WELCOME TO

TEACHING IN
TIMES OF THE
PANDEMIC
ISFD 41 – Prof. Andrea Fares
THE CHALLENGE
 What do you think is a real challenge for a teacher these days?
 Those who work, what are the most difficult problems you are facing
when teaching during the pandemic?
 Have you evidenced a positive change in teaching and learning?
 Do you think virtual lessons have arrived to stay for ever?
ENRICHING UNITS OF WORK
WITH TICS
 Even though we have a clear concept, and we have a sample model of
UoW, we will have to work hard to meet the needs of our courses today.
READ THE CURRICULAR
DESIGN AND ANSWER
 ACTIVITY 1: (IN GROUPS): What is the information that the
Curriculum Design offers in terms of:
 Methodology
 Content
 Cross-curricular content?
 Evaluation?
HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW
ABOUT TBL?
Watch Prof. Ellis talking about task-based pedagogy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdRibzXW2TI&t=23s

Basically, Prof. Ellis answers these questions:

What is it? Why might teachers adopt such an approach? And how can
?
task-based ideas be implemented?
How far do you agree with Prof. Ellis on the last question? Is TBLT
applicable in large classes with structured syllabuses?
CONTENT-BASED LANGUAGE
TEACHING
 Now watch this video and notice the differences with TBLT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKLNZl0ta-k
WHAT DOES SCRIVENER TELL
US ABOUT THE LANGUAGE
SYSTEMS?
 Analyse this sentence in terms of:
 Phonology (sounds)
 The meaning of individual words or phrases (lexis or vocabulary)
 How the words interact with each other within the sentence (grammar)
 The use to which the words are put in particular situations (function)

Pass me the book.

 Even further… extend the language sample into a conversation:
A: Pass me the book.
B: Which one do you mean? (Discourse)

 So… we have 5 language systems (5 ways of looking at the same thing)

ACTIVITY 2 (IN GROUPS)
 RECOGNISING LANGUAGE SYSTEMS

Imagine that you intend to do some teaching with this piece of language:
Can you play the piano? Match some points you might focus on with the
correct system name:

Can + pronoun function

Meaning of play and piano discourse
Variations in sounds (strong or lexis
weak sounds in Can you)
Asking about ability grammar
Typical question-and-reply pronunciation
sequences containing this
language
LANGUAGE SKILLS (WHAT
WE DO WITH LANGUAGE)
LANGUAGE SYSTEMS LANGUAGE SKILLS

knowing Doing
Phonology Productive (____ and ____)
Lexis Receptive (____ and ____)
Grammar
Function
Discourse
FROM MACRO SKILLS TO
MICRO SKILLS
 The main 4 skills are macro because any of them could be analysed
down to smaller micro skills by defining more precisely what exactly is
being done, the genre of material, etc.

 Macro Skill: Listening

 Micro Skills:
 Understanding the gist of what is heard. Eg Who is talking? Where are they? What
are they doing? How do they feel?
 Understanding precise information (quantities, dates, numbers, prices, etc.)
 Compensating for words and phrases not heard clearly by hypothesizing what they
are saying, based on the understanding of the rest of the conversation.
ACTIVITY 3 (IN GROUPS)
FROM A MACRO TO SOME
MICRO SKILLS
 Suggest some micro-skills from the following macro-skills:
1. Reading
2. Writing
3. Speaking
LESSON 1 ACTIVITY
REVISION (SHARE YOUR
ANSWERS)
LEARNING SKILLS
a. THINKING SKILLS:
Making inferences
Making and supporting generalizations
Understanding sequence
Relating cause and effect
Differentiating fact from opinion
Identifying and understanding viewpoints
Interpreting charts and graphs
Classifying facts
Solving problems
Making predictions
Drawing conclusions
Noting inconsistencies
Comparing and contrasting
b. STUDY SKILLS: Use of libraries and managing
information. The ultimate aim is to help students
move towards independent learning with the
enthusiasm and ability to raise their own questions
and answer them satisfactorily.
Using pictorial dictionaries
Using a dictionary
Putting ideas together and organizing them
Mapping and outlining
Making an outline
Questioning
Drawing charts, tables and graphs
Activating memory
Organizing classwork / folder / study
Using primary and secondary sources
Taking notes
LEARNING SKILLS
c.INVESTIGATION SKILLS: They are developed from
direct experience such as exploratory work outdoors,
setting up experiments inside and outside school, problem
solving, etc.
Careful observation through all senses
identifying similarities and differences
grouping and classifying
planning a test, predicting and checking outcomes -
interpreting observations
finding relationships and / or patterns
making a final assessment and evaluation
carrying out investigations - trying out ideas
measuring
surveying
drawing conclusions
developing and testing hypotheses - using scientific
measuring tools
d. LITERARY SKILLS: Introduction to literary forms; Going
beyond apparent meaning; Focusing on anticipation, understanding,
response, style, background, form, characterization, feelings, detail
to create atmosphere, building up tension, rhythm and sound, point
of view, theme (comparing and contrasting), moods, etc;
Personification. Irony. (Be specific when you state the kind of work)
e. LEARNING TO LEARN SKILLS
Learning-to-learn skills are essential for effective lifelong learning to
develop over the entire lifespan. Teachers can accelerate their
students’ learning by explicitly teaching them these skills. High-
performing students tend to:
Establish goals
Determine Essential information
Find patterns and “chunk formation”
Plan and manage time (prioritize)
Seek help when necessary
Use memory strategies (Example: distributed practice: memorizing
words for a spelling test. A good student, for example, will not
attempt to learn all 20 words in one night. Instead, she will
memorize six words one night, another six words the next night,
then other six words the next night, and finally memorize the last
two words (and review the most difficult ones) the night before the
test.
ACTIVITY 4 (IN GROUPS)
PLANNING A UNIT OF WORK:
STEPS
Now put the stages to draft a Unit of Work in the correct order (Source: Zanon – Planning Classwork)
 
____ Determining unit objectives
 
____ Plan instruments and procedure for evaluation of process and product
 
____ Planning the final task or series of tasks (to be done at the end of the unit)
 
____ Plan the process (structure the tasks and sequence them to fit into class hours)
 
____ Determining the theme or interest area
 
____ Specify contents which are necessary to carry out the final task; these aspects will determine –
linguistic content and other content