120 hour online tefl/tesol course workbook

120 Hour Online TEFL/TESOL

Course Workbook

© CultureRoute Pte Ltd 2021

www.cultureroute.com

http://www.cultureroute.com/

Copyright Teach Explore Asia, Co. Ltd. 2021

Any use of this workbook for commercial purposes without the expressed written consent of

Teach Explore Asia is prohibited.

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................. ii

CultureRoute - Teaching Code of Practice ........................................................................................ 1

Section 1: Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 4

Section 2: CultureRoute Teaching Method and Approach ............................................................. 7

2.1 Methods of Teaching .................................................................................................................. 7

2.2 The CultureRoute Method and Approach ............................................................................. 12

2.3 The Lesson Plan Structure and Content .................................................................................. 13

Section 3: Learning and Teaching .................................................................................................... 22

3.1 How do people learn? .............................................................................................................. 22

3.2 Student Motivation .................................................................................................................... 23

3.3. Young Learners, Adolescents, and Adults as Learners ........................................................ 25

3.4 Habits of Effective Teachers ..................................................................................................... 28

Section 4: Planning Lessons ............................................................................................................... 33

4.1 Planning Lessons ........................................................................................................................ 33

4.2 Self-Evaluation ........................................................................................................................... 35

Section 5: Teaching Speaking ........................................................................................................... 42

5.1 The Speaking Lesson ................................................................................................................. 42

5.2 Teaching to Beginners: Teaching Dialogue and Scripts ....................................................... 43

5.3 Teaching Speaking / Conversation ........................................................................................ 47

5.4 Putting Pizazz in the Practice Portion ................................................................................ 49

5.5 Speaking Lessons for Intermediate & Advanced Students ............................................ 52

Section 6: Teaching Phonics .............................................................................................................. 56

6.1 Features of ESL Pronunciation ............................................................................................ 57

6.2 The Benefits of Teaching Phonics ...................................................................................... 59

6.3 Techniques for Teaching Phonics ...................................................................................... 60

Section 7: Teaching Grammar .......................................................................................................... 64

Copyright Teach Explore Asia, Co. Ltd. 2021



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7.1 Teaching Grammar in a Lesson Context ................................................................................ 64

7.2 Example Lesson with Prepositions Grammar Point .......................................................... 66

Section 8: Teaching Reading ............................................................................................................. 69

8.1 Teaching Reading to Beginners ........................................................................................ 69

8.2 Teaching Reading to Intermediate & Advanced Students........................................... 70

8.3 Examples of Reading Questions .............................................................................................. 72

Section 9: Teaching Listening ............................................................................................................ 78

9.1 Listening Skills Development ..................................................................................................... 78

9.2 Teaching Listening ..................................................................................................................... 81

Section 10: Classroom Management ............................................................................................... 85

10.1 The Four Reasons for Misbehavior in Children ...................................................................... 85

10.2 Effective Classroom Management ....................................................................................... 85

10.3 Proactive and Reactive Approaches to Classroom Management ............................. 89

10.4 Student and Teacher Positioning and Delivery ............................................................... 90

10.5 Group work - Pros and Cons .............................................................................................. 94

10.6 Eye Contact, Gesture, and Voice .................................................................................... 96

10.7 The KISS Principle ................................................................................................................. 99

10.8 Introductory Lessons ........................................................................................................... 99

10.9 Classroom Management Experiences from CultureRoute Teachers ......................... 101

Section 11: Teaching English to Young Learners ........................................................................... 108

Section 12: Error Correction ............................................................................................................. 110

Section 13: Assessment .................................................................................................................... 112

Annex A: Acronyms in the World of TESOL ..................................................................................... 118

Annex B: Peer Evaluation Sheets ..................................................................................................... 121

Annex C: Grammar Module ............................................................................................................ 126

Copyright Teach Explore Asia. 2021



1

CultureRoute - Teaching Code of Practice

Purpose The responsibility of a teacher is not only to teach but to mentor and guide. As a teacher, you are,

rightly so, held to very high standards. Teachers impart knowledge, instill values and morals which

will influence the lives of those in their care. The ultimate responsibility of a teacher is to nurture,

no matter the effort that takes.

Building teacher-student relationships are a fundamental part of the process. These are formed

by building mutual trust and respect. The behavior of the teacher will be closely monitored, to

ensure strong ethical and moral values, in addition to ensuring that professional and personal

boundaries are not crossed.

Our code of practice focuses on 7 key elements:

• Empathy

• Diversity

• Trust

• Professionalism

• Honesty & Integrity

• Community

• Professional Development

Empathy

• Teachers must view their students as individuals with their own specific needs.

• Teachers must understand that each student requires understanding from their

educator/mentor, to advance.

• Teachers must be caring, ensuring that their student’s best interests are in mind,

protecting them from any harm, and being there for them in their time of need.

• The teacher must be a natural caregiver, someone who understands the importance of

the student-teacher relationship and is comfortable with caring for and nurturing students

in their role as the educator.

Diversity

• Respect for, and the understanding of diversity.




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• All students must be treated with the same level of care and respect, regardless of

gender, identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, age, appearance, proficiency, specific

needs.

• Ensure that the classroom is a safe and comfortable learning environment, free from

discrimination, bullying, and any other behaviors or activities that would serve to

discriminate and/or alienate their students.

• Being active outside of the classroom, reporting any incidences of the aforementioned

point to the relevant administration and/or authorities.

Trust

• The student-teacher relationship is built on a strong foundation of trust. Teachers must

respect that relationship and ensure that they do not break that trust.

• Have a strong sense of community responsibility.

• Have a firm understanding of safeguarding policies at their school, as well as having a

strong belief in the importance of safeguarding for their students. Acting on this as soon

as issues arise, is essential.

• Promote inclusivity inside and outside of the classroom.

• Hold themselves to high standards of honesty and integrity

Professionalism

• At all times, teachers must uphold professional boundaries between their students, their

colleagues, and members of their local community.

• Teachers shouldn’t seek to benefit from their status in the school and local community,

using that for financial gain, to seek favors, or to influence others.

• Teachers must follow their school guidelines closely, ensuring that professional

requirements are being always met, especially concerning classroom management,

discipline, and pastoral care.

• Teachers must always have a professional attitude and approach to their work, as well

as their interactions with colleagues and students. Teachers must be mindful of their

language, both verbal and body when they are interacting with others. Teachers must

communicate in both a professional and empathetic manner.

Honesty & Integrity

• Teachers must understand their position as role models to their students, in addition to

being valued members of their school community.




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• Teachers must be honest in their communications, as well as behave in a manner that is

trustworthy and transparent.

• Teachers must protect student and colleague confidentiality but know when to act when

there is an important safeguarding issue to report.

• Teachers must understand that the role of the teacher is 24/7. What happens outside of

the classroom will always be a reflection of their character.

Community

• Teachers understand that teaching is a collaborative process, one that involves all at

school, including the local community.

• Teachers work well with others, listen to and encourage their students and colleagues.

• Teachers understand that their role in the community is significant, and must continue to

model themselves professionally at all times.

• Teachers treat colleagues and members of the community as equals, often seeking their

advice, guidance, and/or approval.

Professional Development

• Teachers must strive to improve their approach to teaching by using their initiative, in

addition to asking for feedback.

• Teachers must have a passion for advancement in their profession.

• Teachers must always maintain high standards in their teaching approach and should

practice self-reflection regularly.

• Teachers should always be open to receiving constructive feedback.




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Section 1: Introduction

Welcome Message Welcome to the CultureRoute Teaching

English to Speakers of Other Languages

(TESOL) course. We are excited to welcome

you as you embark on the first, important step

towards your goal of teaching English as a

second language (ESL). For those of you who

will gain this certification to teach English

abroad, this is the beginning of an amazing

journey filled with excitement, challenges, and

personal growth. But putting aside for a

moment the benefits of this experience for the

teacher, it is important to note how important English language education is to people around the

world. English is the international language of business. It is also the ‘bridge language’ used by

international travelers around the world. Having a strong English language capability improves

local peoples’ living standards and opens up a world of life-changing opportunities. So, prepare to

have a life-changing adventure while also changing lives!

About this Course A TESOL course is a training program

designed to give you the knowledge, skills,

and confidence to teach English as a foreign

language. TESOL courses vary in length and

depth. CultureRoute’s flagship course is

accredited at 120 hours and sets ambitious

goals and objectives to ensure students can

teach effectively in any English-as-a-second-

language (ESL) program or position,

regardless of the classroom environment or

level of teacher support provided by the

school.




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Goals and Objectives This course provides students with the theory, strategies, techniques, and practice to teach

English in any school environment. The goals and objectives for this course include:

• Providing a strong grounding in the history and theory of teaching English as a

foreign/second language, emphasizing the application of theory in the classroom

• Providing a deep understanding of the concepts and principles of teaching English as a

second language

• Examining the process of learning, how learning takes place, learning challenges for

each age group and skill level, and how to cater to different learning styles in the

classroom

• Building a strong capability in developing lesson plans

• Developing a repertoire of routines, skills, and strategies to teach English to people of all

ages and skill levels

• Providing comprehensive advice and guidance for effective classroom management

• Developing confidence with teaching ESL through significant in-class/or online practical

training

• Developing the knowledge and capability to create an English language curriculum

• Building a thorough understanding of how to assess student capability and progress

through an English course

• Developing a strong

awareness of the role that

culture plays in the

classroom and lesson

planning

What does TESOL Mean? TESOL means Teaching English to

Speakers of Other Languages and is a

term used to describe the teaching of

the English language to non-native

English speakers. Depending on where you learn and where you teach, the practice of teaching

English as a foreign language can be referred to in many ways. The list of common acronyms in

ESL teaching includes, but is not limited to TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language),

TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), TEFL (Teaching English as a

Foreign Language), EAL (English as an Additional Language), ESD (English as a Second Dialect),




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EIL (English as an International Language), ELF (English as a Lingua Franca), ESP (English for

Special Purposes, or English for Specific Purposes), EAP (English for Academic Purposes), and

ELL (English Language Learner). A full list of ESL acronyms is included in Annex A.

Although there are several courses and qualifications similar to TESOL but referred to by a

different name, one thing remains constant: A good TESOL certification will qualify you for both

TESOL and TEFL jobs. Ultimately, these terms are often used interchangeably.

About CultureRoute CultureRoute is an education and cross-cultural adventure organization whose mission is to both

enable people to experience the life-changing adventure of living, studying, and teaching

overseas, and also to help local people across Asia access English language education as a

springboard to upward mobility and cultural exchange. Started by expatriates and Thai nationals

with a passion for ESL education and adventure, CultureRoute has successfully trained and

placed more than 3,500 teachers. CultureRoute uses a unique method and approach to teaching

English as a Second Language, which draws on more than 150 years of best practices in English

language education. CultureRoute and its TESOL instructors are committed to preparing teachers

to make a significant impact on the lives of their students and the communities they come into

contact with.




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Section 2: CultureRoute Teaching Method and Approach

2.1 METHODS OF TEACHING

There are many different schools of thought regarding the best way to teach English as a second

language. In the following section, we will elaborate further on the definition, characteristics, and

background of each.

Direct Method The Direct Method is one of the oldest

approaches to teaching a foreign language. The

Direct Method was the culmination of over one

hundred years of evolution in ESL as a

discipline that started with industrialization in

Britain and the spread of the British empire

around the world. During the 1800s, in non-

English speaking areas colonized by the British,

The Crown espoused a racial supremacy

doctrine that viewed the native people as needing to be civilized to become more like Westerners.

A major part of this civilizing project was the teaching of the English language. But the origins of

ESL as a discipline do not rest solely on political motives, but also a strong functional rationale.

The newly arriving British administrators and

businesspeople needed the be able to speak

to the locals to effectively manage their

colonial holdings. For these reasons, ESL

became a major discipline, and it has evolved

dramatically over time, undergoing many shifts

in theory and focus over the decades. It is

important not to lose sight as English teachers

of the unfortunate connection between the

origins of the ESL discipline, and the legacy of

colonialization.

The initial teaching of English involved mainly learning vocabulary and drilling students on

pronunciation. It also included the teaching of common scripts and dialogues that one could use in

certain social and work situations. This is illustrated by the teacher in Figure 1. For example,

Figure 1. The teacher presents dialogue to students in Thailand.




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students were often asked to memorize a pre-written interaction between two people at a tea

party. This would be drilled repeatedly for pronunciation until it was memorized and could be

recited in a way that was close to that of a native English speaker. This was how success was

defined. This method later became known as the Direct Method.

One of the major drawbacks of this approach was that, while it focused on memorizing dialogues,

it overlooked the importance of meaning, and the ability to assemble words and phrases in

different combinations to communicate meaning.

Students trained in this method became competent at communicating in some situations that they

had trained for, but when put in unfamiliar situations, they often lacked the language resources to

communicate effectively. Despite its limitations, the Direct Method was a major improvement over

previous English/foreign language teaching methods. It is still in use widely today and has many

strengths, particularly with beginners and young learners.

The main features of the Direct Method include:

• Drilling and repetition

• Emphasis on accuracy over fluency

• A highly visual style of teaching

• Lessons follow a tight structure that is organized by the instructor

• Teacher centric (i.e. instructor is the main focus throughout the lesson)

• Only use the target language. No use of the local language

The Direct Method uses the target language as a means of instruction and communication in the

classroom and avoids the use of the first language and translation as a technique. Its aims are

speaking, reading, and pronunciation.

The Direct Method gives priority to grammatical competence as the basis of language proficiency,

or as we like to put it simply in the classroom, accuracy over fluency. This method is based on

the belief that grammar can be learned through direct instruction and the use of repetitive practice

and drilling.

The Direct Method assumes that language learning should involve first building up a large

repertoire of sentences and grammatical patterns, and then producing these accurately and

quickly in the appropriate situation. Once a basic command of the language is established through




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oral drilling and controlled practice, the four language skills-- speaking, listening, reading, and

writing--were introduced, usually in that sequence.

Communicative Approach The Communicative Approach emerged during the 1940s and 1950s as a reaction to disillusion

among many ESL practitioners with the Direct Method and its inability to adequately prepare ESL

learners to navigate a variety of situations in the

target language. The functional approach, which

later became known as the Communicative

Approach, put the learner at the center, using

language to express themselves and create

meaning as they navigating real-world contexts. In

contrast to DM, which puts little, if any, emphasis on

the ability to communicate or interact in unplanned,

and informal situations, the Communicative

Approach focuses mainly on the communicative

function of language.

Some of the main features of the Communicative Approach include:

• Emphasizes fluency over accuracy

• The teacher serves in a facilitator role

• Students are encouraged to experiment

with the new language

• Extensive group and pair work

• Student-centric (i.e. lesson is focused on

student interaction, not lectures from

instructor)

• Use of props and authentic materials

The Communicative Approach concentrates on

getting learners to do things with language, to

express concepts, and to carry out communicative

acts of various kinds. It emphasizes the overall

ability to communicate with someone, over the use of grammatically correct language (fluency

over accuracy). The Communicative Approach pays systematic attention to functional aspects of

Example of the Communicative Approach in Action

Imagine if a student was to be put in a scenario in which they are on their way to the train station but they don’t know how to get there. They may ask, “excuse me, do you know where the train station is?” This would be grammatically correct. But they would be able to get the right answer even if they did not know the exact grammatically correct form of the question. For example, they could ask, “Train station, where?”

Importance of Self-Expression to Language Acquisition

The idea behind the functional school,

which later became the Communicative

Approach, is that when students use

language to express themselves or convey

something meaningful to them, it becomes

more deeply embedded inside of them and

they are thus more likely to remember it

than they would words or sentences read

off of a page, and with which they have no

meaningful connection.




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language. By this, we mean that the focus of teaching is put on enabling students to use language

to navigate effectively a variety of situations that may be unplanned. To achieve this ability to use

the language in unplanned, emergent ways, the Communicative Approach encourages learners to

interact with each other through pair and group work. While learners interact in groups in the target

language, the teacher’s role is that of a facilitator, helping learners communicate in English, and

motivating students to work with the new language. The aim is for students to have fun

experimenting with the language by learning how to

work through real conversations.

Communicative competence includes the

following aspects:

• Knowing how to use language for a

range of different purposes and

functions

• Knowing how to vary our use of

language according to the setting and

the participants (e.g. knowing when to

use formal and informal speech or when

to use language appropriately for written

as opposed to spoken communication)

• Knowing how to produce and

understand different types of texts (e.g.,

narratives, reports, interviews,

conversations)

• Knowing how to maintain

communication despite having

limitations in one’s language knowledge (e.g., through using different kinds of

communication strategies)

Accuracy versus Fluency Activities. One of the easiest ways to differentiate the traditional

Direct Method and the newer Communicative Approach is to keep in mind that the Communicative

Approach is about developing fluency, rather than focusing on accuracy. By promoting

fluency, the students may not be speaking grammatically perfect English at first, but their overall

message will be understood and meaning will be conveyed. This is the essence of effective

communication. Creating classroom activities in which students must negotiate meaning, use

Communicative Approach as Conveying Meaning

Let’s say that you are in a conversation with a local friend in the Thai language. You have a pretty good knowledge of Thai but it is not your native language. You are trying to tell your friend that you will attend a conference later in the week. But you realize as you are speaking that you don’t know the word ‘conference’ in Thai (Ngaan Brachom). So how can you explain? You use the vocabulary you know. You say that the activity you are doing is like a meeting where people who are experts present their work and others listen and ask questions. Ahhhh, your friend says, “You mean a Ngaan Brachom”. You use the language that you know to convey something meaningful and solve a communication challenge. This is at the heart of CA.




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communication strategies, correct misunderstandings, and work to avoid communication

breakdowns, helps to develop fluency. Fluency practice can be contrasted with accuracy practice,

which focuses on creating correct examples of language use. While Communicative Approach has

many strengths, it is not without its drawbacks. It deemphasizes important language topics, such

as phonics. Without the ability to pronounce words accurately, communication may break down,

therefore pronunciation accuracy is critical, as is a basic understanding of sentence structure, two

areas that form the primary focus of the Direct Method.

The chart below summarizes the main features of and differences between the Direct Method and

the Communicative Approach.

Task-Based Learning Task-based language teaching (TBL) is based on the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and

instruction in language teaching. TBL is also considered to be part of the functional school of

thought on ESL teaching, taking the Communicative Approach even further and specifically

focusing on the completion of tasks to reinforce functional language use. TBL draws on many of

the principles of the CA, involving:

DIRECT METHOD COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH

• One of the oldest methods of teaching English as a second language

• Lots of demonstration/action

• Structured

• Very visual/flashcards

• Accuracy over fluency

• Teacher centric (stands in front of the class)

• Drilling and repetition

• Focus on pronunciation/sentence structure

• Writing is postponed

• Grammar is highly emphasized

• Ability to experiment with language, not just memorizing

• Fluency over accuracy

• Communicative activities relate to real life

• Student-centric

• Use of authentic materials (realia)

• Extensive group & pair work

• The teacher moves around the classroom

• Less focus on grammar

• Phonics relatively deemphasized




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• Activities that involve real communication

are essential for language learning

• Activities should be based on meaningful

tasks that learners would encounter in a

real-world situation

• Using language that is meaningful to the

learner supports the learning process

In TBL, learning is promoted by giving students

tasks to complete while using the target language.

A task can be defined as a piece of classroom work

that involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing, or interacting in the target

language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form. The task should

also have a sense of completeness, being able to stand alone as a communicative act in its own

right. Some examples of the TBL approach in a classroom activity include:

• Treasure Hunt. Working in pairs, one student is trying to find the ‘treasure hidden in the

room while the other student needs to explain to them in English where it is without using

gestures or pointing

• Climate Change. Develop a board that illustrates both the detrimental effects of climate

change and what students think are the best solutions. Students present their work to the

class

• A Visit to the Market. Students are at a market and one student is the seller and another

is the customer. The customer is trying to buy as much fruit and vegetables as they can

with the money they have available. The customer and seller must negotiate to complete

the purchase

Note that for each activity, students must use their language resources to complete a task.

2.2 THE CULTUREROUTE METHOD AND APPROACH

The CultureRoute method and approach to teaching English incorporates a combination of the

Direct Method and Communicative Approach and related Task-based Learning Approach. It

utilizes the Direct Method’s focus on pronunciation, memorization, understanding of sentence

structure, and encouragement of English immersion. It also utilizes the Communicative

Approach’s, and by extension Task-based Learning’s, emphasis on developing fluency through

lesson content that is relevant, interesting, and purposeful, and activities that enable students to

TBL brings in the ‘Real World’ Think about all of the activities that students do outside of school (e.g. shopping, going to the cinema, playing sports, eating at restaurants, etc.). TBL entails creating role-playing scenarios in which students must use English and perform a meaningful task or demonstrate a meaningful interaction that is relevant to their age and lifestyle. A classic example is creating a restaurant scenario where students play the roles of customers and servers and must complete an order.




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express themselves in personally meaningful ways. The CultureRoute approach is based on the

following beliefs about ESL education:

• Effective classroom-learning tasks and exercises provide opportunities for students to

understand the meaning, expand their language resources (vocabulary, lexicon,

grammatical rules, and sentence structures), notice how language is used, and take part

in interpersonal exchanges in which they can express themselves

• Meaningful communication results from students processing content that is relevant,

purposeful, interesting, and engaging

• Learning a new language is a gradual process that involves trial and error. Errors are a

normal part of the learning process and critical in developing accuracy and fluency

• Learners develop their routes to language learning, progress at different rates, and have

different needs and motivations for language learning

• Successful language acquisition involves developing learners’ communication strategies

• Learning requires the teacher to vary their role throughout a lesson. As the lessons

progress, the teacher will gradually transition into a facilitator role and allow students to

experiment and practice the language to build fluency

2.3 THE LESSON PLAN STRUCTURE AND CONTENT

Summary: Presenting Vocabulary

• Consider each component of vocabulary

words (e.g phonemes, syllables and

stress, intonation).

• Present flash card for every word

• Drill on pronunciation, emphasizing

natural intonation and cadence

• When writing on the board, ensure that

students write in lower case




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CultureRoute’s lesson plan structure uses the

teaching approach of Presentation, Practice, and

Production (3 Ps). The "3 Ps" approach to

language teaching is the most common method

employed by professional ESL schools around

the world. It is a main feature of the renowned

CELTA certification and other TESOL

qualifications. The 3 Ps are a progression of

three sequential stages. A discussion of the 3 Ps

is included below.

Presentation Section Before we can ask the students to practice or produce using new language skills, we must first

present the new information engagingly and comprehensively. In the Presentation Section, we

present new vocabulary and grammatical structures to the students, give examples, and focus on

phonics. During Presentation, the topic of the lesson is provided, often by initially asking students

to try to guess what the lesson is going to be about. The new language (vocabulary) is presented

primarily via flashcards, physical action, or by bringing in actual items for students to touch and

feel. Figure 2 is an example of a teacher presenting new vocabulary with flashcards. However,

note that her flashcards are written in all capital letters, which is not the best way to present

vocabulary. New vocabulary should be presented in lower case to mirror the way it would look

when read on paper.

Language can also be presented as a grammatical pattern or familiar situation. For example, when

presenting the grammar concept of the verb, “To Go”, the teacher may present the concept during

this section as I go, he goes, she goes, we go. The teacher may also add the noun to make a full

sentence to show the context in which the grammar rule is used. During the presentation phase,

the teacher is often very active and does most of the speaking. During this phase, the teacher:

• Speaks up to 75% of the time, as the teacher is presenting information

• Shows form - how the grammar is used

• Demonstrates and works on correct pronunciation and highlights phonemes, syllables, as

well as stress and intonation patterns

• Highlights spelling and any irregularities within the new language

• Focuses on accuracy when correcting students at this stage

Figure 2. The teacher presents vocabulary as part of the Presentation Section.




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• Checks for comprehension

• Moves around the room, using the aisles to connect with students towards the back of

the classroom

When introducing new vocabulary, where

possible, it is recommended to show visually the

placement of the words in context. If the teacher

is using flashcards, they might want to stick

them on the board under a header. In one

example, a lesson topic might be “Animals in the

Jungle”. The teacher could then create a jungle

scene mosaic on a poster board and place (or

call on one or more students to place) every new

vocabulary word in its proper spatial order, monkeys in the trees, tigers on the ground, birds in the

air, etc. This allows students to directly relate the new vocabulary with images they already have

in their mind, or the visual location of those items, rather than enforcing the constant need to

translate between languages. It also helps to focus attention on the front of the classroom

throughout the presentation section. Finally, as discussed in more depth later in this course book,

using mosaics or categories on the board for flash card placement helps those learners who

absorb information more effectively when it is presented visually or by completing a task (tactical).

Practice Section After the new vocabulary and structures are presented, the teacher moves on to the Practice

Section, where they will take what is just presented and practice using it with content, such as

dialogues, scripts, songs, stories, speeches, or discussion topics (depending on the student age

group and skill level, as well as the lesson focus). The teacher provides opportunities for students

to practice this content and the vocabulary in a controlled way (Short sets of question-answer

dialogue, rehearsing scripts, making sentences from prompts, or stories, leading discussions,

etc.). New language items are identified, repeated, and manipulated by the students. The teacher

also leads this phase of the lesson. The role of the teacher in the Practice Section entails:

• Speaking up to 40% of the time. Students speak the other 60%

• Using activities to practice the new language orally and in written format

• Drilling for correct pronunciation and accurate form, chorally and individually

• Focusing on accurate form/structure

Presenting Vocab in Tech-friendly Classrooms

Some classrooms have excellent audio/video resources. These may include PowerPoint or even tablets for students to use. It is possible and in the case of tablets, maybe even preferable, to present vocabulary visuals using these mediums. Just note that with PowerPoint, there are several drawbacks, including that teachers cannot have all of the vocabulary words on the board at the same time, and sometimes technology fails.




