Reflecting pretexts and exercises

Ovidiu Albiş

2008

CONTENTS

1. Towards Teacher Proficiency……………………………………………………….32. Language Methods and Techniques...........................................................................3

The Direct Method The Audio-Lingual Method Suggestopedia The Community Language Learning Method The Communicative Approach Communicative Syllabi towards a Communicative Methodology

3. Class Management........................................................................................................9 Classroom Observation: Class Management Reflection as Exercise

4. Lesson Planning..........................................................................................................10 Layout Example

5. Teaching Vocabulary.................................................................................................12 Classroom Observation: Lexis Reflection as Exercise

6. Teaching Grammar....................................................................................................14 Classroom Observation: Grammar Reflection as Exercise

7. Teaching Pronunciation..............................................................................................16 Classroom Observation: Phonology Reflection as Exercise

8. Teaching Reading........................................................................................................18 Classroom Observation: Reading Reflection as Exercise

9. Teaching Listening......................................................................................................21 Classroom Observation : Listening Reflection as Exercise

10. Teaching writing..........................................................................................................24 Classroom Observation: Writing Reflection as Exercise

11. Teaching Speaking......................................................................................................28 Classroom Observation: Speaking Reflection as Exercise

12. Teaching Literary Skills.............................................................................................32 Reflection as Exercise

13. Correction....................................................................................................................33 Classroom Observation: Error Correction Reflection as Exercise

14. Testing..........................................................................................................................35 Reflection as Exercise

15. Materials Evaluation Criteria....................................................................................3616. Glossary of Some Common Modes of Teaching and Learning...............................3717. Bibliography.................................................................................................................38

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1. TOWARDS TEACHER PROFICIENCY

It’s good to remember that the more successful English teacher is likely to be better endowed than many of his colleagues with:

- energy- acting talent- artistic imagination and skill- patience and kindness- organising ability- powers of reflection and self-criticism, etc.

STILL, the indispensable constituents which will always make a successful teacher are connected with three crucially important components of the foreign language teacher behaviour:

1. knowledge of language use2. knowledge of language analysis3. knowledge of language teaching.

To these three, an overarching concept should be added: reflective practice.

Reflection as Exercise

If there are qualities which distinguish the outstanding teacher from the competent one (congruence, prizing, empathy), to what extent can these qualities be trained or developed?

2. LANGUAGE METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

THE DIRECT METHOD

1. GOALS: to communicate in target language (TL); to think in TL.

2. ROLES: Teacher (T) directs class activities; T & Ss are partners.

3. TEACHING / LEARNING PROCESS: Ss associate meaning & the TL through realia, pictures, pantomime. Ss speak as if in real situations. Grammar is taught inductively.

4. INTERACTION: Teacher-directed & Student-directed

5. DEALING WITH FEELINGS: no principles that relate to the area.

6. VIEW OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: Language is primarily spoken. Ss study everyday speech in the TL. Aspects of foreign culture are taught.

7. LANGUAGE AREAS & SKILLS THE APPROACH EMPHASIZES: Vocabulary over Grammar. Oral Communication over Reading and Writing. Pronunciation is primordial.

8. ROLE OF Ss’ NATIVE LANGUAGE: Not used.

9. MEANS OF EVALUATION: Through actual use as in oral interviews. They may also be assigned written paragraphs.

10. RESPONSE TO Ss’ ERRORS: Self-correction encouraged.

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LET GO IDEAS

1. Choose a particular situation (such as at the bank, at the railway station, or at the doctor’s) or a particular topic and write a short passage or a dialogue on the theme you have chosen. Now think about how you will convey its meaning to a class.

2. Select a grammar point from the passage. Plan how you will get students to practice the grammar point. What examples can you provide them with so that they can induce the rule themselves?

PONDER AND HYPOTHESISE

3. REMINISCE about your past learning experiences and say how often this method was used by your teacher and how successful it proved.

4. Are there techniques of the Direct Method which you would consider adopting? Which ones?

5. What do you think Stevick (1982) might have meant when he said “Making informed choices is, after all, what teaching is all about.”

THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD1. GOALS: to use TL communicatively; to overlearn TL by forming new habits in TL. and overcoming old habits of native language (NL).

2. ROLES: T is a good model for imitation like an orchestra leader, directing and controlling; Ss are imitators of T’s model or tapes she supplies of model speakers.

3 TEACHING/LEARNING PROCESS: Vocabulary and structures are presented through dialogues learned through imitation and practice (excessive drilling). Grammar is taught inductively. Cultural information is contextualized. Oral work precedes reading and writing.

4. INTERACTION: T -Ss; T-initiatedS-S interaction (drilling; role-playing)

5. DEALING WITH FEELINGS: no principles that relate to the area.

6. VIEW OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: generated by descriptive linguistics (Language seen as a system). Gradation of level of complexity. Culture is seen as everyday behaviour of TL speakers.

7. LANGUAGE AREAS AND SKILLS THE APPROACH EMPHASIZES: Acquisition of the patterns of the language through structure practice. The oral skills are overemphasized (order: listening, speaking, reading, writing). Pronunciation is taught from the beginning.

8. ROLE OF Ss’ NATIVE LANGUAGE: TL used exclusively. NL is considered a source of interference (T expected to undertake Contrastive Analysis (CA) studies so as to prevent negative transfer)

9. MEANS OF EVALUATION: through discrete-point tests (one point of the language at a time).

10. RESPONSE TO Ss’ ERRORS: through anticipation and restriction of taught areas.

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LET GO IDEAS:1. Consider the following dialogue. What structure is it trying to teach?PAUL: Lou’s going to go to college next summer.BETTY: What is he going to study?PAUL: He’s going to study architecture. He’s going to be an architect.BETTY: Where is he going to study?PAUL: He’s going to study at Edinburgh University.

Prepare a series of drills (backward build-up, repetition, chain, single-slot substitution, multiple-slot substitution, transformation, and Q-A) designed to give beginning level EFL students some practice with this structure.

2. Prepare your own dialogue to introduce your Ss to the “be going to” structure.

PONDER AND HYPOTHESISE

3. REMINISCE about your past learning experiences and say how often this method was used by your teacher and how successful it proved.

4. Are there techniques of the AUDIO-LINGUAL Method which you would consider adopting? Which ones?

SUGGESTOPEDIA

ORIGINATOR: Georgi LozanovPURPOSE: to help Ss eliminate the feeling that they cannot be successful and, thus, to help them overcome the barriers to learning.

1. GOALS: to accelerate learning for everyday communication by desuggesting the psychological barriers learners bring along to the language situation.

2. ROLES: T is the authority Ss must wholly trust and respect. Infantilization is the consequence of this unconditional relationship.

3. TEACHING/ LEARNING PROCESS: It takes place in a relaxing atmosphere (music, comfortable chairs, pleasant lighting). Peripheral learning ensured (posters display). Ss adopt new identities. Lengthy dialogues in TL are practiced at varying speed rhythms so as not to stress Ss (translation provided). Learning activities: dramatizations, games, songs, and Q & A.

4. INTERACTION: T is the initiator of all relationships (T - class, T - S, S-S).

5. DEALING WITH FEELINGS: Building up student-confidence. New identities are considered carriers of self-confidence and security.

6. VIEW OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: The two-plane process of communication is considered (linguistic and non-linguistic). Culture is seen as everyday life of native speakers. Fine arts become instrumental.

7. LANGUAGE AREAS AND SKILLS THE APPROACH EMPHASIZES: Vocabulary is very important. Grammar is explicitly but minimally taught. Speaking communicatively becomes the main concern. Reading and writing are subsequent.

8. ROLE OF Ss’ NATIVE LANGUAGE: for clarifying meaning whenever necessary.

9. MEANS OF EVALUATION: conducted on Ss’ in-class performance and not through formal tests.

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10. RESPONSE TO Ss’ ERRORS: Correction is postponed until it is harmless.

LET GO IDEAS

1. Think of ways of ensuring an environment designed to reduce psychological barriers in a school classroom you are familiar with.

2. Choose a thematic dialogue, select some music, and plan a visualization exercise.3. Make a list of five grammatical points about the TL that you would want to display on

posters to encourage beginning Ss’ peripheral learning.

PONDER AND HYPOTHESISE

3. REMINISCE about your past learning experiences and say how often this method was used by your teacher and how successful it proved.

4. Are there techniques of SUGGESTOPEDIA which you would consider adopting? Which ones?

COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING METHOD

The method was inspired from COUNSELING-LEARNING APPROACH, developed by Charles A. Curran (a priest).

RATIONALE: Premises of discussions: (1) Ss are “whole persons”. (2) Ts must be “language counselors”= a “skillful understander of the struggle Ss face as they attempt to internalize another language”.

PRINCIPLES behind learning: (1) “learning is persons”= both T and Ss must make a commitment of trust to one another and the learning process. (2) “Learning is dynamic and creative” = learning is a living and developmental process.

