TEACHING ACROSS AGE

LEVELS, TEACHING ACROSS

PROFICIENCY, TEACHING
ACROSS SOCIOPOLITICAL AND
INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT
 Popular tradition would have you believe that children are
effortless second language learners and far superior to adults in their
eventual success. On both count, some qualifications are in order.
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Here the some rules of thumb

for the classroom :
Don’t explain grammar using terms like “present
01 progressive” or “relative clause.”

02 Rules stated in abstract terms should be avoided.

Some grammatical concepts, especially at the

upper levels of childhood, can be called to learners’
03 attention by showing them certain patterns and
examples.

Certain more difficult concepts or patterns require

04 more repetition than adults need.
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How do you that :

a. Because children are focused on the immediate here and now, activities
should be designed to capture their immediate interest.
b. A lesson needs a variety of activities to keep interest and attention alive.
c. A teacher needs to be animated, lively, and enthusiastic about the
subject matter.
d. A sense of humor will go a long way to keep children laughing and
learning.
e. Children have a lot of natural curiosity.
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Pepper your lessons with physical activity or do Total

01 Physical Response activities.

Projects and other bands-on activities go a long way

toward helping children, are excellent ways to get them
02 to learn words and structures and to practice
meaningful language.

Sensory aids here and there help children to internalize

03 concepts.

Remember that your own nonverbal language is

important because children will indeed attend very
04 sensitively to your facial features, gestures, and
touching.
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Teachers need to help them to overcome such potential barriers
to learning

Help your students to laugh with each other at various mistakes that
they all make.
Be patient and supportive to build self-esteem, yet at the same time be
firm in your expectations of students.
Elicit as much oral participation as possible from students, especially
the quieter ones, to give them plenty of opportunities for trying things
out.
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Children are good at sensing language that is not authentic; therefore

“canned” or stilted language will likely be rejected.
Language needs to be firmly context embedded. Unconnected sentences
will be much less readily tolerated by children’s minds.
A whole language approach is essential. If language is broken into too
many bits and pieces, students won’t see the relationship to the whole. And
stress the interrelationships among the various skills or they won’t see
important connections.
a. Adults are more able to handle abstract rules and
concepts.

b. Adults have longer attention spans for material that

may not be intrinsically interesting to them.

c. Sensory input need not always be quite as varied with

adults, but one of the secrets of lively adult classes in
their appeal to multiple sense.

d. Adults often bring a modicum of general self-

confidence (global self-esteem) into a classroom.

e. Adults, with their more developed abstract thinking

ability, are better able to understand a context-reduced
segment of language.
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1 Intellectual capacity adds abstract operational thought around the age of twelve.

Attention spans are lengthening as a result of intellectual maturation, but once

2 again, with many diversions present in a teenager’s life, those potential attention
spans can easily be shortened.

3 Varieties of sensory input are still important, but, again, increasing capacities for
abstraction lessen the essential nature of appealing to all five senses.

4 Factors surrounding ego, self-image, and self-esteem are at their pinnacle.

Secondary school students are of course becoming increasingly adult like in their
ability to make those occasional diversions from the “here and now” nature of
5 immediate communicative contexts to dwell on a grammar point or vocabulary
item.
A. DEFINING
PROFICIENCY
LEVELS
Levels can be defined in three such as
beginning, intermediate, and advanced.
Now, teachers have some guidelines, which
are useful to develop the topics and the
tasks for every level because teachers have
to organized what they are going to teach
and evaluate. Teachers cannot teach
beginners something that is for intermediate
level because students are not going to
understand the topic.
 Teaching beginners is
considered by many to be the
There will be a lot of
most challenging level of
repetition of a limited number
1 language instruction.
of words, phrases, and
sentences.
A lot of controlled language
2 forms used.

Short, simple techniques must

3 be used such as pair and group
work.
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Fluency is only expected within

4 limited structure/forms.

Teacher should talk with clear

5 pronunciation.