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• Modeling and correcting when mistakes occur

• Encouraging lots of pair and group work

The practice section is the “meat” of each lesson. Teachers typically devote the most time to this

part of the lesson. There is also significant variability in how content is taught and presented based

on lesson focus, age group, and skill level. The table below provides a few examples of practice-

section activities based on the focus of the lesson, skill level, and age group.

Lesson Focus

Age Group (Yrs)

Topic Theme Skill Level Practice Activity Examples

Teaching Speaking

10

Items at the

Grocery store

Shopping For my

Birthday Party

Beginner

Dialogue presentation:

What do you want at the grocery store?

I want a pint of ice cream.

What time will you go to the grocery store?

I will go to the grocery store after school.

Teaching Reading

18 About the ocean and

boats

A solo trip around the

world Intermediate

Read a passage about a teenager going on a solo sailing adventure around the world. Answer detailed questions about the story.

Teaching Listening

4 Farm

Animals I love the

Farm Beginner

Sing a song about the farm. Color in farm animals and write their names on a worksheet.

Production Section After presenting the language to students and allowing them to practice it, teachers then move to

the Production Section, where students produce it (i.e. use language in a meaningful way in

different, often real-world situations). At this stage, learners show what they can actually do with

the new language and how they can use it correctly. Examples of production activities include

students talking or writing about their own lives and interests, expressing opinions, imagining

themselves in different situations, or solving real-world communication challenges such as buying

a ticket to the movies or finding the way to the train station. The Production Section specifically

draws on the functional/communicative school of ESL and the idea that language used in a




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functional, meaningful way, will be more deeply embedded in the learner than language that they

have no personal connection with. There are some important rules to observed as teachers create

production activities.

Production activities must allow students to express themselves. They must allow students

to express something meaningful. This might be likes, dislikes, values, routines, choices, etc.

Production activities must allow students to be creative. Creativity in this context means the

ability to use language creatively, to develop and build, whether that be to draw, create a story,

create a poster, envision themselves in different scenarios, etc.

In the production section, the teacher plays a

critical but different role than in the presentation

and practice sections. For the Production

Section, the teacher:

• Speaks about 10% of the time with

the students up to 90% of the time

• Monitors but does not correct until the

end. While student mistakes are an

important part of language acquisition,

the teacher doesn’t want to damage student’s confidence by critiquing the student

immediately

• Focuses on fluency rather than accuracy

• Models the production task, gives simple instructions, and encourages students to use

the old and new language

• Circulates through the classroom to engage with students during their activities in small

groups, pairs, or individually, to help them find the words to express themselves, to ask

and answer questions, and correct mistakes

• Elicit feedback from students throughout the activity, embedding current vocabulary and

introducing new vocabulary

Expanding Frontiers of Language Knowledge during Production

Production isn’t just about expression using the language taught in class that day. It is about recalling and applying previously learned language. It is also about the teacher introducing language in the context of questions to students during the activity. The expression of past and current language in the context of a discussion and/or debate expands the frontiers of student language resources.




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Benefits of the 3 Ps The 3 Ps format is anchored in TESOL theory, ensuring that teachers are using “a best practices

approach to teaching English.” The presentation and practice sections draw from the Direct

Method, focusing on pronunciation, accuracy, and sentence

structure. The production section draws from the

Communicative and Task-Based Learning approaches and

encourages self-expression, creativity, and using the language

in a freer, more natural way. The 3 Ps approach also

standardizes lessons so that if a teacher were to be absent one

day, a substitute could come in and teach the lesson as

designed. Finally, the 3’Ps approach provides students with predictability and consistency in terms

of lesson structure and flow, making it easier for them to follow along. Some linguists and teachers

object to a strict format. However, standardization is beneficial as the 3 Ps approach is

comprehensive enough to ensure that teachers apply the best-practices principles of ESL

instruction while being flexible enough to allow teachers the freedom to tailor lessons to student’s

needs.

Altering 3’Ps Approach to Work More Effectively in Different Lesson Contexts Teachers do not necessarily always need to use the 3 Ps structure in the order it is outlined. If it

were the start of a term or unit, the teacher may first want to start with a production exercise to

gauge the proficiency of the students. Once the teacher has made an assessment, they would

then return to the first phase of the 3 Ps approach. Teachers may also want to break the 3 Ps

approach into smaller units or chunks for young learners, whose short attention spans make it

difficult for them to pay attention through 10 minutes of vocabulary presentation or a 20-minute

practice section activity. In chunking, the teacher presents a portion of the designated vocabulary

and structures to the students, lets them practice, and then gives students an activity that allows

them to produce the language in a natural context. The 3 Ps are then repeated until the lesson is

complete. This limits the amount of content the younger learners need to absorb at one time.

Chunking Chunking is when the 3 Ps approach is implemented multiple times in one lesson in short bursts mainly to combat restlessness and short attention spans of young learners.




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Warmers While the 3 Ps are the main elements of every

lesson and follow in the order of Presentation,

Practice, Production, bookending each lesson

should be a strong Warmer and a Wrap-up

activity. Before jumping into the presentation

stage of any lesson, it’s important to start with a

warmer. Warmers are a short, fun, activity meant

to energize the class and get as many students

as possible engaged with the lesson theme

immediately upon entering the classroom. Figure

3 shows an engaging warmer. There are three

major benefits of a warmer.

1) It helps set the scene for the lesson

2) It gets the students excited and engaged

3) Allows time for late-comers to arrive

without missing the content of the lesson

The warmer should always be related to the

topic/theme of the lesson and should try to pique

the student’s curiosity. That being said, we want

to avoid too much teaching in the warmer. The

focus of the warmer is strictly to generate student

interest. Warmer activities can be anything from

singing a song, teaching dance, or playing a competitive

game.

Lastly, it will help deter habitual latecomers from

tardiness. If warmers are consistently fun and something

that the whole class wants to participate in, students are

likely to discuss the activities amongst themselves,

motivating latecomers to want to arrive on time. ESL

students love games and anything involving competition. Songs can also be very effective,

Figure 3. Warmers should be creative and active. In this picture, the teacher introduces a lesson on ‘exploration’ by wearing different clothes and pretending that she is viewing a discovery through her binoculars. Notice how she shows the students how to create their binoculars by cupping their hands and holding them to their eyes.

Warmers Warmers should be relevant to the lesson theme!

Warmers should be interesting and interactive!

If teaching young learners, warmers should be active!

Common Mistake when Developing Warmers

Teachers tend to include vocabulary words that they planned to use for that lesson into their warmers. Teachers cannot expect students to be able to know the words that have not yet been taught to them.




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although students tend to become less receptive to sing-a-longs as they get older. Teachers are

encouraged to utilize their creativity when designing Warmers. There are tons of resources online

to make Warmer suit the lesson topic/theme.

Wrap-up Similar to a Warmer, the Wrap-up (or “Cooler” as it is sometimes called) should be a short and

simple activity that allows students to leave class feeling positive, with smiles on their faces. The

focus of a Wrap-up is on fun, not on additional teaching. It can be a great way to review the day’s

lesson and can be something as simple as a game called “Board Slap.” This game involves

putting two or more flashcards on the board, shouting one of the associated vocabulary words,

and then having two students race to touch the correct picture. The wrap-up should fit the theme

of the lesson, and be short. It is often

used as a reward for good behavior, as is

the case with the teacher in Figure 4.

Teachers run the risk of students

becoming bored if they re-use the same

activity used for the warmer.

The Importance of Themes in Lesson Planning When planning lessons, it is important to

incorporate a theme, which will make the

topic more relatable and interesting to

students. Every lesson should begin

with a theme that serves as a common

thread throughout the lesson. The theme

should be relevant and exciting for the

students. It should also stimulate teacher creativity in lesson planning. The table below includes

several topics and themes. Note that themes and topics don’t necessarily need to have a lot in

common. The only connection that is required between the theme and topic is that the theme

should incorporate vocabulary related to the topic.

TOPIC THEME

• Work • Action Verbs • Weather • Doctor

• My dream job • Batman Battles Crime • Giant Storms • Spiderman goes to the hospital

Figure 4. For wrap-ups, it is important to be creative and allow the students to have fun while learning. In this picture, the teacher presented a lesson called “A trip to the Amusement Park” and as a treat for paying attention in class, he took his students on an imaginary rollercoaster ride at the end of the lesson.




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• Items in the Bedroom • Superstar Bedroom




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Section 3: Learning and Teaching

3.1 HOW DO PEOPLE LEARN?

Researchers have identified three main ways in which people learn: visually, auditory, or tactile.

Visual learners absorb information best when it is presented visually, such as on a board, with a

diagram or graph, or on a page. Auditory learners process information best when hearing it. This

may include listening to books on tape, or listening to the radio, or having something dictated.

Tactile learners learn best when doing something, such as constructing a model or completing a

series of tasks towards an end goal.

Try the short activity below to identify which way best describes your learning approach. The

bullets below are descriptions of the way you absorb information. Beside each bullet, put a number

that corresponds to the key below:

Often = 3 points Sometimes = 2 points Seldom = 1 point

Add up the numbers of each style and compare the total scores of each category (A, B, and C).

Your highest score reflects your “preferred learning style” and offers you a window into the

understanding of how you learn best. Knowledge of your learning preference will enable you to

maximize your strength and become a more efficient learner. It is natural to want to design your

lessons to coincide with your learning style, but it is important to be conscious that others may

have different preferred styles of learning. By keeping this in mind, it will allow you to design your

lessons to reach as many of your students as possible.

A. Visual Learner Score

• Reading a chapter from your text before the lecture

• Taking good notes during lectures so that you can read them over later

• Reading your notes and textbook repeatedly

• Closing your eyes and visualizing what you need to remember

• Studying diagrams, charts, and tables

• Organizing, highlighting, and color-coding notes and study materials

Total




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B. Auditory Learner

Score

• Attending all lectures, no matter what

• Taping a lecture and listening to it again later

• Reading aloud, or having something dictated to you

• Prefer directions given orally

• Often repeats what has just been said

• Interprets underlying meaning of speech by listening to the tone, pitch, speed, etc.

Total

C. Tactile Learner Score

• Building models to understand difficult concepts

• Doing things you read about

• Watching demonstrations and experiments, and then try them yourself

• Doing math and physical problems with objects you can move

• Taking notes and drawing diagrams during lectures

• Speak with their hands and use gestures

Total

If your scores are nearly equal in all three categories, it’s a good indication that you learn equally

well in all three modes of learning. Remember that it’s always a good idea to use strategies from

each of the three categories to enhance your learning.

3.2 STUDENT MOTIVATION

Why do people learn languages? Every person who studies a different language is motivated

based on some reason. The different motivators students have will impact their interest level in the

class and will influence how teachers structure their lessons. This is where the challenge comes

in! Some students of other languages are motivated by factors emanating from within. These are

called intrinsic motivations. Others may be motivated by external factors, which are called extrinsic

motivations. Below is a chart outlining the differences between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations,

followed by a discussion of the different reasons why people learn other languages.

INTRINSIC MOTIVATION EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION




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• Participating in an activity because it

is personally rewarding

• Performing an activity because the

person enjoys doing it

• Participating in an activity to obtain a

reward or to avoid punishment

• Performing an activity to gain or

avoid a particular outcome

Obligation. Foreign languages are often compulsory in school. Students may be positive,

negative, or neutral about this.

Advancement. Some people will see a second or another language as a means of advancement

in their chosen career or profession. Sometimes English may be a prerequisite for advancement.

Survival. Someone who is living in a target language community (TLC) may need to learn the

language to cope. They may be living in the TLC through choice or expediency but will need to

learn basic communications rapidly to adjust.

Specific Purposes. Can include business, academic, occupational, or scientific purposes. This

has been a big growth area in second-language teaching over recent years as suitably qualified

teachers can command premium fees for teaching English combined with their specialist subject.

Occasionally the language will be used only for a specific purpose. For example, air traffic

controllers must speak and understand English as it is the international language of aviation, but

they may only use the language in that context.

Culture. An interest in the culture of the TLC is common but usually refers to an interest in specific

factors within that culture such as music, literature, history, etc.

Tourism/Travel. The widespread use of English makes it an attractive second language for

travelers and tourists. This is the prime reason for learning English given by older learners.

Fun! Many people learn English for fun. In Japan, the explosion of new language schools in the

1980s was mostly fueled by this idea of English for fun. In many schools around the world, English

is taught as entertainment, and oftentimes, teachers are judged as much or more on popularity

with their students as they are by the learning outcomes in the classroom.

In thinking about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and especially in linking motivation to age

groups, it’s useful to not make it seem like there are right and wrong answers (i.e. young learners

are more this, older learners are more that). Rather it is important to emphasize that a teacher

can foster intrinsic motivation with any age group by establishing rapport and making lessons fun,




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whereas extrinsic motivations are either present in a student or they’re not, and there’s little a

teacher can do about it.

3.3. YOUNG LEARNERS, ADOLESCENTS, AND ADULTS AS LEARNERS

Young Learners Young learners are unlikely to have any intrinsic motivation. Moreover, they tend to view the

teacher as an important figure and seek his or her approval. The interest level of the lesson and

the attitude and behavior of the teacher are both paramount. When teaching young learners, the

teacher should show appreciation and give regular encouragement.

Young learners generally have very short

attention spans and have a hard time sitting

and listening for long periods. Therefore, it’s

important to have short, exciting activities

that change regularly. The younger the

children, the shorter and more action-packed

the activities should be. Successful activities

can include songs, games, and working with

toys. Figure 5 shows two teachers

presenting a fun and animated reading

lesson.

Putting young learners into small groups and

rotating activities is a great way to keep

lessons dynamic, exciting, and appealing.

Teachers are encouraged to teach ESL

learners similar topics to those of native-

speaking children of the same age while

simplifying the lesson content greatly due to

student’s limited English proficiency.

Numbers, time, days, months, colors,

greetings, and basic instructions should form

the basis of early lessons. Finding different

ways to present the same material can be very challenging. Teachers should not be embarrassed

if they have to be the class clown to garner student attention and interest. One phrase often used

Teaching Young Learners

They look up to their teachers so heap positive

reinforcement on them

They get restless easily so vary activities

regularly and make the activities fun and active

They love to laugh and dance so being the

clown is an advantage

They don’t see the long-term benefit of English,

so the fun factor needs to be very high

Figure 5. Two teachers get animated as they read a story to a kindergarten class.




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concerning teaching young learners is, “If the teacher feels like a clown when presenting, they’re

doing it right.”

Adolescents Adolescent learners present a different set of

challenges, but teaching adolescents can be

interesting, and a lot of fun. They have a more

complex set of motivating factors for learning

English.

For adolescents, teacher approval is much less

important than peer approval. One challenge with

teaching adolescents is that their confidence may

be brittle, and they are easily humiliated; teachers

should avoid picking on students. In surveys, many

students complain that teachers pick on certain

students to increase their popularity or

demonstrate power.

Setting the right level of challenge is another

aspect vital to success in teaching adolescents. If

the challenge is too low, students may switch off. If

it is too high, they become de-motivated and

discouraged.

Unfortunately, classes of adolescents often contain

a wide range of proficiency levels and varying

degrees of motivation. Developing lessons that are

consistent with the lifestyle, aspirations, and

interests of adolescent learners goes a long way in

terms of student engagement.

Using a variety of fun topics can help make a wide

range of content more interesting and accessible

to adolescent students. Figure 6 shows a teacher

Summary: Teaching Adolescent Learners

They respond better to lessons that are

relevant and interesting

They respond better to lessons that

incorporate the local culture

Peer pressure plays a major role in the

classroom

Figure 6. A teacher uses an active, fun warmer based around a lesson about sports to attract student interest and participation.




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introducing a sports lesson by creating a bowling alley at the front of the class using a soccer ball

and water bottles.

Teachers are also encouraged to embed their lessons in the local culture. In South Korea, there is

a strong value placed on scholastic achievement and financial success. Teachers can incorporate

these values into their lessons. Focusing on themes of financial success (what would you do if you

had 1 million dollars?) or competitions in which ‘funny money’ is given to the winning student or

group are possible examples of this. Conversely, in Thailand, individual competition is not a

cultural value, and topics that include family and friends, and as well as fun group activities,

resonate with students.

Teaching Adults Adults learn in a significantly different way from children. There are a few things to bear in mind

when teaching adults.

The first is that content should be easily applicable. Adults like to learn in ways that are easily

applicable to their work and/or lifestyle goals. Teachers may even ask them at the beginning of the

class what their language goals are so that the teacher can adjust their lessons to meet student

goals. Figure 7 is an example of an English teacher incorporating student language goals to make

lessons more relevant and useful.

Adults also like to share their experiences.

Adults have extensive life experiences and

knowledge, values, opinions, and ways

that they do things that have been learned

over time, and form part of their identity.

They like to share these experiences and

knowledge and tend to engage more when

given that opportunity. Teachers should

create opportunities for adult students to

share within the context of the lesson.

Finally, adults expect knowledge and

experiences to be respected and

acknowledged. Closely related to the

previous point, adults want to feel that

Figure 7. A teacher delivers an English lesson to members of the NGO community in Myanmar. The teacher created lessons with English content that would help students reach out to international donors to secure funds for local development projects.




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their knowledge and experiences are valued and appreciated. Teachers need to build trust and

mutual respect with adult learners. One way to do this is by identifying and showing appreciation

for the ideas, opinions, and experiences that adult learners bring to the classroom.

Adult Beginners. Adult beginners are perhaps the easiest age group to teach. They typically

have high levels of intrinsic motivation and often succeed quickly. It is easy to define in-class

goals, and students are motivated to attain them. The teacher should be positive at all times and

reward the efforts of students with encouragement.

Intermediate Level Adults. While some may think intermediate-level adults have a high level of

intrinsic motivation, the complexity of language studied at this level causes a steeper learning

curve and invariably slower progress. Some students at this level may feel overwhelmed by the

content, and the dropout rate is higher than at the beginner level. That being said, intermediate,

adult learners already know a lot at this stage and are often very motivated. The realization that

there is a lot to learn can be demoralizing so teachers should set realistic and achievable targets.

Be sure to progress through lessons at an appropriate pace, and don’t try to do too much too

quickly.

Advanced Adults. Advanced adults must be highly motivated to continue studying. At this stage,

students have a broader knowledge of the target language, and will often try to apply what they

already know, rather than learn new material. The teacher must demonstrate ways the students

can continue to develop new language skills and show that true achievement will be in those new,

more specific developments. Beware of expecting too much from students at this level. Students

may have highly specialized reasons for continuing their studies (e.g. need English for their jobs,

could be moving to a different country, etc.). Matching materials and lessons closely to student

needs will help to gain student interest.

3.4 HABITS OF EFFECTIVE TEACHERS

No two teachers are going to be the same in the classroom. Everyone has different personalities,

styles, demeanors, energy levels, etc. That being said, there are a few keys to success that can

be applied across the board. One of the most important things new teachers can do is to make an

effort to connect with students and show that they care. By doing this, the teacher will develop

rapport and mutual respect with their class. With that in mind, teachers must be consistent in their

approach. If they start treating some students differently than others, they run the risk of hurting

their standing with the entire class. It is important to be firm, fair, and consistent, especially in




29

disciplining students. Lastly, particularly in cross-cultural settings, teachers must understand the

impact on the classroom environment of both their own experiences and the experience and

background of their students. Teachers working overseas often experience culture shock, which

they carry into the classroom, possibly affecting their attitude and relationships with their peers

and students. Effective teachers understand culture shock and manage it in such a way that it

doesn’t affect them in the classroom. Teachers also often come from different cultural

backgrounds than their students. Effective teachers can understand the culture of their students

and leverage that knowledge to achieve their teaching goals.

Teacher Roles and Styles The teacher plays many roles: Authority figure, leader, guide, game show host, etc. Teachers

should be consistent in their teaching personalities. It’s important to be conscious of the fact that

the teacher’s role may change slightly depending on the age/proficiency of each class. The

teacher’s role as a kindergarten teacher will not be the same as when they teach 11-year-olds. Be

genuine, and do not adopt a contrived style just because of a common misperception that

teachers must act a certain way. An individual’s teaching style is usually consistent with their

personality. Many western cultures emphasize non-directive, non-authoritarian roles and styles,

but it’s important to

realize that other cultures have different traditions and expectations. Be sensitive to the

perceptions of others. Communicate ideas without alienating or belittling others. Be patient and

learn from experience.

Creating a Positive Classroom Climate There are many things a teacher can do to establish

a positive climate in the classroom. One effective

way is to establish relationships or connections with

students built on trust and respect, otherwise known

as establishing rapport. By building a rapport,

students will feel capable, competent, and creative.

Give feedback on progress. Show interest in each

student, their lives outside of school, and try to

develop a connection with them that goes beyond

the classroom.

Figure 8. Teachers should show care and provide praise in the classroom.




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Praise and Criticism Figure 8 shows a teacher fist-bumping a student to show praise for a job well done. There is a

delicate balance between praise and criticism, and being conscious of the feedback given will help

the teacher create a successful learning environment. Genuine praise allows the teacher to create

positive classroom energy that will make students more accepting of any future criticism. Positive

classroom energy comes from solid preparation, confidence in teaching, a genuine and positive

belief in the student’s ability to learn, and a sense of joy in the teacher’s work. Praise and

encouragement are extremely important for building trust with students. Even something as simple

as smiling when interacting with students shows students that the instructor is positive and

approachable.

While praise is an essential part of building student confidence, teachers must ensure that praise

is not excessive. Think of the “Law of Diminishing Returns.” If a teacher starts commending every

little thing that students do, the praise begins to lose effectiveness. Also, both praise and criticism

need to be appropriate. This means that the teacher should praise or criticize the behavior, not the

student. Be sure to praise good effort, even if the results aren’t perfect. If a student is trying hard to

improve but hasn’t necessarily achieved accuracy yet, praise should still be given. Praising an

honest and hard effort can act as an effective confidence booster, and likely propel students

towards reaching future goals.

Culture Shock in the Classroom Many teachers who teach abroad experience some form of culture shock. Culture shock is a

normal process of adjustment to a new country or environment that is dramatically different, in

which the individual experiences a variety of emotions that impact their general happiness and

interpersonal relations. These emotions can include loneliness, anger, frustration, resentment, and

depression, and typically subside over time.

Manifestations of Culture Shock. Culture shock can make its way into the classroom in many

forms. One way is by affected teacher preparation. Teachers experiencing culture shock may be

unmotivated to create lesson plans and may not make the extra effort to create engaging lessons.

Students will recognize when a teacher has not put forth the effort or is generally unprepared for

class.

Another way in which culture shock affects teachers is in the energy level that they display in the

classroom. Teachers who are experiencing culture shock tend to suffer from low energy and can




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become disinterested and preoccupied. A student's demeanor in the classroom tends to reflect the

demeanor and attitude of the teacher, making classroom management that much more difficult.

The final way that culture shock creeps into the classroom is in a teacher’s relationship with their

students. Teachers who are experiencing culture shock sometimes lose patience or display

hostility with students. They may also speak badly about the local culture or people. These

behaviors can lead students to lose respect for the teacher.

Techniques for Managing Culture Shock. It is

hard to prevent culture shock, but it can be

managed. The best way to manage culture

shock is to know more about it and be self-

aware of personal feelings and emotions

during the transition period to a new country.

The feelings associated with culture shock

often lead to irrational thoughts that if

identified and shared with close friends, will help teachers to process them and put them in the

proper context. The other strategy is to view the classroom as a stage and the teacher as a

performer. When the teacher is in the classroom, they are on stage. If teachers adopt the role of

actor/actress when they enter the classroom, bringing energy and focus to their lessons, they will

minimize the impact of culture shock.

Cross-cultural Teaching Teaching in a cross-cultural environment can be challenging in many ways. One aspect that is

often taken for granted is that when teaching in their own culture, teachers always incorporate

cultural elements into their lessons. For example, in the United States, a teacher may develop a

lesson plan about a ‘rags to riches’ story. Or about a young child who sets out to be the best

basketball player in the world. These lessons reflect important American cultural values of

egalitarianism and individualism. Such lessons in a country like Thailand, where there is social

hierarchy and collectivism, would seem out of step with the local culture. Teachers must

understand and harness the cultural values and norms of the society in which they teach to make

their lesson topics more relevant and familiar. For example, in Thailand, where family and tradition

are important, a teacher may develop a lesson plan on taking a family vacation, or about the

importance of caring for the family. Myanmar people are very religious and spend significant time

going to temples not only to worship but also to socialize and relax. With that knowledge, teachers




32

can develop lessons that speak to the importance of religion in Myanmar student’s lives. Perhaps

insights like these could lead to a lesson topic on “picnic to the temple”. In addition to lesson topics

and activities, culture also comes into the classroom in the form of teaching styles, and teacher-

student and student-student interactions.




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Section 4: Planning Lessons

4.1 PLANNING LESSONS

Should Teachers Plan Lessons? The answer to this is an emphatic “Yes”! Even seasoned teachers should plan their lessons.

Lesson planning is enormously helpful to ensure that teachers enter the classroom fully prepared.

They are also mandated by many schools and teacher-employment agencies. Lesson planning

has many important functions and advantages. These include:

An aid to achieving learning objectives. Documenting learning objectives and outlining how

they are to be achieved ensures that objectives are always a part of the lesson plan process.