1. GOALS: to use TL communicatively while becoming responsively aware of their own learning in a nondefensive, nonthreatening atmosphere.

2. ROALS: T= Counselor in as much s/he supports Ss master TL. S initially a “client” and finally an independent learner.

3. TEACHING / LEARNING PROCESS: Ss are helped to generate language (T provides TL translations in chunks) which will later become text for further explorations. (e.g. examination of a grammar point, pronunciation work, etc.)

4. INTERACTION: T = facilitatorS-S; T = directorS-S & T-S centered (both equally important in decision-making).

5. DEELING WITH FEELINGS: T shows Ss he understands how they feel which will help them overcome negative feelings that might otherwise block their learning.

6. VIEW OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: Language is for communication and developing creative thinking. Culture is integrated with language.

7. LANGUAGE AREAS AND SKILLS THE APPROACH EMPHASIZES: Grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary are practised on the language generated by Ss. Listening and speaking come first.

8. ROLE OF Ss’ NATIVE LANGUAGE: NL is used for Ss’ security (both when generating their own corpus of texts and when expressing their feelings). TL eventually replaces NL.

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9. MEANS OF EVALUATION: Integrative tests are better valued than discrete-point ones. Self-evaluation is also encouraged.

10. RESPONSE TO Ss’ ERRORS: In a nonthreatening way: T repeats correctly what the S has said incorrectly.

LET GO IDEAS

1. Design a lesson plan on a transcript of a conversation Ss may have led in Romanian. Provide five separate activities you could use to teach them the TL version.

PONDER AND HYPOTHESISE2. Are there techniques of COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING METHOD which you

would consider adopting? Which ones?

THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH

RATIONALE: (1) Communication means use of functional language in social context. (2) Communication also presupposes negotiating-meaning skill (through the interaction between speaker/reader and listener/writer)

1. GOALS: To make Ss become communicatively competent (= being able to use the language appropriate to a given social context). To manage the process of negotiating meaning with their interlocutors.2. ROLES: T=Facilitator (1) manager of classroom activities (i.e. setting situations for communicationadvisor) (2) “co-communicator” (Littlewood, 1981- engaging in the communicative activity along with Ss). Ss are both communicators and managers responsible of their own learning.3. TEACHING/LEARNING PROCESS: Language in use through communicative activities such as games, role-plays, problem-solving tasks (Morrow, 1981 identifies three features of genuinely communicative activities: information gap, choice, and feedback). Authentic material is a must. Negotiation of meaning can best occur in small groups.4. INTERACTION: T is initiator of communication activitiesco-communicator and prompter of S-S communication. All types of S-S Interaction (pair, triads, small groups, whole group).5. DEALING WITH FEELINGS: Ss are more motivated since they feel they learn ‘to do things with words’ and they can share their opinions on a regular basis.6. VIEW OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: Communicative competence is based on linguistic competence (knowledge of forms and meanings) + functional language + social context + nonverbal behaviour. Culture is everyday lifestyle of native people. 7. LANGUAGE AREAS AND SKILLS THE APPROACH EMPHASIZES: Language functions over forms (functional syllabus). Gradation of degree of difficulty. Discourse is envisaged (cohesion, coherence). All four skills are practised in a communicative perspective (purpose, audience). 8. ROLE OF Ss’ NATIVE LANGUAGE: not used. TL should be used almost exclusively (in classroom management exchanges as well) so as to acquire the value of an authentic vehicle of communication.9. MEANS OF EVALUATION: Accuracy + fluency in integrative tests.10. RESPONSE TO Ss’ ERRORS: Errors of form are tolerated and seen as a natural outcome of the development of communication skills.

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LET GO IDEAS

1. Why is communication a process? And, what does negotiation of meaning represent? (Consider communicative competence in all its aspects)

2. List linguistic forms you can use for the function of complaining. Which would you teach to beginners/ intermediates/ advanced students and how?

3. Design a communicative game or problem-solving task or role-play in which the timetable is used to give your Ss practice in requesting information.

PONDER AND HYPOTHESISE

4. REMINISCE about your past learning experiences and say how often this method was used by your teacher and how successful it proved.

5. Are there techniques of THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH which you would consider adopting? Which ones?

6. What do you think is the correct ratio of both accuracy and fluency for all levels and all Ss?

COMMUNICATIVE SYLLABI TOWARDS A COMMUNICATIVE METHODOLOGY

1. A structural syllabus introduces grammatical items and phrases under functional headings.

2. A functional syllabus introduces grammatical items and phrases under functional headings.

3. A task-based syllabus consists of a sequence of activities or tasks introducing language structures and functions.

To replace language ‘learning’ by language ‘acquisition’ is more commonsensical since “learning’ is a rather subconscious process which cannot be directly controlled or shaped.

Language Learning and Teaching Theories

1. Behaviourism (Skinner): stimulus - response - reinforcementthe Audio-Lingual Method.

3. Cognitivism (Mentalism) (N. Chomsky, 1959): competence and performancethe Communicative Approach.

3. Acquisition and Learning (S. Krashen): the former based on a subconscious process resulting in the knowledge of a language; the latter results only in “knowing about’ the language.

4. Task-based Learning (Allwright, 1970): Solving communicative problems in the TL by necessity will ensure language learning.

5. Humanistic Approaches: Community Language Learning; Suggestopedia; Silent Way; Total Physical Response.

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3. CLASS MANAGEMENT

LOCKSTEP: the class grouping where all the students are working with the teacher, where all the students are ‘locked into’ the same rhythm and pace, the same activity.PAIRWORK: the class grouping where activities are carried out in twos.

GROUPWORK: the class organization where activities are carried out in groups.

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: CLASS MANAGEMENT

1. Did the teacher maintain good eye contact? (always/sometimes/not enough/never)2. Did the teacher change position appropriately with action?3. Did the students work well together?4. The teacher rearranged the seating when necessary.5. The instructions were clear.6. The teacher checked that the students had understood the instructions.7. The teacher did not obscure the blackboard.8. The teacher’s voice was clearly audible at all times. Speech was not slow/fast/unclear.9. The students were clearly audible to each other.10. The teacher was aware of students’ learning difficulties and responded in a supportive way.11. The students took away useful and clearly illustrated language copied from the blackboard or in the

form of a handout.

Reflection as Exercise1. Think back of your own learning situation and state advantages and disadvantages of each type of

interaction.2. Draw a list of expected problems and possible solutions with group work.3. Reflect on your own experience of learning a language successfully. Share with your friend your

memories on:(a) how much of your success in learning English you would attribute to formal teaching, and how

much to your own independent effort or experience.(b) Certain strategies or techniques you used, which you feel contributed to your success.Which of the things you have mentioned do you think are teachable and which are not? Were you taught any yourself? If not, how did you acquire them?

4. One way of avoiding disruptive behaviour (though not all) is by making sure all your students of whatever age know ‘where you stand’. Somehow you and they have to agree upon a ‘code of conduct’. Write such a code you would like observed by your students.

5. Mention three possible causes for discipline problems.6. Think of ways of teacher’s discouraging use of mother tongue in groupwork and pairwork.7. Here are some tips for monitoring group work. Please fill in the missing parts.

(a) Stand back(b) Quickly check(c) Don’t interrupt, unless: ………………………………………………………………….(d) Spread your attention.(e) Don’t correct, unless: …………………………………………………………………….(f) Be easily accessible(g) Jolly them, if necessary(h) Take notes(i) If you need to feed in ideas, it is better to ……………………………………………….

8. Think of common techniques of constituting groups; mention varying roles the teacher must play during one and the same class.

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9. Organizing the class (explaining the task; seating arrangements; getting the timing right) is very important for the success of the group work. Devise a scenario of a lesson in which you use group and pair work. Pay attention to how clearly you state objectives, and organize activities. Mention level, age, and number.

10. Finally, don’t be afraid of students using their mother tongue. A lot depends on your attitude, although it’s worth remembering that if you are doing group work as an alternative to whole-class work then even if only two people are using English simultaneously you have doubled the amount of student talk for that time!

4. LESSON PLANNING

LAYOUT

1. Name of (student) teacher2. Date:3. Level of students:4. Number of students5. Time:6. Topic of lesson/textbook:7. Timetable fit: within the respective unit of teaching8. Aims: overall and specific9. Assumptions: with reference to previous knowledge10. Anticipated problems: with reference to common cases of interference in pronunciation,

vocabulary, grammar, etc.11. Aids: materials to be used

PROCEDURE: STAGE ACTIVITIES(A) PERSONALISATION(B) GUIDE TO MEANING(C) HIGHLIGHT THE FORM(D) INITIAL PRACTICE(E) SECONDARY PRACTICE(F) GUIDED CREATIVITY(G) ASSIGNMENT

NB: Class management (types of interaction) and timing have to be mentioned next to each stage activity.

