elt methodology students_ guide

8/13/2019 ELT Methodology Students_ Guide

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ELT METHODOLOGY

STUDENTS GUIDE

Let us teach and learn: the few before the many; the short before the long; the simple

before the complex; the general before the particular; the nearer before the more remote;

the regular before the irregular

(Comenius, 1657)

FOREWORD

The aim of the present Students Guide is to provide the philology students from Brasov

University who take the Methodology Practical Course, with some theoretical input and

practical ideas for reference and support during the course and in their teaching

practice. It is not meant to be a self-sufficient material, but rather a supplementary one to

the students own reading and practice.

The Guide is organised in ten Units, starting with a historical perspective of Language

Teaching methodology, and focusing on the main issues of the Communicative approach

to language teaching: teaching vocabulary, grammar, the four skills, as well as

classroom management, lesson planning and evaluating textbooks. The theoretical input

and the activities suggested have been adapted or taken from existing ELT material and

have been acknowledged and listed in the Bibliography section of each unit. Almost all

units suggest some Tasks for the students to solve either during the course or during self-

study time. At the end of the Guide there is a Bank of materials section containing mainly

photocopied activities for reference and practical use and a Glossary of Basic EFL

Terms, by Brian Tomlinson (in: Cunningsworth,A, 1984 Evaluating and Selecting EFLTeaching Materials, Heinemann).

We hope this Guide will help students with extra-material which could meet their need

for access to a synthetic view of Language Teaching methodology.

The authors

Brasov, August, 1998


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UNIT I

INTRODUCTION TO THE METHODOLOGY OF LANGUAGE TEACHING

...Fashions that come and go with monotonous regularity (Nunan 1991)

Aims:

to clarify concepts related to the methodology of language teaching

to make students aware of the historical development of the language teaching

methods/approaches to help students assess the various teaching methods and adapt them to their own

teaching

1. What is methodology?

The methodology of language teaching draws on theories of language (linguistics) and

theories of language learning (applied linguistics) leading to different approaches

to/methods of language teaching. If we are to define methodology , the Longman

Dictionary of Applied Linguistics (1985) gives the following definition:

a) the study of the practices and procedures used in teaching and the principlesand beliefs that underlie them;

b) such practices, principles and beliefs themselves.

Methodology includes:

a) the study of the nature of language skills (e.g.: listening, speaking, reading,

writing) and procedures for teaching them;

b) the preparation of lesson plans, materials and textbooks for teaching language

skills;

c) the evaluation and comparison of language teaching methods.

For reasons of course organisation we shall start by defining methodsfirst, and language

skills, lesson plans, materials and textbookswill be approached in later units.

Therefore, we shall now define three useful concepts in language teaching: methods,

principlesand techniques(Larsen-Freeman,D, 1986).

Methods,according to Anthony Norris (1969:2) involve the selection of materials to be

taught, the gradation of those materials, their presentation and pedagogical

implementation to induce learning. As the definition shows, methods imply that the

teacher chooses either the textbooks or the materials to supplement a textbook, plans how

to use these materials, and finally teaches them in order to help students learn.


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Principles involve the various theoretical backgrounds concerning the teachers and the

learners roles, the teaching and the learning processes as well as knowledge of the target

language ( language to be learned)/culture.

Classroom techniques involve the classroom activities and procedures derived from the

application of the principles. We can remark that a given technique may be associated

with more than one method i.e., two methods sharing certain principles or a particular

technique may be compatible with more than one method, depending on the way the

technique is used.

After having defined methodology, we shall ask the following questions, related to

teaching (including teaching methods that we will be dealing with in the next section) and

learning a foreign language:

1. What do we learn when we learn a foreign language? and2. Why do learners learn a foreign language?

1. The process of learning a foreign language involves learning grammar, vocabulary, and

developing such skills as listening, speaking, reading and writing.

2. The second question involves several answers. First, foreign languages are part of

school curriculum. Second, knowing a foreign language may help the learner to advance

in his/her professional life. Third, learners of a foreign language may find themselves

temporarily or permanently in the target language community and therefore target

language knowledge is of utmost importance. Fourth, learners may have specific reasons

for learning foreign languages, such as: communication within business communities,writing for academic purposes, etc. And fifth, some learners may learn languages for fun,

for travel, etc.