A Working Document. A lesson plan helps teachers stay on target and gives them something to

refer to during the lesson. On the lesson plan template, teachers should allocate the intended time

requirements for each activity. That being said, it’s important to note that many activities will take

more or less time than what we expect, so teachers must remain flexible in applying their lesson

plans. One example of remaining flexible with the lesson plan is if students take longer than

expected to understand the activity, but ultimately they comprehend the instructions and the

activity continues successfully, that part of the lesson shouldn’t be cut short just to move away for

an additional, planned activity. Another example would be if the class is enjoying a particular

activity, the teacher should probably extend it and maybe postpone other activities until a later

lesson.

A Record. A lesson plan acts as a record of what a class has done and which materials have

been used. Teachers are unlikely to remember what each class did six months ago if they haven’t

kept a record. Recording class content will also help if a teacher is ill and another teacher has to

cover their classes. Making a running weekly calendar that indicates which lessons were taught to

which classes on each day can serve as a quick reference to see what material has already been

covered. Using dated lesson plans, and a running calendar will allow teachers to easily refer back

and find out what they did on each particular day.

A Requirement. Most schools require teachers to submit lesson plans in advance to check both

the quality of each lesson and the preparation of each teacher.

A Resource. Lesson plans can be a resource that can be used by other teachers if one is absent.

How Should a Lesson Plan be Written? The basic principles of lesson plan development are:




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• Keep lesson plans simple. The teacher may need to refer to the plan during a lesson

• Maintain a consistent structure for each lesson

• Keep lessons flexible and open to adaptation

• Document anticipated challenges and possible solutions

• Identify materials and/or equipment needed for the lesson

The end of this section includes the CultureRoute lesson plan template and example.

What Should be Included in a Lesson Plan? At the start of one’s teaching career, it’s best to structure lesson plans with a high level of detail so

that there is a clear understanding of what goals need to be achieved in the lesson and how to

achieve them. In addition to the Warmer, Presentation, Practice, Production, and Wrap-up

sections, there are other important elements to add to the lesson plan that although not dealing

directly with teaching content, provide critical structure and benefits to the lesson plan. These

elements include:

Date/time – Allows a record of what lessons have been completed with which classes

Student level of proficiency – The English language ability of each class

Number of students – Knowing how many students are in each class ensures that activities are

suitable for the class size

Age group – Student age is important to ensure that the content is age-appropriate

Lesson Type – Speaking, Reading, Listening, or Writing. Despite the focus of the lesson,

teachers should incorporate all four language skills in a given lesson

Topic – The specific content that will be covered in the lesson

Theme – The theme is the context in which the topic material will be taught. The theme brings the

topic to life in a way that is relevant and interesting to students

Aims – What the teacher wants the students to be able to do by the end of the lesson

Timetable – Anticipating how long each activity will take is a necessary skill for an effective

educator. It will help ensure that there is enough content to fill the whole lesson. Be realistic and

flexible with timing. Not paying attention to activity times can lead to having to make up for lost

time or filling in extra time. This is one of the most difficult areas for inexperienced teachers. How

long will it take students to read a text? Complete a worksheet? Write a dialogue? As teachers




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gain experience and greater knowledge of their students, they will be able to more precisely

allocate timeframes to different activities or sections of the lesson

Materials and aids – A list of materials and other aids that will need in the lesson, which will help

teachers quickly check if they have everything needed for the class, and also help a substitute

teacher, if necessary

Presumed knowledge – Indicates the proficiency of students and their previous knowledge. Aids

teacher in creating activities that are achievable for students

Anticipated problems and solutions (for the students and the teacher) – Try to anticipate any

particular problems that the students (or the teacher) may have with the lesson. These should be

countered in the lesson plan with potential solutions and backup activities in case these situations

do arise.

Homework – Assigned at the discretion of the teacher depending on the curriculum and

expectations of school administration

Being Organized Before presenting a lesson, several practical things can be done to ensure that the lesson goes

smoothly. These include:

• Checking to ensure that the lesson plan is in hand

• Ensuring that all the necessary aids and materials are present

• Checking that the equipment works

• Organizing materials and aids so that they can be easily located

• Arranging the seating as desired

• Ensuring that the board is clean

• Interact with students as they enter the classroom, which helps break the ice and gets

them in the mood to learn

4.2 SELF-EVALUATION

After each lesson, teachers should take note of what worked well, and what could be improved

upon in future lessons. Teachers should also spend some time after each class adjusting activities

and materials accordingly. They should try to find out to what extent students understood the

material, how receptive they were to the activities, and what classroom management issues

emerged during the lesson. Another method for evaluating lessons is to assign concept checks,

homework, and informal quizzes. Teachers should use student scores on these assignments to




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gauge how much information they are retaining from each lesson, and in what areas they might

need additional help.




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Lesson Plan (Template)

Date/time _____________________________ Teacher Name _____________________________ Student Level of Proficiency _____________________________ Number of students _____________________________ Age Group: _____________________________ Lesson type (listening; speaking etc.): _____________________________ Topic The content you want to cover for the day. Ex: Counting numbers 1-10 Theme The theme brings the topic to life in a way that is relevant and exciting for the students. Ex: African Safari and counting animals Aims ... Timetable (Assuming the class length is X minutes and the number of students in the class is X) Warmer: X minutes Presentation: X minutes Practice: X minutes Production: X minutes Wrap-up: X minutes Warmer ... Presentation Vocabulary is presented here. Practice ... Production ...




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... Wrap-up ...

Planning Elements Materials and aids

Presumed Knowledge Anticipated Problems & Solutions Homework




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Lesson Plan (Example)

Date/time XXX Teacher Name XXX Student Level of Proficiency Beginner Number of students 40 Age Group: 13-14 Lesson type (listening; speaking etc.): Speaking Topic Music Theme Rockband/Battle of the Bands Aims Students will be able to express their musical interests, as well as express themselves by creating an imaginary band whilst working with their peers. Timetable (Assuming the class length is X minutes and the number of students in the class is X) Warmer: 5 minutes Presentation: 10 minutes Practice: 15 minutes Production: 15 minutes Wrap-up: 5 minutes Warmer Board race game Split class into 2 teams. Name their teams. Students take turns racing to the board to write their favorite bands or genres of music. One point per each answer. Demonstrate on the board first. Presentation The following vocabulary words will be drilled using flashcards. After each card is presented it will be put on the board with the written word next to it.

1. Music 2. Sing 3. Guitar (play) 4. Bass (play) 5. Drums (play) 6. Band




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7. Rock 8. Pop 9. Song 10. Favorite

Practice The following dialogue couplets will be practiced with the class using visual cues to denote different speakers for the questions and answers. The teacher will focus on accuracy and pronunciation, and ensure that students have practiced both asking and answering roles in the couplets. 1. What music do you like? I like rock music (additional for high-beginners) - …like XXX (name of the band) 2. Do you want to be in a band? Yes, I want to be in a band (additional for high-beginners) - …like XXX (name of the band) 3. Do you like to play guitar? No, I like to play drums (additional for high-beginners) - …like XXX (name of artist) (Extra) (high-beginners, time-permitting) 4. Who is your favorite band? My favorite band is XXX because XXX Production Split the students into groups of 4 They will need to form their band! On the board write the following headings:

1. Band name 2. Song name 3. Singer 4. Guitar 5. Bass 6. Drums

The students need to use the dialogue taught, to create their band, and the roles of each member.




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Once completed. Each group will present their band to the class. The teacher will circulate among the groups to encourage participation and offer assistance, focusing on the communicative goals of the activity, prioritizing fluency over accuracy. Wrap-up Battle of the bands/X-Factor! Each group will play their song, and the class will vote on the winner.

Planning Elements Materials and aids Flashcards, whiteboard markers, a small prize or award for the winning “band” (optional) Presumed Knowledge: Knowledge of popular bands/artists Anticipated Problems & Solutions Inhibition – Will need to be enthusiastic and encouraging, select more pairs/small groups when drilling vocabulary and dialogue Inability to write the names of bands/genres during the warmer – Have them draw pictures of musical instruments instead Uneven participation in the production – groups will need to be selected with a good mix of strong and weak English speakers Homework None




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Section 5: Teaching Speaking

5.1 THE SPEAKING LESSON

In most of Asia, the English language curriculum focuses on the Audio-Lingual approach, or

“teaching speaking and listening.” Schools want to enhance their student’s conversational English

skills. There are several reasons for this. The first reason is that local English teachers in Asia

don’t have the natural accent or pace of speaking that native English speakers have. The second

reason is that local English teachers focus heavily on grammar and writing. Since the local

teachers don’t have the natural accent or pace of speaking that native English speakers have, and

since they already focus on grammar, schools want native English-speaking teachers to use their

limited time to focus on conversational skills.

A third reason why native English teachers are

mainly asked to focus on developing conversational

skills is that they are typically paid a higher salary

than local teachers. Their time is limited and costly,

and schools want them to focus on the aspect of

language that native-speaking teachers are better

suited to provide. Finally, the focus on teaching

speaking is because being able to converse

effectively in English is critical to career

advancement for ESL learners. English is the

international language of business, and being able to

speak English can also open up a lot of professional

opportunities for students in the tourism industry as well.

For these reasons, this course spends considerable time on teaching speaking and listening.

Furthermore, the focus is also on beginners, as the majority of students in ESL classrooms are

basic or advanced beginners.

Applying the CultureRoute Method to Teaching Speaking: The Benefits The CultureRoute method combines the Direct Methodology and the Communicative Approach. A

great way to teach beginners speaking is by introducing vocabulary and then using that

vocabulary in a dialogue to illustrate how words are used in context. As student proficiency

increases, teachers will start using vocabulary that enables students to master a certain task. A

good example would be how to order food at a restaurant or give directions to the local mall. As

Summary: Why the Focus on

Teaching Speaking?

Native English teachers are costly for

schools to hire so they want teachers

to specialize

Learning spoken English is important

for local peoples’ job prospects

Non-native teachers focus on

grammar, native speakers speak




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students become more comfortable with the language, the teacher will begin including grammar

points in the dialogue. In time, they will start recognizing not only the words but also the sentence

structures and the grammar points the teacher has been reviewing with them.

When working with beginners, teachers should keep lessons very basic at first. Students have a

very limited vocabulary and outside knowledge to pull from, and it will be difficult for them to

complete complex tasks. Once students have moved from beginner to the intermediate level, the

teacher can make lessons more challenging and have creative activities that require students to

bring in knowledge from previous lessons taught. Just be sure students have a good

understanding of the concepts they have been taught before moving on to more challenging

topics.

5.2 TEACHING TO BEGINNERS: TEACHING DIALOGUE AND SCRIPTS

A dialogue is a written interaction between two or more people. It includes both elements of formal

and informal speech. Good dialogue should match the skill level of the students. As a student’s

skill level in English increases, so will the complexity of the dialogue. Dialogue should mirror

conversational speech and include situations that students are likely to find themselves in.

Benefits of Teaching Dialogue

• Illustrates the use of common situational phrases.

• Brings context and meaning to vocab.

• Best opportunity to emphasize meaningful use of pauses, reactions, and interjections

• Students can pick up stresses, intonations, and rhythms.

• Provides an opportunity to practice pronunciation.

• Teaches new grammatical structures in a communicative way

• Dialogue provides a window into other cultures.

What Makes a Good Dialogue?

• Brevity: The language used should be brief and simple. We don’t want any long,

convoluted sentences because as they can be difficult to memorize, and could lead to a

loss of student focus.

• Natural Speech: Dialogue should be a natural form of English that could be heard in a

conversation between two native speakers. We don’t want students speaking in

Shakespearean sonnets or archaic language.

• Relevance: Should be relevant to the topic and use the vocabulary words introduced in

the Presentation phase.




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• Consistency: Phrases and ideas should be connected and relevant between each set of

Q&A dialogue couplets for each lesson.

Practicing Dialogues Dialogues are introduced in a question-answer format with a 4-step process called the TT-TS-ST-

SS method. The first step is called Teacher-Teacher (TT). In this phase, the instructor will model

the dialogue to the class by saying

both the question and answer from

the couplet.

-Teacher: “Are you going to wear a

jacket outside?”

-Teacher: “No, it’s sweltering

outside today.”

We suggest modeling the question

and answer three times. Since we

want the students to be able to

memorize the couplet and hear all

the nuances of the language, we

must speak slowly and clearly during the T-T phase. An example of this phase being executed

can be seen in Figure 9.

Following the T-T step, we then move to the Teacher-Student (TS) phase. Here, the teacher will

ask the question, and the students will respond with the designated answer. At this point, we don’t

want to limit ourselves to only doing the TS phase three times because we want as many students

as possible to have a chance to answer the question.

Teachers can move on to the next phase of dialogue once the students start to understand the

dialogue and how to make the corresponding sounds, or when the students become bored of the

repetitions and start losing focus.

The next step of this process is the Student-Teacher (ST) phase. It is essentially just the T-S

phase but in reverse. Now the student will ask the question and the teacher will respond.

Student: Are you going to wear a jacket outside?

Teacher: No, it’s sweltering outside today.

Figure 9. The teacher demonstrates teaching dialogue while his student eagerly waits to participate. Notice the teacher’s use of visual devices to indicate “turns” in the couplet.




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Circulate the room, and try to give as many students a chance to ask the question as possible.

After the students seem to have a sufficient grasp on the phrase or seem to be getting restless,

move on to the final phase.

The final phase of the dialogue/ practice portion of the lesson is Student-Student (SS). During this

phase, the teacher will designate small groups of students to ask the question to other small

groups of students who will answer the question. While the students practice the dialogue

amongst themselves, the teacher will act as a facilitator, correcting pronunciation, choosing

groups, managing behavior, and providing positive praise. Once the students are successfully

practicing the dialogue amongst themselves, and they seem to have a good grasp on the phrases,

let them continue to practice. While the students are occupied with the dialogue, take advantage of

the time and write the question and answer couplet on the board.

Having the dialogue written on the board will help the students because they will be able to read

the words, and sound out the letters in each phrase. With this in mind, however, we want to avoid

writing the dialogue on the board until the S-S phase because we want the students to have to

listen to the way we pronounce the words and try to memorize the sounds and meanings. Asian

students are typically a lot better at reading English than speaking or listening, and if we write the

couplets on the board earlier in the lesson we run the risk of students not listening to our speech,

and instead relying on what we’ve written on the board to help them say the phrase. The exception

to this rule is that if the students are having a really hard time memorizing or saying the couplet we

can write it on the board earlier to provide that additional support.

Using Visual Prompts to Teach Dialogue Visual prompts are a necessary aid to teaching dialogue. It helps to demonstrate whose turn it is

to ask the question, and whose turn it is to answer. Visual prompts help reinforce that dialogues

are conversations between two people, and they also help illustrate whose turn it is to speak.

Visual prompts have other advantages as well, including:

• Providing question-and-answer prompts

• Helping garner student attention and interest

• Helping with classroom management

Visual prompts should be made relevant and fun for the students. For example, if teaching a

lesson to 15-17-year-olds on “Going to a Concert”, you might choose to use two movie stars or




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musician cut-out visuals to designate turns. As simple as it may seem, these small

implementations bring fun into the lesson and garner greater interest among students.

When making visual prompts, put significant time into making them as colorful and relevant as

possible. The amount of effort put in to create visual prompts will pay off in terms of student

interest and attention. Figure 10 shows examples of visual prompts.

An easy way to make a good visual prop is to fasten a paper plate or piece of sturdy construction

paper to a stick. The visual prompts need to be somewhat durable as they will likely be used for

more than one class, and it needs to be able to survive the rowdy clutches of an excited student. If

possible, the teacher can even involve students

in creating the visual props. For example, for a

lesson on “Monsters in the Attic”, the teacher

might have students draw, color, and cut out

their own construction paper animal mask, and

then have them use it when they perform the

dialogue.

Sample Dialogues The following sets of dialogue were used for a

lesson on going camping. The vocabulary words

introduced in the presentation phase were:

camping, rucksack, tent, fire, forest, pen knife,

sleeping bag, hiking boots, and outdoors, and

the grammar point of this lesson was the future-

tense. The dialogue couplets were presented

using the TT, TS, ST, SS method.

• Q1: Where will you go with your tent?

• A1: I will go camping in the forest.

• Q2: What will you put in your rucksack?

• A2: I will put a sleeping bag and pen

knife in my rucksack.

• Q3: How will you stay warm outdoors?

• A3: I will start a fire.

• Q4: What will you wear in the woods?

Figure 10. Visual devices are used to teach dialogue in a speaking lesson.




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• A4: I will wear my hiking boots.

5.3 TEACHING SPEAKING / CONVERSATION

When creating lessons, teachers should try to include our student’s interests. Including student

interests make the lessons more relatable, meaningful, interesting, and ultimately digestible. But

how can teachers find out what students are interested in? Well, there are many ways, but one

easy method is to have students write down three things they like or are interested in. Have them

submit the list, and then refer to it when making lessons throughout the term. A dialogue about

shopping at the mall might not be very interesting. However, a dialogue about our student’s

favorite pop stars attempting to buy a new shirt at the mall might be something students want to

hear about. Dialogue is the principal way that we teach speaking to beginners. As students

become more advanced, teachers can experiment with other structures and formats, but teachers

must make sure students are at a high level of ability before moving into more challenging

activities. Below are the characteristics of successful speaking lessons.

Characteristics of a Successful Speaking Activity 1. Learners talk a lot.

The learner should be speaking for most of the activity. One of the challenges of this is that much

of the learner's time is taken up with teacher talk time or pauses.

2. Participation is even.

Teachers don’t want a minority of talkative students to dominate classroom discussions. All of the

students should be grouped and organized to maximize the amount of talk time for each student.

3. Motivation is high.

Learners are eager to speak because the topic is interesting, and activities have a fun factor

4. Language is appropriate.

Vocabulary, dialogue, and instructions should be relevant and easily comprehensible.

5. Teacher monitoring and modeling.

The teacher should be walking around and monitoring and modeling correct speech during

conversations to ensure that the lesson is meeting the objectives, to see if the level of the activity

is appropriate, and to check for accurate pronunciation.

Problems with Speaking Activities There are several challenges in planning and executing speaking activities.




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Inhibition. Unlike reading, writing, and listening activities, speaking requires some degree of real-

time exposure to an audience. Students are often worried about making mistakes, and they can be

fearful of criticism or losing face, or simply shy of the attention that their speech attracts.

Nothing to say. Even if learners are not inhibited, learners often complain that they cannot think

of anything to say. This can happen when they have no motive to express themselves beyond the

guilty feeling that they should be speaking.

Low or uneven participation. Sometimes getting all students to participate in class can be a big

challenge, particularly if the class is large. This problem is often compounded by the tendency of

some learners to dominate the class, while others speak very little or not at all.

Use of mother tongue. Students tend to fall back on their first language because it is easier, and

because speaking to their classmates in English may feel unnatural and silly. This challenge

comes up a lot when students are in small groups, and it can be quite difficult to get some

classes—particularly the less disciplined or motivated ones—to speak in the target language

Possible Solutions Consider what a teacher might do in the classroom to overcome each of the problems described

above. Teachers may wish to supplement their ideas with those suggested below.

1. Use group work

Group work is a good way to increase the amount of learner talk time going on in a limited period,

and it also lowers the inhibitions of learners. Students who may feel uncomfortable speaking to the

whole class, are more likely to speak in front of a small group of their classmates. During this

time, the teacher cannot monitor all of the students speaking, so occasionally students may

mispronounce words, slip into their native languages, or make mistakes. But that’s fine because

even with occasional mistakes and mother-tongue use the amount of positive talk-time practice

that happens with small groups is still far more likely to be more effective than trying to do

activities with the whole class.

2. Base the activity on easy language

The level of language needed for production activities or student discussions should be lower than

that used in intensive language-learning activities in the same class. Discussion should be easily

recalled, and the language should be simple enough for the participants to try and use it fluently.

3. Base the activity on something that aligns with our student’s interests




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If students are interested in the material, they will be much more likely to participate and utilize any

pre-existing knowledge they already have.

5.4 PUTTING PIZAZZ IN THE PRACTICE PORTION

While the TT-TS-ST-SS method of drilling dialogue is extremely effective, it tends to be the least

exciting component of the lesson plan for students and can lead to restlessness. This is especially

true for low proficiency students or those in primary school. Drilling and repetition are a necessary

part of the language acquisition processes, but if students become bored, there is a high chance

they will begin to act out with misbehavior. So, what can teachers do about this? Adding an easy

and fun game or activity to a dialogue practice can help break up the monotony of drilling and

repetition, hold student’s attention longer, and encourage greater participation. The main purpose

of the dialogue game should be to encourage the students to practice the phrases you’ve outlined.

For example, let’s say a teacher is presenting a lesson on clothing. The teacher wants students to

practice a simple dialogue couplet, but the class is a high-energy group, and they have a hard time

sitting still through the practice. This would be a good time to implement a simple game. Below are

several examples of Pizzazz in Practice.

Mystery Hobby This one is an extremely easy activity that is low-prep for the teacher and can also bring a bit of fun to dialogue practice. Let’s say you’re doing a lesson on the topic of Hobbies, and you’re trying to reinforce the grammar point—using the past tense.

Put all of your hobby flashcards in a box, and close the lid.

Now circulate the classroom, and break students into small groups.

Ask a small group of students,

“What did you do last weekend?”

Instruct a student from one of the groups to reach in the ‘mystery box’ and pull out one of the hobby flashcards. The students will then use this flashcard to help formulate their responses.

The student pulls out the “playing the guitar” flashcard.

“I played the guitar last weekend.”

Continue in this fashion, circulating throughout the room and making sure that all of the student groups get even practice with the dialogue phrases. You can even follow the TT-TS-ST-SS format with these games. All you have to do is designate the question and answer to small groups of students accordingly.




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So now that we have the basics of how to create a speaking lesson, let’s expand on this a bit more to see how we can tailor our speaking lessons to intermediate and advanced students.




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Pizzazz-in-Practice Activities

Teacher Hat Toss Game

Put the students in a line, and have them stand about a foot away from the teacher.

Have one student at a time come up to the front of the line.

Ask the student, “Is the teacher wearing a hat?”

After asking the student the question, the student will try and toss the hat onto the top of your head. If the student misses, then they should respond with

“No, the teacher is not wearing a hat.”

But if the student makes the hat toss, then they should say…

“Yes, the teacher is wearing a hat.”

Once the student says the phrase, you can get the rest of the class to repeat the phrase to continue the dialogue practice.

Note* Adding a point system to the game to make it more competitive can also increase the appeal.

This game is an effective addition to the dialogue practice because the students are still practicing the phrases you’ve preselected, it develops the accuracy of the language, is related to the topic. Perhaps best of all though, it makes the students want to participate and take part in the action.

Travel Spinner Game

This game was presented in a lesson practice dialogue on the topic of traveling.

Teachers built a simple spinner out of cardboard and construction paper.

To practice dialogue, bring up three students at a time, and ask them, “Where are you going on vacation?”

Each student hits the spinner one time, and then whichever country the spinner would land on, the three students use in their dialogue answer. Spinner lands on China.

“We are going to China for vacation.”

The teacher instructs the whole class to repeat after the three students who had come to the board. Bringing three students up to the board at one time was a great way to build the presenting student’s confidence, while also avoiding singling them out.

Next, the teacher asked the students, “What will you do on your vacation?”

Students spin the spinner one more time and then use whatever activity it landed on to formulate their response, which was then once again echoed by the other students. Spinner lands on hiking. “I will go hiking on vacation.”

Students were excited to see where the spinner would land. They all wanted to take part in the spinning, and if that meant they had to answer an English question to do so, then to them, the reward of spinning the spinner much outweighed the sacrifice of practicing an English dialogue couplet.




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5.5 SPEAKING LESSONS FOR INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED STUDENTS

When teaching speaking, there are few strategies on how to specifically cater lessons to

intermediate and advanced learners. No matter what proficiency level or age of learners, it’s

always a good idea to start the class off with a fun warmer activity, and to end the class with a fun

wrap-up. When working with intermediate and advanced learners, it’s a good idea to develop

warmers on discussion and thinking about the language rather than on games. Fun games can

work and be included, but if students have a solid foundation in the target language, getting them

to think critically about the topic of the day is a great way to open up the class.

Below are two examples of warmers that might be used in a lesson for intermediate and advanced

learners.

Warmer for Intermediate and Advanced Learners Warmer, Topic: Idioms

1) Write 5 idioms on the board.

2) Break students into small teams.

3) Set a time limit, and get the teams to brainstorm what they think each idiom means.

4) After the time limit is up, facilitate a discussion in which the students offer their suggestions for

what the phrases might mean.

This is a great warmer activity for higher-level learners because it encourages a high degree of

communication, gets the students to think critically about the language, and also develops their

ability to infer meaning from context. That being said, the students need to have a fairly high level

of English to engage in this kind of discussion.

Warmer, Topic— Past Tense

1) Ask the students to get into small groups.

2) Set a time limit.

3) Task the students to prepare to share what they did the previous weekend.

4) After the time limit, facilitate a discussion where each student team talks about what they did

the previous weekend.

5) Pay attention to see if anyone uses the past tense correctly.




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Once again this activity involves a high amount of communication, gets the students to think

critically about the language, and will also give teachers a window into their ability to use the past

tense correctly.

Presentation for Intermediate and Advanced Learners Whereas the presentation phase of a speaking lesson for beginners likely consists of single words,

when working with intermediate and advanced students, it may be more beneficial to focus the

presentation phase more on full phrases or concepts.

Here are some examples of concepts teachers might present in a lesson for intermediate or

advanced students.

Rhetorical questions, compliments, similes, excuses, idioms, use of slang, present perfect tense…

One example is if a teacher is covering the topic of rhetorical questions. The presentation section

would likely consist of all rhetorical questions. It might look something like this:

Are you kidding me? Do pigs fly? Is the sky blue?