LESSON PLAN1. Level: Upper intermediate2. Number of students: 343. Time: 50 min.4. Topic: The function of Persuasion from a video lesson on Communicative Language Teaching5. Timetable fit: part of a series of lessons introducing functional language

6. Aims: To make students aware of the importance of negotiating meaning in interpersonal exchanges. To empower students to manage their interactions To practice the function of persuasion on a given topic To elicit meaningful response to stimulus To make students advance and defend an argument by using connectives correctly and

unhesitatingly.

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7. Assumptions: Students must be familiar with discourse markers initiating, incrementing and concluding exchanges; must have some appetite for negotiating meaning in advancing and defending an argument; must have a good grasp of language.

8. Anticipated problems: Use of mother tongue in workgroup; some cultural interference e.g. body/sign language.

9. Aids: Posters; map; cued-cards; w/b.

Activity Timing Class organisation

Purpose

A. OrientationDiscussion Set up general situation

3-5 min

plenary To create the basis of discussion To introduce the function of PERSUASION for making a case To make students aware of the importance of negotiating meaning

B. Guide to meaning Set up particular situation SPEAKING

3-5 min

plenary To practice the function of persuasion on a given topic To reinforce the idea of family as strong community To build on known vocabulary

C. Highlight structure SPEAKING/READING

3-5 min

plenary To draw attention to linguistic structure: discourse markers (initiating, incrementing, concluding)

D. Initial Practice SPEAKING 3-5 min

T-Splenary

To elicit meaningful response to stimulus

E. Transferring concepts Giving Instructions READING + SPEAKING

10 min Role-play in groups of 4 (individual cards)

To give students an opportunity to work on negotiating meaning when advancing and defending an argument

F. Feed-back Session SPEAKING

10 min plenary To make students report back on their choice

G. HOME ASSIGNMENT WRITING

10 min To make students further practice the linguistic function of persuasion

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5. Teaching VOCABULARY

AIMS: (1) to empower Students.(2) to make Ss distinguish between passive/receptive & active/ productive vocabulary.(3) to encourage Ss read widely outside the classroom.(4) to encourage Ss to invest in a good monolingual dictionary.

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT VOCABULARY1. Definition: The potentially infinite number of words in a language.1.1 word / morpheme / derivatives2. Classification: (A) active/use; (B) passive/recognition2.1 Core vocabulary: 2,000-3,000 words > 80% of a text.

KNOWLEDGE OF ELT1. Students’ needs.1.1 Comprehension: understand / store / recognise.1.2 Production: retrieve / use them in contextually adequate situations2. To deal with a cline / continuum of approaches:3. Staging and grading learning and teaching.3.1 Spoken form first.3.2 Introduce new words in context.3.3 Revise.4. Ways of teaching meaning4.1 ostensive (realia; visual representation; demonstration; mime.)4.2 translation4.3 explanation (definition; examples; semantic fields.)

5. Approaches to teaching vocabulary5.1 system-oriented5.2 topic-oriented5.3 strategic-oriented / coping strategies.5.3.1 using contextual clues (formal and semantic)5.3.2 using knowledge of related forms5.3.3 analysing internal structure5.3.4 using knowledge of cognates5.4 discourse-oriented

6. Ways of facilitating learning6.1 review: interaction with visual aids; physical response to commands; games; vocabulary

notebooks; group activities.6.2 review: and extension: reading; oral composition; writing exercises (e g. dictionary use; affixes;

collocation; style/register awareness; scales/semantic clusters)

7. Criteria for selecting what words to teach:7.1 frequency7.2 range: # of contexts7.3 familiarity7.4 usefulness: Students’ needs.

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CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: LEXIS

The following are a number of areas you could consider when observing a class.They will not all be relevant.Lesson objectives

1. How far does the lesson appear to have specific lexical objectives?2. If it does have lexical objectives, how would you express them?

Reading/Listening Activities

1. How does the teacher prepare for anticipated lexical difficulties?

2. During ‘while’ and ‘post’ listening/reading phases, what lexical issues arise and how does the teacher handle these ?

3. What techniques does the teacher use to explain/clarify/extend lexis (e.g. explanation, definition, synonym, paraphrase, example, etc.)?

Students’ role

1. What instances are there of students’ misuse of lexis?

2. How are these handled by the teacher/students?

3. What systems of storing lexis do students appear to be operating? Do these systems appear to be teacher guided/student initiated?

4. Is there evidence of use of reference materials (dictionaries, etc.)? What is used? How is it used? Does this use seem to be teacher guided/student initiated?

Post-lesson reflection

Was the approach to lexis different from the way you normally deal with it with your own learners? If so, what were the differences?

Reflection as Exercise: 1. Try to identify learners’ problems in coping with vocabulary in text.2. Review the arguments for and against teaching vocabulary in/with: Semantic sets/bilingual word lists, context/sense relations and collocations.3. Look at Lesson X. Textbook X/Y/Z. Comment on the way vocabulary is taught. Refer to Teacher’s Book and see how it helps.

Choose the most important words, which you would focus on as active vocabulary and decide how you would teach them.4. Discuss the guiding principles any teacher and teaching materials should submit to when dealing with vocabulary work.

Organization of vocabulary around topics Distinction between vocabulary for ‘productive’ use and vocabulary for ‘receptive’

recognition. Focus on form/spelling, meaning and pronunciation Guessing/inferring meaning from context

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Use of tasks of graded difficulty (e.g. matching words with their definitions, Word charts, etc.)

Systemic attention to word formation Revision and checking activities Encouragement of students’ self study skills Distinction between formal and informal language registers.

5. Formulate the basic criteria for an efficient policy concerning vocabulary learning and teaching.

6. Guess at what a multi-layered work on new vocabulary might mean and find examples from the textbooks in use.

7. Design the vocabulary work session of a current language class on a topic you select from any language course book. Age, level, number of students to be mentioned.

8. Approve or disapprove of the idea that practice of vocabulary for active use, at the lower level, is more integrated in the communicative activities meant to develop skills.

9. Comment upon the decision of textbook writers to include word lists at the back of Student’s Books 5-8 (Pathway to English Series)

10. Make a list of the most widely used lexical activities for testing students’ verbal power.

6. Teaching GRAMMAR

AIMS: (1) to communicate efficiently (2) to empower the student by freeing him from a dependency on context and the limitations of a purely lexical categorization of reality

KNOWLEDGE OF GRAMMAR1. Definition: (David Crystal) (1) = a systemic description of language (2) = the way words and their

component parts combine to form sentences (3) = a device for generating a finite specification of the sentences of a language.

2. History of Grammar2.1 Prescriptive: Traditional Grammar2.2 Descriptive: Structural and Generative Grammar2.3 Rules of Grammar vs. Rules of Usage

KNOWLEDGE OF TEACHING GRAMMARAIM: to ensure that Ss are communicatively efficient with the grammar they have at their level.1. Grammar as means not end.1.1 From meaning to form (rather than vice-versa) reflected in notional-functional syllabuses and

classroom practice.1.2 Errors accepted as natural2. Grammatical component of efficient communication consists of:2.1 Formal Fluency: (A) Knowledge of how forms combine to make up the structures of the

language (B) Skill to combine these forms unhesitatingly.

2.2 Functional Fluency: (A) Knowledge of relationships between forms and meanings (B) Skill to choose and use an appropriate form unhesitatingly.

3. Methods available to us:3.1 Analysis3.2 Controlled practice3.3 Exposure

4. Two routes to the acquisition of the grammar of a second language: (A) Formal analysis + (B) Exposure > Practice + Fluency (formal + functional)

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5. Two ways leading to the understanding of Grammar:5.1 Induction: from particular to general truth5.2 Deduction: from general truth to particular situations5.3 Induction-deduction; Deduction-induction.

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: GRAMMAR

1. If the teacher presents a new grammatical item: How was the meaning got across to the students? How much explicit attention to form was there? Was the approach inductive or deductive?2. Was there a progression from controlled to free practice? What types of activities were used? How much variety was there?3. How much interaction was there between students? How early in the lesson did it first occur?4. What evidence was there by the end of the lesson that the students had learned something?5. Any other interesting features?

Reflection as Exercise: 1. Think of ways to make grammar practice activities less of a chore and more of an enjoyable

challenge.2. Lessons based on the PPP Approach fit within the category of ‘logical line’ lessons. So, what is your

opinion on the ratio of Presentation and Self-directed discovery approaches in the language class?

3. Most lessons involving work on grammar are built from three basic components: (1) Clarification and focus, (2) Restricted use activities and (3) Authentic use. Think of example activities and tools and techniques enabling the ARC perspective on the grammar class.

4. Language acquisition research (Krashen, Ellis) and recent methodological studies (Lewis) acknowledge the place of thinking about and talking about language in the language process. Does this cohere with what type of approach?

