Professional Documents
Culture Documents
nglish
Yueh-chiu Wang
National Penghu University
Language
What is a language? Language is a t
ool we use to communicate with othe
r people. We encode what we want t
o say using language which is made
u p of a range of components.
Meaning
There are many ways of helping learners u
nderstand the meaning of a word or phras
e. For example, with a word like job we c
an:
--translate the word from English into the
L1
--give the learners examples of types of jo
bs, for example, by providing pictures of p
eople doing different jobs.
Summary
It is important for the language teac
her to know as much as possible abo
ut the language that they are teachin
g. The language system is complex
and learners need to be guided throu
gh it. They will often come across la
nguage for the first time which they
will need to incorporate into their ow
n language system.
Features
Sentences and longer texts are transl
ated both to and from the learners fi
rst language. Little or no attention is
paid to the ability to speak or commu
nicate. Grammar rules are given a lo
t of attention, especially word ending
s and sentence formation.
Audiolingualism
Background: Language was describe
d in terms of the ay it was structured
individual sounds and letters, word
s, structures, and sentence types. L
earners were expected to learn the g
rammar of the new language not by l
earning rules but by producing the la
nguage accurately by responding to s
timuli.
Features
A drill was activity where the teacher
provided prompts and the learners w
ould produce a sentence using the ap
propriate grammatical structure.
Lessons often begin with dialogues.
The emphasis was on the form (or th
e structure) of language rather than
content and meaning.
Current status
Some language teachers find drills us
eful for practising sentence patterns.
They can be especially valuable in ge
tting elementary learners to build the
confidence in speaking. However, th
e usefulness of drills is regarded as li
mited in that they do not give the lea
rners an opportunity to interact natur
ally with other speakers.
Features
The goal is to learn to communicate i
n the target language.
There is an emphasis on meaning an
d using the language rather than the
structure and form of the language.
Current status
CLT is very widely used in language t
eaching all over the world. It has shi
fted the focus in language teaching fr
om learning about the language to le
arning to communicate in the langua
ge.
The emphasis on pair and group wor
k can create problems in some classe
s.
Task-based Learning
TBL focuses on the process of comm
unicating by setting learners tasks to
complete using the target language.
During this period, the learners acqui
re language as they try to express th
emselves and understand others. Th
e tasks can range from information g
ap to problem-solving tasks.
sequence
Pre-tasks: these are activities which prepa
re learners to complete a task, for exampl
e, by guiding learners through an example
of the task they will have to do.
Tasks: these form the main body of the les
son and can involve a number of steps. Fo
r example, learners working in pairs or gro
ups may first complete the task, then prep
are a report on the task, and finally presen
t the report to the class.
summary
Teaching has been influenced by a wide va
riety of methods and trends. New method
s have been introduced as part of the ong
oing search for the best way to teach.
We are now at the point where there is mo
re emphasis on teachers and learners mak
ing their own choices about how to teach a
nd learn. Teachers can use the back-catal
ogue of methods as a starting point to ma
ke decisions about this process.
Chapter 4: Listening
We listen for a purpose, but this purp
ose can be very different depending
on the situation:
-listening for specific details
Listening for general meaning
Listening for the general idea or gist.
Difference
There is also a different listening:
For information
For enjoyment or social reasons
To learn new language
--individual sounds
Syllables
Words which may be linked together
with some sounds being dropped or c
hanged.
Phrases
Clauses
Grammatical structures
Sentences
Longer stretches of spoken English.
Listening skills
Learners need to develop the followin
g skills:
Learning to listen in various ways
Adapting the way they listen accordin
g to the test and the reason for listen
ing
Recognizing the features of spoken E
nglish
Listening stage
While pre-listening activities are abo
ut preparing for the questions or a ta
sk, listening activities are about the l
earners finding the answer or doing t
he task.
Speaking
The speaking process:
We speak in many different types of
situation. For example:
--talking to someone face to face
--talking to someone on the phone
a learner answering a question in cla
ss
Interaction
Spoken interaction involves two or m
ore people talking to each other, for
example, one person makes a reques
t and the other person responds. We
call this an exchange.
Discussion activities
We also speak to give our opinions or
to hear other peoples opinions. Disc
ussion activities give learners the cha
nce to speak more freely and expres
s themselves. It is helpful to structur
e a discussion activity by giving learn
ers enough information about what t
hey will be talking about, and giving
them enough time to think about wh
at they want to say.