At this point, students will probably understand each of the individual words in these phrases, but

they are unlikely to understand their meaning when they are put together or used as a rhetorical

question.

One way to elicit these terms is to use flashcards. However, if students are at an advanced level, it

may be more beneficial to introduce your target concept through a reading or listening selection, or

news article.

Presenting a new language concept through a reading or listening excerpt can be effective for

intermediate and advanced learners because it allows them to see the language used in a context,

and also helps them develop the skill of inferring meaning from context.

Whether choosing to elicit the terms with flashcards or contextual selections, make sure the focus

of the lesson is clear.

Practice for Intermediate and Advanced Learners With beginners, teachers mainly stick to question-and-answer dialogue couplets. With

intermediate and advanced students, however, teachers can expand to include scripts, mad libs

exercises, and extended dialogues.

One thing that works well for intermediate and advanced students is dialogue practice where the

student is encouraged to pick their response.




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Let’s go back to our rhetorical questions example.

Q: Did you finish your homework?

A: (Student is encouraged to pick their response from the list of rhetorical questions… )

Do pigs fly?

This is a nice format because it allows the student some options and control over what they will

say. It gives them a little piece of independence, as opposed to just rote drilling.

Whether choosing to do mad libs, lines from a movie or a pick-your-own response dialogue, one of

the biggest points to keep in mind with the practice section is that students focus on the accuracy

of the language.

So even though intermediate and advanced students may be dealing with more complex language

concepts, teachers should still give them a practice opportunity that is supported by teacher

guidance and facilitation.

If the teacher puts too much responsibility on the student at this point, they are likely to take

shortcuts or form bad language habits. Even if we do an activity where we encourage them to

choose their response, that response should be pre-written by the teacher to ensure that proper

grammar and sentence structure are used.

Production for Intermediate and Advanced Learners With beginners, teachers create production activities that are highly centered on the language that

is presented during the presentation and practice portion. For intermediate and advanced

students, while teachers still focus on the information presented in the earlier phases of the

lesson, they can now expand the task to include more outside language and less structured and

longer speaking opportunities.

Here are some example production activities teachers might use with intermediate or advanced

students.

Short plays, simple debates, projects, comics, posters, group presentations…

One important difference between beginners and intermediate/advanced students is that

intermediate and advanced students should pull more heavily from their existing knowledge base

than from models presented in class. While teachers want students to practice using the concepts

presented in class, it’s better to have them synthesizing their phrases as opposed to pulling their

responses directly from models presented in the presentation and practice portion.




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In Conclusion Here is a helpful table that highlights the differences between the content of beginner and

intermediate speaking lessons.




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Section 6: Teaching Phonics

Pronunciation is an integral part of second/foreign language learning because it directly affects

learners’ ability to be understood. Until recently, most schools gave little focus to developing

listening and speaking skills, and instead emphasized reading and writing. Correct pronunciation

was not seen as an integral aspect of building communication skills. This changed with the

emergence and popularization of Communicative Language Techniques (CLT), and the

importance of teaching pronunciation is now embraced. Figure 11 shows the Phonemic Chart.

Phonemes are the basic units of a language’s phonology and represent the various sounds of a

language. When combined, they form various ways in which we pronounce words.

Figure 11. Phonemic Chart. The link below provides access to a chart that you can click and listen to the individual phonemes. http://www.phonemicchart.com.

Why Isn’t Pronunciation Widely Taught in Schools? There are several reasons why English language pronunciation is rarely taught in schools. Some

of these reasons include:

• Insufficient knowledge about how to teach and evaluate pronunciation

• A general lack of experience in ESL

• Inadequate testing methods for pronunciation

http://www.phonemicchart.com/




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Why Should ESL Pronunciation Be Taught? The usefulness of teaching second/foreign language pronunciation is widely debated. Some

believe that it has little effect on the learner’s comprehension of the language. But despite this,

pronunciation is something that any native speaker will recognize immediately when

communicating with an ESL speaker. Listen to this ESL learner talk about the impact of

pronunciation when communicating in the target language:

“Whenever I spoke to a person in America, they kept asking me “What? What?” I would

repeat my sentence again and again. Finally, they would say “Ah-ha!” and then repeat my

sentence, using exactly my words! It was very humiliating. I knew my words and grammar

were right, but nobody would understand me, just because of my pronunciation.”

If a learner’s general aim is to speak intelligibly and be understood, then they must have good

pronunciation. Pronunciation is not an optional extra for the language learner, it is a 100%

necessity for being understood, and it has equal importance to grammar, vocabulary, or any other

aspects of language.

6.1 FEATURES OF ESL PRONUNCIATION

Teachers should know the difference between a

segmental and a suprasegmental and should have a

basic understanding of how to train and move the

speech organs (lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, palate,

tongue, vocal folds, ears, etc.) to best produce the

sounds of the target language. Although teachers will

most likely never teach ESL students the technical

terminology for these pronunciation devices, being able to effectively instruct students on the

different types of sounds in English, as well as how to move their mouths to form those sounds,

will be a big help to ESL learners.

Segmental vs. Suprasegmental A segmental is vowels, consonants, phonemes, and syllables. The teacher should pay extra

attention to which phonemes are not available in their student’s mother tongues, as it is likely that

those sounds will be problematic to them. It may be beneficial to spend some extra time

developing these sounds with learners. Be aware that some student’s speech organs have been

consistently making the same shapes and sound for so long that new and unfamiliar sounds from

Summary: Segmentals and

Suprasegmentals

A segmental is a vowel, consonant, and

phoneme sound.

A suprasegmental is tone, intonation,

stress, and rhythm.




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the target language may be a difficult task. Teachers may have to spend some time showing

students how to properly move their speech organs. Figure 12.

Suprasegmentals deal with aspects of

language that are not related to the sound

of specific words: tone, pitch, pacing, and

accentuation of specific words in a

sentence, and other aspects of language.

Suprasegmentals are in the realm of

sentences, not individual words. For

example, think about when asking the

question: How are you today? The

question ends with a rising tone, and the

emphasis is on the word "you". The

emphasis, pacing, and rising tone are all

related to suprasegmentals. Without that

rising tone, the question would not be

understood properly. The rising tone is

what informs the receiver that you are

asking a question.

In English, people use tone and accentuation of words to change the meaning of sentences.

Consider: “I didn’t say we should kill him.” See what happens when you stress different words:

“I didn’t say we should kill him” (I only implied it),

“I didn’t say we should kill him” (someone else should)

“I didn’t say we should kill him” (we should kill someone else)

“I didn’t say we should kill him” (it was someone else’s idea)

Sarcasm is another example of needing to appreciate the tone, pitch, pacing, and accentuation of

specific words to fully understand English.

Phonemes A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language, and can distinctly distinguish similar words

from one another. The first letter of each of the following words can be considered a phoneme.

Figure 12. Many sounds in English are not natural for ESL learners. Teachers will need to illustrate to students how to make the sounds required to achieve correct pronunciation using the lips, mouth muscles, and the positioning of the tongue.




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cat, bat, rat…(C, B, R…) A syllable, on the other hand, can be defined as a unit of pronunciation

with one vowel sound, typically produced in a single contraction of the lungs. The English

language has twenty vowel phonemes (twelve monophthongs and eight diphthongs) and twenty-

four consonant phonemes. While vowels are articulated without any obstacle in the vocal tract,

consonants are produced with some blockage of the air passage.

6.2 THE BENEFITS OF TEACHING PHONICS

There are many benefits of teaching phonics. Some of these benefits are outlined below.

1) Alphabet. Phonics is helpful for ESL Learners who are just beginning to learning the English

alphabet. Many of the sounds of the English language do not exist in many other languages.

Students whose first language does not use the same alphabet as English does (Japanese,

Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Thai, Hebrew, etc.) have an extra challenge as they learn English.

Students learn what sounds each letter or combination of letters makes, and that helps them in

reading and pronunciation, especially with new words. The teacher should assess their students

and find out if they are at a level where emphasis on the alphabet and phonics will be helpful.

2) Spelling. Phonics helps students break down words into their components, and allows them to

sound through each part of a word and determine the letters needed to write it.

3) Unknown Words. Students of phonics are also better at reading unfamiliar words. They can

sound out the letters and letter groups in new vocabulary, and often accurately pronounce them on

the first try.

4) Word Roots. Because phonics enables students to see phonemes within words, students who

learn phonics may have an advantage in decoding English words from their word roots. They may

recognize spelling patterns more easily, and make connections between spelling and meaning.

This skill may help when they encounter new words that follow the spelling patterns they already

know.

5) Confidence. Learning phonics can boost ESL student’s confidence. When learners have the

tools (in this case, the rules of sound and spelling in English) to understand how the sounds of

language work, they gain confidence because they can figure out the sounds and meanings of

words from context and spelling, sometimes without the help of an instructor. Boosting student

confidence is something teachers should strive to do as often as possible, as a boost in

confidence in one aspect of language learning can have a ripple effect and spill over into other

aspects of language such as reading and spelling. Since one key to successful language learning




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is the courage to use the language, students with high confidence levels are more likely to

experiment and practice with English in other situations.

6.3 TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING PHONICS

How can English Language Pronunciation be Taught? There are two ways that one can approach teaching pronunciation. The “bottom-up approach”

begins with the articulation of individual sounds or phonemes (segmental) and works up towards

stress, rhythm, tone, and intonation (suprasegmental). Conversely, the “top-down approach” starts

with patterns of intonation and brings separate sounds or phonemes into sharper focus when that

focus is required. The former is based on the idea that if

the segmental is taught first, the suprasegmental will

subsequently be acquired without the need for formal

instruction, whereas the latter rests on the opposite

assumption: that once the suprasegmental features are

in place, the necessary segmental discriminations will

follow accordingly.

Based on existing studies, the top-down approach

appears to be more effective in teaching ESL pronunciation. That is, teaching ESL pronunciation

should commence from the suprasegmental that is more indispensable and contributes more to

intelligibility and accent than a segmental.

Classroom Techniques/Activities When planning pronunciation activities, it may be helpful to think about the teachability-learnability

scale suggests that there are certain aspects of the English pronunciation which appear to be

easily taught (namely, phonemes and stresses), while others, like intonation, are extremely

dependent on individual circumstances and thus practically impossible to separate for direct

teaching. Based on the exploration and critical analysis of the different approaches to teaching

pronunciation and what seems to be teachable and learnable for ESL classroom settings, there

are ten recommended techniques for teaching pronunciation:

1. Explanation: Rather than trying to provide lengthy verbal explanations of how to produce

sounds or use pronunciation patterns appropriately, teachers should instead model effective ways

to move the vocal organs.

2. Communication activities: The teacher can design communicative tasks that focus on

practicing particular sounds they want their students to develop. This is a good activity to practice

Example of Top-Down Approach to

Teaching Phonics

The teacher presents vocabulary

words with the same phonemes and

structure and then drills the

pronunciation.

Car, Bar, Star, Far




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sounds that aren’t available in the student’s mother tongue. When dealing with a group of

advanced learners, the teacher may even consider songs as a way to teach phonics.

3. Written versions of oral presentations: At the more advanced levels, learners can be given

strategies for analyzing the written versions of their oral presentations. This helps them detect,

identify, and correct errors or mistakes committed in their oral presentations. Let students know

the factors that make up good pronunciation and speech. Creating a simple rubric might help.

4. Modeling and individual correction: In this technique, the teacher will conduct individual

speech assignments with their students. The teacher will then give the student feedback, and tell

the student to analyze the feedback, with the hope that it will call attention to any errors, and help

the student avoid repeating the same errors and mistakes.

5. Incorporation of specific pronunciation elements: The instructor can and add new

pronunciation points, such as sounds, stress placements, and tones.

6. Tutorial sessions and self-study: Tutorial sessions commence with a diagnostic analysis of

each learner’s spoken English, and an individualized program is designed for each learner. This

technique can be used for both young and adult learners.

7. Self-monitoring and self-correction: Self-monitoring is the conscious action of listening to

one’s speech with the intent of recognizing errors and mistakes. This action is followed by self-

correction and then repeated practice pronouncing the word or phrase correctly. By teaching our

learners to self-monitor and self-correct, we give them the tools to recognize their errors, and the

techniques to develop speaking skills on their own.

8. Reading aloud: The learner can be given a piece of spoken text to read out loud. Here the

teacher’s job is to identify the pronunciation errors and mistakes made by the learner, and then

give feedback that will help the learner improve his/her English language pronunciation.

9. Utilization of known sounds: One method of teaching pronunciation that is effective for young

learners, is for the teacher to compare the sounds of the target language with those of their

student’s mother language. By showing the similarities and differences between the sound

patterns, learners can start to differentiate and produce the new sounds in the target language. To

do this effectively, the teacher would need to have some knowledge of the learners’ native

language.




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10. Get down on the same level. One technique found works well is when teachers physically

lowering themselves so that they are at eye-to-eye level with their students. Figure 13 illustrates

this point. Whether kneeling next to the student’s desk or crouch beside them, putting oneself on

the same level as the student allows them to

get a closer look at how the mouth moves

when producing the word. When modeling

pronunciation, it’s important to over-

accentuate the syllables, and show students

how to move the muscles in their mouths,

and where to place their tongues to create

the word. Knowing what sounds students

may continually struggle with will help

determine what sounds to focus on.

Although extensive, the list above is by no

means exhaustive. There are many techniques for teaching pronunciation. It is important to

assess and know the capabilities of learners, and the types of activities that they enjoy and are

motivated by. Use this knowledge to help pick a list of techniques and strategies that will help

students develop pronunciation skills.

Implications of Phonics for ESL Students You will often hear ESL students ask, “Teacher, how do you say this word?” We tell our students

how to say the word, but we don’t often know why we say it that way. We can help our ESL

students develop autonomy by teaching them strategies to help them pronounce words on their

own. This approach better prepares them for “real-life” experiences that occur outside the

classroom (where their teacher isn't available). Incorporating phonics instruction in the ESL

classroom provides focused training on the sounds of the English language. Such training

provides an opportunity to analyze and dissect the English language in new ways. With this

focused and conscious practice, pronunciation improves. When ESL students simultaneously

learn the meaning of the word along with the sound of the word, the information is more likely to

“stick”. Students can remember the word more effectively when they associate the meaning and

sound with the written word. Phonics instruction helps ESL students improve their spelling since

encoding (putting sounds together) is an integral part of explicit phonics instruction. ESL student

Figure 13. ESL Teacher sounds out the word to demonstrate the movement of the lips and muscles in the mouth to produce the word.




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confidence increases when they are empowered with skills that help them successfully read,

pronounce, and spell English independently.




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Section 7: Teaching Grammar

Some methodologies (and local teachers) emphasize grammar heavily, using a direct approach to

teaching grammar, in which entire lessons are taught primarily on grammar. Conversely, the

CultureRoute methodology focuses on grammar indirectly because learners are likely to get

confused and defocused when trying to learn complicated grammatical terms and structures

through a direct approach. Students are much more

likely to learn from proper speech modeling,

experimenting with the language, and having fun

with the learning process than they are to focus on

lessons developed with the specific goal of teaching

grammar. By having a native English-speaking

teacher who is consistently there to model and

correct the English spoken in class, students are

likely to gradually pick up the subtle nuances of

grammar.

A direct approach towards grammar for beginning learners may also lead to a damming of fluency

because the focus on following proper grammatical structures could lead to fear of speaking

improperly, and thus hesitation to use the target language freely. Furthermore, considerable time

spent teaching grammar rules dramatically reduces the amount of time that native English-

speaking teachers can model pronunciation and encourage communicative speaking.

Another reason grammar is not as strongly emphasized in the CultureRoute method is that the

majority of schools that hire native English speakers want them to focus on teaching speaking and

listening since local teachers mainly focus on non-verbal areas of the language such as writing

and grammar. By no means is grammar unimportant. CultureRoute still incorporates grammar into

lesson plans in numerous ways, but in this method, teachers would not teach a lesson on the topic

of grammar. Instead, teachers are encouraged to incorporate a specific grammar point within the

context of each lesson.

7.1 TEACHING GRAMMAR IN A LESSON CONTEXT

When presenting a lesson, teachers should introduce a grammar point. Let’s take as an example a

speaking lesson theme of, “Trip to the Beach.” A grammar point could be to teach past tense. So

how does a teacher teach past tense in a lesson about the beach?

Benefits of Indirect Approach to

Teaching Grammar

• Easier to motivate students in

grammar lessons

• Allows for more time for

communicative activities

• Less fear in speaking




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When designing the dialogues, they will all use the past tense. After presenting vocabulary the

teacher then moves to the Practice section, presenting the script or dialogue with the TT, TS, ST,

SS method using couplets such as:

-Q: When did you go to the beach?

-A: I went to the beach last week.

OR

-Q: What did you bring to the beach yesterday?

-A: Yesterday, I brought a towel to the beach.

The teacher will make sure to emphasize the past-tense form of the verb when speaking. After the

fact, the teacher could use a timeline to illustrate the tense differences between the tenses. E.g.

“Today I bring. Yesterday I brought. Today I go. Yesterday I went.” This could transition into a

production exercise that involves the students drawing pictures and writing sentences that

describe things they have done in the past. The teacher will model and correct at the end to make

sure they are using tenses correctly. Figure 14 shows how a timeline can be used to teach tenses.

Figure 14. Timeline for Teaching Tenses.




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Let’s take a look at another important grammar point that teachers might indirectly include in one

of their lessons - The use of prepositions.

7.2 EXAMPLE LESSON WITH PREPOSITIONS GRAMMAR POINT

The second the teacher walks into a classroom and tells students “Hello class, today we are going

to learn about prepositions!”, students will sigh, put their heads down, or even run out of the class

screaming, terrified of ensuing boredom sure to soon follow.

Topic/Theme. A Prepositions” lesson is simply a topic that will likely not be any fun for the

students to learn. Instead, teachers can mask that boring topic inside of the theme of “My Dream

Bedroom.”

Presentation. As the teacher introduces the vocabulary related to things that are in a person’s

bedroom (bed, desk, dresser, lamp, etc.), they will also teach the prepositions such as next to,

under, on top of, inside, etc.

To show the meaning of each preposition, the teacher could use something like a water bottle and

a desk. They would put the water bottle on the desk and drill to the class, “The water bottle is on

the desk.” Then they would put the bottle under the desk and drill, “The water bottle is under the

desk.” The teacher could even break the class into small teams and make a game out of it. See

which students can raise their hands and tell the teacher the correct prepositional phrase to win a

point for their team.

Practice. As we get to the practice portion of the lesson, the teacher could put a picture of a

bedroom on the board to build context. Then, an example of a dialogue couplet could be

presented:

-Q: Where is the dresser?

-A: The dresser is next to my bed.

Q: Where is the lamp?

A: The lamp is on top of the nightstand.

After executing three Q and A couplets using the TT, TS, ST, SS method, move onto the

production phase.




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Production.

One possible production activity for this lesson could be to have students sketch a picture of a

bedroom from their dream house, and then write a few sentences where the items in their rooms

are located. Students select a partner and read their sentences to one another. Each student can

then try and draw their classmate’s room on a blank sheet of paper. This activity would allow

students to experiment with the language, use English expressively, and hopefully build a personal

connection to the material. By having students pair up and read their sentences to one another,

teachers are also maximizing student talk time, and developing both speaking and listening skills.

A further step would be If to have each pair come up and read their partner’s sentences in front of

the class and present their drawings. By calling students up in pairs, teachers will help minimize

any presentation anxiety, and ensure that speaking is a part of the production activity.

Wrap up. End the lesson on a fun note. Try to create a low-pressure game that reinforces the

grammar point taught throughout the lesson. A fun and easy activity to wrap up a lesson with a

grammar point of prepositions might be to have students get into two lines. Put two desks at the

front of the room and set a water bottle next to each desk. Have a student race up to each desk,

and then the teacher directs them by way of a prepositional phrase like “On the right,” or

“Underneath,” and have the students race to position the water bottle correctly according to the

phrase. Award points to each line.

As a teacher, it’s important to constantly be thinking of how to turn grammar points and other

important material into engaging classroom activities.

Let’s take a look at another example of how to teach a grammar point in a speaking lesson.

Example Lesson with Superlatives Grammar Point Let’s say the teacher is introducing a lesson on family and uses superlatives as a grammar point.

Warmer. For a warmer activity, the teacher might have picture cutouts of different people of

various heights. They stick the cutouts on the board and show the students how the people should

be arranged. They then break the students into small groups and pass out the people cutouts.

Have the groups race to see which group can arrange the pictures tallest to shortest, before the

others.

Presentation. The teacher can then use the picture cutouts on the board during the presentation

and practice phase to help illustrate the grammar point.




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Practice.

The dialogue might be something along these lines:

Q: Who is the tallest person in your family?

A: My dad is the tallest person in my family!

Q: Is your brother muscular?

A: Yes, but I am more muscular.

Q: Is your mom’s hair longer than yours is?

A: Yes, she has the longest hair in the family.

Production. As a production activity, the teacher might have the students create a family tree, or if

their English ability is high enough, have the students interview a partner about their family tree.

Have the students pick one or more of the superlative vocab words, and then have them use those

words to write sentences about their or their partner’s family. Students can present in front of the

class when they are finished.

Wrap up. Split the class into two teams (assuming there are about equal numbers of boys and

girls), and have them each form a line. Have the lines race each other to see which team can

arrange themselves from the tallest to the shortest person fastest. Play the game once, and then if

there is more time leftover, feel free to mix up the teams and play again.

Worksheets with Grammar Using worksheets can be another very helpful way to cover grammar. These could include a

variety of formats, such as multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blanks, isolation activities, or sentence

scramble activities. Multiple-choice sheets can work well because students will only have to

recognize the correct form of English as opposed to conjugating verbs. For example, a student

could be given a worksheet with several sentences written like this:

Last week, Danny (spills, spilling, spilled) hot sauce all over his pants.

The student would then have to choose the correct version of the verb to complete the sentence.

With activities like this, students will hopefully begin to recognize grammatical patterns and proper

sentence structure. There is a large section of grammar activities at the end of the workbook in

Annex C. Please complete these activities as an important refresher, before teaching grammar to

students.




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Section 8: Teaching Reading

Teaching reading is a critical part of an ESL curriculum. There are many benefits of reading in

building student English language skills. These are outlined below.

Benefits of Teaching Reading

• Provides a good model for language production. Reading grammatically correct

stories allows students to identify and mimic proper sentence structure.

• Increases vocabulary. While reading, students will be able to see the words taught to

them in the presentation section, but there will also be a variety of words or structures

that may be new to them. Reading

practice gives students a chance to

try and interpret the meaning of new

and unfamiliar words through

context clues. Pay close attention to

words that challenge students, as

these can be used as vocabulary in

future lessons.

• Allows students to work at their

own pace. Even if some students

work at a slower pace, they do not

fall behind since reading is done as

a class. Teachers can help slower

students and make reading more

interactive by breaking the class

into groups to complete a reading

task. This is illustrated in Figure 15.

To make a reading lesson meaningful and

successful, reading activities should have a specific purpose, should match student interests and

learning needs, and should provide ample time for the students to enjoy the experience.

8.1 TEACHING READING TO BEGINNERS

Teaching reading to beginners entails a focus is on simple comprehension and practice. Figure 16

is an example of a reading passage for true beginners. Please note how simple the language is,

and how words are displayed with pictures to hold the attention of young learners.

Figure 15. Teaching reading by breaking the class into groups. Reading in groups helps give weaker students the ability to learn from stronger students, gives the teacher the flexibility to engage one on one with students, increases student confidence in reading, and generally aids with classroom management.




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When students are very young or are true beginners with low English proficiency, they do not have

the language skills needed to read complex sentences and develop reading strategies. Teachers

developing reading lessons for beginners should make

sure that the stories are extremely short, and the goals

for the reading activities should be to get students to

learn the vocabulary, and understand the sentence

structure, as well as to work on pronunciation skills. The

text should be as simple as possible and the content

should be appropriate to the age group.

When choosing a story, it is a good rule of thumb to

design the story to have the same number of sentences

as the age of the target group (i.e. A class of five-year-

olds would read a five-sentence story, 10 sentences for

10-year-olds, etc.). The teacher must provide

continuous positive praise and encouragement to build

student confidence. When teaching very low-level

learners teachers should start with introducing letters

and phonemes, and by sounding out unfamiliar words. In a reading lesson, teachers might also

break the class into groups for reading activities. This will allow stronger students to help those

with lower English skills, and it will also promote problem-solving and help with classroom

management.

8.2 TEACHING READING TO INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED STUDENTS

When teaching intermediate and advanced students, Teachers focus on helping students develop

real-world reading strategies. This is done in three stages.

Pre-reading Questions Pre-reading questions aim to provide some context for the reading, arouse interest, and elicit from

students what they might already know about the topic.

Prediction – Predicting is about trying to guess the topic of the story. We recommend presenting

the title of a story and an associated picture when eliciting predictions. Ask several students

around the room what they think the reading is going to be about. At this point, we don’t want to

confirm whether their predictions are correct or not because we want to get as many students to

guess as possible, and we want them to be interested in finding out whether or not they were

Figure 16. This is an example of a very basic story that could be used for very young learners.




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correct. Newspaper articles are particularly good for working on predicting. The headline and

picture can be used and from that predictions can be made about what is the likely topic of the

article.

While-reading Questions There are several different while-reading tasks, all of which develop specific skills and focus on

attaining different information. Students may have to read the same lines of text several times

over, focusing on different tasks each time, to fully understand the information. These while-

reading tasks are outlined below.