5. What approach do you appreciate the tradition of grammar teaching in Romanian ELT used to align with?

6. Uncover the principles underlying the ‘layered’ acquisition of new language or the ‘spiral’ approach.

7. Find examples, from the textbook in use, of concept questions used to help students ‘observe’ or ‘notice’ a new grammar point or check whether the concept is internalized (consciousness-raising questions).

8. Language Focus boxes in the series Pathway to English offer support with language-experimenting activities. Discuss the usefulness of such prompts in the economy of a language class.

9. Devise a grammar scenario for introducing future perfect (level: intermediate; grade: 8; No: 25). 10. Discuss the efficiency of such language-experimenting activities such as multiple choice, gap

filling, error correction, rephrasing.

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7. Teaching PRONUNCIATION

Aims: (1) to encode and decode messages correctly.(2) to give variety, life to repetition.

Knowledge about Pronunciation1. Sciences dealing with Pronunciation1.1 Basic elements of Pronunciation1.1.1 word stress: variable: main/secondary/unstressed1.1.2 sounds: how sounds are formed: E. Sound System vs. Sound System1.1.3 phonemic alphabet1.1.4 word linking1.1.5 sentence stress/ voice range/ intonation patterns1.1.5.1 two basic intonation tunes: fall/rise1.1.5.2 functions of intonation: accentual/syntactic/attitudinal.1.1.6 fluency1.1.6.1 static elements in Pronunciation: sounds/word-stress/word-linking1.1.6.2 expressive forms: sentence-stress/voice range/intonation pattern1.7 R.P. (received pronunciation)1.8 Tone patterns/ groups.1.8.1 three tones: falling./rising/fall-rise

Knowledge of ELT1. Ways of preventing Pronunciation mistakes.1 drilling exercises for Recognition1.2 drilling exercises for Production1.3 Correct students’ mistakes!1.4 Expose students to authentic language!

2. Problems with English Pronunciation2.1 Consonant Clusters: sounds disappear or change2.2 Vowel clusters2.3 Homophones

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: PHONOLOGY

1. List the major non-native features of pronunciation that you hear:1.1 Note who makes the major non-natives features of pronunciation: all students; some; a few.1.2 Listen to one student and see if he/she consistently makes the same errors.2. Can you identify a pattern of/rationale for correction of non-native pronunciation?3. List the correction methods the teacher uses.4. What is the source of language produced in the classroom: teacher %; student %; other %.5. Is the language produced (by teachers, students, other)”naturally” produced (eg. vis-à-vis weak forms, elision, rhythm, speed, etc.)?6. Can you identify any listening comprehension problems that relate to phonological features (e.g. weak forms)? How does the teacher resolve any problems?

Reflection as Exercise: 1. Pronunciation skills overlap with rhetorical skills (posture, loudness, pace, eye contact, compensation strategies, and use of feedback). How much practice is given to the latter ones in the English class? Reminiscence your own learning experience.

2. It is considered that many apparent pronunciation problems, e.g. in stress and intonation, are really processing problems created by artificial or too difficult tasks. Agree or disagree in well-articulated discourse.

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3. Phonological awareness (especially of weak forms etc.) is important for listening as well as speaking. Think of ways to efficiently train students in this strategy.

4. Approve or disapprove of the idea that intonation is always a matter of tendencies not rules.5. Add to the list of compensation strategies: rephrasing; repetition and redundancy; slower/louder speech; spelling out; miming; use of visuals; (translation); checking with listeners;……… .

6. The following correction/feedback features are in-built dimensions of the language class learning/teaching activities: positive (what to do) not error-based; built into task design; from other learners, not just from teacher; global before detailed. Think back of your learning experience and tick off those features you are most accustomed with.

7. What should be the criteria for text choice for teaching/learning materials to be used when teaching pronunciation?

8. Below is a dialogue without punctuation. Decide upon two possible scenarios: - What is the situation?- Who are the people?- How do they feel? What is their attitude?- How will they speak?

Practise speaking the dialogue with different stress and intonation patterns for the two situations. A Where were you last nightB WhyA Well I rang at ten o’clock and you weren’t inB No I went to the cinema.A Oh really Who withB Just an old friend from universityA Oh

9. Consider this piece of writing:I’ve live derl ife that’s fullI’ve travel dee chan devery bywayBut morm uch more than thisI’d idit my way.

What helped you make sense of it; if any?10. Along with theatre techniques to spur creative language learning, jazz chanting represents an instance of spontaneous communication which appeals to students’ emotional and imaginative potentials, Here is an example of a jazz chanting based on Q&A pattern:

How do you like your coffee?Black! Black!

How do you like your tea?With lemon, please.

How do you like your steak?Medium rare.

How do you like your eggs?I don’t care!

Sunny-side up?I don’t care!

Poached on toast?I don’t care!

Over-easy?I don’t care

Soft-boiled? Hard-boiled?!I don’t care!

How about an omelet? I don’t care!

Come on, tell me!This isn’t fair.

I told you the truth.I really don’t care! (Major Decisions)

What are the advantages of using such jazz chanting in the language class?

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8. Teaching READING

“We are not trying to put something in his head, but instead we are trying to get him to take it in himself.”

(Nuttall)

Aims: (1) to help learners to independence in their private reading.(2) to achieve functional literacy i.e. to show our learners that being literate is part of day-to-

day life in a personal and social sense.

KNOWLEDGE OF READING

1. Definition: (a) the process by which an actual reader and writer engage in a discourse in a context where the onus is on the reader to approximate to the intended meanings of the writer. (b) what the reader does in order to integrate the text into their real world and make sense of it within their own knowledge, interests and needs.

2. Applying L1 higher-order strategies knowledge to the new language involves admitting and encouraging risk-taking strategies as READING IS COMMUNICATION.

3. COMPREHENSION = what the reader does in order to integrate the text into their real world and make sense of it within their own knowledge, interests and needs.

3. The TOP-DOWN model of Reading trying to show the psycholinguistic processes involved in reading and the complex relationships between Reader and Text as a backward and forward process that may require many reversals and revisions before the final message is extracted and committed to the long-term memory.

writer

text

initial text interim text (task environment: reader’spurpose)

graphological processinglinguistic processing(reader’s short-term memory)

semantic processing

draft text final text

knowledge of topic and world knowledge of text plans knowledge of writer

Stanovich(1980) proposes an interactive-compensatory model: readers process texts by utilizing information provided simultaneously from several different sources and that they can compensate for deficiencies at one level by drawing on knowledge at other (either higher or lower) levels(i.e. phonological, lexical, syntactic, semantic and discoursal knowledge).

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT TEACHING READING1. The nature of Reading Difficulties1.1 Decoding stage: greater or less depending on the degree of correspondence between L1 and L2.1.2 Encoding stage: relate to: text, topic, purpose.

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2. What can be taught?2.1 SKILLS: lower-order approaches i.e. enable readers to use the strategies.2.2 STRATEGIES: higher-order approaches: give the reader independence.Examples of Skills and Strategies: Word-attack/ use of grammatical context/ understanding significance of cohesion devicescontext-deduction strategy; Distinguishing main ideas from supporting detail, identifying topic sentences skimming3. How can Reading be taught?NB. As Reading is communication the Reading lesson must be very active and full of discussion and cooperation through a wide variety and grading of:3.1 texts (authentic whenever possible)3.2 topics3.2 tasks4. Training/helping Ss with Prediction = giving a ‘springboard’ to their understanding (in point of content, direction of story, mood, vocabulary, grammar)5. Comprehension and Prediction Ideas6. Qualities of the reading class: interactive, stimulating, challenging, providing a sense of security we all need before we will take risks.

Some Truisms: A person learns to read by reading Teaching Reading Skills can mean teaching deliberate attack strategies. Reading is much more than decoding a text, figuring out a message. It is interacting with a text,

synthesizing ideas, drawing conclusions, forming new ideas.

Process Skills List

Observing: recognizing, identifying, listening, isolating, and discriminating.Predicting: anticipating, choosing, supplying, broadening, focusing, judging, assessing, and surveying.Classifying: listing, sorting, distinguishing, naming, labelling, arranging, organizing.Inferring: applying, associating, connecting, linking, matching, weighing, discarding, rearranging.Analyzing: questioning, considering, inquiring, pondering, exploring, parsing, reassembling, and criticizing.Communicating: demonstrating, following directions, explaining, pronouncing, discussing.Interpretation: decoding, relating, drawing conclusions, generalizing, specifying, organizing, cataloguing.

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: READING

1. What do you think were the objectives of the reading lesson i.e. what reading sub-skills were being developed/practised?

2. How was the reading lesson set up? Which of the following types of activity werepresent and what did they consist of?

a) pre-reading task(s)b) while-reading task(s)c) post-listening task(s)

3. How did the teacher deal with any learner difficulties in understanding the text?(e.g. give explanation, tell them to use dictionaries, etc.)

