PlaywayPlaywayPlaywayPlayway

Katharina KleinerKatharina KleinerBritta MarinelloBritta MarinelloNina WinnertzNina Winnertz

Nadine Ziegner Nadine Ziegner

Playway Cover

Overview• Definitions: listening & speaking

• Theoretical background– Storytelling– TPR

• Comparison of two units from “Playway“– Contents and types of exercises– Graphics, colours, animations– Language

• Curriculum

• In-class experiences– Language use in class– Pupil‘s participation

• Conclusion & discussion

Group I: Listening & Speaking

• Listening = constructing meaning from incoming information through oral and mental devices

• Speaking = activating mental processes; controlles use of oral organs to convey meaning

TPR(=Total Physical

Response)• TPR is a second language teaching method developed by Dr.

James Asher during the 1970’s• TPR is hardly used in Germany, but it becomes more and more a

german curriculum• TPR shows the best way for students to acquire foreign language

skills.• TPR mimics how a person learns his native tongue, by

incorporating gestures, facial expressions and other physical movements

• TPR first trains aesthetics, feeling and creativity• The new language is acquiered not memorized• Student learns and retains the new language since phrases are

associated with sounds, physical movements, expressions and feelings

• When student is ready logic, analysis and accuracy follows => language is spoken

=> foreign language is not taught as a translation of English, it is absorbed directly

• TPR captures students’ attention and interest

• Emphasis on understanding the language• It is important not to disrupt their flow of

speech in order to correct the problem• TPR has two factors: pronounciation and

vocabulary• Students can express themselves through

original sentences

Teaching TPR• TPR is executed simply by teaching language

through commands, which introduce new vocabulary

• Example in french: : Leve toi! Assieds-toi! Touche la table! Pose le livre! (steh auf ! setz dich! Berühre den Tisch! Leg das Buch hin)

• If the class makes progress add new vocabularies by combining two commands e.g.: Pose le livre sous la table (Leg das Buch auf den Tisch)

• Tenses can be incorporated in TPR commands as well e.g.: Quand je touche la table, Marie se mettra debout (Wenn ich den Tisch berühre, setzt Marie sich dort hin)

How a TPR-teacher should be

• A TPR teacher must always be “on”• He has to be active, energetic and

in a leading role• He has to be adequately prepared• Introduce not more than three new

vocabulary words at a time and repeat these words until everybody understands them

Problems of TPR• TPR can minimize the distortion in

pronunciation that comes from seeing the written words before pronouncing them

• TPR is not a textbook based curriculum. Teachers who use TPR are creative in their quest for classroom props and materials to use with students

StorytellingWhy Storytelling?

• academic sucess and emotional well being to students

• good for student exploration• including all ages and abilities • no special equipment is needed to create

artistic images• students explore their individual impressions• communication, thoughts and feelings can be

expressed• possibility to show students the strenghts of

spoken words, listening is important

Gaining Verbal Skills

• to discuss interpersonal conflicts can lessen violence

• the expression of one’s thoughts and feelings is important

• Clear communication is the first step of being able to ask for help when it’s needed

Imagination

• telling a story or listening to a story makes students use their imagination

• Developing the imagination helps students to consider new ideas

• Developing the imagination can contribute to self-confidence and personal motivation

• People are able to air their hopes and dreams

Passing on Wisdom

• storytelling helps young people to get over with personal values

• imaginative situations can be used to see wise and unwise actions and decisions of the young people

How Storytelling Can Be Used In Class

Old Time Radio Show:

• Using PA system to imitate an old radio show• Class has to create a story broadcast at a

special time each week for the whole school• Tape recorder is used for to hear the later

sound• The show could have a magazine format,

featuring interviews with teachers, student stories or poetry, or discussion of the latest school issues.

Story Circle• One person starts a tale and stops after

a few sentences.• Next person picks up the story,

continues it and stops again• Next person adds to it and so on until

the tale comes to a resolution• Start of the story could be a pre-

selected title or subject• You can record the story on a tape to

be able to listen to it in a later time

Unit 1• topic: “Back to school”• many pictures to arouse the pupils

interest• song “Hurry up”• “Listen and remember” -> think about

experiences in 3rd grade• “Listen and point” -> improve listening

skills

Unit 11• chapter deals with “Feelings”• song and chant (= Sprechgesang) ->

speaking and listening skills• “Listen to the dialogue. Act it out.” ->

this kind of exercise improves the pupils’ ability to speak freely

• work with a partner -> social competences

• comics, puzzles and games

Comparison Unit 1 and 11

• both mostly based on cassette • within each chapter one can find an

increase in demands and information• unit 1 -> revision of what they’ve already

learned; mainly concentrates on listening• unit 11 ->mainly concentrates on speaking

and acting; deals with a complex topic

Contents and types of exercises

• child-oriented topics and exercises (games,...)

• intercultural learning: children from different countries

• authentic (every-day) topics (Christmas, shopping, Halloween,...)

Graphics / Colours / Animations

• funny and exciting layout -> many pictures, powerful colours

• comical elements <-> photos of children of their age

• glove puppet “Birdy” -> motivation

Language • easy words• repetition of phrases• not very much variation in choice

of words• easy understandable chunks

Matching with the curriculum

some aspects from the Lehrplan 2003:• some important topics and situations

(“Erfahrungsfelder” p. 32) you can find in PLAYWAY:

• through the year• special days (Christmas, Halloween)• at school• me and my family

Aufgabenschwer-punkte

Unterrichtsgegen-stände

Kommunikative Fähigkeiten und Fertigkeiten erwerben

vereinfachte und einfache authentische Texte hörend verstehen

Sprachliche Mittel erwerben

• Aussprache und Intonation erlernen•Redemittel erwerben

Intercultural LearningAufgabenschwer-punkte

Unterrichtsgegen-stände

Lebenswelten erschließen und vergleichen

• kulturelle Vielfalt in englischsprachigen Ländern wahrnehmen•Spiele, Lieder

SprachenlernenAufgabenschwer-punkt

Unterrichtsgegen-stände

mit Texten umgehen • Szenen spielen• Kinderlieder- und reime kennen lernen•kurze Texte mit bekanntem Wortmaterial erlesen

Conclusion: Matching with the Curriculum

• Does it match? – YES, it does! ;-)

• Playway contains a lot of different topics, excercises etc. that stick to the rules from the curriculum

• it mainly concentrates on listening and speaking, but it doesn‘t exclude the other skills (vocab & grammar; reading & writing)

“In-class exprience”The usage of target language and mother

tongue:

During our participation in English lessons we all made similar experiences:

• The language which was mostly spoken in class was English

• The teachers only spoke English, e.g they greeted the pupils in English, they introduced new topics in English and they explained the tasks in English

• They only used English materials e.g. worksheets, films and music-CDs

• Only if someone didn’t understand some English tasks the teachers explained it in German

As you can see in our primary schools, the target language in English lessons is more important than the mother tongue.

• Most of the pupils had no difficulties to understand all the English things the teacher said

• Most of the pupils were able to work with this kind of teaching

The pupils reaction and participation

• The pupils liked to use the target language in English lessons

• They had fun to use the English language

• There was always a lot of interaction and participation in class, e.g. pupils sang English songs, they played English games, there was a lot of group work

• They used the target language among each other in English projects e.g. an English puppet show aroused the pupils interest

Conclusion

We think that on the one hand

• the book is really attractive for young learners

…as there are many pictures, comics and games…as they are many listening parts …as there are interesting topics.

But on the other hand we share the opinion that

• teachers should also use exercises from other books

…as “Playway” is mostly based on listening and speaking skills but neglects writing skills.