• Skimming - looking for the main idea of the text using topic sentences, headlines, and

keywords. The purpose of skimming is to gather the gist of the text and confirm whether

or not student predictions were correct. If the text is one paragraph in length, students

should read the first, middle, and last line of the story. If the text includes multiple

paragraphs, they should read the first and last line of each paragraph. After a student

reads the lines assigned to them, an example of a skimming question would be, “Was

your prediction correct? Now, what do

you think the reading is about?”

• Scanning - looking for specific pieces

of information, such as names or dates.

The purpose of scanning is to pick out

specific bits of information from the text.

Examples of scanning information

include numbers, names, locations, and

generally anything that “jumps off the

page,” or is a one-word answer.

• Reading for comprehension -

Learners will have to synthesize facts from the text to prove they have a deep

understanding of the material.

Production (Post-reading Tasks) Production activities (also referred to as Post-reading tasks) help students personalize the material

and communicate with other students about the text creatively and expressively. These activities

could include inference/interpretation questions, role-plays, or interviews that utilize the reading

text as a source. Teachers can also create extension activities, in which students must write a new

chapter of the story or rewrite the ending of the text.

Production activities can include:




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• Summarizing - being able to explain the key messages from the text, and identifying

organization and sequence (following a complex pattern of events)

• Inference and interpretation – This involves teachers asking questions that are relevant

to the story, but not explicitly stated in the text. If the story were about two friends going

on a roller coaster, the teacher could ask, “Do you think the two friends will ride that roller

coaster again next time they go to the amusement park?”

8.3 EXAMPLES OF READING QUESTIONS

Both the text and the reader’s motivation dictate how students will read. Readers skim to get the

gist of the passage, scan for specific information, and read comprehensively for more detailed

information. Each type of reading task will have corresponding questions. For skimming, the only

question teachers ask is the prediction question, “What do you think the story is going to be

about?”

For scanning, teachers will ask students questions that elicit simple responses: numbers, names,

locations, and generally anything that “jumps off the page,” or is a one-word answer.

For comprehension, teachers will ask students questions that elicit responses that require the

reader to have a deep understanding of the text. Instead of asking “Where did Waldo go?” which

would be more of a scanning question, we would ask “Why did Waldo go?” – a question that

requires readers to understand Waldo’s motivations and to give a much more detailed answer.

Creating and Using Questions When crafting questions, teachers should remember to use simple language. Teachers want

student focus to be on reading and comprehension, not on understanding lengthy or convoluted

questions. We also want to limit our questions to two or three questions per stage (except for

skimming.

Be sure to let students know what the questions are before they start reading. A good procedure is

to ask the student the question…. “Hey Bop, why did Waldo go to the bank?” Then after asking

the question, have the student read a couple of lines from the text where the answer can be found.

After the student reads the lines, re-ask the question.

Following this procedure will help students stay on task, and will address listening, speaking, and

reading skills. Since the teacher is asking students to read specific lines, they must number the

lines of any reading materials. Numbering the lines of reading materials will make it much easier to

direct students to the right parts of the passage to read.




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After the student has given their answer, don’t confirm or deny whether they are right or wrong.

Ask other students if they know the answer. A good way to ask is… “Hey Nom, do you agree with

Bop? Why do you think Waldo went to the bank?” It’s important that the teacher re-ask the entire

question to students who have not answered yet. By re-asking the question, teachers reinforce

language and keep students alert. Checking answers with students around the room is not only a

good way to gauge understanding, but it’s also an effective classroom management technique. If

students think they might be called upon to answer, then they are more likely to pay attention, and,

if they aren’t paying attention, then the teacher can get them on track by calling on them to answer

the question.

Some Examples of Questions for Each Stage of Reading Lesson Pre-reading questions

• Students brainstorm on a topic

• Discuss visuals, headlines, or phrases from the text

• Have students predict what will be in the text

For skimming

• Identify the main ideas of the text

• Select the best summary

• Match the subtitles with the correct paragraph

• Create titles or headlines for the passage

For scanning

• Pre-set questions

• Chart filling

• A list of any elements for students to find

For comprehension

• Find the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary from context. For example, there may be a

new vocabulary word that is added in there that students are unfamiliar with and the

teacher asks them to try to find the meaning by looking at the context of the sentence.

• Answer detailed questions

For Inference




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• Pose questions for students that combine answers from the text with their own

experiences and creativity

• Answers will not be explicitly stated in the text

Example Reading Lesson The sample reading lesson below is designed for 14-16-year-olds. It’s important to remember that

for younger students and beginners, teachers won’t break into the question tasks yet. The focus

for beginners and young learners is to focus on pronunciation, sentence structure, and recognizing

vocabulary in context.

Example Intermediate Reading Lesson

Date/time Tuesday/1st period

Teacher Name Carlos

Student Level of Proficiency Beginner--intermediate

Number of students 40

Age group: 14-16

Lesson type (listening; speaking etc.): Reading

Topic

A trip to the beach

Theme

Girl Generation goes to the beach

Students will learn about vocabulary related to vacationing and going to the beach.

Aims

-Learners will be able to pronounce the vocabulary words presented.

-Learners will be able to identify and understand the vocabulary words in context to the story and

in real life.

-Learners will be able to comprehend the story.

Timetable

Assuming the class length is 50 minutes and the number of students in the class is 40

Warmer: 5 minutes

Presentation: 10 minutes

Practice: 15 minutes

Production: 15 minutes




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Wrap-up: 5 minutes

Warmer

Students will get into two lines. The teacher will put two stacks of picture cutouts at the front of the

room, one in front of each line. The picture cutouts will be of things that you would take to the

beach and some things that have nothing to do with the beach. The teacher will write on the board

two headings Beach, Not Beach.

Students will come up one at a time, pick up a picture cutout, and stick it under one of the category

headings.

Whichever line can put all the pictures under the appropriate category first will win.

2) Alternate warmer: You could also break students into small groups. Give each group a series of

word cutouts that form a sentence, but are all jumbled up.

Have the students work together to put the words in the correct order, and whichever group can

complete the task first will win.

Vocabulary

1. Suitcase

2. Bathing Suit

3. Sunscreen

4. Low Tide/ High Tide

5. Sand Dune

6. Wet suit

7. Flip-flops

8. Umbrella

9. Relax

10. Packing

Presentation

Flashcards will be printed out or drawn of each vocabulary word. The teacher will circulate the

room, showing the flashcards and trying to elicit the terms from the students. Students will practice

pronunciation and repeat after the teacher.

Practice

1) After touring around Asia, Girl Generation decided they needed some time to relax.




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2) Tiffany asked the other girls if they would like to go to the beach, and they said yes!

3) Girl Generation decided to travel to Hua Hin to visit the beach.

4) The first thing they did was pack their suitcases.

5) Yuri did all of the packing. She brought sunscreen, bathing suits, and a wet suit to surf in!

6) Luckily, it was low tide when Girl Generation arrived at the beach, so there was plenty of

space to play around!

7) Yoona immediately jumped off the top of a dune. “Weeeeee!” she screamed!

8) “Oh no!” said Tiffany, realizing she had forgotten to pack shoes for the beach.

9) Tiffany went to go buy some flip-flops.

10) Yuri decided to get a break from the sun and relax under an umbrella.

11) All of the girls had a lot of fun at the beach.

12) “That was fun,” Said Yoona...“Where should we go next?”

1. Prediction:

Show them the title and cover picture. Ask what they think the story is about.

2. Skimming:

Students Read Lines 1, 6, and 12.

Q: Is your prediction correct about the story?

Ask several students around the room if they think their prediction is correct. “What is the story

about?”

3. Read the story as a class.

4. Scanning:

Q: Who asked the girls if they would like to go to the beach? (Read lines 1& 2)

A: Tiffany

Q: Who did all of the packing? (Read lines 4 & 5)

A: Yuri

Q: What did Tiffany go and buy? (Read lines 8 &9)

A: Flip Flops.

5. Comprehension

Q: Why was there plenty of space to play around? (Read lines 5 & 6)

A: It was low tide.

Q: Why did Girl Generation decide to take a trip to the beach? (Read lines 1 & 2)

A: They needed some time to relax.

Q: Why did Tiffany buy flip-flops? (Read lines 8 & 9)

A: She forgot to pack shoes for the beach.




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6. Inference

Q: Where do you think Girl Generation will go to relax next time? Q: Do you think Girl Generation

will write a song about their trip? Why or why not? Q: Do you think Girl Generation did anything

else at the beach?

Production #1

Students will get into small groups, and, starting from the last sentence of the story, rewrite the

ending. The teacher will pass out a worksheet with some guided questions to help inspire the

students.

Production #2

The teacher will write a short second part to this story. The teacher will cut the story up into paper

strips that all have one sentence on them. The students will have to work together as a group to

put the sentences in the right order. Once everything is arranged in order, they will then draw and

caption a comic strip of the story. Student groups can present their comic strip if there is time.

Wrap-up

The teacher will write all the vocab words on the board. The teacher will call 5-6 students to the

whiteboard at a time. Students will study the words and then close their eyes. The teacher will

erase one word. Students will race to see who can say the missing word first. New students will

come up to the board. The teacher will now erase two vocab words. The students will race to see

who can say the missing words first. Each time the teacher erases the words, the students are

forced to remember and say more vocabulary.

Planning Elements

Materials and aids: flashcards, copies of the story for class

Presumed Knowledge: know basic English, know Superheroes used in the warmer activity

Anticipated Problems & Solutions: learners might not understand directions; the story may be

too complex

Homework: none




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Section 9: Teaching Listening

Teaching listening becomes easier and more interesting when we ground it in a basic

understanding of phonetics and phonology. Our students possess the potential to produce sounds

outside their native language, and we can help them train their vocal apparatus to do this. The 44

English phonemes chart is a very useful tool that helps language come alive in the classroom.

9.1 LISTENING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

Features of Listening There are several important features of listening. The first is that listening is a passive

skill. We are not creating as we do with speech, but rather processing information and deriving

meaning from it. Listening is about problem-solving in the sense that any verbal communication

between two or more people entails communication goals on the part of the speaker. Moreover,

such communication involves problems that must be overcome. For example, if someone visits a

market, they must solve the communication problem of how to successfully purchase the items

they want. Perhaps they also have a limited, which then requires negotiation.

The listener draws inferences and tries to arrive at an overall image of what is being conveyed

or implied. Information such as tone, pitch, the organization of words and phrases, and other

aspects of verbal communication are absorbed by the listener. There may also be sarcasm,

irony, and a range of different emotions in the speech that the listener must take in. From all of

this, the listener concludes the speaker’s meaning and intentionality. For example, let’s say that

a guy is talking to a girl he has just met. She is new to the area. She realizes quickly that he is

trying to pick her up. What tells her this? It might come not from the words he uses, but the way

he uses them. He says, “You know, I know a lot about this area”

Someone could say this helpfully and sincerely, “You know, I know a lot about this area” They

are trying to be helpful. There is no specific stress on certain words. But he says it in such a

way that there is an inference buried within. “You know [rising then falling pitch]. I [emphasis]

know a lot [emphasis] about this area.” He is hinting that he would be a good guide for her and

may want to escort her.

A few understood items can create a global understanding. The great thing about listening is

that the listener doesn’t necessari ly need to understand everything that the speaker is

saying. They can grab onto bits and pieces that can help them to understand the “gist” of what

the speaker is saying. For example, you may be listening to talk radio as you drive but you are




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not listening to every word. You are concentrating on driving and thinking about a variety of

things. But you can hear enough to get the gist of the program or report over the radio.

In a more specific example, Jaco is going to a local market and wants to buy a new pair of

shorts. He holds the shorts up and asks how much. Once he is answered by the store clerk, he

then responds, “Hmm that is a little bit too expensive for me. Do you think I might be able to get

a bit of a discount or cheaper price?” The vendor only understands the words expensive,

discount, and cheaper but they realize from those words that they are about to enter into a

negotiation and understand that Jaco wants a lower price than what the clerk first offered.

When communicating, the discourse is often unplanned and co-operatively constructed, and so

the sender and the receiver do not know quite how the communication will go.

And lastly, the listener often has only one opportunity to receive the original message. Unlike

when reading a passage in a book, which can be reread several times, the listener often only

has one chance to process the speaker’s communication.

How Do We Listen? As with other language skills, ESL learners require practice in listening. This practice should

entail the skills of gist, selective, and intensive listening. To exercise these skills, specific

l istening tasks need to be designed. These tasks can range from simple questions about the

topic to more complex questions that require details of the content or an exploration of the

deeper meaning.

Listening for the gist is when we want to know the speaker’s main point. One example of listening

to get the gist is listening to a complaint from a family member about their friend. It might not

be something directly related to you so you don’t care as much about the details. You

listen for the gist and then once that is identified you may just tune out the rest.

Selective listening is when we want to pick out pieces of information from the speaker’s message

but we don’t need or want to know everything the speaker is saying. An example of selective

listening may involve being at the airport and listening for the gate or flight number over the

intercom. Another example is when we listen to a traffic report in the car on our way to work

and we are only really concerned with the traffic along the route we take to work.

Intensive listening is when we listen for the speaker’s full meaning. One example is when we

meet with our boss to receive our performance review. In that setting, we listen

intensively to find out what the meaning is of the words conveyed, looking at tone,




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context, and choice of words used to arrive at an understanding of inten tionality and

meaning.

These tasks need to be clearly expressed to the learners before they listen and should be given

only one at a time. For example, the first listening task could be for the gist or selective items,

and the second listening task could be to check for deeper understanding.

While Listening Questions/Tasks

a) Gist (listening for main ideas)

b) Selective (listening for specific information)

c) Intensive (listening for deeper, more detailed information)

These ways of listening do not have to be employed exclusively by one another. We may use

some or all of them when we approach a text, depending on our motivation for listening.

Listening Skills for ESL Learners As with all the other skills, listening requires ESL learners to practice. This practice should include

that of the sub-skills: gist, selective, and intensive. To exercise and develop these sub-skills,

specific tasks need to be designed.

Tasks can range from a simple question about the gist, to the sequencing of pictures, filling in a

chart, true/false questions, or taking notes for more complex questions that deal with details, or a

deeper meaning of the text. Tasks need to be clearly expressed to the learners before they listen,

and should be given only one at a time. Just like other language skills, when we assign tasks to

our students, we always want to start easier and then move to more challenging questions. For

example, it may be best to start with tasks that target the gist or selective listening skills, and then

once the students have demonstrated thorough understanding, to move into intensive listening

tasks to check for deeper understanding.

Stages in a Listening Skills Lesson

1. A lead-in to build context

2. Pre-teach vocabulary

3. Learners predict what is in the text or a gist task is given

4. Feedback stage

5. Selective/intensive task

6. Feedback (tape script distributed)

7. Production




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9.2 TEACHING LISTENING

Although listening is a challenging language skill for ESL students to develop, it can be made

more accessible by following these principles when lesson planning:

• Try to focus on ways to develop student listening skills. Each task that students are

asked to do should focus on developing listening skills. The students should be made

familiar (in the case of adults or teenagers) with each skill, so they can use them outside

of the classroom

• Lead into the listening task by giving students a clear and meaningful context, and

allowing them to contribute to the topic. This will help them predict what is coming up,

and prepare for the activities and vocabulary they will need.

• Use a pre-listening activity to introduce

more specific vocabulary related to the text,

before doing the actual listening tasks. Use

pictures related to the text, and ask

questions that guide students towards

getting ready for the listening task. Using

exciting and related pictures will help

garner interest and creates a pleasant

shock of recognition. Figure 17 shows an

example of a funny picture that a teacher

might show to students before beginning

the listening tasks. Pre-listening tasks make

the meaning of the text more attainable and

can help motivate students to listen more

intensely. Be careful, not to summarize the

text before the students listen though, as

this is likely to reduce interest and

motivation

• Teachers should not only pay attention to the difficulty of the text but also the difficulty of

the tasks

• Teachers should try and incorporate all of the listening skills (gist, selective, and

intensive) throughout the lesson, always starting with the easiest tasks and then working

on more difficult ones. Let the students listen to the relevant text before they try to

perform each task.

• For each task, set clear instructions before the students listen so that they know what to

pay attention to while they are listening. Don't change the task after they begin listening.

Figure 17. This is an example of a pre-listening task around guessing the topic of the story using a funny picture to make the activity fun and interesting for young learners.




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• Give feedback after each task, before starting the next task. Be sure to allow students to

check their answers, before telling them whether they are right or wrong.

Some Points to Remember when Teaching Listening Listening activities need a purpose. Set a task (ask the selective or intensive question) before

letting the students listen, and make sure that they have a real reason for listening to the audio

clip. Teachers will be able to judge their student’s success at listening by whether or not they have

completed the task you assigned. It’s important to set the task before the students begin listening

because if the teacher sets the task afterward, they are testing memory in addition to listening

skills, which could skew the reflection of student abilities.

Let the students discuss their answers together before the teacher gives feedback. The aim of

this is to get students to agree with one another before giving them help. This will encourage

communication. If the students can't agree, then the teacher should play the tape again to let

them check, or play sections again for a specific piece of information. For example, you may

say: "What do you think of Pin’s answer? Do you agree?”




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Sample Listening Exercises

Listening Activity: The Teacher is a CD Player

Level: Intermediate Levels Age Group: 13 – 14 Time: 20 Minutes Aims: and writing. Other: To encourage a sense of responsibility among the students. Description: The teacher acts as a "CD player" which will respond to spoken commands Preparation: Choose a short text to work with, perhaps from your coursebook. In Class: Ask the children what buttons you find on a CD player. As they tell you, write the English names on the boards like this:

PLAY STOP FAST FORWARD REWIND

Explain to your students you are a CD player, and that when they say the commands on the board, you will do what they say. They have to write down what the "CD player" says. The "CD player" cannot do anything without a command of English. By forcing your students to give you commands, you are increasing the amount of speaking practice they get, in addition to the listening practice. If the students have a hard time understanding the activity, you can gesture to the symbols on the board or try asking them "What do you say to make me start?" Say, "We're ready to start" and wait until someone says Play. Start to read the text at a normal speaking pace and keep going until someone (usually in desperation) says Stop. At first, it will probably be chaotic: be patient, and resist the temptation to interfere, or change your rate of speaking. For this activity to work successfully, you must stick to playing the role of a "machine" that only obeys student commands. Carry on like this until the end of the text. When they have finished, ask them to get in pairs, and check what they have written. Then, go through the text with the whole class. Follow-up: Feedback can be very fruitful for this activity because it gives the children a chance to reflect on what they have done. Ask them if they liked the activity. Why? Why not? How could they do it better next time? Write down what they say, and the next time you do this kind of dictation, get them to remember their comments before you start. Benefits: The benefit of this activity is that you hand control over to the class, and allow them to learn at their own pace. It is important to remember that a CD player has no mind of its own, and no speed control. When reading the selected text, you should speak at a pace.




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Listening Activity: Picture Listen

Directions: Instruct the students to take out a blank sheet of paper, and prepare to draw. Use the related vocabulary from the lessons you have recently taught, and describe a scene. Tell students to draw the scene that you describe. Let’s assume you do a series of lessons about going to the park. Describe a scene at the park. “Two people are playing with a Frisbee by the lake. A family is having a picnic next to a swing set. A tall girl is riding a bike through the grass.” You can describe anything you want as long as the vocabulary is relevant, and the students can illustrate the scene without being particularly gifted artists. It’s a good idea to have a picture of what the finished scene would like already drawn up before the activity. Once the teacher has finished describing the scene, show the students picture and see if theirs matches. If students are at an advanced level, the teacher can adapt and extend the activity. Tell the students to write five sentences describing a scene at the park. After they write their sentences, instruct them to find a partner. In partners, they can read their sentences to one another, and try to draw the scene that each of them has written about. Once the students are done you can have them present to the class, or at least check comprehension with you. The nice thing about this activity is that it can be adapted for any topic. For instance, let’s say you teach the topics, personal adjectives, and family. Read a description of a family, and have the students try to draw that family. The variability of this activity is infinite.

Listening Activity: Guess What

Directions: This can either be a teacher-facilitated exercise, or a fun game. Pick a series of locations or people that all of the students will know. It can be celebrities, historical figures, people in the class, locations at school, buildings in town, famous cities, etc. . Write simple descriptions for each location or person you choose and don’t let the students see the descriptions. Read the descriptions out loud, one line at a time. See if the students can guess who or where you are talking about. If you break the students into teams and have them race to see who can guess the answers the quickest, this activity can be turned into a fun team game. Alternatively, you can have the students write their descriptions, and read them to their classmates. An example might be. “He’s a young singer. He is from Canada. One of his most famous songs is “Love Yourself.” At which point at least one student is likely to shout “It’s Justin Bieber!”




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Section 10: Classroom Management

Classroom management is keeping students on task and maintaining a safe and productive

learning environment. Every teacher will have different experiences managing their classrooms,

and no one tactic works for everyone.

10.1 THE FOUR REASONS FOR MISBEHAVIOR IN CHILDREN

The following chart demonstrates the different types of goals and motivations children possess

when they are misbehaving. Study the chart to gain a better understanding of children’s actions to

know why they behave in a certain way.

Reason for

Misbehavior in

Children

What the Child

is Saying

What the Child

is Feeling

Child's

Reaction to

Reprimand

Some

Corrective

Measures

ATTENTION I only count when

I am being

noticed or served.

Annoyed.

Wants to

remind, coax.

Delighted with

"good" child.

Temporarily

stops disturbing

action when

given

attention.

Ignore. Answer

or do the

unexpected.

Give attention

at pleasant

times.

POWER I only count when

I am

dominating...when

you do what I

want to do.

Provoked.

Generally

wants power.

Challenged. "l

will make him

do it. “You can

not get away

with it."

Intensifies

action when

reprimanded.

Child wants to

win, or be the

boss.

Extricate self.

Act - not talk.

Be friendly.

Establish

equality.

Redirect child's

efforts into

constructive

channels.

REVENGE I cannot be liked.

I do not have

power but I will

count if I can hurt

others, as I feel

hurt by life.

Hurt, mad -

"How can he

do

this to me?"

Wants to get

even - make

themselves

disliked.

Extricate self.

Maintain order

with minimum

restraint. Avoid

retaliation.

Take time and

effort to help

child.

INADEQUACY

I cannot do

anything right so I

will not try to do

anything at all. I

am no good.

Despair. "l give

up."

No reprimand-

therefore-no

reaction.

Passive and

feels there is no

use in trying

Encouragement

(may take a

long time).

Faith in child's

ability.

10.2 EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

There are several key elements associated with effective classroom management. Some of these

include, but are not limited to:




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Effective discipline. One of the key features of good classroom management is to be firm, fair,

and consistent. All student behavior must be dealt with in the same way. Set simple classroom

rules that outline the desired behavior. It’s a lot easier to enforce a couple of simple all-

encompassing rules than trying to enforce a long list of regulations. A rule like “be respectful,” can

be applied to no talking while the teacher is talking, no moving around in class, and no hitting other

students. If a teacher has their own classroom space each day, it’s a good idea to hang pictures of

the rules at the front of the room. When students misbehave, the teacher can point at the specific

rule they are breaking, which can help all the students in the room gain a better understanding of

the behavior the teacher does and does not want.

Be prepared. teachers who are well prepared will walk into class exuding natural confidence that

students will pick up on. Conversely, if a teacher walks in unprepared, students are likely to end up

controlling the class.

Motivating students. Interesting topics, competitive games, fun activities, and songs are just a

few examples of effective student motivators and incentives.

Providing a safe & comfortable learning environment. Learning a new language is both

challenging and intimidating. Teachers must foster a safe environment in which it is okay to make

mistakes. Teachers can achieve this through consistent encouragement, as well as laying out

class rules that prohibit teasing or bullying.

Building student self-esteem. Teachers must

provide appropriate praise to their students. This

means that they should praise good work and good

effort. Praise can be done verbally, but it can also

be as simple as a nod, smile, high five, fist bump,

etc. While it is important to provide positive praise,

be sure to only do so when warranted. If teachers

praise when it is undeserved, encouragement loses

value. Make ample use of praise.

Being creative and imaginative in lesson planning: If teachers do the same warmers, coolers,

or production activities repeatedly, students will become bored and complacent. Use the internet,

other teachers, and personal creativity to think up original and engaging activities.




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Remember, classroom management is different for everyone! What works for one teacher

might not work for another teacher. Every teacher has a different personality and teaching style,

and each classroom is different. Effective classroom management is a skill that is learned through

experience and practice. Think back to when learning how to drive. As much as a person can sit in

a classroom and be told how to drive, they won’t master it until they get on the road and start

trying. The same principle applies to classroom management skills.

Positive Reinforcement Without positive reinforcement, we cannot truly begin to effectively motivate our students in the

classroom. Positive reinforcement must be our foundation for classroom management.

The basic premise is to reward students that demonstrate the behavior and/or effort we want, with

something positive to them. Now, let’s not just assume that this is candy(!), it’s about ensuring

that our focus is on showing others in the class that positive behavior is the most engaging and

enjoyable way to be in class. When we think about negative reinforcement, the basic premise

here is to take away something that is creating the negative behavior. For example, a student in

your class is tearing pages out of their notebook, causing a commotion. With negative

reinforcement, we would take the notebook away, however, that student can no longer participate,

meaning the issue is only going to get worse, and the lesson learned by the student is diminished

in that they got what they wanted all along, to be left alone. Let’s look at that scenario from a

positive reinforcement standpoint. Instead of focussing on that student who is destroying their

notebook, reward those that are not. Giving a point for their team, or a few extra points for their

grade, or even fun homework, instead of a ‘work’ homework. When this is done, the student that

is not being rewarded is now seeing evidence of the benefits of positive behaviors. Do you see

the difference here? Positive reinforcement is another opportunity to teach positive ways to

behave, whereas negative reinforcement, only serves to reinforce the ‘benefit’ of that negative

behavior for your student. Ultimately, positive reinforcement encourages students to continue to

present themselves in a way that is effective for their learning development.