4. Do you think all the learners achieved what they were required to do with the text?If so, why? If not, why not?

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5. What in your opinion, were a) the good features of the lesson?b) the weak features of the lesson?

Post-lesson reflection

Was this reading lesson different from the way you approach reading in your own classes?If so, what were the differences?

Reflection as Exercise:1. Make a list of prediction ideas that may give students a ‘springboard’ to their understanding of a

text.2. State the main difference between the following strategies of ensuring comprehension:

Ordering a sequence of pictures vs. reordering eventsMapping it out vs. completing a documentMatching vs. summarizing

3. Throughout most teaching materials reading is viewed as a process involving three stages. Mention the stages and the corresponding reading strategies to be employed.

4. How do you explain the two-fold role of the reading skill (integrating and integrated) in the process of teaching?

5. Devise your own list of criteria for selecting text-types for both intensive and extensive reading.6. Look at Unit 1 Lesson 2 from Perspectives on English to find an illustration of how students are

expected to access textual meaning, Starting from literal meaning (ex.II.2; Ex.III.1a; ex.III.1b; ex.III.1c; ex.III.1d) through type of text (ex.III.2a) to text assessment/ evaluation (ex.III.2b; ex.IV.1; ex.IV.2a; ex.IV.2b; ex.IV.2c; ex.IV.2d; ex.IV.3, students are put in charge of their own building sense out of the text. Reflect upon your own training for becoming the competent readers you are. Any differences/similarities?

7. Go through the series Pathway to English (5-8) and devise a list with exercises dealing with direct reference or understanding literal meaning of the text.

8. Go through the series Pathway to English (9-12) and devise a list with exercises dealing with indirect reference/ meta-content information from a text.

9. Choose a lesson from any textbook in use and devise a possible scenario for giving students practice in intensive reading. Mention level, age, and number of students.

10. Mention all the books you have read this month.

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9. Teaching LISTENING

Knowledge on how we reach understanding1. The ‘map’ below sketches the relationship between the various information sources that we may need to refer to in order to understand a spoken or written text.

background knowledge schematic - factual knowledge - sociocultural procedural knowledge - how knowledge is used in discourse

knowledge of situation

- physical setting, participants, etc . context

knowledge of co-text - what has been/will be said (written)

knowledge of the language system- semantic - syntactic systemic - phonological knowledge

Fig.1 from Anne Anderson and Tony Lynch, Listening, OUP, 19882. There are two distinct modes of listening: integrated (i.e. where the listener can become the speaker- in conversation) and isolated (i.e. where the listener cannot respond to the speaker)3.1 ‘Top-down’ processing (Fig.1) corresponds to encoding (prediction) 3.2 ‘Bottom-up’ processing (Fig.2) corresponds to decoding (comprehension)

listener’s long term memory

final text

semantic/pragmatic analysis (meaning)speaker’s intention and required response

linguistic analysis(lexical, grammatical and prosodic structure of the text)

auditory analysis(sounds, word boundaries)

drop-out noise

speaker’s output text

Fig.2 ‘Bottom-up’ Processing

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COMPREHENSION

NB Anderson & Lynch (1988) contrast the Bottom-Up view of ‘listener as taperecorder’ with Top-Down view of ‘listener as active model builder’: the listener constructs an interpretation of a message by utilizing both bottom-up and top-down knowledge.

4. Types of aural texts: Aural Texts

monologues dialogues

planned unplanned interpersonal transactional

unfamiliar familiar 5. Text vs. Non-Text: Halliday & Hasan (1976) consider that text is defined in terms of the linguistic elements which serve to bind the texts together i.e. cohesive devices. Widdowson (1978, 1979) challenges the fact that coherence of a text is created by cohesion by arguing that we can create our own coherence by recognizing the function that each utterance fulfils within a given context or situation.e.g. Edmonson(1981) proves that the example of non-text Van Dijk gives(‘We will have guests for lunch.’ ‘Calderon was a great writer.’) is, in fact, a perfectly coherent text.

Conclusion: Successful listening involves the integration of information encoded in the message itself with broader knowledge of the world viz. successful listeners use both bottom-up and top-down strategies in reconstructing messages.

Knowledge about Teaching ListeningAim: to train Ss to understand and respond quickly to: (1) the sort of language they are likely to encounter in normal use;(2) the sort of situations they are likely to find themselves in. (both verbal behaviour and non-verbal behaviour should be encouraged)

1. A checklist of listening sub-skills1.1 Anticipation (develop appropriate expectations; adjust listening strategy to listening purpose; scan for ‘activated’ information)1.2 Recognition (phonemic contrasts; word stress pattern; key morpheme; stress as indicator of information focus; intonation as cue to information structure; (known) vocabulary; grammatical word class; syntactic structure; ideas; reference markers; variation between form and meaning; main discourse markers; fillers; attitude from intonation or word-choice) ‘What did you say?’1.3 Inference (word meaning from context; function of utterances; situations from context; purpose of discourse; connection between events in the discourse; relationship between topic and sub-topics; attitude from context; meaning of non-verbal parts of the message such as gesture)”What did you mean when you said?”1.4 Construction (build up a coherent picture on the basis of: Anticipation, Recognition, Inference; distinguish literal from implied meaning; follow the main ‘thread’ of the discourse; predict next ‘move’ or eventual outcome from ongoing discourse)”Why are you telling me this?”

2. Enabling skills and enacting skills in listening from Rost, Listening in Language Learning, Longman, 1990

What the listening skill consists of: (A) Emphasizing perception: Recognizing prominence within utterances; (B) Emphasizing interpretation: formulating propositional sense for a speaker’s utterance; formulating a conceptual framework that links utterances together; interpreting plausible intention(s) of the speaker in making the utterance; (C) Enacting skills: utilizing representation of discourse to make appropriate response.

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3. Types of listening tasks4. Criteria for evaluating activities and exercises:4.1 Content validity: Does the activity practice listening or something else?4.2 Listening comprehension or memory?4.3 Purposefulness and transferability: Does the activity reflect a purpose for listening and approximates authentic real-life listening?4.4 Testing or teaching?4.5 Authenticity: To what degree does the input resemble natural discourse?5. Four clusters of factors which can affect the difficulty of oral language tasks as discussed by Brown & Yule (1983): (1) related to the speaker (2) related to the listener (3) related to the content (4) related to the support

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: PRESENTATION OF LANGUAGE VIA LISTENING/READING

1. Purpose of presentation2. Features of presentation3. Activities4. Type of interaction5. Role of teacher6. Degree of control7. Correction8. Length and pace of lesson9. Success of lesson – were students using language correctly by the end?

Reflection as Exercise:1. The ‘dictogloss’ approach encourages learners to use both bottom-up and top-down listening

strategies. The 4 stages to go through are: (a) preparation; (b) dictation; (c) reconstruction; (d) analysis and correction. Hypothesize about advantages and disadvantages of such an approach. Mainly think about the importance of integrating background, ‘inside the head’ knowledge with the clues picked up during the dictation.

2. Brown and Yule referred to 4 clusters of factors, which can become sources of difficulty of oral language tasks. Take them in turn and hypothesize about how they can hinder comprehension.

3. Reflect upon your experience of listeners to news broadcasts, for instance. How can this help you improve the listening class?

4. How far do you agree with the following statements?(a) Listening is an active process.(b) Classroom listening practice can be used to develop the listeners’ general linguistic resources.(c) Authentic listening texts are essential.(d) Learners should be exposed to as wide a range of listening rtexts as possible from a variety of

sources.5. Which phases might you expect to find in a lesson devoted to listening practice?6. What are the features of real-life listening and how far do the listening texts in present textbooks

reflect real-life listening?7. How can replaying a text at various stages of the lesson be rewarding for both teacher and

students?8. What about the practicalities of a listening class? Are they important or not?9. Select one listening task from any textbook available to you and carefully plan the activity so as to

make it most profitable for your students. Detail stages and state purposes. Refer to Teacher’s book for help. Mention level, age, number of students.

10. List the listening tasks favoured by textbook writers.

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10. Teaching WRITING

Knowledge on written language1. Written language vs. spoken language: two different kinds of complexity

1.1 complexities at the level of the clauselexical density (# of content words) vs. complexity in the way clauses are linked together.1.2 decontextualization, which makes it impossible to adjust the message vs. contextualization due to permanent feedback from the other person.

2. Definition of writing = a communicative process involving the writer in decisions concerning the expected reader of the text.

N.B. Textual decisions depend on the writer’s perception of the audience.

3. Constraints in writing a text: 1. Appropriate 2. Intents 3. Context 4. Possible 5. Feasible 6. Performed

Utterance Johnson, Keith, Communicative Syllabus Design and Methodology, 1982

4. Functions in everyday life served by written language:4.1 for action: public signs, recipes, maps, bills, ....,....,....,....,......4.2 for information: newspapers, non-fiction books, textbooks, advertisements.4.3.for entertainment: fiction, comic strips, light magazines, etc. Knowledge about teaching writing1. Writing is a communicative activity where there is a reason to write and there is a reader.