Most of the time teacher will

6 be the center of the classroom
activities.
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2

Listening and speaking :

7 meaningful and authentic
communication tasks.
Reading and writing : brief and
real-life materials consider
8 their literacy in their own
native
Grammarlanguage.
: very simple verb
forms, pesonal pronouns,
9 definite & indefinite articles,
singular and plural nouns,
simple sentences.
A. STUDENTS’ COGNITIVE
LEARNING PROSESS

B. THE ROLE OF
TEACHER

When you teaching beginning levels, you should know

C. TEACHER TALK something that you must manage in class.

D. FLUENCY AND
ACCURACY

E. TECHNIQUE
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4

Intermediate level, students have developed

some of their abilities of learning the target
language, so the teacher has to apply different
teaching methods in the class. Teacher has to
dare students ask questions; make comments
during the class to their own learning. The teacher
is able to use more advanced word according to
the level. students have progressed beyond
novice stages to an ability to sustain basic
communicative tasks, to establish some minimal
fluency, to deal with a few unrehearsed situations,
to self-correct on occasion, to use a few
compensatory strategies, and generally to “get
along” in the language beyond mere survival. The
picture changes somewhat. Your role and the
students’ capacities change.
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5

Some automatic process has taken hold :

More complex
techniques can be used.

Teacher should not

occupy the major
proportion of a class hour.

Learner-centered
work is possible.
A. STUDENTS’ COGNITIVE
LEARNING PROSESS

B. THE ROLE OF
TEACHER

Same as when you teaching begininning levels, you

C. TEACHER TALK should know this too, to manage your class.

D. FLUENCY AND
ACCURACY

E. TECHNIQUE
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Students have developed not only their reading and 7
listening comprehension but also their fluency in
speaking. Techniques can be like group debates and
argumentation, complex role-plays, scanning and
skimming reading material. At this level, students
normally have specific purpose for which they are
planning to use English. As students move up the
developmental ladder, getting closer and closer to
their goals, developing fluency along with a greater
degree of accuracy, able to handle virtually any
situation in which target language use is demanded,
they become “advanced” students. At the very top of
this ladder is what the ACTEFL Proficiency Guidelines
describe as the “superior” level, comparable in most
aspect to an educated, so in order to be more in
keeping with reality, we will simply focus on what the
Guidelines describe as the “advanced Students“ have
mastered larger chunks of languages.
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Automatic mode that should appear in this level :

Natural language at Techniques are more

1 natural speed is a must 2 complex covering the 3 Learner-centered.
sociolinguistics and
at this level.
pragmatics competencies.

Speaking and listening : Reading and writing : Grammar :

4 students can focus more 5 progress to native speaker 6 metafunctional
carefully on all the competence à critical
grammar level.
sociolinguistic nuances of reading, interpretation, etc.
language, pragmatic
constrain sometimes occur.
A. STUDENTS’ COGNITIVE
LEARNING PROSESS

B. THE ROLE OF
TEACHER

Same as when you teaching begininning and

C. TEACHER TALK intermediated levels, you should know this too, to
manage your class.
D. FLUENCY AND
ACCURACY

E. TECHNIQUE
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A. Sociopolitical Context

The importance of the sociopolitical context in terms of language cannot be released in

linguistic teaching. This can be seen by the dominant social role in knowledge learning. When we
consider the important roles of language in social contexts and extend them into communities,
regions nations and continents, then the political side of language becomes visible. Social and
political issues are correctness and appropriateness, styles, acceptable forms of speech within
communities, regional and national standards, national language policy, and international varieties
of English.
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Correctness and 1
01
appropriateness.

02 Registers and styles.

Acceptable speech
03
varieties in a community.

Regional & national

04
standards of language.

05 National language policy.

International varieties of
06
English.
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Second language learning contexts are those in which the classroom

target language is readily available out there. Foreign language contexts are
those in which the student does not have that context, that ability to hear and
speak outside the classroom, albeit through books, magazines, and other foreign
language speakers, they can find comadrie. ESL context vary from region to
region. Look at the country and see if English holds any official status, whether it
is recognized by a government or institution, and whether or not resources for
learning are readily available, and notice that learning English in Britain, Canada,
and America all vary by dialect and more. In many countries such as Japan or
India, there are venues for authentic use of language, such as movies, clubs, and
media, such as the world wide web.
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3

Language is part of culture-culture is not a mere tool but a super ordinate

1 concept.