Control Techniques

• If a student is talking while the teacher is speaking, stop and pause. Look in the eyes of

the student who is disrupting the class

• Learn student names as soon as possible. Calling someone by their name is very

effective

• Circulate throughout the classroom. Just being within the rows, as opposed to strictly at

the front, will keep students on their toes




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• In more extreme cases, remove the student from the situation and explain why their

behavior is inappropriate

• Sometimes a friendly tap on the shoulder or their desk is enough to stop someone from

speaking out of turn

• Stand at the front of the classroom and be silent until students are quiet

Classroom Management Techniques for Young Learners

• Often turning the lights down or having a clapping signal gets the students’ attention

• Count backward from the number five and if they are not silent by zero, have a

consequence. (E.g. take away break time)

• Write a word on the board (e.g. Party, Song, Game). Announce that there is an activity

or game that the teacher knows they want to have but it will be canceled if the class

misbehaves. Write down a word. Explain that every time students exhibit undesirable

behavior, the teacher will erase one letter. When the word is gone, the game or activity is

canceled. The word take-away technique can be effective because teachers can also

add letters to the incentive word when students exhibit good behavior

• Refuse to talk over a noisy class. When the class is talking too loud, stop the class and

let them know that this noisy behavior will not be tolerated

• Use the volume of one’s voice to control the class. Whispering so the students have to

listen closely, or have to mimic the teacher’s tones in a hushed voice can foster interest

and focus. Conversely, a stern voice can also be a good way of getting control over the

class

• It’s ok to verbalize feelings, as long as the teacher keeps a calm demeanor, even if a

student’s behavior is unacceptable. For younger students, the teacher may say

something like, “When you do this, it makes the teacher sad.” For older students, the

teacher may say something like “You’re not being respectful right now.”

General Advice on Classroom Management

• Establish a set of rules for the classroom. When working with older students, it can be a

good idea to create the rules together. Students are likely to appreciate the teacher

including them in the rule-making process, instead of just telling them the rules. Including

students in the rule-making process can garner trust, make the students feel more

involved, and show them that the teacher cares about their thoughts and feelings

• If a student is being extremely disruptive or inappropriate, speak to them after class and

explain what about their behavior has been undesirable. Inform them of the possible

repercussions, and the proposed solution. Get a local teacher to help if needed

• Avoid placing labels (good or bad) on students. If teachers label students, they may feel

pressure to live up to that label and act accordingly




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• It’s ok to use incentives that encourage good behavior, such as games and fun

• activities. “If you work quietly for the next 10 minutes, we’ll listen to a Taylor Swift song at

the end of class!”

• Do not use sarcasm. It may make the teacher feel better, but it will go over the student’s

heads and they are unlikely to understand it

• Get a feel for the class moods and tendencies, and be flexible with the lesson schedule

• Try to be creative in solving problems and remember that exceptions are okay as long as

the teacher is being fair

Regardless of the grade level, students tend to work better and are better behaved when they

know what the teacher expects. Implementing a set of procedures for various activities in the

classroom will help students understand what is expected of them.

Tips to Ensure Even Student Participation

• Learn all student names, don’t just pick on the

students with the names easiest to remember

• If necessary, try to spend more time with the

students who are struggling with the task

• If the teacher needs to spend more time with a

group of students, try to keep the other

students occupied by giving them a task

• Don't teach exclusively to only the strong or

weak students, encourage and facilitate even

participation

• Don't repeatedly call on students in a

predictable order, especially during the

presentation and practice phases of a lesson.

If students know who the teacher is going to

call on, they are less likely to pay attention until they know they will be called on. If the

teacher uses a dynamic and random order, students won’t know when they will be

required to answer, and it will keep the class on its toes

• Don't allow individual students to "hog" the teacher’s attention or dominate the class.

Remember to always include all students equally in any activity

• If students cannot contribute because they don’t understand or they are struggling, it may

be better to let them remain silent. Students shouldn’t feel picked on

10.3 PROACTIVE AND REACTIVE APPROACHES TO CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT




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Proactive Classroom Management Proactive classroom management is comprised of the strategies and techniques teachers use to

quell behavioral issues before they arise. Check out the list of proactive management approaches

below.

Approaches:

• Learn student names as soon as possible.

• Show interest in students, and try to make connections with them. Students are less

likely to act up if they like and respect the teacher

• Learn the school’s discipline policies and know who the faculty support person is, and

where to find them

• Plan interesting lessons that appeal to students, and include a variety of engaging

activities

Reactive Classroom Management Reactive classroom management is comprised of the strategies and techniques teachers have to

employ to deal with a behavioral issue after it has already happened.

Approaches:

• Call the name of a student and make eye contact until the student stops the undesirable

behavior

• Walk towards, or stand beside the student until they quiet down (proximity)

• Give students a choice, for example, you can stay here and participate or stand outside

the classroom until I am ready to speak to you

• Build student confidence; ask simple questions that the student is likely to be able to

answer correctly, and give praise when they respond

10.4 STUDENT AND TEACHER POSITIONING AND DELIVERY

Writing on the Board Unfortunately, there is no way a teacher can avoid turning their back to students during board-

work. There are, however, several ways in which to reduce the amount of time spent with their

back turned to the class.

• Use an overhead projector, assuming the school has one

• Prepare flashcards that are folded in the middle with the image on one side, and the

written word on the other. Flashcards prepared in this manner will help cut down on

transition and preparation times

• Invite the students to write on the board for you




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• Write on the board whilst students are engaged in a different task

• Write in small sections and turn around to face the class now and again

• Make sure you have your board work already written and ready before the students

arrive. If the goal is to not want the students to see this immediately, the teacher can

always cover it with a sheet of paper until needed

The Teacher's Position Students are often sensitive to the teacher’s position and stance in the classroom and whether

they are sitting or standing. A teacher’s stance or position in the classroom can tell a student a lot

about how the lesson will be, such as:

• What kind of activities are happening?

• What the teacher's role will be

• What the students are expected to do

There are appropriate times in class for both sitting and standing. During the presentation and

practice, it’s best to stand up and circulate the classroom. This will allow the teacher to keep

student chatter down, and make themselves visually and audibly available to all the students in the

room. It’s a good idea to stand up when giving instructions or explaining. Standing up will let the

students know that the teacher has something important to say and that they are making an effort

to communicate with the whole class.

While it’s important to have a dominant stance and personality to control the class, it’s important to

avoid being too dominant or overbearing. If students feel intimidated by the teacher’s presence,

they are going to be less likely to participate in activities.

If the teacher is sitting down in class, it can create a more intimate learning environment and can

make teachers seem more approachable. During production activities, the teacher should walk

around to check and make sure all students are understanding the activity. If they see a group of

students who are struggling, it can be effective to pull up a chair and sit at the desk with them.

Sitting next to them as opposed to standing over them, once again makes the teacher seem more

approachable and will likely allow students to open up and participate more.

When monitoring the student's work, try to do so without intruding and stopping the flow. Monitor

at the start of the activity to check that they have understood and again about halfway through to

check on progress and pace.




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A seating chart can be an effective and proactive way to maximize student participation, and

comfort, while minimizing off-task behavior. When desks are arranged in a circle or horseshoe,

learners can make eye contact with everyone else in the group, which can make interactions

easier and more natural and can also foster a greater sense of equality. A good seating chart can

cause the weaker students to hide away less, and the stronger students to dominate less. If the

teacher sets up a horseshoe or a circle seating configuration, it will help to clarify the teacher’s role

as an equal, rather than as someone separate and different.

Here are some alternative ideas for investigating and exploring the possibilities of seating:

• If students normally sit in rows, try forming a circle

• Turn the classroom around so that the focus is on a different wall from normal

• Put desks into “pods” of 4. This creates a safe space for students to experiment with new

• language without fear of judgment from the whole class

• Divide the class into separate groups at far corners of the room

• Let the class

• Discuss (in English if possible) how they would like seats arranged. Talk with them and

agree upon a productive seating chart

Here are some patterns to think about:




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Don't be afraid to get students to move the chairs and make that part of the lesson.

Experimenting and deciding the best seating arrangement What ideas for arranging the seating has the teacher not tried? Which would be worth trying? It

may help to draw a simple sketch of the classroom. Are there certain times when one arrangement

might be better than the other? Perhaps the 4x4 pod arrangement works best with production

speech-based activities, but a horseshoe arrangement works best for reading lesson days.

Consider the possible benefits and problems of each. Below are some factors that teachers may

want to consider when creating a seating arrangement.

• Which arrangement is the most suitable for maximizing student-to-student

communication??

• Which arrangements allow the students to communicate without interference from the

teacher?

• How will the size of the group affect the arrangement?

• What activities might be suitable for each possible arrangement?

Orderly Rows This has been the traditional form of seating for many years in most schools. The teacher has a

clear view of all the students and all the students can see the teacher. It makes lecturing easy,

enables the teacher to maintain eye contact, and helps reduce discipline problems. If the rows are

well-organized, the teacher should be able to move freely around the classroom. Such seating is

particularly effective for whole-class activities. In larger classes of twenty-five or more students, it

is often the best and only solution. This will often be the default seating arrangement that teachers

will encounter when they first walk into the classroom. If the teacher asks them to rearrange, be

conscious of the fact that the teacher for the next period might prefer the traditional rows, so allow

time to reconstruct the room if necessary. If you know that rearranging the seating area is going to

take up a good chunk of time, it may be better to reserve moving the desks for activities where it’s

necessary.

Classroom Arrangement How the teacher organizes the position of the students and themselves is of great importance and

largely depends on the following:

• Space available

• Type of chairs/tables

• Age of the students




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• Student personality

The teacher may feel that it is better to pair weaker students with stronger ones for pair-work

activities, the benefit being that weaker students may be able to learn and receive support from

the stronger ones.

When putting students in pairs, the teacher should occasionally mix up the groups. It will add

variety to the class, and allow the students to work with different people and personalities.

Consistently mixing pairs will also provide the teacher with an effective way of dealing with pairs,

who do not work well together or become problematic when working with a particular student.

The teacher has the authority to move the students for the benefit of an activity, cohesion, or

discipline. This should be done firmly, but, politely and from the start of the course so that the

students do not get too used to sitting in one place. Students should not be moved without

reason, however. There must be some purpose that the students can see.

When the teacher has space and the conditions to be able to vary the seating arrangements, they

will need to consider several issues. The type of activity and the answer to these questions should

help the teacher decide what is the most suitable arrangement for each lesson or stage of the

lesson.

• How is the relationship between the teacher and the students likely to vary in each case?

• How will it affect the classroom atmosphere?

• Which arrangements are the most conducive to the teacher maintaining effective control

over the class?

• In which situation will the teacher dominate most? What will the teacher’s role be in each

case?

10.5 GROUP WORK - PROS AND CONS

There are many pros and cons to putting students in workgroups. Check the list below.

Pros

• Like pair-work, it can visibly increase student talk time and student-to-student interaction

• Encourages students to cooperate and negotiate in English

• Students can choose their level of participation

• Weaker students can learn from the stronger students

Cons




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• Sometimes is very noisy

• Can take longer to organize and get started

• The exchange of ideas among group members can slow activities down too much

• Some group members may dominate, and passive students may not get adequate

opportunity to participate

It’s important to note that the grouping chosen by the teacher is likely to be very much dictated by

the class size and type of activity. It is a good idea, when possible, to mix things up to create as

much variety as possible. To allow sufficient opportunity for student talk time and active

participation, significant pair and groupwork should be used, particularly in study and activity

stages.

Grouping Students There is no real limit to the way a teacher can group students, though factors such as class size

and classroom furniture can be problematic. In addition, the teacher has to consider how many

students will be interacting at one time in each activity some activities could be geared to the

whole class, pairs and larger groups, or individual work.

Whole-class Grouping - Pros and Cons

Pros

• Creates a sense of belonging among the group

• Allows students to interact with other class members

• Suitable for activities where the teacher needs to be in control/have the attention of the

entire class

• Quicker and easier organization

Cons

• Reduces opportunities for students to speak

• Can be off-putting to shy students who may not wish to participate in front of the whole

class

• Activities involving the whole class can pose safety issues if students are moving around

Students Working on their Own - Pros and Cons

Pros

• Allows teachers to respond to individual differences in the pace of learning, ability, etc.

• Less stressful for students who are nervous to participate in front of others

• Helps the student become more self-reliant




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• Independent activities are quieter

Cons

• Restricts possibilities for student-to-student interaction and group belonging

• Very little communication

• Lacks fun

Pair Work - Pros and Cons

Pros

• Dramatically increases the opportunity for student talk time and student-to-student

interaction

• Makes facilitating easy because the teacher can address multiple students at one time,

while others are occupied with a task.

• Gives students a safe environment to try out ideas before sharing them with the group

• Allows students to share ideas and thoughts

• Allows stronger students to help and support weaker ones

• Allows students to share responsibility and removes the burden from the individual.

• Quick and easy to organize

Cons

• Students could pick up incorrect English from their partners

• Can be tempting for students to communicate with one another in their mother tongue.

10.6 EYE CONTACT, GESTURE, AND VOICE

The Voice Teachers need to consider how they sound to the class. They should be loud enough for the

students to hear, but also clear enough for them to make out the individual sounds in each word. If

the teacher’s voice does not have the correct clarity, range, variety, or projection, the teacher will

have a difficult time making instruction/explanations understood to all members of the class. Voice

projection is something that almost all new teachers struggle with initially.

The teacher needs to remember that their voice will change naturally according to the

circumstances. For example, voice will not be the same during an individual tutoring lesson as it

would be when teaching a class full of 50 16 young children. Greater projection will be necessary

for a large, noisy classroom than a small quiet room. An effective teacher will also adapt the

complexity of his/her language to suit the level and ability of the students.




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Students will often reflect the volume of the teacher. The teacher can use this reflection to easily

liven up or quiet down a lesson. If the teacher wants the students to quiet down, the teacher may

find all the teacher has to do is talk with a quieter voice. When doing repeated vocab and sentence

practice, the teacher can lead the class in volume variations by raising and lowering the volume of

their voice. More often than not, students will follow the teacher’s lead, and the teacher can make

a fun game out of changing the volume of the class. Having fun playing with different volumes and

voice variations can help keep student’s focus and garner interest. A dull monotone voice will only

create boredom and lead to students not paying attention and misbehaving.

Using Student's Names Learning student’s names is a good way to show students that the teacher cares about them.

Calling a student by their name is much more likely to make them more willing to participate, than

if the teacher was to call them something generic like “you, or hey!” Below are some reasons why

teachers might call a student’s name out.

• to organize an activity

• to acknowledge the students

• to indicate who is to answer or respond

• to get the attention of a student

The name of a student should be used at the end of the question, not at the start. This keeps the

whole class alert, as they do not know who will have to answer.

Gestures Much of what we say in an ESL classroom is likely to go over student’s heads. That’s why using

broad gestures is so important. Check out the list below and try to think about gestures that a

teacher could use for each of the following situations.

• listen

• repeat in chorus

• get into pairs

• stop

• good

• not right

• nearly right

• unusual idea

• identifying a student




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Avoid using confusing gestures. Gestures should only be used if they are obvious in meaning or

the meaning has already been established with the students.

Eye Contact As we all know, it is very difficult to speak to someone who is always looking elsewhere or

someone who looks us in the eye all of the time. Also, we are aware that eye contact can convey

messages.

Good eye contact in the classroom is essential to establishing a good rapport with the students. A

teacher who never looks students in the eye will appear to lack confidence and could have

problems with discipline. On the other hand, constantly staring students in the eyes all the time

can come off as intimidating.

How can eye contact be used in the classroom?

• To show students that they are all involved in the lesson

• To check if students understand what they are supposed to do and what is going on

• To indicate who is to speak (often with a nod of the head)

• To encourage contributions

• To hold the attention of students who are not being addressed

• To maintain discipline

• To signal students to start, stop, or get a move on

• To indicate that something is correct or incorrect

• To check that everybody is participating

When should eye contact be avoided?

It should be avoided during any activity that is not teacher-centered (an activity where the focus is

on the fluency of the students are working together in pairs/groups). We don’t want to intimidate

the students or make them feel like big brother is watching their every move. We need them to feel

comfortable enough to experiment with the language and to make mistakes. A good way to avoid

being overbearing is just to let the students work at their own pace. Circulate the room every few

minutes, and ask students if they need help. If they look like they might be struggling or they say

they want assistance, then the teacher can sit down next to them or try to provide help. If the

students seem like they are working well, it may be better to just leave them alone and avoid

disrupting their attention.




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10.7 THE KISS PRINCIPLE

As teachers, our number one priority is that our aims and objectives are achieved in the

classroom. This means that our students have understood the material presented to them,

practiced the material, and have produced a work sample that uses the material in a non-

restrictive and creative way (think back to the phases of a lesson and how these principles are

inherent in the lesson structure advocated in this guide). Being able to produce a work sample

using the content taught demonstrates that students have learned the material and are willing and

able to apply this new knowledge to real-life situations. . To facilitate the understanding and overall

learning process we need to be diligent in applying the KISS principle to every stage of every

lesson. KISS – keep it simple stupid

This means ensuring that all stages of the lesson are kept simple, from the time the students walk

into the classroom until the moment they walk out. We aim to build confidence and skill around the

English language, not discourage students from it.

Instructions. Instructions should be concise, to the point, and the teacher should use vocabulary

and language that is basic and easily understood. Use gestures and modeling to assist in

conveying meaning. Tell the students exactly what is want from them in as few words as possible.

Confusion leads to frustration. A perfectly planned activity can and will go wrong with lengthy and

poorly planned directives. In addition to making sure that instructions are as clear and simple as

possible, incorporate examples of what the teacher expects the students to do when appropriate.

Presentation. *Keep vocabulary simple* Select words, create flashcards, and incorporate

gestures, miming, modeling, etc. to convey meaning. It is imperative that the teacher not only

expresses the vocab terms but also the context in which the vocab is used. The students must

understand the words contextually for the learning to make sense and have useful meaning.

Dialogue. Avoid complex sentences. Keep sentences short enough to be memorized. Cut out

unnecessary words, keep correct grammar in mind, and use natural language.

Production. Plan simple, relevant, and interesting activities that apply to student's lives and are

easily transferable. Use situational contexts for ease of understanding and perceived relevance.

Make sure that students know what they are supposed to do, and that they leave the classroom

with a sense of accomplishment. If the students leave the classroom happy, they are much more

likely to want to come back and participate again.

10.8 INTRODUCTORY LESSONS




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Introductory lessons are extremely important. An introductory lesson gives teachers a chance to

learn about the students and for the teacher to introduce himself/herself. Introductory lessons can

also be used to let students know the teachers’ expectations, aims, and goals. This lesson is

essential in establishing the teacher as an authority figure in the classroom. Teachers should

introduce basic rules for the class, as well as familiarize students with the text, workbook, and

materials. This is also a great time to set up a grading or attendance sheet. Make a handout that

students can write their full name, nickname (if they have one), class number, and any other

essential information. Many schools or agencies might already have a grade or attendance sheet

they want teachers to use, so teachers should ask right at the beginning what resources and

templates the school or agency requires teachers to use in managing their class. The introductory

class should establish a comfortable and productive learning environment and should bring the

class together as a cohesive group. Teachers should set the tone for the quarter, and make sure

no one feels out of place or uncomfortable. Follow these guidelines:

• Use a Warm-up activity. Classmate interviews and surveys work well for this, as they

encourage students to get up and meet each other. An example of this is: “Find someone

who..." (...has climbed a mountain, been to North America, plays football, etc.)

• Introduce yourself. Students will be curious about the teacher! Bring a pre-packaged

photo story with pictures of the family, home, pets, friends, or hobbies. Also, do not tell

students this is their first "real" job.

• Introduction activity. Have the students interview each other for two minutes at a time,

and then report back to the class about what they found out about their classmates.

Adjust the activity to the proficiency level of the class. For beginners, the teacher may

have to write and model the questions and answers on the board first. If the activity is too

difficult for your students, feel free to make it even simpler. Instead, have students say

their name and their favorite animal, or food, sport, hobby, etc. They can also add why

that thing is their favorite, and one action that goes along with the object (air guitar as a

favorite hobby, barking like a dog for a favorite animal)

• Name games. Name games help us learn everyone’s name

• Explain if possible, the things being used during the class. Show students the text,

workbook, and anything that they will use in class. Let students get familiar with the

resources and material.

• Tell students how assessments will work. Show them the breakdown of the marking

scheme. For example, the teacher may break down the course something like: Tell them

what each type of assignment is worth, and how each type of assessment is weighted.




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• Establish a set of rules. Telling students what kind of behavior is expected is crucial to

classroom success, and the sooner the rules are established, the better. If you have

adolescent students, it’s a good idea to work with the students to establish a set of rules

that are fair and effective for both the teacher and the students. If students have the

freedom to agree upon the rules for the course, it is likely they will be more accepting of

the rules because they helped establish them. With younger students, whose language

skills aren’t as advanced, illustrating rules with pictures, visuals, and setting examples

are all effective ways the teacher can establish rules.

• Handouts are useful for almost everything. Handouts give students a clear message

that the teacher is prepared and professional. Students need to feel confident that their

teachers know what they are doing. Also, students can refer back to the handouts if they

do not understand something that went on in class. Try to make handouts simple to

understand, and visually appealing.

• Assign homework. The amount of homework assigned is up to the teacher. Usually, the

first assignment is to have students write something about themselves or their family, so

the teacher can establish what their capabilities are early in the course. The homework

should always be an extension of the class, and a means for the students to practice

what they have learned that day. In some schools, the teacher may never have to assign

homework.

• Class Lesson Routine. All classes work better if there is some consistency and pattern.

Students will learn what is expected of them, and when things are expected a lot quicker

if there is a consistent lesson structure. That is why it is recommended that teachers use

the CultureRoute methodology.

10.9 CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCES FROM CULTUREROUTE TEACHERS

CultureRoute recently reached out to several former students to ask them to share their

experiences with classroom management issues. Here are several personal anecdotes from these

teachers regarding their classroom management issues:

“I used the TESOL method frequently but I mixed the stages around to keep the students

engaged. My activities and worksheets tended to be more successful than my presentation

phase. Looking back, the first day of class was one of the most important days of the term.

Learning my student’s names was another hugely effective technique for controlling my

class.”

“I mostly teach students that are about 8-10 years old. For me, positive reinforcement is one

of my most successful classroom management techniques. First, I always give praise to the




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well-behaved students. By doing this, the more troublesome students began to get jealous

and would correct their behavior to get my approval. Earlier in the term when I was still

struggling, I consulted one of the Thai teachers about potentially using the bamboo stick like

the native teachers. However, the teacher told me that since the students knew that it wasn’t

used in my culture, it would not serve its intended purpose. Still, I attempted to use the

bamboo as an “intimidation” method and I would hit the board or their desks. While it worked

temporarily, a couple of minutes later they were back up to their old shenanigans.”

“For me, just showing a general interest in my student’s personal lives outside of class had

a big effect on their behavior. I try to connect with them on a personal level and ask them

about their interests. I also tried to make myself as accessible to them as possible, with my

office hours or staying after class. I do go a little above and beyond occasionally with

treating the students. At one point I was spending 1000 baht/week on treats and rewards for

them. Despite the effectiveness of this, it did slightly weaken my status as the authority

figure in the class. But for me, the benefits of a happy class outweighed the costs.”

“My experience is different from others, as I teach kindergarten. At first in my class, the boys

tended to be the ones that were the most disruptive, fighting and talking out of turn. My

attempt to deal with this was that I started to assign tasks like cleaning the whiteboard or

organizing crayons. At first, I assigned these tasks to my best students. When they

completed the task, I would shower them with positive praise. As the course progressed, I

started assigning these tasks to my more unruly students. Their behavior started to get

better because as it turns out, they wanted that same praise that I gave the other kids.

“My students are mainly between the ages of 12-13. Occasionally I have a native assistant

in my class. While having that native assistant can be helpful sometimes, other times the

assistant ends up dominating my class, and I kind of become a bystander. My advice is that

if you do have an assistant in your class, be sure to communicate extensively with them and

let them know your expectations and operations protocol.”

“Having fun with my students was the most helpful thing I did to gain control over my class.

There was one day that only 7 students out of 30 showed up. Of course, I couldn’t teach my

lesson as planned, so I ended up just playing English games all day. The students who




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were there must have told the rest of the class what happened because I never had

attendance issues after that. It was a huge turning point

“Controlling my classes has been my biggest issue so far at my school. I encounter

numerous problems each day, such as blatant cheating, students sleeping in class, and

large groups all wanting to use the toilet at the same time. To deal with the bathroom issue,

I would allow them to go in pairs of 2. That way, even if they were gone for 5 minutes doing

something they weren’t supposed to, their other friends in class would be sitting and waiting

for them to return. It made the students accountable for each other’s behavior. For the

cheating issue, I just had to be quick on my feet. If a student finished a worksheet, I had to

quickly collect it. That way, even if the student verbally gave their answers to another

student, at least they were speaking in English. Sometimes you’ve got to pick your poison.

“Hands down though the most successful thing I did to get better control over my class was

bond with my students. Every day during the production phase, I would play music from my

computer at a low volume. This slowly allowed my students to start to get to know me and

they were interested in my music. As the term has gone along, students started bringing in

their music on flash drives to share with me. If students ever wanted to hear something

particular, I would turn it into a reward and said that we could hear it when they were done

with their assignment. In addition to the music, I frequently play sports with my kids.