2. Components of the writing skill:

2.1 mechanical component: e.g. hand-writing; spelling; capitalization; punctuation.2.2 grammatical component: e.g. tenses; word order; etc.2.3 discourse component: e.g. ability to paragraph; use of cohesive devices; etc.2.4 stylistic component: e.g. choice of appropriate vocabulary; ability to vary sentence structure to avoid repetition; ability to choose language according to the type of writing and writing.

3. Potential problems: spelling; punctuation; stylistic confusion between spoken and written language; L1 interference; Ss’ resistance to writing in general.

4. What the student MUST know:4.1 what the audience will be4.2 what s/he wants to convey i.e. purpose of writing4.3 how to write several drafts coming nearer to the message intended at the semantic and grammatical level.

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5. Staging the writing lesson ‘ideas’ stage ‘composing’ stage ‘editing’ stage

6. what will a course of writing include? a lot of: reading, listening, oral discourse

7. Role of the writing teacher: find interesting and relevant writing activities decide how best to present the activities provide sufficient guidance and control provide correction and suggestions for improvement

8. Techniques used for teaching writing: pre-reading discussion spray-charts or visual forms presenting ideas before writing first draft followed by peer discussion of the message second draft editing recomposition modelling/ parallel versions for different audiences text combination (pairs use their best relevant pieces to make the whole text) incubation (set the writing task a week after pre-writing activity) writing many different kinds of texts (e.g. newspaper articles; menus; tourist brochures; doctor’s

records; poetry; etc.)

9. Process-oriented approach vs. product-oriented approach9.1 focus is on classroom activities, which are believed to promote the development of skilled language use.9.2 language at the level of discourse.9.3 writing teacher more interested in the processes writers go through in composing texts.

10. objectives + activities:10.1 arouse Ss’ interesttopic (stimulus for topic: learner choice of topic)10.2 arouse ideas/new wordsgroup/pair brainstorming10.3 help organize ideasoutline or jot down ideas10.4 get down main ideasfirst draft (individual, pair or group)10.5 clarifying message, editingfeedback from peers and teacher10.6 optional second draft and feedback10.7 final versionrewriting

11. Discourse analytic tasks true/false questions on writer’s intention cloze and gap-filling using semantic replacement criteria given 1st paragraph, learners predict 2nd, etc. match list of functions with text rhetorical transformations (e.g. given a description of a product, learners rewrite it as an

advertisement) modeling (e.g. given text as a topic, learners write a text of the same structure on a different topic).

12. Stages of a writing lesson12.1 copying12.2 controlled writing

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12.3 guided writing12.4 cued writing12.5 free writing: reports; summaries; letters; invitations; literary compositions.,13. Producing a piece of writing.

(Raimes, A. Techniques in Teaching Writing, OUP, 1983)

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: WRITING SKILL

1. Was it a mini-skills lesson e.g. punctuation, letter format?2. What was the degree of control? i.e. controlled/less controlled/freer?3. What kind of writing exercise was it? e.g. letter writing, composition, descriptive passage…4. Was there appropriate guidance for the task?5. How was the lesson concluded? NB: it may be set for homework.6. Comment on how successful you feel the lesson was. What factors contributed to this?

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: USING THE BOARD

1. Physical: Was the board visible to all?Was the layout clear? (Did it appear overcrowded/disorganized?)

2. Was the new language highlighted effectively?3. Was the board work complete? (e.g. no unfinished sentences)4. Did the teacher use the board for:

(a) clarifying points on the spot?(b) correction? (e.g. grammar, pronunciation)

5. Could any of the following have been appropriate?(a) tabulation (e.g. substitution table)(b) display of visuals (flashcards/drawings)(c) prompts for practice(d) preparation (e.g. giving information for an activity)

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Grammar The writer’s process

Mechanics

PurposeOrganization

Audience

Clear, Fluent,and effective

communicationof ideas

Syntax Content

Word choice

6. What did the students write down and take away?Was it representative of the salient points of the lesson, and would the students have understood it several days later?

7. Was the board overused or underused?

Reflection as Exercise:1. The writer can choose any structure or lexis, which will appropriately express the intended

meaning to the expected audience. So, will you look at Keith Johnson’s diagram of an utterance and spell out the necessary constraints to be considered when writing.

2. How can you reformulate such a writing task as ‘Describe your room at home’ so that the assignment take on new dimensions besides a simple exercise in the use of the present tense and in prepositions. Consider providing student writers with a context in which to select appropriate content, language, and levels of formality.

3. When is teacher feedback expected to happen during the writing process?4. What differences can you highlight between the process-approach to writing and a more traditional

approach?5. Argue for writing as a group work activity or an isolationist activity. 6. Mention advantages of use of brainstorming activities in the writing class.7. Consider the textbook English News and Views. Put down all the writing tasks used by the authors

in order to refine students’ writing skills. 8. Detail a scenario presenting the stages of a lesson teaching writing on a topic of your choice from a

textbook familiar to you.9. How can the teacher get the balance right between accuracy and fluency in writing?10. What do you understand by the need to develop the students’ communicative potential in writing?

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11. Teaching SPEAKING

Knowledge on spoken language 1. Identifying different types of speaking according to the functional analysis of speaking performed by Bygate (1987) - see Fig.1. Expository: description, instruction, comparison Information routines Evaluative: explanation, justification, prediction, decisionRoutines

Service: job interview Interaction routines

Social: dinner party

Negotiation of meaning Negotiations

Management of interaction

Fig.1 Characterizing oral interaction

2. D. Nunan’s three-dimensional grid as a planning device for designing a syllabus for speaking and oral interaction - see Fig.2

Information Negotiation of meaningManagement of interaction

Expository Evaluativenarrate describe instruct

compareexplain justify predict

Interaction Service: job interview booking a restaurant etc.

Social: dinner party coffee break theatre queue etc.

Fig.2 A planning grid for speaking and oral interaction

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3. Predictability and unpredictability: Communication involves the reduction of uncertainty through a process of negotiation.3.1 Transactional encounters contain highly predictable patterns3.2 Interpersonal encounters (the focus being on the maintenance of social relationships) will be unpredictable or less predictable4. Strategies for accomplishing the vertical expansion (extending messages vertically, i.e. discoursally), according to Ellis (1984):4.1 Imitating another speaker’s utterance and adding to it.4.2 Building on one’s own previous utterance.4.3 Juxtaposing two formulaic utterances.5. Spoken communication as negotiation of turn-taking, topic, message, seeking clarification, and expansion, repeating or summarizing.

Knowledge about Teaching SpeakingAim: mastering the art of speaking as the most important aspect of learning a foreign language (i.e. the ability to carry out a conversation in the foreign language)1. Skills involved in successful oral communication:1.1 The ability to articulate phonological features of the language comprehensively;1.2 Mastery of stress, rhythm, intonation patterns;1.3 Transactional and interpersonal skills;1.4 Skills in taking short and long speaking turns;1.5 Skills in the management of interaction;1.6 Skills in negotiating meaning (as part of what Canale and Swain (1980) call strategic competence) involve the ability to:1.6.1 initiate 1.6.2 maintains 1.6.3 interrupt 1.6.4 restore 1.6.5 repair/terminate the interaction; 1.7 Conversational listening skills;1.8 Skills in knowing about and negotiating purposes for conversations;1.9 Using appropriate conversational formulae and fillers;

2. The difficulty of speaking tasks: the interlocutor effect (Brown and Yule, 1983,1984)3. The degree of ascending difficulty of speaking tasks from: static tasksdynamic tasksabstract tasks. All three task types involve learners in exploiting basic information-transferring skills.NB The ability to reflect critically on one’s performance as a language user is an important skill, which

should be incorporated into any language programme.4. ‘Top-down’ approach to speaking - see Fig.2 on handout.5. A nine-point scale Yardstick for evaluating speaking - see Carroll & West, 1989 on handout.6. Consider what is involved in real-life communication - in any language.

Complete the diagram below with your ideas.

We want to communicate

REAL-LIFE ORAL COMMUNICATION

We choose our own language We focus on message

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7. Consider how these features of real-life communication can be replicated in the classroom.

