Lesson planning

Methods in teaching English as a

foreign language
 Reasons for writing lesson plans
• to identify the aims for the lesson - what students should be able to do at
the end of the lesson;
• to predict some possible problems and think of solutions if such problems
occur;
• to adapt the lesson materials to the needs of a particular group of students;
• to make sure that the lesson is balanced and appropriate for the level and
the needs of the class;
• to give the teacher confidence and awareness of what s/he is doing
throughout the lesson; This confidence is transmitted to children who feel
secure and in control of what is going on in class;
• to give the teacher time to monitor instead of thinking what to do next;
• to be used as a tool for reflection after the lesson;
• to be used again to save time and effort in preparation;
 Using a coursebook in planning
• Good course books for young learners contain lively and interesting
material, beautiful pictures which provide the important visual
support for their learning.
• The course book ensures gradual progression of the language
items, clearly showing what and how much is to be taught in each
particular lesson.
• Most course books cater for developing children’s multiple
intelligences by establishing links with the other subjects taught in
the primary course.
• They provide a valuable reference for the students to get back to
when they work at home and do their HW.
• The similarity of format from one unit to the next give children a
sense of predictability and control of the content.
 Why teaching the course book is not
enough?
• Each class is different and teachers need to be
able to adapt the material from whatever
source so that it is suitable for their students.
• Routine in the teaching approach might lead to
predictability, lack of challenge, and boredom.
• The teacher’s guide can help planning, but it
just give one possible scenario for a lesson and
cannot replace the teacher’s own ideas for
what s/he wants to achieve in a class.
 Characteristics of a good lesson plan
• Coherence - students can see a logical pattern in the
lesson. It is very important to let children know what
they are doing and why they are doing it.
• Variety - since children’s concentration span is
limited, the teacher needs a quick succession of
different short activities.
• Flexibility - the plan is only a guide which should not
be allowed to dominate the lesson at the expense of
the real needs or interests of the students. Things
can be changed if necessary.
What teachers should know before getting
to write the plan
• The job of teaching – the language and skills for
the level, learning aids, stges and techniques; a
repertoire of activities; management skills;
• The institution – time, length, frequency of
classes, physical conditions, syllabus, exams,
restrictions;
• The students – age, gender, social and
educational background, motivation and
attitude, interests and needs
 Practical questions in planning
• What will the learners achieve in this lesson?
• What am I hoping to achieve?
• How many separate activities will there be?
• Where will I stand or sit?
• What skills will learners be working on?
• What do learners need?
• How will I control timing?
• What are some of the things that could cause difficulties or go
wrong?
• How am I going to deal with mistakes?
• How do the lesson aims fit in with longer-term goals?
 Long term planning
• Teachers usually have to plan for a whole
term, either before or at the beginning of the
term. If they are using a course book they
have to look through its contents and the
teacher’s guide. They need to decide how
many teaching hours they need to allot to the
units or the lessons in the book, to decide how
often there will be revision and progress tests.
 Short term planning
• It usually includes planning of a unit or a series of
lessons. It may be planning the lessons on one
topic or for one week and usually covers from
three to ten lessons. The teachers can read
through the suggestions in the teacher’s guide
and decide which of them they want to use and
what they would change and/or adapt to the
needs of their students. Short term planning
should not be too detailed since it is only a rough
guide.
 Planning for individual lessons
• It has to be done before every lesson. It is
much easier if the teacher has done some
short term planning – s/he already knows
roughly what is to be done and only needs to
look into some details. Moreover, the teacher
knows exactly what has been achieved
previously and what is to come next.
 Components of the lesson plan
• All plans should have the same ingredients –
the aims and the objectives of the lesson, how
these are to be achieved, what should be the
stages, the activities and procedures in the
lesson, what materials and aids will be used,
what the student groupings and interaction
formats will be, and what is the timing for the
stages and the individual activities.
 Aims and objectives
• Aims of the lesson show what the teacher wants to do and
achieve in it, e.g. introduce new vocabulary or structures, develop
certain skills (make students write a short description, listen to a
song or a short story, read a passage, etc.). The aims have to be
clear, realistic and achievable, appropriate for the students’ level
and age, and relevant to the National curriculum and the
syllabus. When planning the aims of a lesson it is a good idea to
think separately of the structural, functional and lexical
components as well as the skills which are to be developed in the
lesson.