Whether it's basketball or badminton, it makes them like me more, and in turn, those

students with who I bond, often influence their other classmates to be better-behaved.

Insightful Anecdote from our Teacher in the Field The following article was written by one of our first-time teachers we placed at a public school in

Thailand. However, much of what he experienced is relevant to teaching in Thailand, Korea,

China, or even your home country. The topic is respect between the teacher and the students, and

the teacher and their local peers.

“Respect” can be a complicated matter. Coming from the students, it may even seem

impossible to gain respect from all of them. When we first started, I felt as if my students did not

respect me nearly as much (if at all) when compared to their native teachers. As time went by, I

started to realize that it is not respect they have for the native teachers, but FEAR that keeps




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the kids in line when the native teachers were around. Many native teachers rule by fear and

the children respond to this. They fear getting hit and more importantly, they fear (to an extreme

extent) that the teacher will tell their parents.

Most of my student’s parents do not speak English and are VERY hesitant/intimidated to talk to

me directly. In addition, there aren’t many opportunities for me to speak to them directly. For the

few parents who do come to school to pick up kids, I make it a point to try to communicate with

them. Sure enough, the more I try to communicate with the parents about how their children are

doing, the better they behave because they truly, deeply care about their parents’

opinions/feelings. And when the worst ones start to slip in class, I remind them "Fluke, you

KNOW I will be telling your mother about your behavior. Do you think she will be happy, sad, or

mad?" They rarely ever answer that question, and I suspect that they don't understand half the

things I'm saying at any given time, but they do hear 'mother' and 'mad' and they get the point.

Sometimes they even start to break down and cry right then and there in front of everyone just

from the thought of their mother or father being disappointing in them. This pressure from their

parents carries so much more weight than any form of repercussion or punishment that I could

ever dish out.

As for the ‘respect’ from the children, It helped me to re-conceptualize their motives for

misbehaving. When I started, I always saw their bad behavior as disrespect towards me

directly. I compared my class to the local teachers’, and thought 'well they are not this bad

when a native teacher is in here, so the variable must be ME'. Then I would jump to the

conclusion that they do not respect me as much as the native teachers. I have only recently

started to conceptualize their bad behavior as kids just being kids. It has nothing to do with me,

and misbehavior should never be interpreted as a personal attack If any other person were in

my position: being a brand new, young teacher with limited means of punishment and lack of

the native language, the children would act the same. I know this because they behave the

same way for all our Western teachers whenever they sub for me.

Whenever you feel yourself getting angry or frustrated, as hard as it may seem in the moment,

you have to relax and realize that it is NOT personal. Whatever the kids are doing, it truly has

nothing to do with you. Many teachers do not realize this right away (if ever) but it is essential to

embrace this perspective if you are ever going to relate to your students and see eye to eye




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with them. Otherwise, resentment and hatred start to build and the kids pick up on this. You

have to be stern when it is necessary, but you have to also open up to your students, and show

them that you also enjoy having fun and that you can laugh and play with them in class when

the time is right. With children, it helps develop respect for their teacher if they can see that the

teacher is a human.

When I first started, I had been yelling at the top of my lungs for so many days in a row in class

that I lost my voice. I had a sore throat but continued to teach. I had ginger tea in one hand

while I wrote on the whiteboard with the other. When the kids asked why I was whispering, I

told them exactly why: “I lost my voice because I was yelling at you kids for so long.” This was

the first time they saw the humanness in me and they felt sorry for me, they had compassion for

me because I was sick and every time some student would start to talk out or play, the other

students would yell at them to be quiet and help me out. I thought, well this is great! I should get

sick more often. I have since put together PowerPoints about my

life, my travels, including pictures of my family and places I’ve

been. These presentations to the class can be very interactive, and

give a lot of great English grammar and sentence structure

practice, but more importantly, they show the students that I am a

person too. I have a real-life, I have feelings, and I deserve to be

respected just like they do. I think this has really helped build my

relationship with my students for the better, and their behaviors

have since improved drastically. I can now successfully lecture and

maintain attention and participation for extended periods, which

would have been impossible when I first started with these kids.

The teacher poses with her local co-teacher

Now as for the ‘respect’ from the native teachers/administrators, I think this requires a similar

but different approach. I want to first make it clear that what am about to say certainly does

NOT apply to all native teacher or admins, or even all of them at my school. I have become

great friends with many of my local co-workers and we love hanging out outside of school. But




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for some others, I have noticed that it seems they look at us Western teachers as temporary

puppets from who they can demand much work, without giving any respect in return.

In some ways, this does make sense: we have relatively high salaries and most of us will only

be at our given school for a semester or two and then leave, never really developing any real

connections with the locals or learning their language. So why spend the time to get to know us

on a personal level? And I guess I do understand this in a way: it seems that some people

approach foreigners with the attitude that they must earn respect as opposed to owing respect

just because they are your co-worker and a person. I have witnessed teachers coming into my

room, standing right in front of me and criticizing/complaining/and mocking me all while

speaking the local language (because they know I cannot understand) and all while my

students can hear every word. This is extremely frustrating and I can see how you feel like

similar behavior calls to question any possibility of developing respect from your students when

they see the other teachers treating you this way.

If you are dealing with anything similar, I do have advice. As difficult it is and as much as you

may not want to: you have to kill them with kindness. This is a cheesy expression but it has

seemed to work for me. I’m not talking about kissing ass- that’s not my style, I’m talking about

genuinely being kind and always smiling whenever you have the chance. I have seen complete

180 turnarounds with how some of the teachers treat me, and even the way they look at me

since I started doing this. Now, I will admit this has not worked for ALL my co-workers, but I

suspect they will come around with time and join the larger group of co-workers who do seem

to respect me, or they won’t, and they will just continue to be a negative-nancy for the rest of

their lives- but it doesn’t bother me any because I don’t take it personally. I think my kids can

see that I just don’t care when another teacher shows disrespect towards me, as opposed to

me getting all worked up and losing face because these adults want to come to my classroom

and act like children. I will never stoop to their level and I think this behavior helps build on that

respect from my students towards me. So as difficult as it is to smile at someone who

disrespects you, I promise that if you try and be honest about it, it will have positive results.

Teacher Attributes One of the big factors to classroom management is creating a teacher persona. A teacher’s

teaching persona should be natural and should reflect their personality. The main thing is that the




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teacher wants to exhibit confidence and control. Contrary to the beliefs of some, it is not true that

teachers have to be an extrovert to be a good teacher. Some good teachers are very low-key,

while other teachers are lively and amusing. Teachers will find their style of teaching through

practice and experience. For a class to be able to learn effectively, the teacher must be able to

inspire confidence in the students. We must know when to be firm and when to be flexible. In other

words, the teacher must be open to changing his/her role according to the activity and situation.




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Section 11: Teaching English to Young Learners

This section primarily focuses on the intricacies of teaching kindergarten and young learners in the

early years of primary school. Please be sure to refer to the section of this guide that explains the

differences in catering to, and motivating different age groups.

Working with younger children will require a different approach to lesson planning. Younger

children need shorter activities, more breaks, and for some, a nap in the afternoon. In many cases,

the teacher is responsible for the ‘English,’ but they may also be asked to be the homeroom

teacher. In this instance, they will need to cover all educational topics such as science, math,

health, physical education, etc. Below, in Figure 18 is a curriculum map for teaching young

learners that incorporates language and other educational topics.

Curriculum Planning Map

Figure 18. Curriculum Map for Teaching Young Learners.

Try to include multiple educational subjects in all activities. One really good story can cover many

aspects of a curriculum, and the teacher can plan a couple of weeks to cover it, depending on the

timeframe and the story.

Teachers will need to adjust the 3 Ps methodology to suit young learners because they do not

have the knowledge, skills, or attention span to comprehend or participate in the same way older

students can. Therefore, it is important to be adaptable and follow the guidance listed on the next

The Very Hungry

Caterpillar

Speaking & Listening

Answering questions, participation in group

work, games and activities, listening to the

story

Vocabulary

Days of the week, Food,

colours, life cycle, likes and

dislikes – phonics, language

practice

Reading

Word formation,

prediction,

developing core

reading skills

Writing

Copying, letter formation, gap filling,

sentence structure




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page for lesson planning. Young learners have short attention spans, so teachers should make

sure they have plenty of activities in their lessons, and also that they vary their activities regularly. Further Guidance Show students physical ways to express themselves. For example, when the time is up for each

activity, ask all the children to put their hands up in the air and wriggle their fingers. If the students

have to put their hands up in the air, then they will have to stop the activity they are doing, and

their attention is likely to shift to you. It’s a good idea to have a couple of maneuvers handy to use

to get student’s attention quickly. That way, they must stop the activity. Once the teacher has their

attention, they can instruct them on how to prepare for their next activity.

Using these maneuvers can help the teacher move between activities easily. One maneuver that a

fellow teacher used frequently is catching a bubble. Catching a bubble is when the teacher tells

the students to catch a bubble, and then sucks in a lungful of air and holds it. The students will

follow suit, and while they are holding a mouthful of air, quiet will ensue.

Implementing a routine for lessons will help establish a comfortable and safe learning

environment. If students learn what to expect, they are likely to respond better. Be sure to keep

students updated on activity timings. Give them warnings when an activity is about to finish and

allow them to finish it. If students feel like they are being rushed, or that they won’t be able to finish

their work, they may get frustrated and even throw a temper tantrum. Keeping students informed

on activity times will help mitigate some of these issues before they happen. Principles of good

teaching and preparation are universal and span all age groups. Remember to always plan

lessons, keep activities simple and relevant, have backup materials and activities, and cater to

student interests and abilities.




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Section 12: Error Correction

What is the difference between a mistake and an error, and, how do we know when our students

have made a mistake or error? Mistakes and errors are two words with different meanings. A

mistake is when a student had the knowledge but just has trouble recalling it. They might slip in

their pronunciation or say the wrong word, and when the teacher points it out to them, they say,

“Oh, right. I forgot.”

An error is when the student lacks the specific knowledge to answer the question or perform the

activity properly. While mistakes can be self-corrected with some simple intervention from the

teacher, or latent student recognition, errors require much more attention from the teacher. When

we identify common errors, we need to find out more information.

• Where did these errors come from?

• When should we make corrections?

• What is the most productive way to make corrections?

• How do we go about correcting mistakes/errors?

Where do Errors come from? When learning a second language it is natural for students to first

try to apply their knowledge of their native language to the target language. Depending on the

similarities and differences between the languages, this may or may not be a successful strategy

for the student. A major reason that errors occur, especially at the beginning stages of learning a

language, is that many learners will try and relate the target language to their native language. For

example, a student may say, “I’m looking forward to go to the park,” because that is how it would

sound if translated directly from their native language. The teacher must work with the student to

teach them that in English, they would say, “I’m looking forward to going to the park.”

Another significant source of student errors can be the result of inferior classroom materials or

instruction from the teachers. In the education world, we refer to these errors as induced errors.

When and how to correct errors? After an activity, has been explained, and the materials have

been distributed to the students, the teacher should walk around and facilitate the activity. This is a

great time to check and correct errors. Sit down next to groups of students and pay attention to

their pronunciation, grammar, spelling, and any other potential error areas.

One thing to note is whether or not the errors you are recognizing are happening to one student or

multiple students in the same class. If you notice that many students are making the same

mistakes, it’s a good idea to address the issue with the class.




111

Avoid lecturing on the error, as lots of verbal instruction will likely go over student’s heads. Instead,

work through a couple of examples on the whiteboard, and show (not tell) the difference between

correct and incorrect.

Error correction during the Production Phase is usually reserved for the end of an activity because

we want to encourage students to communicate naturally and because we want to focus on

fluency. Error correction during the Presentation Phase is usually done during the introduction and

drilling of the vocabulary to help improve pronunciation. It is important to not overuse error

correction as it can discourage students, and it’s unrealistic to believe that students can pronounce

words correctly in just a few minutes after learning them. Sometimes proper pronunciation of

words can take years or even decades. Error correction during the Practice Phase is usually done

during the activity.

While there are many theories, techniques, and philosophies for the most effective ways to do

error correction, each teacher will find out what works best for them through practice and

experience.

Just remember to always show why an error is an error, and what students can do to provide a

correct response.




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Section 13: Assessment

The Importance of Assessments An assessment is a critical tool that teachers must use to gauge student learning, reflect on prior

content taught and the methods in which it was taught, track student progress, and also motivate

students. When developing assessment tools, there are several important strategies to follow:

• Find out where students are in their learning through questioning and checking

responses

• Set clear objectives with students and provide feedback that helps them to achieve the

objectives

• Share criteria for success and expectations with students. Show students the work that is

expected of them

• Make peer and self-assessment key components of learning

• Give students opportunities to better their grades

• Let students know what they need to study

The Principles of Assessment

There are five key principles of assessment that should always be followed:

• Assessment purpose must be clear and communicated

• Assessment purpose must be valid

• Assessments must be reliable

• Assessment must be practiced efficiently

• Assessments must support learning development

Assessments are intended to provide support to learning development, therefore, are not used to

take a breather. Assessments must be planned, ensuring that the overall goal is to provide

students with progress on their goals, as well as to inform them where they are standing with

regards to current knowledge/proficiency. Before issuing an assessment, of any kind, this must be

communicated to the students in advance, allowing them to prepare, and also to inform them of

your expectations. More importantly, the assessment purpose must be communicated to your

students. Students need to know why this is an important part of their learning development.

Furthermore, assessments must follow a clear structure, standardized across all classes. Finally,

assessments need to be reliable, in that the purpose of learning development is upheld, not over-

testing for the sake of it, as this will have a negative impact.




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Evaluating Learning When developing assessments, teachers need to focus on how students are learning. Conversely,

students need to know what they are supposed to learn, and how to identify success. Teaching

and learning must be an interactive, collaborative process in which teachers can talk with students

and raise open-ended questions to construct and share their understandings. One part of this

involves self-motivation. What motivates us, and how other people can influence our self-

motivation is a very complex area that is still not 100% understood, but our knowledge on the

subject is growing. Assessment should emphasize helping students to achieve success through

their efforts and using techniques that work for them. We should strive to teach our students ways

in which they can further their learning on their own. Being wrong, making mistakes, and struggling

to understand or to do something is a necessary and formative part of learning, and that should be

made clear to students.

Setting Clear Objectives and Sharing Success Criteria Students cannot take more responsibility for their learning unless they know what they are

expected to learn, and how they will know that they have been successful. To help promote

effective self-assessment, teachers need to go beyond simply telling students what to do and how

to do it and making clear what is to be learned. It is also important to show how to recognize

success.

For assessment to play a formative role in teaching and learning, it must be integral to a teacher’s

planning. Learning intentions describe what students are going to learn, rather than what they are

about to do. The focus should be on the learning, and not the task

Assessment Types Initial Assessment. This type of assessment is to find out what level of English language

knowledge students has. The teacher can do this by creating an assessment tool that tests what

language capability students have already achieved.

It’s a good idea to make the initial assessment general, simple, and varied enough to give a wide

understanding of student proficiency levels. One initial assessment is to give the students a series

of 20 question-and-answer couplets. Only the answers were provided and the students were

responsible for filling in the correct question. It looked like this:

Q:________________________?

A: Yes, I have two brothers and one sister.




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Q: _______________________?

A: My favorite food is fried rice.

Notice how these two questions use different structures. Do you have any…. What is your

favorite?

Using a wide variety of question structures will allow the teacher to get a good grasp on how much

English students have been exposed to, and their actual comprehension.

This is just one example of an initial assessment. There are many other methods of initial

assessment, but ultimately, the idea is to find out what students already know, and where they

may need some extra practice and support.

Based on the feedback and responses from the initial assessment, the teacher can create a

curriculum to advance the student’s English language capabilities. This assessment should be

done on a class level, as well as with each student individually. The initial assessment will allow

the teacher to identify any slower learners or those who are at a lower level.

Since the teacher will normally do an initial assessment at the beginning of the course, they should

have plenty of time to use the information from the assessment to develop strategies to cater to

slower learners and all of the other students. Some examples of different strategies include

pairing, special individual assignments, and additional support materials, etc.

Formative Assessment. Formative Assessments allow the teacher to see student feedback as

they progress through the course. A perfect example of a formative assessment is a mid-term test

or a quiz after a topic that has spanned several lessons.

Formative assessments provide feedback on student progress and show whether or not the

students have been meeting learning objectives. Pay special attention to the grades that students

get on their quizzes and tests. Is there a section that many students made errors on? If so, that’s a

good indicator that the class may not have understood the lesson. Then the teacher knows that if

they want students to understand that topic, they may need to spend some more class time on it.

Conversely, if the teacher notices that all students did well on a certain section or topic of the test,

then they can surmise that they don’t need to spend any more time on that topic. They can also

use this information to know which activities and lessons have been the most effective. Did

students do well on a particular section of the test? What lesson did the teacher do when they

covered that section? Was there an activity that worked well?




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After the class, has completed an assessment and it’s been graded, it’s a good idea to spend

some time on the assessment with the class as a whole. Praise the students who did a great job,

and go through each section explaining how to get the answers. Make it a class discussion and

have students contribute to the review process. Note that if the teacher plans on having students

revise their tests for make-up points, wait to review the test until after that revision has happened.

Be sure to let students know that the teacher is available if they have any questions or need any

help. Since some students might be too shy to ask for help, if the teacher notices a student who

has not done well on their assessment, it may be better to approach the student and ask if they

need any help, or just try to dive right into explaining the sections they did poorly on.

Summative Assessment. Summative assessments look back at the learning that has taken place

over a specific period to assess whether learning objectives have been met, and what, if any,

additional learning is required. An example of a summative assessment is a final test or an end-of-

term project. Summative assessments are used to give students and parents a full picture of

where the learners are in the learning process, and what they have achieved. A summative

assessment typically includes a mark or grade against an expected standard and should also

include a narrative outlining in more depth the student’s achievements or challenges during the

period (quarter, topic, term, semester). Summative assessments are oftentimes used as progress

trackers for schools and agencies. Schools and agencies will often want paper proof of their

learners’ progress and grades, and summative assessments are what is used most of the time to

show that. It’s a good idea to be prepared to submit the marks students get on their summative

assessments. Communicate with the administration at the school and find out what they expect.

Summative assessments can also be used to reflect on the learning period, and to judge the

effectiveness of different lessons and activities.

Timely, focused feedback. Effective feedback should relate to the learning objective and should

point out success and improvement needs. It should offer clear guidance on how work can be

improved, and include the next steps in furthering the learning, and how students can take those

steps. In creating a positive climate for learning, many teachers increase the level of praise that

they give during feedback sessions. Research shows, however, that praise needs to be realistic if

the feedback is to be meaningful. Regular, excessive praise often does more harm than good,

leading to delusion or even frustration and resentment.

Making marking count. The marking of student work is one of the more contentious areas within

assessment for learning. In particular, this relates to the nature of the written comments teachers




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make on student’s work and the extent to which teachers share grades, levels, and marks publicly

with students. Traditionally, teachers spend many hours correcting spelling errors, acting as a

copy-editor, and providing marks and comments. The marking of student work can be extremely

time-consuming and repetitive, and research shows that the vast majority of marking has little or

no effect. There is also strong evidence to indicate that traditional forms of marking can be

responsible for regression in many students because they can make little sense of it and it can

cause them to become demoralized and overwhelmed. Most learners tend to ignore any

comments made by the teacher and pay far more attention to the overall grade scored.

When students are given a mark, their ego kicks in and they are likely to react emotionally to the

score and fail to register the comments. A lower than expected mark is internalized as a failure,

whereas a better than expected grade can lead to students feeling elated and trying to find out

whether or not they have done better than their friends. Either way, the teacher’s comments are

often ignored. While it is important to grade student’s work and keep numerical records of their

progress, it is also important to know the impact grades can have on student’s egos and how the

acknowledgment of a grade might cause the student to ignore the substance of the feedback. We

need to remember that our students will benefit most from learning the steps and tools they can

use to advance learning and remember concepts on their own.

Standardized Assessments Standardizing assessments is critical in ensuring a fair process for all of your students, in addition

to ensuring that school policies are being followed with all assessments. Be sure to speak to the

school administration to understand school policy with test/assessment standardization.

Furthermore, assessments should be in line with the issued curriculum, not deviate from the set

learning objectives for the unit and/or semester. Finally, standardized testing is crucial to fairly

assess lesson plan/curriculum effectiveness, therefore, testing conditions for all students must be

the same. Bear in mind that objectivity is incredibly important, therefore you should not be grading

these exams yourself. Standardized testing is an effective way to see the bigger picture, which can

also include teacher efficacy.

Creating Tests The process of creating a test can be cumbersome if we are not proactively planning for the

eventuality. It is important that, for each lesson plan, we are highlighting the vocabulary, dialog, or

activity that we will be using to test our students later. As we should be planning to assess, this

should be done naturally, however, it is important to know this before you get started on your first




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day. When creating a test, you need to understand what you are testing. Is this a writing test,

speaking, reading, etc.? While multiple-choice tests are common, their purpose in the ESL

classroom is to assess reading comprehension, in addition to vocabulary foundation. Consider

your goals first. Speaking assessments can be done by appointment, setting clear instructions for

your students. For example, on (date), you will need to speak about yourself for (time), then, I will

be asking you questions about your family and friends. By stating these key points, the student

knows when they will be assessed, what they need to do, and what to expect from you during the

test. It is also important to state how you will be grading. For example, are you looking for

confidence levels, ability to respond to unplanned questions, or presentation style, to name a few?

With written tests, this can simply be a compilation of your highlighted vocabulary and dialog, as

well as reading excerpts from your lesson plans. Just make sure that you are covering only what

has been studied during that particular unit, briefing your students in advance as to the general

content of the exam, what they should be studying, and how the exam will work in practice.




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Annex A: Acronyms in the World of TESOL

The world of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) is awash with acronyms,

many of which appear in the job postings you may be searching through. Understanding ESL’s

many acronyms will help you understand the terminology that is frequently used in many job

postings.

CALL Computer Assisted Language Learning.

CELTA Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults – Cambridge University’s

certificate program, formerly the CTESOLA.

CELTYL Certificate in English Language Teaching to Young Learners – Cambridge’s

certificate program for teaching children.

DOS/DoS Director of Studies – Headteacher/administrator responsible for staff and/or

academic aspects of school management.

DELTA Diploma English Language Teaching to Adults – Cambridge (see UCLES)

advanced in-service qualification formerly DTESOLA

EAP English for Academic Purposes – Learning/teaching English to enable further academic

study in any discipline. Often associated with TOEFL or IELTS preparation.

EFL English as a Foreign Language – Refers to the English studied and used by non-native

speakers in non-English speaking countries (as opposed to ESL which is defined below).

ELT English Language Teaching/Training – General term for the field of teaching ESL. More

common in the United Kingdom partly interchangeable with TESOL and TESL.

ESL English as a Second language – Refers to the English spoken by people whose native

language is not English while they are living or in an English – speaking host country like Canada.

Often (though inaccurately) used as an umbrella term for the entire field of teaching English to

non-native speakers, at home or abroad.

ESOL English for Speakers of Other Languages – The updated umbrella term for the field of

teaching English, as both a foreign and a second language. Nowadays the standard.

ESP English for Special/Specific Purposes – Teaching learners who need to use a specific

vocabulary in their work (aircrew, engineers, electronic engineers, software developers) but will




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not need to use English otherwise. This umbrella term can include business English learning and

academic English learning (EAP) as well.

EYL English for Young Learners – This term relates to language learning as it relates to young

people (usually 7-12 years old).

FCE First Certificate in English – Practically oriented exam, most commonly used to measure

communicative competency. Companies, particularly in Europe, use the test to measure the

English language ability of both prospective and existing employees, not unlike its American

counterpart, TOEIC (see below)

IATESOL International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language – British-

based teachers association, like TESOL Inc. in America.

IELTS International English Language Testing System – IELTS takes two forms: 1) an

academic test often used by universities to determine a non-native speaker’s preparedness for

study in countries like Australia and Great Britain; 2) a more general test used to measure

competence for non-academic training or work experience.

L1 Learner’s first language.

L2 Learner’s second language (English is often L2 for students but can be L3 or more

depending on how many other languages they speak).

LTCL Licentiate of Trinity College London – Name of the Diploma in Teaching English to

Speakers of Other Languages moderated by Trinity College. The certificate program which

precedes it is usually referred to as the Cert TESOL

NNS Non-native speaker.

NS Native speaker.

PGCE Post Graduate Certificate in Education – The British equivalent of the North American B.Ed

PPP Presentation, Practice, Production (teaching methodology).

RSA Royal Society of Arts – Forerunner to CELTA and DELTA, RSA certificates and diplomas

are no longer offered but are still often (mistakenly) requested. If an employer asks for an RSA

certificate, odds are they mean CELTA.

STT Student Talking Time




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TEAP Teaching English for Academic Purposes – Specialized teaching positions usually

focused on test preparations

TESOL@1X Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages – As taught ‘abroad,’ to

learners in countries where English is not a native language.

TESL Teaching English as a Second Language – Strictly speaking, English as taught to learners

in countries where English is a native language (e.g. English to immigrants in Canada), the term is

nonetheless often used to describe teaching overseas as well.

TESP Teaching English for Specific Purposes – Specialized teaching jobs may be labeled as

TESP positions (business, medicine, etc.)

TEYL Teaching English to/for Young Learns – Positions requiring approaches tailored to

language learning for children.

TESOL@2X Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages – The catch-all term for teaching

English that included both TESOL and TESL, TESOL is emerging as the term to describe the

practice of teaching English to non-native speakers, at home and abroad. Also the name of the

American membership organization (TESOL Inc.) for FSL/EFL teachers.