Role plays
These can be like mini-dramas. Each
learner is given a character and a car
d with some information on it which
can include information about their r
ole and the situation.
Games
Games are often useful to liven up a
lesson. Some examples of games gi
ving speaking practice include:
The teacher choose something from t
he classroom, for example, the black
board, and says to the learners.
The learners have to guess what it i
s. Learners can also play this game i
n groups.
Informal interaction
The teacher and class can interact inf
ormally, asking each other what they
are going to do at the weekend, talki
ng about recent new stories, telling j
okes or personal stories.
Reading
There are two basic types of texts-au
thentic and non-authentic. Examples
of authentic texts are newspaper arti
cles, website pages, emails, packagin
g and labels, and so on. Non-authen
tic texts are written especially for lea
rners using imaginary contexts and s
implified vocabulary and sentence co
nstruction.
Reading skills
Learners need to develop the followin
g skill:
Learning to read in various ways, for
example, skimming and scanning
Adapting the way they read accordin
g to the text and their reason for rea
ding
Inferring meaning
Sometimes part of meaning of a text
is not explicitly statedwe have to in
fer it by using reading and the text t
o make our own conclusions.
Planning a lesson
First of all you must decide what the
aim of the lesson is. To do this you n
eed to consider your learners needs
which skills do they need to develo
p? How can you help them develop t
heir skills?
Choosing the right text for your class
is one of the most important decision
you have to make.
Pre-reading activities
Set a task for the learners
Help the learners prepare for the tas
k
Motivate the learners to read.
Answering questions
Teachers use questions to check whe
ther the learners have understood a t
ext. The questions should reflect the
type of reading skill being practiced:
Gist questions
Detailed comprehension questions
Scanning questions
Questions can also focus on the language.
Pre-reading activities should help the learn
ers achieve the aims of the activity.
Stimulate what they already know about t
he topic.
Help them with words and phrases they wi
ll need to know.
Reading activities
Here are three types of reading activi
ties:
Teacher-learner interaction activities
Learner-learner interaction activities
Text-only activities: the learners read
the text all the way through answerin
g questions or doing the activities se
t.
Writing
When we are writing we have to do s
omething similar except that we do it
with letters rather than sounds. We
put these together to forms words, p
hrases, clauses, and sentences, and
put sentences together to make a co
herent text.
Writing skills
Learners need to develop the followin
g skills:
Handwriting: forming letters, connect
ed script, upper and lower case, start
ing from top left and writing across t
he page
Spelling
Use of punctuation
Handwriting
Learners may need to work on their hand
writing skills if:
Their L1 is not based on the Roman script,
for example, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, A
rabic
They are not used to writing with a pen, fo
r example, they are more used to using a
keyboard
They havent had the opportunity to devel
op their writing skills in their L1
They are young learners.
Spelling
Spelling causes problems for lots of l
earners because there is no one-to-o
ne relationship between sounds and
spelling in Engllish.
Punctuation
Learners need to know the basic elements
of punctuation:
Capital letters: for the beginning of a sent
ence, place names, and so on.
Full stops: for the end of a sentence
Commas: to mark the ends of phrases and
clauses
Question marks: to signal a question
Apostrophe: to show an abbreviation or po
ssessive.
Forming sentences
English sentence formation is compli
cated and there are many possible p
atterns.
Study skills
Learners need to develop the skills of note
taking and record keeping. Note taking is
an essential skill in the classroom particula
rly if learners are going to be studying aca
demically at some stage. During a lesson
the teacher should always give learners ti
me to make notes, make sure that whatev
er they themselves write on the board is cl
ear and relevant, and monitor learners no
te taking and give advice if necessary.
Writing steps
In order to prepare for a writing activity th
e learners can:
Think about the audience or reader
Brainstormfor example, if learners are pr
eparing to write about globalization, they s
hould note the arguments for and against.
If they are going to write a description, th
ey can brainstorm some relevant vocabula
ry.
Writing stage
Learners write a draft, and rewrite u
ntil they complete the final version.
They should refer back to decisions
made in prewriting stage regarding a
udience, content, aims, and outline.
They should also check for use of an
y language they practiced and make
sure that their text is both cohesive
and coherent.
Post-writing stage
The learners can share or display the
ir finished work and give overall com
ments on how successful their work
has been. The teacher can do follo
w-up work on any area of the langua
ge that still needs work.