8. Interaction activities: see Penny Ur (1981)E.g. Information Gap Activities: describe and draw

describe and arrangedescribe and performdescribe and identifypicture sequencingpicture differences

Opinion Gap Activities: open-ended discussionspriority discussionsproblem-solving taskspicture/text interpretation

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: SKILLS LESSON: SPEAKING

NB: 1. It may be an integrated skills lesson e.g. listening leading to speaking.2. Try to ascertain if the skills lesson is being used to reinforce language that has recently been

introduced.3. You may find it helpful to note down the stages of the lesson and approximate time length of each

stage.SPEAKING SKILL(a) What type of speaking skill e.g. dialogue building, role-play, discussion, narrative building? What

was the degree of control, i.e. controlled/less controlled/freer?(b) How was the lesson set up?(c) What instructions were given and were they clear?(d) Was the task realistic/appropriate/challenging etc…?(e) How did the teacher deal with correction e.g. did the teacher correct during the activity or at the

end?(f) Comment on how successful you feel the lesson was? What factors contributed to this?

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: TEACHER TALKING TIME (TTT)

Answer the questions by making notes of your thoughts and with any specific examples.1. Did the T. talk more than necessary to explain a point – or not enough?2. Did the T. talk when the students could have been doing the talking?3. Did the T. speak too quickly/slowly?4. Was the level of language about right?5. Did the language sound authentic and natural?6. In which activities was student talking time more than TTT?7. Did the T. create enough opportunities for student talking time?8. Were instructions clear? Was what the trainee/teacher had to say interesting, informative, useful

etc.?9. If/when TTT was high, was there a good reason for this?

Reflection as Exercise:1. If you agree that language tasks must have a degree of ascending difficulty covering such scale:

static task > dynamic task> abstract task, and must involve learners in exploiting basic information-transferring skills, then mention what other very important skill has to be developed in any language programme.

2. This is how Carroll and West (1989) appreciate as highest speaking performance:

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‘Handles all general speech situations, as well as those in own specialist areas, with confidence and competence similar to those in mother tongue. An exceptional level of speaking. Message required is completely conveyed with total relevance and interest. Message fully adjusted to listener’s knowledge of topic and language. Spoken text is coherently organized with suitable use of sequencing and cohesion. Total control of fluency in interaction without undue hesitations. Style effectively matched to context. Language control complete, allowing for high-level interaction. Complete accuracy apart from occasional ‘slips of tongue’. Little L1 accent and appropriate use of idiom contribute to overall impression.’ Can you identify the three main criteria at the basis of this near-perfect speaker portrait?

3. Reading aloud used to be a common test of speaking. Contrast this with a more recent technique – problem-solving working in pairs. Tick off features of each technique when appropriate. (purposive; spontaneous; interactive; planned language; message bearing; real-world task)

4. The oral interview is open to several criticisms. What are these?5. Can you predict three objections to linguistic tests of speaking?6. The traditional one-to-one arrangement (learner-assessor interaction) has three main disadvantages.

Can you predict what these are?7. The ‘guided instructions’ technique evolved from the Lego brick-building task described by

Allwright (1977). One learner is asked to give a set of instructions to either another learner or an interlocutor. There are several possibilities: ‘describe and arrange’; ‘describe and draw’; ‘pathfinding’. Mention two major advantages of the technique.

8. Check any two textbooks available for how the speaking session is organized. Compare and contrast: types of materials, assignments, difficulty parameters, sociolinguistic competence occurrences.

9. Choose one topic from one current textbook. Edit a scenario to give students practice in speaking on the respective topic/language function. You can compare your scenario with the one below, inspired by a video-lesson illustrating the communicative approach.

10. In Book 12, English Horizons, authors have included in each unit an assessment form for presentations (oral/written) that the students can use for themselves and for their peers and with which to organize their own learning. What might have been the authors’ hidden agenda in so doing?

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12. Teaching LITERARY SKILLS

Knowledge of literature from both diachronic and synchronic perspective of the history of civilization. Appropriate critical jargon and literary theory information should supplement it. And, what is more, the feeling for literature reading and discussion.

Knowledge of How to teach Literature to teenagers1. awareness of complexity of situation (cultural awareness raising; information transfer; artistic taste

refinement; creativity enhancement; study skills improvement; language skills development; self-knowledge growth).

2. Adaptation of reader’s response theory beliefs to the classroom situation: i.e. text seen as a flexible structure (both closed and open); reader as co-author of the text.

3. Guidelines for achieving literary skills:(a) make the study of literary texts stimulating, challenging, enjoyable.(b) make students learn how to think and not what to think; how to handle concepts of literary theory

and not parrot ready-made interpretations;(c) keep a right balance between focus on information and focus on personal response/creativity.(d) make the literary text an interesting ‘encounter’ in time by presenting it in the context of the

culture and civilization of their time.(e) make both the achievement and behaviour cultures (both English/American and Romanian) meet

on the arena of the literary text.(f) Observe the spiral principle (from recognition, to guided discovery, to awareness and, finally, to

response) for ensuring success and satisfaction in the development of the critical mind.4. Here are the teaching/assessment objectives of ‘literaturing’ as presented by the authors of the

Pathway to English series: At the end of Grade 12, students should be able to:(A) demonstrate their presentation skills by planning an oral/written presentation of the features of a

literary text which should be relevant to the topic, selective and clear, and which should use the appropriate terminology and language register;

(B) express their personal response, that is to explore and express their views on a literary text by articulating informed and independent opinions on literary texts of different types and cultural epochs;

(C) make a text analysis, i.e. to show their understanding of the ways in which writers’choice of form, structure, and language reveals meanings, their understanding of the cultural and historical influences on literary texts, their awareness of the relationships between literary texts.

5. Textbook writers spirally work upon the following concepts when aiming at developing literary skills: plot-building; character-building; theme; narrative perspective; setting; symbol discovery; range of language(s) and style(s).

Reflection as Exercise:1. Look at the text from E. Bronte’s Wuthering Heights in Book 10, Perspectives on English. Design

a scenario for teaching students the concept of plot uncovering. Detail: stages, purposes, skills, activities, timing, types of interaction.

2. Look at the text from S. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, in Book 11, News and Views. Design a scenario for teaching students the concept of character building. Detail: stages, purposes, skills, activities, timing, types of interaction.

3. Look at the text from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, in Book 11, News and Views. Design a scenario for teaching theme discovery: Detail: stages, purposes, skills, activities, timing, types of interaction.

4. Look at the text from Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady, in Book 11, News and Views. Design a scenario for teaching narrative perspective discovery: Detail: stages, purposes, skills, activities, timing, types of interaction

5. Look at the text from Ernest Hemingway’s The Killers, in Book 11, News and Views. Design a scenario for teaching language as style: Detail: stages, purposes, skills, activities, timing, types of interaction

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6. Look at the text from J. Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, in Book 10, Perspectives. Design a scenario for teaching language as style: Detail: stages, purposes, skills, activities, timing, types of interaction

13.CORRECTION

What is an error?Errors are of two types:(a) forms that are not acceptable according to the rules (syntactic, phonological, lexical) of the

target language.(b) forms that are themselves acceptable but which are used in a way that is unacceptable (e.g.

errors of style). It is worth making a distinction between errors/slips/lapses. Slips of the tongue are often

spontaneously corrected by the speaker; lapses caused by tiredness, or inattention can also be corrected by the speaker if attention is drawn to them.

It has now become clear that many of the errors of a second/foreign language-learner are developmental: that is, they are a natural part of the learning process, in the same way that the incorrect utterances of a child learning its native language are seen as natural part of its linguistic development.

What causes errors?There are four main causes of error. Two of these are inevitable; the other two are to some degree avoidable.(a) errors as indicators of the present state of knowledge: teacher should be prepared to accept

these errors for what they are, and not as evidence of a poor memory or unsuccessful teaching.(b) Errors as a result of overgeneralization or false analogy on the basis of too little linguistic

evidence. If language-learning proceeds in a sequence (Data>Hypothesis 1> More Data> Feedback> Hypothesis2> More Data> etc.) then correction can function positively, to assist learning.

(c) Errors as a result of negative transfer (interference) from the learner’s mother tongue. Correction is not always effective in this case.

(d) Errors as a result of wrong hypothesis caused by poor teaching. Here correction is a poor substitute for re-teaching.

Are most frequent also most serious errors?Grammatical errors (prepositions, word order, selectional restrictions after a particular verb, etc.), although extremely resistant to change, interfere with communication to a relatively small extent. Phonological errors are a much more serious problem since they are a potential source of irritation to native speakers, while lexical errors can lead to a complete breakdown in communication.

Teachers must make decisions about what, when, and how to correct and make remedial intervention.

WHAT we correct will depend partly on whether we consider correction will serve any purpose, and partly on what we consider important during a particular activity.WHEN goes both for the teacher and the student(s) who is/are expected to correct himself/each other. Don’t mix up fluency activities with accuracy activities, when correction is important.NB: Teachers must find ways of encouraging students to monitor and correct, when appropriate, both their own production and (in a spirit of helpfulness) that of their fellow-learners.

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: ERROR CORRECTION1. Note the type of mistakes – e.g. Pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary2. How was the correction achieved? – e.g. Student guided to self-correction, student to student

correction or teacher to student correction.3. Note when the teacher corrected, e.g. on the spot or delayed…4. Did the teacher anticipate any mistakes? E.g. pronunciation/grammar?