TOEFL Test of English as a Foreign Language – Exam used to assess the level of English

TOEFL competence for international students seeking admission to universities in Canada, the

United States, and a growing number of other countries.

TOEIC Test of English for International Communication. An oral proficiency exam is used to

gauge communicative competency. Used by businesses worldwide to grade employees’ English

ability, often for raises or promotions. TOEIC scores are necessary on resumes worldwide. The

American version of the FCE (see above).

TPR Total Physical Response (teaching methodology).

TTT Teacher Talking Time.

TWE Test of Written English – supplement to the TOEFL, is must be completed to demonstrate

competency in writing in English at a university level.




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Annex B: Peer Evaluation Sheets

Peer Evaluation Form

Instructor name: ____________________________________________

Score 1—5 (5

being excellent,

1 needs work)

Comments

Relaxed, friendly teacher

demeanor

Fun & effective warmer

Lesson topic & aim easily

identifiable

Vocab presented in clear

& organized way

Ability to keep class

engaged and participating

Grammar point efficiently

incorporated into lesson

Effective error correction

Provides appropriate

feedback & praise

Production activity is

original and

communicative

Instructions are given

clearly with examples

Circulation throughout the

classroom

Effective classroom

management

An appropriate amount of

Teacher Talk Time

The level of creativity of

games and activities

General lesson

organization

Overall performance




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Name of lesson presenter: ____________________________________________

Score 1—5 (5

being excellent,

1 needs work)

Comments


demeanor



identifiable


& organized way







feedback & praise


original and

communicative




classroom

Effective classroom

management


Teacher Talk Time



General lesson

organization

Overall performance




123



Score 1—5 (5

being excellent,

1 needs work)

Comments


demeanor



identifiable


& organized way







feedback & praise


original and

communicative




classroom

Effective classroom

management


Teacher Talk Time



General lesson

organization

Overall performance




124



Score 1—5 (5

being excellent,

1 needs work)

Comments


demeanor



identifiable


& organized way







feedback & praise


original and

communicative




classroom

Effective classroom

management


Teacher Talk Time



General lesson

organization

Overall performance




125



Score 1—5 (5

being excellent,

1 needs work)

Comments


demeanor



identifiable


& organized way







feedback & praise


original and

communicative




classroom

Effective classroom

management

The appropriate amount of

Teacher Talk Time



General lesson

organization

Overall performance




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Annex C: Grammar Module

Levels of Grammar As an English teacher, you should know the rules of grammar, and constantly keep correct

grammar in mind when teaching. Even just consistently speaking with correct grammar will help

students learn the proper rules. Strive to include a grammar point naturally within the structures

being taught, in each lesson. The following section is to help teachers remember the endless

terms and rules of English grammar, and should be used as reference material.

Complete the following and refresh your grammar.

Parts of

Speech Function or "Job" Example Words Example Sentences

Verb action or state (to) be, have, do,

like

I eat lunch at 12. I have

10 baht

work, sing in my pocket

Noun thing, person, animal, pen, dog, work,

music,

This is my dog. He lives in

my house

place, quality, or

state

We live in London

Adjective modifies a noun or a some, good, big,

red

My dog is big. I like big

dogs

pronoun well, interesting

Adverb Describes a verb,

adjective

quickly, silently, well My dog eats quickly

when he is very

hungry

or adverb badly, very, really

Pronoun replaces a noun or

noun

I, you, he, she Tara

is Indian

She is beautiful

phrase

Preposition links a noun to

another

words

to, at, after, on, but We went to school on

Monday

Conjunction joins clauses or

sentences or words

and, but, when I

like dogs,

I like cats but I don’t like

dogs

Interjection Short exclamation.

Sometimes

oh! ouch! hi! Ouch! That hurts! Hi!

How are you?

inserted into a

sentence

Well. I don’t know




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Matching exercise – Grammar/parts of speech

1 NOUN (N) A. Gives more info about a verb, an adjective, or adverb.

2 PRONOUN (PRO) B. A person, place, or thing.

3 ADJECTIVE (ADJ) C. Joins two or more words or clauses.

4 VERB (V) D. This shows that this person, place, thing is different from another.

5 PREPOSITION (PREP) E. The activator of thought, motion, action, state, or imagination.

6 ADVERB (ADV) F. Substitutes the names of persons, places, states, or things.

7 CONJUNCTION (CONJ) G. Locates where things are.

8 INTERJECTION (INT) H. An exclamation!

Label each word in each sentence in terms of word-class – N, V, ADV, PRO, ADJ, CONJ,

PREP, and INT

1. The boy from the village was washing his elephant in the dirty water.

2. Yesterday, I saw a very maternal headteacher patting kids warmly on the head.

3. Hey, don’t forget to buy some milk at the store.

4. I often like swimming in the mornings before school.

5. Bob has been teaching English and Math this morning, but he is still not tired.

Put these words in the correct boxes. They may fit in more than one box.) Computer be often

towards but

so well class in hard

wow they snake think very

Noun adjective verb adverb

Pronoun preposition conjunction interjection




128

Matching exercise – Grammar/parts of speech

1 NOUN A. She works hard.

2 PRONOUN B. Dogs chase cats

3 ADJECTIVE C. Swimming is good for you.

4 VERB D. Knife and fork.

5 PREPOSITION E. That was hard work.

6 ADVERB F. I saw it.

7 CONJUNCTION G. Ouch! That hurt.

8 INTERJECTION H. I get up at 6 every morning.

Label each word in each sentence in terms of:

Word class – N, V, ADV, PRO, ADJ, CONJ, PREP, and INT

1. The cat sat on the mat.

2. Fish and chips are a very tasty meal.

3. Smoking is not allowed on school grounds.

4. Sometimes I go to school on the weekends.

5. They feed their cat every day.

Put these words in the correct boxes. (They may fit in more than one box.)

never above swarm have or

Quite set jogging I seem

frequently it chair boring fear

Noun adjective verb adverb

Pronoun preposition conjunction interjection




129

Nouns

Nouns are the largest of the word classes. They are often called an open class of words since we

allow new words into this group as they are coined. E.g., computer, NATO, bling.

As with most other areas of grammar, we can divide words into groups and further divide again…

Write down the nouns you still remember as well as their classes:

Nouns are naming words; at least that’s what they told us in school. They refer to people, places,

things, and ideas. You can test whether a word in a sentence is a noun or not if you put a, an, the,

or some in front of it to see if it makes sense. For example, we would talk about a raspberry, an

apple, a banana, or some grapes.

There are four main types of nouns: common, proper, collective, and abstract.

Common nouns

These nouns name people, places, and things.

They do not start with a capital letter unless they begin a sentence.

The ingredients of the hamburger were all common nouns.

Proper nouns

These nouns name one particular place or thing. They always begin with a

capital letter.

Collective nouns refer to a group or set of people, animals, or things.

A flock of birds or a gaggle of geese.

Common unique generic

Class the Vatican the clergy

Team the Kremlin the bourgeoisie

Herd the Congress the intelligentsia




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Government the Parliament the aristocracy

Abstract nouns, cannot be detected by the five senses.

Abstract nouns name feelings, qualities, or ideas. These nouns cannot be touched, tasted, heard,

smelt, or seen. Examples are delight, fury, love, haste, courage.

Compound nouns: These are combinations of two nouns put together to make a new word.

E.g. tea + pot = teapot, school + bus = school bus

There is no official rule as to whether the new word should be spelled as one word, two words, or

with a hyphen. E.g. fire fighter, firefighter, or fire-fighter.

Which noun can you add to the words below to form new compound nouns? The noun can be

added before or after the word.

End room

Hanger letter

clip news

Guide proof

Basket eye

Wheel woman

Spoon light

Set land

Head coast

Mark rain

Coffee salt

Wall cloth




131

Nouns

See if you can find all the nouns in this passage and arrange them under the headings, common,

proper, collective, and abstract.

The new hotel on the site, the Edison, will have 105 rooms all meet high standards of comfort. All

will be en-suite and air-conditioned and have a television, telephone, and mini-bar.

For added luxury, the Clarendon Suite will offer a welcoming and stylish set of rooms furnished

……. spacing elegant style. Special rates will be available for groups and parties from firms on the

hotels

Welcome List. Apart from formal meals at the Oak Tree Restaurant, residents can expect varied

menus in the Grapes Bistro, plus a wine list of outstanding discrimination. A full English …….

spacing

Breakfast will be served from 6.30 until 10.00 and for early or late risers Continental Breakfast

………spacing will be available at the discretion of the management team.

Common proper abstract collective

Count and non - count nouns.

Some nouns can be counted and

some cannot be counted!

I bought a chair and Sam bought three

chairs

Chair is a count noun. Chairs are

items that can be counted




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I bought some furniture

Furniture is a non-count noun. In

grammar, furniture cannot be

counted

A count noun may be preceded by a/an in the singular, and takes a final –s/-as in the plural.

A non - count noun is not immediately preceded by a/an. It has no plural form.

Write NC above the non-count nouns and C above the count nouns.

1. I have some pennies, a nickel, and notes in my pocket. In other words, I have some money in

the pockets of my trousers.

2. Ann likes to wear jewelry. Today she’s wearing four rings, a bracelet, and a necklace.

3. The scenery was beautiful, we saw mountains, fields, and lakes but we had a lot of thunder, fog,

and sleet, unfortunately.

4. We had some great food. Meat, rice, bread, butter, cheese, fruit, and tea.

5. I bought some gold for her birthday and she wished me happiness, health and good luck.

6. She has lovely black and brown eyes and not a hair out of place.

Verbs – Form

Identify and change the tense of these sentences.

1

Each of the brothers has a job

with the post office past simple

2

I am sure that he has taken the

key past simple/past perfect

3 The goods arrived on Tuesday. future continuous

4

I think that she goes to her night

class on Mondays past simple/past simple

5 The machine works perfectly. past continuous




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6 Britain opts out of the treaty. present perfect

7

The band had a concert in

London. future simple

8

Your father will speak to you

about it present perfect cont.

9 Our bus will leave at 5. future cont.

10

He was teaching at 10 this

morning present cont.

Verbs – Definitions of the

12 tenses

Present simple expresses a habitual action

I go to work every day.

Present continuous expresses a continuous action in the present

I am working at the moment.

Present perfect an action that took place in an identified time that is not

yet over

I’ve read a book this morning.

Present perfect

continuous

accounts for some time now finishing.

I’m sorry I’m late, I’ve been talking to the teacher.

Past simple for action in the past with a time marker.

I saw him yesterday.

Past continuous for a point in the past that is mentioned, the continuous

action crosses it.

I was teaching at 10 o’clock.

Past perfect used for actions previous to a stated time in the past.

By 1 o’clock he had cooked lunch.

Past perfect continuous conveys the ongoing nature of an action which led up to

the past moment in time.

He had been cleaning the car for over an hour before he

realized it was the wrong one.

Future simple Predictions based on judgment, knowledge, or guesswork.

They will be here soon.

Future continuous an action that is expected to cross a point of future time.

This time tomorrow he’ll be lying on the beach.




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Future perfect logical deduction.

He will have left already.

Future perfect

continuous

denotes a predicted duration of an event viewed from a

future time.

By the time you get here, I’ll have been working for an

hour.

Verb Tenses

There are four main conjugations of the verb used to form the English tenses. They are:

The infinitive: this is the root of the verb, the part of the verb you would normally lookup in a

dictionary.

Examples are... (to) go, (to) run, and (to) sit

The present participle (or the ing form): this includes the verb plus the morpheme ing. Examples

are: seeing, doing, looking.

The past participle: the form of the verb that comes after the helping verb has. Examples are: I

have seen, he has done, we have looked.

The past simple: the form of the verb that refers to a past action. Examples are: I went to England,

I saw that movie last week.

Now that we have the necessary terminology needed to describe the various forms of the verb we

can analyze each tense in English. There are 12 tenses.

But before we look at the tense system, it should be noted that to construct some tenses we need

the help of two auxiliary verbs (commonly labeled as “helping verbs”.). These are the verbs to be

and to have. They are indicated by italics in the table below.




135

Present tenses recap

Identify the tense in these sentences:

I go to work Monday to Friday

He’s working at the moment.

She washes the dishes after dinner every day.

I have been learning Thai for quite some time.

Are you listening?

Has she been attending class lately?

They haven’t gone home yet.

Write a short sentence with the following tenses:

Present perfect

Tense name Structure Form

present simple verb I walk

present contionous to be + verb + ing I am walking

present perfect to have + past pasrticiple I have walked

present perfect continious to have + to be (past participle) + verb + ing I have been walking

past simple verb + ed I walked

past continious to be (past simple) + verb + ing I was walking

past perfect to have (past simple) + past pasrticiple I had walked

past perfect continious to have (past simple) + to be (past pasrticiple I had been walking

future simple will + verb I will walk

future continious will + to be + verb + ing I will be walking

future perfect will + to have + past participle I will have walked

future perfect continious will + to have + to be (past participle) + verb I will have been walking




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Present simple

Present continuous

Present perfect continuous

Label each word in these sentences:

1. Which present tense can express an action happening regularly?

2. Which present tense can express an action that has already happened?

3. Which present tense can express an action in progress?

4. Which present tense can express an action that will happen in the future?

Model Verbs

Check the boxes if the statements are true.

Models are words that come before verbs. Modals can express ability, possibility,

Probability, ask for permission, express prohibition or duty.

example We have seen the movie

Pro. aux V :have" V "to see det noun

present simple

I am reading

I have been watching the movie

You’ve been told




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Here is a list of all the modal verbs:

The Verbs to be and to have:

Identify be/have as the main or auxiliary verbs in these sentences.

1. Bob is a teacher.

2. He is teaching at the moment.

3. I am thinking about it.

4. She has not got any money.

5. They were not teaching yesterday.

6. I had two hours of teaching this morning.

7. I have had three teaching jobs so far.

Cannot take the infinitive TO CAN MUST SWIM PLAY

Third person form same as

infinitive form

Form the negative with NOT

following

Interrogative formed by

inversion

There is not a simple past form

Does not have a past participle

form

Does not have a continuous

form

can/can't ought to/ought not to

could/couldn't must/must not

may/may not might/might not

shall/shall not used to/didn't use to

will/won't would/wouldn't

should/shouldn't have to/don't have to




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8. It’s fun to teach in Thailand.

9. It’s funny.

10. It’s been fun.

11. Yesterday was a beautiful day.

12. Has he been to see you yet?

13. Were they teaching this morning?

14. Were they there this morning?

15. We haven’t finished the course yet.

16. Is it?

17. We’re teachers.

18. He’s taught English for years.

19. He’s being a nuisance.

20. He has been a real nuisance.

Sentence Order

English follows the Subject – Verb – Object (SVO) order in simple sentences

T – teacher in block 2

Subject – the “doer” of the action in active voice sentences.

1. “Bob” is the simple subject. He is the “doer” of the verb “teaching”

2. “The rather tall teacher.” is the complete subject. The words: the rather tall, simply give

us extra information about the “doer” This is what we call the complex subject.

3.”We all” is the” doer” of the “loving”

Object – what is affected by the action of the verb.

1. “His class” is the object. It is on the receiving end of the “teaching” carried out by the

subject “Bob”.

2. Ask yourself what the teacher has been doing. The answer is Teaching. Teaching what?

If you can answer this question, then you have a direct object. The answer is “English”

Love what? Answer: Grammar = direct object.

subject verb object

1 Bob is teaching his class

2 The rather tall has been teaching English

eacher

3 We all love grammar




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TIP: Some sentences have objects, some do not.

To find out if a verb takes an object – isolate the verb followed by “what”?

Identify the subject and direct objects (if any) in these sentences

1. I drive a black car.

2. Chelsea will win the league.

3. Did they win?

4. He did it!

5. She’s wasting her money.

6. She arrived yesterday.

7. I was yawning in class.

8. He’s swimming in the pool.

9. He hit the ball hard.

10. Have you seen the new movie yet?

11. I have only 10 baht in my pocket.

12. She runs a hotel.

13. A hare runs at an enormous speed.

14. You don’t smoke, do you?

15. Eat!

The indirect object

Transitive verbs (verbs that take an object) may have more than one object.

When this happens one is the direct object and the other, the indirect object.

subject verb indirect obj. direct obj.

I gave John the book

subject verb indirect obj. indirect obj.

I gave the book to John

Fill in the boxes on the right:




140

1. In each of the following sentences, underline the direct object of the verb. e.g., she forgot

the pencils.

1. I watched the birds.

2. He did not close the window.

3. She rang the bell.

4. Did you find the answer?

5. I opened the door.

6. Did she play the violin?

7. You will need an umbrella.

8. They are not carrying the parcels.

9. You organized the race.

10. Were they using the blankets?

2. In each of the following sentences, underline the indirect object of the verb.

1. I handed the book to the student.

2. He wrote a letter to the twins.

3. She made the girl a scarf.

4. I told the children a story.

5. We paid the money to the dentist.

6. He sent the doctor a reply.

7. We offered the job to the students.

8. She told the news to her friends.

3. Identify the objects in these sentences.

1. Our programmer is testing his new software.

2. He suddenly realized that someone was listening.

Direct object Indirect object

1 The guard was sleeping.

2 The RSPCA awarded Susan a medal.

3 My wife sent me a message.

4 He accidentily struck his friend a blow on the head.

5 He struck his friend.

6 The waves are breaking on the sand.

7 The school appointed a new teacher yesterday.

8 The guard was sleeping in the corner of the room.

9 The wind blew fiercely and the thunder crashed.

10 Quietly, the thief crept into the house and stole the silver




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3. Amy has decided to go to university.

4. They can't read what you've written.

5. This exercise involves using your brain.

4. Identify the underlined part of speech

1. Would you donate a month's salary to our cause?

a. direct object b. indirect object c. object of the preposition

2. Kathy buried her money in the yard.


3. The students watched a video about the Civil Rights Movement.


4. The clue did not help the contestants with the puzzle.


5. Katie gave her daughter money for lunch.


Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Identify the main verbs in each sentence and label them as transitive or intransitive.




142

verb transitive intransitive

I saw him in the market.

The burgler disappeared with the cash.

The campers hid inside the cabin when they saw the

bear.

Joe kicked the dog angrily.

Ellen nodded to the audience.

Her brother likes bananas.

He.s sleeping at the moment.

Australia won the first test.

He has taught English for years.

Don.t!

He stays in bed all day.

A large dog appeared suddenly.

Her behaviour annoyed me.

Peter took me to the airport.

I sold Jim a car.

Sit down right here.

Dogs chase cats.

The rise and fall of the baht.

Parents always like to give advice.

The rope will not give if it is tied securely.




143

Identify the subject in each of the sentences

I eat hamburgers every day.

She sells seashells on the seashore.

We all love grammar.

From now on this family is going on holiday where I say.

The tall policeman stood on the street corner.

Identify the object in each of the sentences

She’s always stealing things.

I drive a black car.

I gave Tom the book.

The president gave the people confidence.

I’ll find a job for Mary.

Identify the indirect object in each of the sentences

Tell her the whole story.

Tell the whole story to her.

We kept seats for everyone who had paid.

She bought them for Bill.

We sent George one.

Identify the subject, object, and indirect object in each of the sentences

I gave the whole class lots of homework.




144

I showed these photos to both Tom and Mary.

The ugly monster scared the children.

She gave the dog a bone.

You pay me the rest.

You pay the rest.

Identifying kinds of Verbs

Identify what kind of verb the underlined is.

1. The burglar disappeared with the cash.

a. transitive verb b. intransitive verb c. linking verb d. auxiliary verb

2. The director told the actors, "Do your best, and we'll be a hit."


3. He would tell me if he thought we were in danger.


4. His ability to concentrate is legendary.


5. The campers hid inside the cabin when they saw the bear.


6. Alexis is swimming in the state championship next week.


7. Frustrated with the official’s call, Ethan kicked the bench.


8. The student procrastinated too long and failed to finish the project.


9. The vegetarian burger tasted like salted cardboard.


10. Ellen nodded to the audience and sang her song.


11. Her brother likes bananas, but she likes peaches.


12. Adjunct faculty are teaching in several of the lower division courses.


13. The director told the actors, "Do your best, and we'll be a hit."


14. Regis Philbin, the host of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," smiled at her answer.





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Adjectives

A definition: A word that modifies the meaning of a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun.

To identify an adjective ask yourself, “Does this word modify the noun or pronoun?”

a tall man

An adjective can also come after the verb “to be”...

he is tall (here the adjective is describing the pronoun - he)

Adjectives can also appear after these verbs of state:

look / feel / smell / taste / sound

1. You look tired.

2. I feel ill.

3. The food smells appetizing.

4. But it tastes terrible.

5. It sounds good to me.

Analyze the parts of speech in these sentences, stating the function of each word.

1. Little Lek has, long, black hair.

2. There’s a beautiful wooden temple in Lamai. It’s very old.

3. The Thai people like modern houses.

4. It’s quite nice today.

5. I was cold and hungry, but the movie was entertaining.

We have seen that adjectives are pronominal (come before the noun). Therefore, wherever nouns

occur so can adjectives. They can modify both subjects and objects.




146

• Subject

Thoughtful Thai students

• Indirect obj.

give their deserving teachers

• Direct obj.

personal gifts

• Obj. of prep.

of special value.

However, adjectives do not always appear before a noun.

Analyze the structure of the following sentences:

• The news available at this time is not good.

• People strong in character should run for political office.

• Join the committee concerned with local development issues.

Task: Write three more sentences where the adjective appears after the noun.

The order of adjectives before nouns.

Complete the sentences with the words in parentheses.

What conclusion can you draw from the order in which you placed the adjectives?




147

1. I was walking down the street when I saw a ….

(funny / monkey / brown / little)

2. Everyone was looking at her…

(red / dress / beautiful / silk )

Now try constructing a grammatically correct sentence from the following words.

An ugly big vase

Blue chipped

Round old

Porcelain French

An………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………vase

Common order of adjectives:




148

Opinion size shape age color origin material noun

Beautiful big square new red English silk

E.g., He lives in a lovely, 4x6, rectangular, new, white, Thai padded cell.

Possessive adjectives

As with most other adjectives, possessives come before the noun.

They modify subjects and objects, as in:

My head hurts.

Their really loud music was deafening.

He couldn’t do any of his homework.

The possessive adjectives are:

my your his her

it’s our your their

Demonstrative adjectives:

These again come before the noun.

When we talk about a singular or non-countable noun, we use this if the noun is close to us (in

space ….. spacing

or time), or that if the noun is far away (in space or time):




149

Look at this picture here.

Can you see that mountain over there in the distance?

When we talk about a plural noun, we use these if the noun is close to us (in space or time), or if

the spacing noun is far away (in space or time):

Look at all these pictures here.

Can you see those mountains?

I've been feeling quite ill these days.

I remember all those summer days when I was young.

They are:

this that these those

Identify the adjectives in the passage below.

Sue’s job is very hard so she has to work very hard at it.

She’s also fast in her work so she finishes work early enabling her to run home fast (as she’s a

….spacing

fast runner).

This means it is not late when she gets home so she can have an early night as opposed to

going to bed late on the weekend.

This way she gets a night of good sleep and wakes up feeling well.

Identify the adjectives in the sentences below.




150

The receptionist at the front desk greeted me politely.

We waited in the empty theatre car park.

Don’t put the red shirt in with the other clothes.

The peace-keeping force had to separate the warring factions.

We were looking at preliminary designs for a new advanced combat aircraft.

I chose this pair of trousers in preference to those.

The house seemed lonely and desolate.

I was sure that the lights were green.

The bright lights in her eyes caused major problems with driving.

Adjectives or adverbs?

Find the 16 adverbials in the following passage:

Once, she came home rather late. She opened the front door quietly and then

remembered that she needn’t have been so quiet because her parents had

gone away that morning, leaving the house empty. But suddenly she realized

that the house wasn’t empty; someone was moving about upstairs. She stood

quite still, her heart beginning to beat very fast.




151

Write adverbs corresponding to these adjectives.

quiet ………………………..

straight ………………………..

real ………………………..

early ………………………..

fast …………………………

back ………………………..

good …………………………

still ……………………………

careful ……………………………

long …………………………...

enough ……………………………




152

Syllables Soup – practice with syllables and stress.

TA SE STAND IN VI IN

CAL CU LA TOR

UN E

MEM TER PA DER LI IN

POP SION PER BER GENT MOR

SA U TION NEWS

EN ROW VI TAIN

LA SIVE E PHONE TEREST CON

VER TION ING TION

TEL TEL TO PEN EX TEL

Rules:

There are single syllables in the shaded boxes.

Each syllable will be used.




153

Use them to make words of 3 syllables or more.

The syllables can be inserted into any white box.

Words can go horizontal or vertical only. There are no overlaps.

Error analysis

The following sentences were produced by typical English as a foreign language learner.

Say why you think each error may have been made.

Do you think that these errors should be corrected?

1. Yesterday I go swimming.

2. I go to school tomorrow.

3. I've drawed a picture.

4. I've got tree flowers in my hand.

5. This book is very interested.

6. He likes to eat rices.

7. I love my wife, he very handsome.

8. I have 2 brother and 1 sister.

9. He like chocolate.

10. Can I have glass of water, please?

11. That car is the car of my father.

12. My mother cook pasta last night for dinner.

13. She go to shopping.

14. You go where?

15. My wife has got a car red.

16. I not like you.

17. I arrest by policeman.

18. No have food in the cupboard.

19. I go often swimming.

20. There have two pens on the table

Write 12 sentences in the indicated tense, each sentence should have a different irregular verb.

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