students can perform their tasks well because they can produce correct
answers in controlled practice tasks. However, they must read questions carefully
before listening and reading.
SECTION B - Learner Weaknesses
GRAMMAR ERROR 1
Student said “Information can be get from social media.”
Student didn’t change the past participle (got) in the passive.
Student made this error because he mostly produced utterance in active voice
and he did not use passive voice. Moreover, the active sentence form of Myanmar
language is “subject + object + verb” and that of English is “subject + verb + object.”
The passive sentence form of Myanmar is “object + subject + verb” whereas that of
English is “object + auxiliary + past participle +by + subject.” Therefore, owing to the
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What the student said/wrote
(delete as necessary)
What is wrong
Why did the learner make
this error?
What the student said
How this should be
pronounced
What is wrong
Why did the learner make
this error?
What the student said
How this should be
pronounced
What is wrong
Why did the learner make
this error?
What the student said/wrote
(delete as necessary)
What is wrong
Why did the learner make
this error?
lack of past participle in Myanmar language, he is not used to changing past
participle and producing passive sentences in his utterance.
GRAMMAR ERROR 2
Student said “We discuss about……/ I studied about…….”
Student overused preposition “about” after the transitive verbs like “discuss” and
“study.”
The error made by the student is called L1 interference as he translated from
the mother tongue, Myanmar, to the target language, English. In Myanmar language,
prepositions are put after transitive verbs despite the fact that prepositions are not
followed by transitive verbs in English. Therefore, the preposition “about” is not
necessary after the verb “discuss.” He repeatedly uses it when he produces his
utterance although he is an Upper-intermediate student.
PRONUNCIATION ERROR 1
Student said “Lecognition” /ˌlɛkəgˈnɪʃən/.
Recognition should be pronounced /ˌrɛkəgˈnɪʃən/.
Student wrongly pronounced /r/ and /l/ sound in the first syllable.
Being a Japanese student, she could not pronounce /r/ sound properly. When
most Japanese students pronounce “correct” /kəˈrɛkt/, it sounds “collect” /kəˈlɛkt/.
It’s Japanese students commonly mispronounced because of their native language.
PRONUNCIATION ERROR 2
Student said “A lot of people die /daɪ/ last month.
“Died” should be pronounced /daɪd/ because it’s past simple.
Student drop the final sound /d/ and ends the final sound with /aɪ/.
Due to Myanmar accent, she maintained the sound of first consonant,
however, she dropped the final one. It is called L1 interference error.
LEXIS ERROR
Student said, “He’s doing volunteer.”
Student misused vocabulary, “volunteer”.
Student made this error owing to L1 interference. As Myanmar language
has meaning equivalent in the words of “volunteer” and “charity”, student thought
that both of the words would be similar in English, too. Thus, he misused and
meaning became inappropriate. Moreover, he did not realize the meaning of
“volunteer” is totally different from that of “charity” because “volunteer” means the
person who does charity in the community and “charity” means the action of
providing something in the community.
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 SECTION C – Helping the Learners

Look again at the grammar and pronunciation problems identified above.

1. Select one specific activity which will help the learners with one grammar area and one pronunciation area. You
can select activities either from your course book, from a book of supplementary materials in the CELTA library,
or design your own activity. However, at least one of the activities you choose should be taken from published
resource material that is not the coursebook.
2. Attach photocopies of the activities in the appendices, paying due regard to copyright.
3. Complete the boxes below to justify the above.

GRAMMAR ERROR Student said “Information can be get from social media.”

