ICELT2014-2015Villahermosa

Assignment Title: Language for Teachers 2

Name: Jimena Paola Parrillat FigueroaCandidate number: 008Centre Number: MX005Date of submission: February 4th 2015

Language for Teachers Task 2: Evaluation of the learners spoken language.For this task, I was required to observe a lesson taught by a colleague and give my judgement on the English Language ability of the class as a whole. I have included samples of the spoken language used by a range of learners. The samples include accurate and inaccurate, appropriate and inappropriate language from various aspects: language, grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, function, discourse and style.CLASS DESCRIPTION:The class observed for this task, consisted of 17 years old students B1 intermediate level according Common European Framework. There are seven learners. Most of them have studied English for fourteen years, since preschool. They have achieved the Cambridge Certifications: KET and PET. At the moment, they are studying to present the FCE exam. Although they are currently in the last year of high school, this group of students is a lower ability group.The class observed was a Speaking Language Skill lesson. The aim of the lesson, as stated by my colleague, was to Practice oral fluency. The topic of the lesson was: If I were famous. The first stage was a reading, about famous people, which then elicit a discussion among the students. To promote the discussion Teacher ask each learner, would you like to be famous?. This lead to several other questions from the teacher and the students.

Sample 1Grammar/ pronunciation1.- He was *discover* by someone from the *TeAther* (/Context: During a reading from the coursebook, which theme was about famous people.Comments: The first error is grammar/ morphology example. The verb discover is in an incorrect form. After the form of the verb to be, the following verb should be in participle form. This is when used after the form of be-was. Second mistake is a mispronunciation of the word Theater-\th--tr / .this word as for my experience can be a common issue for EFL students even more, when reading the word. For L1 Spanish learners having vowels together can confuse them. In this sample, the student pronounced as /t/. The student mispronunciation is a common mistake, although this should not be the case since the pronunciation and phonetic form has been taught many times. Sample 2Grammar/ word collocation

2.- I *put* singer in the blank space.Context: Students were answering a fill in the gap activity. Keywords were given to the students. When asked what they believed the correct answer was; One student raised his arm and gave his answer.Comments: The item is inaccurate. The student made a literal transference of meaning from L1 to L2 of the word put. The collocation put was used (to place in a particular position) as derived from L1 Spanish to place the answer in the space given in the exercise. Instead of write down. That is the correct verb for the action of writing the answer.

Sample 3Grammar/pronunciation3.- I dont know like T. Russell *that* writes and produces *and* *daIrects* his movies.Context: Teacher asked students to think of a person who they think is famous, and if they would like to be like them.Comments: This is an appropriate but inaccurate sample. The student shows trouble with fluency. As she used, articles were they were not necessary. These are development mistakes that can be corrected by practice. The error in pronunciation from the word */darekts/* can become a fossilisation due that the vocabulary had been pre-teach. This student had already been taught the correct pronunciation of the word \d-rekt, d-\.