• Objectives are the specific aims that teachers have for the
students – what they want them to achieve in this particular
lesson.
 Anticipated problems and planned
solutions
• It is very important for a teacher to be able to identify some
possible problems that might arise in the course of the lesson.
Thus the teacher will be in a better position to deal with the
problems if they occur. The sources of such problems can vary
depending on the particular teaching context. For example, if
the students are all at different levels the teacher can use
different materials or do different tasks with the same material.
If the class is very big the teacher can use worksheets, get the
students to work in pairs or groups, use chorus repetition, etc.
Among some other common problems are students’ excessive
use of mother tongue, uncooperative/disruptive behaviour or
unwillingness to participate, etc.
 Stages of the lesson
• They can vary depending on the aims of the
lesson. A basic lesson plan usually consists of
checking homework, reviewing previously taught
material, introducing new material and practising
with varying degrees of control, followed by freer
production. It should also include a warm-up, to
get kids started in the lesson, and some kind of
wrap-up, to conclude the lesson, sum up its main
points and end the lesson in a good mood.
 How to start a lesson
• state the goals of the lesson in terms of language
and skills to be learnt;
• tell students what they are expected to do;
• prepare students for a forthcoming test;
• begin the lesson or activity without explanation;
• revise previously taught material;
• do something to capture students’ interest;
• organise students into pairs or groups;
• change the seating arrangement in class, etc.
 Activities in the lesson
• They have to be planned in advance and should fit with
children’s developmental needs and interests. Some
activities can be used repetitively in a series of lessons.
Familiar activities give opportunities to revise,
consolidate and expand on the studied items. The lesson
should also contain new activities which offer a challenge
and require more effort on. The teacher needs to make
sure there is a smooth transition from one activity to
another and a logical link between them. Planning an
activity the teacher needs to know how many and which
children take part in the activity and how long it lasts.
 How to sequence the activities
• simple activities should come before complex ones;
• activities involving receptive skills should precede
those that involve productive skills;
• students should practice using a tense or grammar
structure before studying the rule that underlies it;
• accuracy-focused activities should precede fluency-
focused ones;
• there should be a progression within a lesson from
mechanical or form-based activities to meaningful-
based activities.
 Stages in organising an activity
• focus students’ attention and set a purpose for their
participation.
• set the task by clearly explaining and modeling, giving and
checking instructions;
• let the students do the task and observe them as they are doing
it;
• after the task is finished, evaluate it and provides a relevant
follow-up.
• When planning activities, it is necessary to prepare more than
may be needed in the lesson, just in case children work fast or
are not in a mood to work individually at some quieter activity,
or do the activities suggested in the course book.
 Some general tips regarding activities
• avoid needless or over-lengthy explanations and
instructions;
• use a variety of activities, rather than spending the whole
lesson on one activity;
• avoid excessive use of predictable and repetitive
activities;
• select activities of an appropriate level of difficulty;
• set a goal and time limit for activities;
• monitor students’ performance on activities to ensure
that they have had sufficient time but not too much time.
 Timing and interaction patterns.
• The teacher needs to know in advance how long an
activity is going to take and what interaction
patterns s/he is going to implement (how the
students will be grouped) to make the most of it.
• The interaction patters (whole class, group work,
pair work or individual work) depend on the nature
of the task or activity. For example, children can
discuss a topic as a whole class or in groups, make
dialogues in pairs or groups, and read silently or
write on their own.
 Recommended reading
• Richards, J., Lockhart, C. (1994). Reflective Teaching in Second Language
Classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Douglas Brown, H. 2007. Teaching by Principles. An Interactive Approach
to Language Pedagogy. San Francisco: Pearson.
• Harmer, J. 2001. How to Teach English: An Introduction to the Practice of
English Language Teaching (2nd edition). Harlow, UK: Pearson.
• Hedge, T. 2000. Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
• Ivanova, I. 2017. Becoming an English Language teacher: from theory to
practice. Shumen: K. Preslavsky University Press
• Riddel, D. (2010). Teach English as a Foreign Language. London: Hodder
Education.
• Scrivener, J. (2011). Learning Teaching. The Essential Guide to English
Language Teaching. (3rd edition). Oxford: Macmillan.