As we can see, there may be a lot of reasons why learners want to learn a foreign

language, and the degree of success in this activity is closely connected to their

motivation in undertaking the task of language learning. The motivation the learners

bring to class is the biggest single factor affecting their success (Harmer, 1991:3).

According to Harmer, motivation is of two kinds: 1. extrinsic motivation and 2.

intrinsicmotivation.

1. Extrinsic motivationis concerned with factors outside the classroom and can be either

a.) integrative motivation (learners are attracted by the culture of the target language

community and they wish to integrate themselves into that culture), and b.) instrumental

motivation (which describes a situation in which students believe that mastery of the

target language will be the instrument that will help them in getting a better job, position

or status).

2. Intrinsic motivation refers to what happens in the classroom and the important effect

that classroom language learning has on learners who are already extrinsically motivated.


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It is here that Harmer takes into account such factors as: physical conditions the

classroom itself), method the teacher (see the next section), and success, which affects

learners intrinsic motivation.

2. Historical perspective to teaching methods

In the presentation of the various language teaching methods, we shall take into account

the views of both H.H.Stern(1983) and Diane Larsen-Freeman(1986) by considering the

principles and techniques underlying each of these methods.

2.1 The grammar translation or traditional method

A look into the theoretical background of this method shows it similar to the approach

used in classical education i.e., the teaching of Latin and Greek which became popularin the late 18-th century. The goal of the teacher using this method is to make students

read literature in the target language and learn grammar rules and vocabulary. In the

process of teaching, the teacher uses the native language(L1) of the students and does not

aim at the students use of the second/target language (L2).The language skills that this

method emphasises are reading and writing.

The classroom techniquesused in this method are: translation from and into L2, reading

comprehension questions ,the production of lists of antonyms and synonyms, fill in the

blanks exercises, the use of new words in sentences and composition.

The grammar translation method was criticised because, according to Stern (1983), it wasa cold and lifeless approach to language teaching and it was blamed for the failure of

foreign language teaching. In spite of the criticisms, the grammar translation method has

maintained itself remarkably well, as it appears to be easy to apply from a didactic point

of view.

________________________________________________________________________

TASK

Think back at your experience as learners. Which of the techniques mentioned above

were you exposed to in the classroom? Do you think any of them helped you learn better?

________________________________________________________________________

2.2. The direct method

The direct method appears as a strong reaction against the grammar translation method. It

is closely linked with the introduction of phonetics into language teaching and

emphasises the use of spoken language, with focus on the phonetic transcription of

words. It was influenced by Bloomfields structuralist theories. This method represents a

shift from literary language to spoken everyday language, a goal that was totally lacking


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in grammar translation. It stresses that the teacher should use L2 in the classroom, the

meaning being shown to the students through actions and pictures, paraphrases,

synonyms, demonstration or context. The language skills emphasised are mostly listening

and speaking.

The classroom techniques include: classroom presentation of a text by the teacher,

reading aloud of short texts specially constructed for foreign language learning, questions

and answers based on the text. The grammatical observations are derived from the text

and the students are encouraged to discover the grammatical principles for themselves.

Practice involves fill in the blanks exercises, dictation, map drawing, paragraph writing,

free composition.

Critics of the direct method raise such questions as: How can meaning be conveyed

without any translation into L1? What can be done to avoid misunderstanding? How canthe direct method be applied beyond elementary stages?

________________________________________________________________________

TASK



________________________________________________________________________

2.3. The audio-lingual method

The basis of this method is the theory and research of such sciences as behaviourist

psychology and structural linguistics.

Behaviourist psychology is connected to the name of B.F.Skinner and it applies the

Pavlovian principles of animal behaviour to human behaviour. It is also called stimulus-

response psychology.

Structural linguistics, on the other hand, is linked to Bloomfields theory which led to

several principles applied to language programmes (Moulton: 1963, cited in

Nunan:1991):

language is speech not writing a language is a set of habits

teach the language not about the language

a language is what native speakers say, not what someone thinks they ought to say

languages are different

The audio-lingual method appeared and was mainly used in the United States. The setting

up of language laboratories in schools is due to the emphasis that this method lays on

accepted standards of pronunciation.