2 Language and cultural identity go together.

3 Cultural connotations & nuances.

4 No high or low culture-different cultural schemata.

5 Diversity and multicultural education.

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4

Compensation for the lack of ready communicative situations.

A

Use class time for optimal authentic language input and

B interaction.

Don’t waste class time on work that can be done as homework.

C

D Provide regular motivation-stimulating activities.

E Encourage the use of learning strategies outside class.

F Form a language club and schedule regular activities.

Maximize learning through using multimedia & by forming

G online/virtual communities.
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6

Give homework that involves a specific speaking task with a

A person outside the classroom.

Encourage students to seek out opportunities for practice.

B

Encourage students to seek corrective feedback from others.

C

Have students keep a log or diary of their extra-class learning.

D
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E Plan and carry out field trips.

F Arrange a social “mixer” with NSEs.

G Invite speakers into your classroom.

 The growth of a 2
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nativized variety of

English :
Most English teachers in the world today are non- 1. Most English language teachers
native English speakers, so the norm is
across the globe are nonnative English
bilingualism. Rather than teaching English as a
speakers and bi- or multi-lingual.
tool for understanding American and British
culture, it is more often seen as a tool for 2. A tool for international communication
international business, commerce, tourism, and
in transportation, commerce, banking,
research. Students will be most interested in the
tourism, technology, diplomacy, and
practical applications of speaking English. English
Plus is an idea that English isa compliment to the scientific research.
learners native language and is appropriate for
both languages to be used in teaching, particuarly
in public school settings. Policy and climate dictate
status accorded to native and secondary
languages.
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English Only – subtractive. English Plus – additive. Cummins-pass beyond

1 2 3 threshold levels ;
a. BICS (basic interpersonal
communication skills)

b. CALP (cognitive academic

language proficiency)

A student’s “proficiency” by Sts’ proficiency related Always try to keep your

4 a grueling computer- 5 more to the ability to cram 6 students’ vision fixed on
scorable standardized for a standardized test. useful, practical, reachable
multiple-choice goals for the communicative
examination. use of English.
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In an institutional context, submersion is a way of treating second language learners. In

this way students are submerged into regular content-area classes with no special attention to
foreign language instruction, a Darwinian approach. With immersion program students share the
same mother tongue. In most immersion programs, students are in a EFL setting and learning the
second language is a compliment to the subject area. Sheltered English is a popular form of
immersion programs, in that students come from varying backgrounds, and the teacher is trained in
subject-area and ESL methods. There is EAP (English for Academic Purposes) courses, ESP
(English for Special Purposes), such as an English for Business course, and there are Vocational
Technical (Voc/Tech) designed for those learning trades and other occupations not commonly
taught at universities. literacy courses are designed to teach reading and writing skills to students
whose native language skills are either non-existant or very poor.
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A. Submersion : B. Immersion :
“Sink or Swim.” Bilingual in content courses.

C. Sheltered English : D. Mainstreaming :

Multilingual students, Ts are content Exiting after ESL programs.
teachers with ESL training .
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F. Maintenance bilingual G. Enrichment bilingual

E. Transitional bilingual program:
program: program:

Using native language for Continuous learning of Choice of subjects in FL

content areas while ESL subject matter content in while most learning done in
courses are provided native language, high cost native language, enrich
separately. for staff & maintenance, not linguistic or cultural
mastering TL. horizons.
A Survival/social curriculum.

B Literacy programs.

C Vocational ESL.

D Workplace ESL.
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1. Intensive English Programs (IEPs): mostly pre-academic/preparatory courses.

2. EAP (English for Academic Purposes)
3. ESP (English for Special Purposes)
Other factors to consider; institutional regulations, budgetary and bureaucratic
constraints, administrators or supervisor’s hegemony, textbooks, colleague
support or pressure, teaching hours & dedication, sts’ level of motivation.
ANY QUESTIONS?

Created by :
Sari & Septi