Cercul metodic al

profesorilor de
limbã englezã

By Liz Dulceanu
Noiembrie 2009
“ THE MIND IS A NARRATIVE DEVICE…”

We use NARRATIVE in everyday life

beyond the classroom: when we tell a
friend about our day, when we
describe an event, when we write in
diaries, journals, or personal
correspondence (letters, email).
“ THE MIND IS A NARRATIVE DEVICE…”

People are said to react to a limited

number of outer references, not to
all the stimuli that the mind is able
to sense or receive. All circumstances
that constitute acknowledgement,
whether merely reporting facts or
playing in our mind perform as a
CONSTANT NARRATIVE DEVICE a
silent storyteller that guides us
through experiences.
“ THE MIND IS A NARRATIVE DEVICE…”
Therefore , it is but evident
that special attention should
be paid to techniques that
encompass and help develop
our understanding of what
goes on. At school, these are
structured on skills:

all reinforced by correct

USE OF LANGUAGE.
“ THE MIND IS A NARRATIVE DEVICE…”

No matter which one is tackled first,

setting aims and objectives
facilitates understanding/ learning as
well as assessment. It also creates a
“comfort zone” for learners to know
exactly what is expected of them,
what they can improve and how. But,
above all, it helps everybody involved
in the process
“ THE MIND IS A NARRATIVE DEVICE…”

FOCUS ON:
“ THE MIND IS A NARRATIVE DEVICE…”

1. Goals vs. Objectives

Goals = broad, statements of intent that provide

focus or vision for planning.

They are non-specific, non- measurable:
Example: “All children will be able to understand the
concepts.”
• Objectives are meant to be realistic targets for the
program or project. Objectives are written in an active
tense and use strong verbs like plan, write, conduct,
produce,
• rather than learn, understand, feel. Objectives can
help you focus your program on
• what matters. They will always answer the following
question: WHAT/ WHO? WHEN?, WHERE?, HOW?,
WHY?
• Some of the most common errors in writing objectives
include:
• ~ writing an objective as an activity,
• ~ writing an objective as a vision; or
• ~ writing too many objectives.
“ THE MIND IS A NARRATIVE DEVICE…”
•”SMART Objectives” is an acronym built around five
leading measures
of a strong programme. This acronym can be very
helpful in writing objects that can
be employed to evaluate the quality of programs
proposed and carried out.
• ∗ Specific – What exactly are we going to do, with
or for whom?
• ∗ Measurable – Is it measurable & can WE measure
it?
All activities should be measurable at some level.
• ∗ Achievable – Can we get it done in the proposed
timeframe, without omitting anything on the
discussion list( i.e the objectives)?
The objective or expectation of what will be
accomplished must be realistic, given student level, ,
time period, resources allocated, theme or topic.
• ∗ Relevant – Will this objective lead to the desired
results?
Have students used varied past tenses of the indicative
to tell/ write their story? Is distinction between the
sections of the lesson clear?
• ∗ Time-framed – are the students on time with their
task?
This means stating clearly when the objective are to be
achieved: within class period, over a longer period of
time- when results re to be disseminated beyond
classroom: a linguistic project, an online
competitions, exam results.
“ THE MIND IS A NARRATIVE DEVICE…”

• There are three main types of

objectives that may be used in
developing a
• program/project plan:
• process,
• impact
• outcome.

• Process objectives focus on the

activities that will take place
within a specific time period. In
contrast, impact and outcome
objectives serve to “keep your
eyes on the prize” by reminding
what activities should lead to.
“ THE MIND IS A NARRATIVE DEVICE…”
Class practice :
• Fill in an excerpt from a story with suitable tenses for
the verbs in brackets;
• 1a) Pre-Intermediate Level: suggest text, as well as
tense, but misplace verbs; students will fill each gap
with one possible verb; OBJECTIVE- identifying
chronology and duration of events;
• 1b) Pre- Intermediate/ Intermediate Level: have
students approach a text that dwells on first person
narrative ; objective: having students identify with
the author and take active part in the re-writing of
the text; lso: chronology and duration of events. *
Tip: choose a topic students are overtly and directly
interested in, e. g. school life, leisure etc.
• 1c) Upper- Intermediate/ Advanced Level: Bram
Stoker's Dracula:
• ( Tip: author- known to a wide public; movies based on
book: quite a few; relate practice to significant date/
event: Halloween, A National Day etc.)
•
1c”)/ 1d) with Advanced students- bring contexts in
which the appeal to past events is made by use of
present tense. Make students realize what genre this
applies to ( DRAMA) and also state the importance of
present tense in scenic reference:
“ THE MIND IS A NARRATIVE DEVICE…”

It conveys coherence to
happenings and events; helps
link episodes and sequences
more smoothly, without
rendering a chopped or
unfinished touch to the text.
Personal experience at large-
suggest students to write a
retelling of a previous day/
week/ school year/ childhood
memory and later develop
into :writing a story proper.
“ THE MIND IS A NARRATIVE DEVICE…”

• TASK OBJECTIVES, OUTCOME AND

POTENTIAL LINGUISTIC OUTPUT:
• Task Objectives:
- Students will be able to write a story, (*
optional: the story will to be either published in
a school newspaper or uploaded on the internet,
to participate in a “Story Telling Contest”, task
for the accomplishment of which digital tools will
be used.)
• Potential Linguistic Output:
- Narrative tenses: simple past, past
progressive, used to, -past perfect in more
advanced levels.

- Also recycle cohesive elements: expressions

for :
• beginning (This all happened about . . . years
ago / One day, when I was . . . Once upon a
time);
• telling (Suddenly / After a while / So, anyway /
Then; No sooner…than, Hardly… when);
• ending the story (So, eventually / In the end)
“ THE MIND IS A NARRATIVE DEVICE…”

• PROCEDURE:
PRE-TASK (CLASS WORK AND USEFUL LINKS)
• Start this module by writing a draft of a personal story you
would like to share. Think of the characters, the setting, the
introduction, the conclusion. For elementary level: hand in your
draft to your teacher and keep a copy for yourself( aim:
spelling mistakes can be corrected, suggestions to improve the
cohesion of the material can be used).
• Throughout the following section you will listen to and read
about other people’s stories. Pay attention to the lexical,
linguistic and text construction elements which may improve the
quality of your story and which will make it more appealing.
• Guided practice through the identification of narrative tenses
(simple past, past continuous, past perfect( simple/ continuous),
used to.
• REALISATION OF TASK:
• Using similar techniques and patterns, work in groups/
individually to write your own stories.

POST-TASK (CLASS BLOG)

• Everyone’s stories will be available in a virtual class/ class
blog.
• • Read the stories and use the class blog to make comments on
your peers’ work and send your vote.
• Make sure you send your vote before the deadline specified
by your teacher.
• The award ceremony will take place in your class.
• After the task completion, answer the evaluation
questionnaire in the link attached to this lesson