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The classroom techniques involved in this method do not focus much on meaning but

rather on dialogue memorisation and pronunciation. The teacher usually begins with a

dialogue which the students memorise in chunks, and this leads to the sequencing of skill

development, emphasis being laid on listening and speaking, with lesser importance

attached to reading and writing. As a consequence of the techniques already mentioned,

students vocabulary is, at first, rather limited. Other techniques include repetition drills,

substitution drills, transformation drills, dialogue completion and grammar games.

The audio-lingual method is strongly criticised by the famous linguist Noam Chomski,

who created his own transformational-generative grammar which implies that language

acquisition is basically rule-governed.

________________________________________________________________________

TASKThink back at your experience as learners. Which of the techniques mentioned above


________________________________________________________________________

2.4. The cognitive method

This method appeared as a reaction to the audio-lingual method and it is based on

transformational grammar and cognitive psychology. Transformational-generative

grammar, whose representative is Noam Chomski, founded its theory on the idea that afinite number of grammar rules (language universals) can generate an infinite number of

sentences. So, the teacher views language as rule acquisition not habit formation and

encourages students to become responsible for their own learning as well as to become

aware of the way L2 operates.

Cognitive psychology, in its turn, stresses the fact that language development is

characterised by rule-governed creativity.

By accepting the value of rules, cognitive language learning de-emphasises the role of

rote learning along with techniques of mimicry and memorisation.

The classroom techniques include: deductive presentations of the target language items

by which the teacher gives the students the rule and asks them to apply it to several

practice items or examples, or inductive presentations of the target language items by

which the students are given a number of examples and asked to work out the rule.

In terms of skill development, this method considers reading and writing to be as

important as listening and speaking and de-emphasises the importance of standard

pronunciation.


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The cognitive method laid too much emphasis on the conscious learning of the language,

based on applying a finite number of rules and did not account for the unconscious

acquisition of a language.

________________________________________________________________________

TASK:



________________________________________________________________________

2.5. The total physical response method

This method was developed by Asher(cited in Nunan:1991) who places primary

importance on listening comprehension and then moving to speaking, reading and

writing. He derives his theory from models of first language acquisition. Asher provides

three principles about the nature of first language acquisition, which he applies to second

language acquisition:

1. The teacher should stress comprehension rather than production at the beginning

levels, with no demand on the students to generate the L2 structure themselves. The

students only have to observe the teachers behaviour and obey his/her commands.

2. The teacher should demonstrate actions that take place here and now, at least duringthe initial stages of language learning.

3. The teacher should provide input to the students by getting them to carry out

commands. (e.g. Sit down! and the students do it).

The main classroom technique consists of giving commands which the students act out.

The method focuses on activities that are designed to be fun and to allow students to

assume active learning roles and that include language games and skits.

The method did not live long since language acquisition theories demonstrated that

comprehension does not always precede production neither in L1 nor in L2.

2.6. The community language learning method

This method aims at creating a warm and supportive community among the students in

the classroom and gradually moving them from complete dependence on the teacher to

complete autonomy. The teachers role is to act as counsellor and to set a problem to be

solved by the students. The syllabus used is learner-generated, i.e. students choose what

they want to say in the target language. The focus is on fluency rather than on accuracy.


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What makes this method special is that the students are seated in a closed circle with the

teacher outside.

The classroom techniques involve recording the conversations in which students

whisper to the teacher in L1 and he/she whispers back the L2 version which the students

repeat to the group. These recordings are transcribed and then the students and their

teacher discuss on them and correct the errors.

2.7.Suggestopaedia

Suggestopaedia is a method by which the students` mental powers are tapped in order to

accelerate the process of learning. An important characteristic of the method is the

endeavour to overcome the psychological barriers which students bring with them to the

learning situation.The teachers role is to get the students to learn in a state of totalrelaxation bordering on hypnosis as a means of enhancing the acquisition of vocabulary

for example.

The classroom techniques used in this method involve relaxation, rhythmic breathing

and listening to readings by the teacher which are synchronised to music.