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5. Did the teacher hear mistakes?6. Did the teacher correct too much or too little?7. Was the teacher right in their correction?8. Did the teacher jot down mistakes?9. Comment on the overall success of the correction taking place. Reflection as Exercise1. There are different schools of thought on how or even whether to correct during a fluency or

communicative activity. Where do you stand, with those advocating the necessity of correction or those disfavouring correction altogether?

2. When should correction be more persistent: at lower levels or high levels, according to you?3. Mario Rinvolucri advocates ‘hot correction’ (slip of paper with the correction on it, immediately

handed in to the student) in group work. Would you consider the method disruptive or decently protective to the student?

4. Do you consider recording the activity, using video or sound tape, and playing it back to the students a valuable source of working on the language?

5. It is said that the greatest irritants to native speakers are not grammar or morphology errors (the first obsession of classical Error Analysis), but what Thomson (1983) called ‘pragmatic failures’, which mainly occur due to native language transfers. Provide at least one example.

6. It is well known the native speakers’ tolerance towards errors. How do you explain that there is always a tendency for deprecatory assessment with the non-native foreign language teacher?

7. Chomsky (1981) refers to feedback given to infants acquiring the NL as positive v. negative ‘evidence’. What was he referring to more exactly?

8. The idea that learners produce forms which, even if corrected, are not quite what the native would say is developed by Levenston (1978). He shows that an EA that limits itself to reconstruction, i.e. on putting the grammar right, is flawed: what is left will still display lexical inadequacy, syntactic blends, conceptual confusion and rhetorical ineptitude. We could say that what learners write may well be discourse ‘in English’ but still falls short of being ‘English discourse’. Thus the attention, nowadays, has shifted from clear-cut error to the vaguer notion of infelicity. So, where do you stand among learners/teachers: those who perform correctly but ‘infelicitously’ or those who have the feeling of the language?

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14. TESTING

Test types:(a) Achievement/attainment tests are based on syllabus. Test what was learned/taught in class.

They look backwards.(b) Proficiency tests are not based on syllabus. They find out language level and look forwards.(c) Placement tests are not based on syllabus and are meant to group students of similar

competence and performance together in order to better collaborate to improve their language skills.

(d) Diagnostic tests are (not) based on syllabus and are meant to find out students’ areas of weaknesses. They are looking backwards and forwards, since re-teaching may be necessary.

(e) Aptitude tests find out if students have aptitude for learning a foreign language. They are looking forwards.

Historical presentation of English testing:(A) Traditional/pre-scientific, Spolsky (1984)

Grammatico-literary, Carroll & Hall (1985)Garden of Eden, Morrow (1979)E.g. written composition; oral interview; translation passage.Features: non-authentic; disembodied; subjective

(B) Modern/scientific, Spolsky (1984)Psycho-linguistic, Carroll & Hall (1985)Vale of tears, Morrow (1979)E.g. multiple-choice; transformations; cloze; dictation.Features: non-authentic; disembodied; discrete-point; objective; integrative; objective.

(C) Post-modern, Spolsky (1884)Socio-communicative, Carroll & Hall (1985)Promised Land, Morrow (1979)E.g. authentic texts (reading and listening); authentic tasks (writing and speaking).Features: authentic; contextualized; integrative; objective and subjective.

Making test items more communicative:- give students some purpose to communicate- establish audience/reader- create some information gap or conflictual situation- test enabling skills rather than products- make items integrative rather than discrete-point- use contextualized language rather than disembodied language- make them both objective and subjective, e.g. cloze /C-cloze tests- make them criterion-referenced rather than norm-referenced

NB: make them both relevant to students’ needs and expectations and reliable! Reflection as ExerciseSince teachers need to evaluate students’ performance they have to administer either ready-made tests or their own tests. Please, always reflect twice whether the task you give students is meant to teach them something or just test their competence/performance.

GOOD LUCK!

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15. MATERIALS EVALUATION CRITERIA

1. Subject and content

1.1 If it is relevant to learners’ needs.1.2 If it is interesting for the learners.1.2 If there is enough variety of activities.

2. Activities 2.1 If there is balance of activities.2.2 If there is enough comprehensible input for the learners.2.3 If there is enough practice in varying forms of tasks.2.4 If there is a sufficient amount of communication output in the materials.2.5 If new vocabulary is introduced in motivating and realistic contexts

3. Skills

3.1 If the materials include and practice the skills learners of the respective age need.3.2 If there is an appropriate balance of skills.3.3 If the skills are integrated or practiced in isolation.

4. Guidance

4.1 If the teacher’s book contains clear guidance for the teacher about how to present and practice the materials.

4.2 If there are clearly-stated objectives for each sequence of the lesson.4.3 If there is additional input material to compensate for lack of teacher’s own materials and time.4.4 If there are key answers provided to more problematic issues.

5. Language type

5.1 If the language used in the materials is at the right level for students’ age/assumed competence and is real-life English.

5.2 If there is explicit reference to appropriateness (the matching of language to its social context and function).

5.3 If there is a cline of approaches.5.4 If there is grading and recycling of language content.

6. Supporting materials

6.1 If the materials contain visuals; recorded material; examples of authentic language; an index of grammar items/ functions; a glossary; testing materials; others

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16. GLOSSARY OF METHODS/ TECHNIQUES OF TEACHING/ LEARNING

BRAINSTORMINGA kind of group activity intended to generate a lot of ideas. Every suggestion is recorded however unlikely or far-fetched. Decisions about practicality are made later.

CALLComputer assisted language learning.

ELICITATION/SOCRATIC TECHNIQUEA form of teaching by question and answer gradually leading to the elicitation of certain truths.

FEEDBACK SESSIONA class activity in which various individuals or groups report back to the class on what they have been researching or discussing. It may also be a session in which the teacher reports back to students with an evaluation of their work.

JIGSAW LEARNINGA form of learning/teaching in which different students cover different areas of a topic; they later pool their knowledge (e.g. by means of seminar/class papers).

PROJECTA kind of Task-based activity which usually involves an extended amount of independent work, either by an individual student or by a group of students.

PYRAMID GROUPA form of group activity in which the class is divided into groups. After some time, pairs of groups are joined together and continue the discussion. This procedure is repeated until there is only one group, comprising the whole class. Sometimes called a Snowball group.

ROLE PLAYA form of SIMULATION in which the participants adopt certain roles or parts.

TASK-BASED (LEARNING)Used to describe any kind of learning which involves the performance of a specific task or piece of work.

WORKSHOPA kind of TASK-BASED group activity which involves the completion of a certain specified task. It is expected that all the members of the group to contribute something to the completion of the task.

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17. BIBLIOGRAPHY

General Methodology

Harmer, J., The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman, 1983Richards, J., Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. CUP, 1986Doff, A., Teach English, CUP, 1988Littlewood, W., Communicative Language Teaching. CUP, 1981Nunan, D., Language Teaching Methodology. Prentice-Hall, 1991Freeman, D.L., Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, Oxford American English, 1986

Grammar Teaching

Harmer, J., Teaching and Learning Grammar. Longman. 1987Ur, P., Grammar Practice Activities. CUP. 1988Batstone, R., Grammar. OUP. 1994Gerngross, G., Creative Grammar Practice. Longman. 1992

Listening

Underwood, M., Teaching Listening. Longman. 1989Rost, M., Listening in Action. Prentice-Hall. 1991Rost, M., Listening in Language Learning. Longman. 1990Anderson, A., Listening. OUP. 1988

Reading

Wallace, C., Reading. OUP. 1992Nuttall, C., Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. Heinemann. 1982Williams, E., Reading in the Language Classroom. MEP. 1984Alderson, C., Reading in a Foreign Language. Longman. 1984

Writing

Hedge, T., Writing.OUP. 1988White, R., Process Writing. Longman. 1988Raines, A., Techniques in Teaching Writing. OUP. 1983

Speaking

Bygate, M., Speaking. OUP. 1087Byrne, D., Teaching Oral English. Longman. 1987Littlewood, W., Teaching Oral Communication. Blackwell. 1992Klippel, F., Keep Talking. CUP. 1983Ur, P., Discussions that Work. CUP. 1981

Vocabulary

Wallace, M., Teaching Vocabulary. Heinemann. 1982Gairns, R., Working with Words. CUP. 1984McCarthy, M., Vocabulary. OUP. 1990Allen, V., Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary. OUP. 1983

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Classroom Interaction

Wright, T., Roles of Teachers and Learners. OUP. 1987Hadfield, J., Classroom Dynamics. OUP. 1990Underwood, M., Effective Class Management. CUP. 1987Edge, J., Mistakes and Correction. Longman. 1989

Testing

Heaton, J., Classroom Testing. Longman. 1980

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