Some useful ideas for exam classes.

1. Massive Comprehensible Input - reading and listening to lots of English that

is not too difficult to understand.
A number of studies by linguists such as Stephen Krashen have shown students
making more progress in exam scores and the ability to produce complex grammar
forms by reading for x hours a week rather than attending classes for x hours a week.
To be most effective, the reading or listening tets should be!
-eas" to understand #students should $no% &'() of the vocabular"*
-interesting, something that students %ould %ant to read or listen to in their o%n
language
-etended #long tets are good if the" are interesting*
Sources of comprehensible input:
-novels
-graded readers
-films
-audiobooks
-websites with listenings on them such as elllo
-teacher talking
-teacher anecdotes
-conversations with native speakers
-dialogues or stories written by the students and then checked by the teacher
-dialogues or stories written by students from other classes
-radio
-newspapers (although often too difficult)
-the internet
-podcasts....
-blogs or books linked to students personal interests
-other text books
-class readers
!"S#$%&
'an you think of any more sources of comprehensible input(
'an you anticipate any problems with what $ )ust said(
-$f you want to find out more then the best places to go are either youtube where you
can see lots of lectures by Stephen *rashen+ or *rashens website.
+. ,tudents need positive meaningful interactions %ith native spea$ers for
learning and motivation.
-#his can come in part from the teacher+ (see point ,).
--ebsites can help you arrange language exchanges. ($n .ondon $ used gumtree+ but
$ guess here it would be expat forum+ couch surfing...).
-#here are usually improving "nglish get-together sessions going on (again see couch
surfing).
-penpals
!"S#$%&
'an you think of any anecdotal evidence for or against the idea that students
need meaningful interactions with native speakers( -hat about your own
language learning experiences(
-. .ocus on the language that students produce in the classes, value it, %or$ %ith
it, rec"cle it.
One school of EL !"#ogme$ or "eaching %nplugged$& suggests that teachers chuck
away all materials and text books' and instead run their lessons as a prolonged
conversation(driven interaction between students and teachers. he focus on the
here(and(now means that you are helping students with language that is directly
relevant to them.
-$mprove your monitoring skills - youll be ama/ed at how your students respond to
actually being listened to properly.
-0oull need to have a pen and paper in your hand when monitoring students.
-1eedback from your monitoring - errors+ possible improvements+ pronunciation
features+ good language the students produced.
-2ecord and throw this stuff back at students. 3oard work+ photographing the board+
review next lesson+ next week.
-/ont forget to listen to %hat the" are actuall" sa"ing as %ell as ho% the" are
sa"ing it. $nclude something about what they were saying in your feedback stage.
4aybe impromptu 5ui/ or something.
-#ry letting students know that youll be setting aside+ say+ ten minutes of unplanned
time each lesson+ where you can chat and work with what they want to say.
!"S#$%&
6ow can you record the language that crops up in the lesson+ and how can you
recycle it in future lessons to help the students remember it(
-1or further information on this read 7#eaching !nplugged by .uke 4eddings and
Scott #hornbury.
0. /ont treat language simpl" as loads of %ords glued together %ith grammar,
but as a s"stem that operates 12( of the time in set phrases3epressions, and
train students in noticing common phrases, %ord-pairs etc.
-this is going to affect your board work
-how students record new language will change+ although this is deeply affected by
your boardwork
"894:."
7#hen we visited ;r. 3arrera+ director of the little hospital and a member of
parliament
!"S#$%&
$f a student asked you what the meaning of 7parliament was+ how would you
answer( -hat would you write on the board( -hat would you encourage
them to write in their notebooks(
-1or further information on this way of teaching+ called 7#he .exical 9pproach+ read
7#eaching 'ollocation+ edited by 4ichael .ewis. %r put 7#he .exical 9pproach
into wikipedia.

'. ,tudent 4utonom" - putting students in the driving seat.
-'ollaborative needs analysis should absolutely begin every course of study+ exam
class or not. -hy are they studying( -hat are their final aims( 3reak down the
aims into achievable measurable targets.
-&egotiation of weekly<lesson aims = review at end of week<lesson+ linked to the
needs analysis and the aims.
-;iscussion of motivation > motivation.
-?et students to think about activities before and after they do them. 1ind out how
they learn best+ what have they done successfully in the past+ what they like+ what
they hate.
--92&$&?-@ ?etting students to think about learning can be a really motivating and
positive thing. 3ut it can lead to too much emphasis on explicit+ conscious learning+
at the expense of implicit+ subconscious learning. So for example if a student reads a
text and already knows all of the vocabulary in it+ they might tell you that they didnt
learn anything+ unaware that as they were reading they were reinforcing their
understanding of the vocabulary+ the grammar+ etc.+ and making it more available in
the future. $f you think like me that the vast bulk of learning a language is done
subconsciously+ through listening+ reading+ and communicative experiences+ then it is
important to remind students of that+ so that your class doesnt turn into a Aictorian-
style hell house of rote memorisation.
1. /ont let eam practice ta$e over, but ma$e it a regular routine.
5. 6ec"cling of ne% language.