The method was highly criticised on grounds that experiments have revealed the fact that

students taught by traditional classroom methods can learn more vocabulary than those

taught by this method.

2.8. The silent way method

The silent way method emphasises the need to develop learner autonomy from both the

teacher and the learning situation. Thus the students are led to make use of what they

know and actively explore the language and encouraged to use self-correction which is

seen as natural and indispensable to language learning. Teaching is subordinate to

learning and so, teachers give students only what they absolutely need to promote

learning. The teacher is silent much of the time but very active setting up situations,

listening to students, speaking only to give clues not to model speech. Students begin

with sounds introduced through association of sounds in L1 to a sound-colour chart and

are encouraged by the teacher to produce the words in L2 by pointing coloured rods to the

sounds on the chart. Consequently, the classroom techniques the method involvesinclude the use of sound-colour charts, coloured rods and self-correction gestures.

All four skill areas are worked on from the beginning, pronunciation especially, because

sounds are basic and carry the melody of the language.

2.9. The communicative method

Most of the previously presented methods emphasised the acquisition of structures and

vocabulary. The adherents of the communicative method acknowledge that structure and


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vocabulary are important. However, they feel that the preparation for communication will

be inadequate if only these are taught. Students may know the rules of language usagebut

they will be unable to use the language.When we communicate we use the language to

accomplish some functions, such as: arguing, persuading, promising, etc. Moreover, we

carry out these functions within a social context. In terms of skill development, all the

four skills are emphasised and even more, the teacher aims at integrating them.

Communication is a process which implies that it is insufficient for students to simply

have knowledge of language forms, meanings and functions. They must therefore be able

to apply this knowledge in order to negotiate meaning through interaction between

speaker and listener / writer and reader, especially in real life situations. The teacher

encourages the students to use the L2 fluently but also appropriately (i.e. depending on

the social situation).

Features of the communicative method:

it is a learner-centred method helping the students to survive in the real world

the teacher is a facilitator, a task-setter who monitors activities, helps students and gets

involved in the learning process

the focus is on meaning and rather than on form, on functions rather than on structures

emphasis on classroom interaction

the teaching-learning process centres on real-life situations and uses authentic

materials and tasks.

Among the classroom techniquesused in the communicative method we could mention

pair-work, group-work, role-play, simulations, etc.

________________________________________________________________________

TASK



________________________________________________________________________

NOTE that all these methods have been described here in their pure form. In actual

classroom application, there is no clear-cut distinction among various methods.

Moreover, it is the teachers role to decide which techniques to use , depending on the

context in which his/her lesson takes place.

TASK

I. Read the following descriptions of lessons and decide on the method used by the

teacher:


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A.

teacher points to five blocks of colour without saying anything; the colours represent

the sounds of 5 English vowels close to 5 simple vowels in Romanian

teacher points to the first block of colour and says /a/. Several students say /e/ /I/ /o/

/u/, as the teacher points to the other 4 blocks

teacher does not model the new sounds but uses gestures to show students how to

modify the Romanian sounds

teacher works with gestures and instructions in Romanian to help students produce the

sounds

teacher points to a rod and then to 3 blocks of colour on the sound-colour chart

students respond ROD

.........

B. the class is reading an excerpt from Mark TwainsLife on the Mississippi

students translate the passage from English into Romanian

the teacher asks students in Romanian if they have any questions and answers in L1

students write out the answers to the reading comprehension questions

students are given a grammar rule for the use of a direct object with two-word verbs

........

C.

teacher introduces new dialogue

actions, pictures or realia are used to give meaning (only in English)

teacher introduces the dialogue by modelling it twice

students repeat each line of the new dialogue several times (drills)

new vocabulary is introduced through lines of the dialogue

........

D.

students read aloud a passage about US geography

teacher points to a part of the map after each sentence is read

teacher uses English to ask students if they have any questions; students ask questions

in English

teacher works with students on the pronunciation of geographical names

students fill in the blanks with prepositions practised in the lesson

.......