State specific activity
selected for
PRONUNCIATION practice
Aim of the activity
Why it is suitable for your
learners (you must refer
back to part A and your
comments on learner
preferences to help)
Indicate how it will help the
learner and briefly how you
would set it up. How could
it be made more engaging
for the learners?
The activity is categorizing the correct verbs in columns /t/ /d/ and /ɪd/ sounds from
Unit 2, task 2 of English Plus Pronunciation (Pre-intermediate).
The aim of this activity is to produce the final sound of past simple and past participle
verbs.
It’s suitable for the learners because it will be done by students and I will monitor
whether they can produce correctly or not. So, learners have to communicate each
other as they prefer.
I’ll provide the handouts and clarify how to pronounce. Then, I will instruct them to
model the sound of the verbs given below and they have to listen to the sound pro-
duced by their partners. Then they have to categorized in correct column. Therefore,
they can correctly pronounce the final sounds /t/, /d/ and /ɪd/ of the past simple and
past participle verbs. Moreover, it will lead the student autonomy learning as they
have to pronounce on their own and decide the correct final sound.

State specific activity
selected for GRAMMAR
practice
Aim of the activity
Why it is suitable for
your learners (you must
refer back to part A and
your comments on
learner preferences to
help)
Indicate how it will help
the learner and briefly
how you would set it up.
Is this freer or controlled
practice? What is the
teacher’s role?
The activity is gap filling activity,1c from Empower B2- Upper Intermediate Work
Book.
The aim of this activity is to improve students’ accuracy.
It’s suitable for the learners because it will be done by students and I will monitor
whether they can provide the correct answer or not without interrupting. So,
learners have to communicate each other as they prefer.
As some students mostly use the active students in spoken language, it will help
them to produce the target language in real communication. Firstly, students are
instructed to read and underline the correct words. After that, students are provided
the correct answers by listening to the audio, task-1b. Then, they are instructed to
do gap filling activity 1c and to check their answers each other. After monitoring,
they are given feedback on language success or error.
This is controlled practice because students do not need to focus on speaking and
fluency. The teacher role is as a controller and prompter because the task will be
explained and organized. Then I monitor when they compare their answers to each

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 other. If they need help, I will provide the answers by eliciting or asking other stu-
dents.

Bibliography

Harmer, J. (2007). The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education
Limited.

Swan, M., Smith, B. (2001). Learner English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bolton, K., Botha, W., & Kirkpatrick, A. (2020). The Handbook of Asian Englishes. New Jersey: John
Wiley & Sons Inc.

Grifka, J. (2011). The Burmese Language. Rhode Island College.

Appendix 1 – Pronunciation
Pronunciation
Unit 1 Unit 2
h /h/ at the beginning of words Past Simple -ed endings /ɪd/ /t/ /d/
Unlike Italian, in English we usually pronounce the In English we pronounce -ed or -d of the Past
letter h at the beginning of words. There are a few simple form of regular verbs in three ways
exceptions, for example, hour, honest and honour. depending on the sound which comes before it:
/ɪd/ only when a verb ends in /t/ or/d/
1 T3.17 Listen to the sentences. Then listen /t/ after ‘unvoiced’ (or silent) sounds at the end
again and repeat. of a verb, for example, after /f/, /k/, /p/, /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/
/d/ after ‘voiced’ sounds at the end of a verb
1 /h/ Annie and Ben are hugging.
(most other verbs), for example, after /b/, /ɡ/, /l/,
2 /h/ How old are you?
/m/, /n/, /r/, /v/, /w/
3 /h/ Have you got a pet?
4 /h/ He’s on holiday at the moment.
5 /-/ She’s got an honest face. 1 T3.19 Listen to the words. Then listen again
and repeat.
2 T3.18 Listen to each sentence and write the 1 /ɪd/ recorded wanted painted
correct sound: /h/ or /-/. 2 /t/ finished watched checked
1 I hope everything’s OK. 3 /d/ enjoyed argued lived
2 This TV show lasts an hour.
3 Meg helps people. 2 T3.20 Listen and repeat the sounds. Then
4 I’m telling you the truth, honestly. listen and write the words in the correct column.
5 Are you happy? /ɪd/ /t/ /d/
6 It’s an honour to meet you.

helped stayed excluded

respected cooked arrived
shared evicted shouted
visited cleaned listened
walked asked shocked

© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS PHOTOCOPIABLE English plus Pre-Intermediate

Eng+ Pre-Int Pron_Resources.indd 249 14/04/2011 12:06

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Appendix 2 – Grammar

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