Sample 4Grammar/Vocabulary.4.- I would like to be famous, and be on the covers of magazines; like Forbes Magazine.Context: Free controlled oral expression practice stage.Comments: This learner was able to express his thoughts with clarity. With the statement used he demonstrates exposure to the English language.The sample is similar to the song; Billionaire By Bruno Mars. In which lyrics sings I wanna be on the cover of Forbes Magazine. It is also an accurate sample of grammar. The student is capable of using the third conditional that is needed in hypothetical situations.Sample 5Vocabulary5.- Yes! To be famous and *be* on talk shows like Jimmie Kimmel and all thatContext: This sample is also part of the conversation task between students and teacher on the subject of fame.Comments: it is clear that the student has had exposure to L2 in pop culture context like songs, T.V. shows, etc. On one side, the *be on talks shows* error did not hinder the student from transmitting its message. A more suitable word would be to appear on the T.V. show. And this kind of errors are to be watch. As fossilisation errors are likely to happen when the student can express the message clearly enough. As suggested by W. Littlewood (1998).Sample 6Fluency/grammar6.- *eeeeeh* I dont play *the* instrument.Context: a student said that he would like to be famous as a musician. Teacher then comment; thats interestingand what instrument would you like to play?Comments: *eh* is a Spanish expression. It is a performance error. Hesitation markers in English are usually mm or um. The second is a grammatical wrong article. The student should have use any or an. The student used present tense, and the teachers question was hypothetical. The student should have used the third conditional. This student shows a lack of comprehension of grammatical structures.Sample 7Grammar7.- I would like to learn how to play the piano.Context: the sample is a continuation of the dialogue previously shown. As the Teacher encourage her to the possibility of learning an instrument. There was a brief conversation while the student could not remember the instrument name. Comments: The student was fluent enough and did not pay much attention to accuracy, as she carried on speaking; even when she got lost in words. She expressed herself in a different form of communication (mimics).Sample 8Lexical/vocabulary.8.- I would like to be famous in other *things*Context: the student was expressing his preference for profession. During the hypothetical topic If I were famous.Comments: This mistake is common in Spanish, the speakers tend to generalize and they use the word things to group all sort of nouns. This could be a slip of the tongue error. But given that the teacher had previously taught vocabulary of the topic, she even elicited the student to use the proper word. She asked him; things?. The student was able to self-correct and rephrased the word with professions. Sample 9.Grammar9.- I *dont* like to be a singer.Context: conversation of the If I were famous topic.Comments: This sample is inaccurate. The tense was wrong as it was said in the present tense. It is a hypothetical topic. For this reason, the tense should have been third conditional. This as many of the former samples shows that the learners have not grasped the use of third conditional in hypothetical contexts.Sample 10Grammar/lexical10.- I would prefer to be famous as a soccer player because I like playing soccer.Context: Students were on the free controlled stage of production, they were speaking voluntarily. Still on the topic of if I were famous.Comments: the student demonstrates knowledge of the tenses. He conjugates both tenses that were needed correctly. Also, the student was fluent.

5.Steps to FollowIn sum, a single observation does not offer a complete picture of the class total language performance. Many of the samples above could be considered, as developmental errors. Irrespective of erroneous as well as ill-formed utterances, Ss were keen to speak English.Most of the errors were grammar related to the use of third conditional specifically. While others were lexical vocabulary or pronunciation. Before the lesson, I would do a warm up activity about the vocabulary to get Ss background vocabulary and its pronunciation. I would also continue with follow up lesson about the third conditional so that Ss can use the accurate grammatical structure. I would complement the practice part with some fill-in-the-blank third-conditional drill worksheets where Ss could hypothetically reflect on the possibilities of fame. I would also teach the students the difference in meaning between hypothetical and the real situations. Cause Ss, at times continued to speak as if it was a real situation Recapitulating, our main focus is that the Ss can communicate effectively without being misunderstood.Overall the Ss were successful in pronunciation and intonation was good. The vocabulary is in the standards of the class. I also was able to observe many teaching techniques. Therefore, I would say this task was meaningful for me in more than one way.Word count: 1,455.

ReferencesHarmer, J. (2007). The practice of English Language Teaching (4th ed.). Essex: Pearson Education Limited.Littlewood, W. (1984). Foreign and second language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Richards, J. (2008). Teaching Listening and Speaking From Theory to Practice (1st ed., p. www.cambridge.org). New York: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://www.cambridge.org/other_files/downloads/esl/booklets/Richards-Teaching-Listening-Speaking.pdfThornbury, S. (1999). How to teach grammar. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.Thornbury, S. (2002). How to teach vocabulary. Harlow: Longman.

ICELTIn-Service Certificate in English Language TeachingLanguage for Teachers Task 2

Declaration

I Beatriz Eugenia Sol Rosas, declare that Jimena Paola Parrillat Figueroa observed one of my classes for study purposes.

Signature:

Date: October 14th, 2014.

ICELTIn-Service Certificate in English Language Teaching

Declaration

I, Jimena Paola Parrillat Figueroa, declare that the following Language for Teachers Task No. 2: Evaluation of the learners spoken language is entirely my own work and that it is written in my own words and not those copied directly from any other source, except for those properly acknowledged.

Signature:

Date: February 4th, 2015.