E.

teacher distributes handouts which have a copy of a sports column from a newspaper

teacher tells students to underline the reporters predictions and say which ones they

think the reporter feels most certain of and least certain of

students unscramble the sentences of the article (on back of handout)

students work in groups and teacher gives each group a strip story


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in their groups, the students predict what the next picture in the strip story will look

like

.......

(adapted from D.Larsen-Freeman,1986, Techniques and Principles in Language

Teaching,OUP)

II. Match the characteristics in column A with the corresponding method in column B

Some characteristics may belong to more than one method:

A B

1. Ss. unable to speak language taught a. Grammar translation

2. Classroom atmosphere very important b. Direct method3. Emphasis on pair and group work c. Audio-lingual

4. Teacher concentrates on correct pronunciation d. Suggestopaedia

5. The four skills are integrated e. Silent way

6. Great effort to avoid student errors f.Community language learning

7. Ss. design own syllabus g. Total physical response

8. Listening is the first skill taught h. Communicative method

9. Ss. should use foreign language

APPROPRIATELY

10.Grammar taught from rules

11.Teacher silent most of the time

12.Emphasis on dialogues

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Asher,J. 1988,Learning another language through action: the

complete teachers guidebook,third edn. Los Gatos,

Ca:Sky Oakes Productions

Harmer,J. 1991, The practice of English language teaching,Longman

Larsen-Freeman,D. 1986,Techniques and Principles in Language

Teaching, OUP, see also video

Moulton, W.G. 1961\1963.Linguistics and Language Teaching in theUnited States: 1946-1960 in Mohrmann, Sommerfelt and

Whatmough (eds.), 1961:82-109

Norris, W.E. 1971, TESOL at the beginning of the seventies: Trends,

topics and research needs.Pittsburgh: Department of

General Linguistics and University Center for International

Studies. [115(n.7)].

Nunan, D 1991,Language Teaching Methodology, Prentice Hall

Stern,H.H. 1983, Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching, OUP


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II TEACHER AND LEARNER ROLES. CLASS MANAGEMENT.

A change in attitude may lead to much more learning than hours of exercises

(Cheryl L. Champeau de Lopez, July 1989, English Teaching Forum)

Aims:

to make student-teachers aware of the changing roles of both teachers and

learners in the present-day teaching methods

to help student-teachers understand the link between the view on language

learning/teaching and the roles assumed by the teacher and the learner

to provide student-teachers with knowledge about and practice of class

management

1. Teacher and learner roles

_______________________________________________________________________

INITIAL QUESTION on THE TEACHER AND THE LEARNER:

1. What do you think the people in Romania value in a language teacher? Tick the factors

below and add any more if you wish. Rank them and discuss with your partner(s):

a. excellent results from learners

b. good disciplinarianc. caring, gentle attitude towards students

d. many qualifications

e. always willing to take on extra work

f. exemplary private life

g. accepts authority

h. writes textbooks for local use

I. others - specify

2. What do you think the people in Romania value in a learner? Tick the factors below

and add any more if you wish. Rank them and discuss with your partner(s):

a. good at all subjectsb. well-behaved

c. accepts authority

d. obtains good grades in exams

e. has a large number of hobbies

f. respects his/her classmates

g. others - specify

________________________________________________________________________


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We shall start by defining the concept of role in language learning/teaching as the part

played by the participants (teachers and learners) in carrying out the learning tasks.

Another defining aspect is the social and interpersonal relationship between the

participants in the learning process. When we speak of the change in roles we have to go

back to the traditional model of language teaching and contrast it with the more up-to-

date one.

If in the traditional model of teaching language is seen as a finite body of knowledge, a

system of forms and structures, in the new model the language is infinite and creative and

a way of expressing meaning through form.

Language learning means, in the traditional model, learning a set of items by

memory, while in the new model it means developing a set of skills.

Teaching involves not only the teacher and the learners but also the material used, e.g. the

textbooks. The traditional way of using the textbook in the process of teaching views the

textbook as a set of lessons to be learned, whereas in the new approach the textbook is a

framework for the teachers own lesson.

What distinguishes the traditional model of teaching from the modern one also involves

the roles played by the teacher and the learner in the classroom.

________________________________________________________________________

TASK:

Refer back to the previous unit and think of your experience as learners, then take a fewminutes to jot down at least one word to define the roles of the teacher and the learner.