Planning
Before we teach a lesson, we need to
decide:
What the goals or aims of the lesson
are
What resources to use: a coursebook
or textbook, handouts or worksheet
s, posters, recorded material, etc.
Aims
The aim of a lesson will depend on a
number of factors:
The learners level: are they element
ary, lower intermediate, etc.?
The class profile: are the learners ge
nerally homogeneous or are they a
mixed ability class?
Coursebooks
There are various ways in which you
might need to change things in a cou
rsebook. It is helpful to let your lear
ners know if you are going to omit th
ings or change the order of activities
or chapters and explain why you are
doing so.
Activities
These can be divided into activities t
hat require the learners to read, writ
e, speak or listen or a combination of
some or all of these.
Skills are often combined in an activi
ty. For example, the learners read a
text, answer questions about it, disc
uss it, then write their own text.
Interaction
The teacher and learners can interact
with each other in a wide variety of
ways. Here are some examples of in
teraction patterns:
Teacher to whole class
Teacher to individual learner in open
class
Teacher to individual learner
Teachers position
Stay at the front of the classroom in
front of the board
Walk around the class at random
If the class in a semi-circle, walk rou
nd from left to right or right to left
Stand at the back of the class
Types of questions
You need to plan the kind of question
s you are going to ask and who your
e going to ask.
Open questions vs. closed questions
Teachers should think about the type
of questions and the way they ask th
em as they affect the learning proces
s in important ways.
Sequence of activities
Lessons with a particular aim are ma
de up of a sequence of activities whic
h relate to each other.
Classroom
The size and shape of the classroom
will also affect your lesson plan. Can
the learners move around? Is there s
pace for the learners to do physical a
ctivities, get into groups, walk aroun
d, etc.? How is the furniture arrange
d? Can it be moved? Some ways of a
rranging desks in a classroom are sh
own below. Please refer to p. 108.
Middle
This is where you focus on the main
aim of the lesson.
For the four skills the main part of a l
esson usually focuses on an activity
or series of activities that practice on
e of the skills or sub-skills.
End
The final part of a lesson aims to brin
g it to a close or conclusion. There a
re a number of things you can do in t
his stage:
recap the main points of the lesson
Relate the lesson to the goals or aim
s you stated at the beginning
Evaluating a lesson
After you have taught a lesson, it is
a good idea to evaluate it. Here are
some questions you can use. Please r
efer to p. 112.
Planning a course
In planning a whole course we detail
all the things a learner should learn i
n that period of time. This list is ofte
n decided by the institution, depends
upon which coursebook is being use
d, or is determined by the examinati
on the learners are preparing for.
Diagnostic tests
Diagnostic tests are designed to prov
ide information about individual learn
ers strengths and weaknesses in spe
cific areas of the language system, fo
r example, a test could tell us about
which phonemes a learner is or isnt
able to produce accurately in connect
ed speech.
Placement tests
Diagnostic tests are given to learners
at the beginning of a new course. Th
e aim is to determine the range of la
nguage learners know and can use s
o that teachers can place them in the
most suitable classes or groups.
Progress tests
Progress tests are given to learners d
uring a course to see how far their la
nguage ability has developed, for exa
mple, what vocabulary they can use
that they couldnt at the beginning of
a course.
Achievement tests
Achievement tests are given to learn
ers at the end of the course and are
based on what they have studied dur
ing the course. They aim to show w
hat learners are able to do at the end
of the course that they couldnt do at
the beginning of the course.
Types of tests
The following types of test involve a
number of different aspects of langu
age use. Testing experts agree that
they are all good ways of testing lear
ners language knowledge. They are
all simple to prepare and it is easy to
base them on work your learners hav
e been doing.
C-tests
In a C-test the second half of every
word is missing. Learners have to co
mplete the words.
C-tests often involve several short te
xts so that a wider variety of languag
e is tested. They typically require le
arners to complete 40-50 words. No
tice that both gap-fill tests and C-tes
ts give learners a complete
Word order
Putting the words into a random orde
r makes the learners think about sen
tence construction and the relationsh
ip between words, phrases, and claus
es. Obviously, the longer and more c
omplex the sentence the more difficu
lt the test.
Sentence completion
Many tests require learners to compl
ete sentence with an appropriate wor
d or phrase. Learners can be given a
choice of answers or a prompt.
Sentence transformation
This is the name given to tests where
the learner