When you have finished, compare your notes with the following role descriptions.

________________________________________________________________________

Teacher and the learner role description

TRADITIONAL TEACHING MODEL NEW TEACHING MODEL

A. Teacher roles

provider of knowledge provider of resources

model of correct forms initiator of language activitiescontroller of class motivator of learners

dominant in the classroom informant to learners +

participant in the lesson

authority classroom organiser

confidence crusher confidence builder

teaching the learners learning about learners/investigator


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B. Learner roles

passive recipient of outside stimuli interactor and negotiator

listener and performer capable of giving as well as taking

has little control of the content of learning involved in the process of own

totally dependent on the teacher language development

involved in a social activity

responsible for own learning,

developing autonomy and skills

learning by memorising learning to learn

If we have a look at the above-mentioned roles, we can conclude that the traditional

teaching model is teacher-centred, and the new one is learner-centred, meaning that the

learners also assume responsibility for their learning, they are not passive receptaclesinto which the teacher pours knowledge (Champeau de Lopez, C.L., 1989:5).

Next we shall consider some of the roles of the teacher in the learner-centred classroom:

The teacher as organiser involves management of the lesson in order to ensure the

success of the activities in the classroom, i.e. the steps followed in the development of the

lesson. For example, any activity/task should start with a lead-in in which the teacher

tells the students what they are going to talk about, read, write,etc.; then the teacher gives

clear instructions as to what the students are going to do in the activity and initiates/gets

the activity going; no activity should end without feedback from the teacher on its

success.

The teacher as a participant in activities like simulations or role-plays involves

improving the atmosphere in the classroom and he/she gives the students a chance to

practice English with someone who speaks it better. However, when assuming this role

the teacher tends to dominate the activity and the students both allow and expect this to

happen.

The teacher acts as a resource when doing the presentation of the new structures or

vocabulary items and also when offering help in a genuinely communicative activity

which is taking place in the classroom (for example a writing task) .

As an investigator the teacher reflects on what is going on in the classroom, observes

what works well and what does not or tries out new techniques or activities and then

evaluates their appropriacy. Teachers who do not investigate the efficiency of new

methods and do not actively seek their own personal and professional development may

find the job of teaching monotonous!

In his/her role of confidence builder, the teacher should start by getting to know the

students. This is no easy task for a teacher since this ranges from knowing the students


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names, to gathering information about their backgrounds, interests or previous experience

of language learning, learning needs, etc.

(For more information refer to the BANK OF MATERIALS and read the article The

Role of the Teacher in Todays Language Classroom,by Cheryl L.Cahmpeau de Lopez)

________________________________________________________________________

TASK:

Now that you have read the descriptions of some of the teachers roles, try to describe

any of the other roles listed above. You may want to try describing learners roles as

well.

________________________________________________________________________

2. Classroom management

________________________________________________________________________

TASK:

What would you include under the heading of classroom management? List your ideas

and then read the following section.

________________________________________________________________________

Since the readers of these lecture notes are teachers-to-be, we shall insist on some views

on the teacher and what he/she should do in order to ensure successful classroom

management. We shall now consider the following aspects of classroom management: a.students seating/teacher position, b.handling materials and resources, c. classroom

language, d. organising activities, e. timing and pace, f. rapport.

a. Students seating/teacher position depends on what the teacher and students are

doing.For example, the teacher should make sure that the seating can be arranged to

encourage students to talk to each other when they work in pairs or groups. If the teacher

is doing the presentation of the new material his/her position should be in front of the

class, addressing all the students and not speaking to some students more than to others,

making sure that all students can hear what he/she is saying. If group-work activities are

going on, the teacher moves in the classroom and monitors the work of all groups,

deciding upon which group needs more help.

b. Handling materials and resources. The traditional resources are the blackboard, the

chalk and the textbook. Writing on the blackboard, for the beginner-teachers may be a

difficult task. Therefore, the information you put on the blackboard must be well-

organised, under headings/in columns, the handwriting should be clear, legible and

reasonably quick. If the teacher uses other visual materials such as wall charts, realia

(objects) and any kind of printed material (worksheets, handouts) he/she needs to make

sure that they are visible, legible, with clear and attractive layout, and should choose the

best moment to hand them out or use them.


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The audio-visual equipment used in the classroom may cause problems. That is why the

teacher should be well-acquainted with the use and features of such equipment (cassette-

recorders, OHP, video-players, slide-projectors) as well as with the right time and reason

for their use.

c. Classroom language refers to the language used both by the teacher and by the

students.Thus, the teacher should grade the language input according to the level of the

students, make sure that he/she demonstrates the meaning of language items/structures,

check their understanding , should do proper questioning , and should tactfully correct

errors (see also Error correction section ). Classroom language also includes the

instructions given by the teacher, the routine requests (e.g. Can somebody clean the

blackboard), and small-talk.

d. Organising activitiesimplies the teachers work and the students work in pair/group

activities and also classroom interaction . In setting up the pairs or the groups the teacher

can take into account various aspects, such as: furniture in the classroom (tables that can

be moved or fixed desks), different levels or abilities of the students ( should weaker

students form a separate group/pair or work with stronger students? ), decisions

concerning the size of the group (example, depending on the activity, groups of three may

be better than groups of four, or pairs may be better than groups).

While pair/group work activities are in progress, the teacher monitors the students work,

helps, makes notes on the success of the activities or students most frequent errors anduses them in the feedback that he/she gives at the end of the activities.

In pair/group work, the classroom interaction is student(s) to student(s), but at other

stages of the lesson it may be teacher to student(s) (mainly in the presentation stage of the

lesson) or student(s) to teacher (mainly when students report back to the teacher at the

end of an activity).

e. Timing and paceof the lesson. Rigorous timing of the activities included in the lesson

helps the teacher to plan what material and how much he/she can do during a lesson.

Quick-paced activities could alternate with slow-paced ones according to the language

level of the students, their age, and the type of the activity (for example, a warm-upactivity which may take place at the beginning of the lesson, is necessarily shorter than

practice activities, when students use the new language items in performing different

tasks).

f. Rapport is the friendly and co-operative behaviour and attitude of both teacher and

students in the process of teaching/learning. A good rapport can be established from the

first moments of the lesson, and it is the teachers skill to ensure a friendly relationship

with students and at the same time to be firm and uncompromising. Rapport can also

include use of humour, sensitivity to students needs and learning styles. The good


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ADVANTAGES PROBLEMS

Ss feel more involved and motivated Ss prefer to listen to T. than

to listen to each other

Ss feel secure,ie.T. not criticising them Lack of discipline? Noise?

. .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Byrne,D 1987,Techniques for Classroom

Interaction,Longman

Champeau de Lopez, Ch.L 1989,The Role of the Teacher in Todays LanguageClassroom, English Teaching Forum, July

Doff,A 1988,Teach English. A Training Course for

Teachers, CUP

Harmer,J 1991, The Practice of English Language

Teaching,Longman

Nunan,D 1991,Language Teaching Methodology,Prentice

Hall

Underwood,M 1987,Effective Class Management,Longman

Ur,P 1996,A Course in Language Teaching.Practice and

theory, CUP


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UNIT III

TEACHING VOCABULARY

The words of a foreign tongue which we commit to memory are prisoners of war,

incessantly trying to escape, and it requires great vigilance to detain them; for unless our

attention be continually directed towards them, and unless we muster them frequently,

they steal away into the forest, and disperse. But when they are bound together in

sentences, the same degree of watchfulness is not required, because they escape with

difficulty, a whole gang of them may easily be traced and recaptured at once.

Pendergast, T., 1864. The Mastery of Languages or the Art

of Speaking Foreign Tongues Idiomatically,

London:Richard Bentley.

Aims:

to provide student teachers with theoretical input on teaching vocabulary

to provide practical classroom activities

In the approach to teaching vocabulary, we shall try to find answers to the following

questions:1. How do we LEARN new vocabulary?

2. How do we SELECT new vocabulary to teach?

3. How do we TEACH vocabulary?

1. How do we learn new vocabulary?

The acquisition of vocabulary is as important as the acquisition of grammar, and the use

of both is important in the development of language related skills.When answering the

previous question, we take into account the following:

we recognise and understand more words than we actually use, i.e. our PASSIVE

(receptive) vocabulary exceeds our ACTIVE (productive) vocabulary. we normally hear or see a word many times in differing contexts, before we begin to

use it, ie.there is an INCUBATION period.

in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) it is essential to distinguish between

receptive/PASSIVE, and productive/ACTIVE vocabulary.

it is essential to give low level students a limited active vocabulary quickly, and from

this a student can build his/her vocabulary at a natural, unforced speed.

to build his/her vocabulary a student should be encouraged to read widely outside the

classroom and to invest in a good monolingual dictionary.


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2. How do we select new vocabulary to teach?

In order to induce active production of vocabulary we need to make our decisions about

what to teach with reference to such criteria as:

FREQUENCY: how often the word is used;

RANGE: number of different contexts in which a word is used;

FAMILIARITY: even if the word is not frequently used, is it familiar to everyone?

USEFULNESS: according to the students needs.

________________________________________________________________________

TASK:

Look at the following words and:

1. Evaluate them using the above criteria

2. What level could you introduce these words at? Why?

soap post-office preach couple ceiling chest of drawers dozen to saunter

hang-gliding blackboard paper mushrooms fat sturdy

________________________________________________________________________

2. How do we teach vocabulary for active use?

The way we teach vocabulary depends on the language level of the students. Thus, forbeginners the teacher introduces classroom vocabulary such as: greetings, orders,

commands, and uses various materials (pictures, charts, cards,etc.), whereas for

intermediate and upwards, the teacher should develop learner independence by

encouraging students to read more and use dictionaries.

It is important to keep in mind that the teaching/learning of vocabulary involves several

steps: PRESENTING

CHECKING THE UNDERSTANDING

PRACTICE

RECYCLING

A question that teachers should ask themselves is WHEN (at what stage of the lesson)

should vocabulary be taught? To answer such a question we need to say that the teaching

of vocabulary is only a part of a lesson, a tool for students in order to be able to solve the

tasks involved in the development of different skills. Thus, the presentation and practice

of vocabulary can be done before, while or afterspeaking, listening, reading or writing

tasks.

Techniques of vocabulary presentation:

use of realia (real objects)


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use of visual aids (pictures, charts, drawings, etc.)

miming

giving definitions or examples giving synonyms or antonyms

using the new word in context

translation

drawing lexical sets (mind maps), i.e. the grouping of words under a certain topic. The

use of this technique makes learning easier because the words are easier to remember

if they belong to the same area; vocabulary is easier to teach since the lexical set can

be expanded as students progress in their learning and the vocabulary practice can be

contextualised.(For examples, see the Bank of Materials, appendix )

________________________________________________________________________TASK

1.Write suitable lexical sets for the following:

a. furniture - Beginners (6 items); Intermediate (12 items)

b.physical description adjectives - Beginners (6 items); Intermediate (12 items)

c. driving a car - Intermediate (12 items)

2. Think of suitable ways of presenting the items.

________________________________________________________________________

Ways of checking the understanding of the new vocabulary

The techniques of vocabulary presentation can be used at the stage of checking

understanding too. Another way of checking the understanding is the use of concept

questions. These are yes/no questions which refer to the features of the new lexical

item.They can be formed by specifying the crucial, defining components of meaning in

terms of statements, and then turning these statements into questions. (Parrot,M, 1993).

For example, if you want to check the understanding of the word ANT, you could ask

such questions as: Is it small? Does it live in the garden? etc. By the way the students

answer, the teacher can see if they understood the meaning of the word.

Practice

A very important stage in the teaching/learning of vocabulary is the practice stage, which

involves a wide range of activities such as:

gap filling

matching words with their definitions or synonyms

multiple choice

true/false


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the odd word out (in a group of related words one is unrelated)

vocabulary games (see Bibliography)

information-gaps (especially by using pictures, e.g.: two different pictures representingthe same room; in pairs, students have to find the information missing in their picture

by talking to their partners)

personalisation (whenever possible the Ss should be asked to talk about themselves

using the new vocabulary)

role-plays (e.g. role play buying clothes in a shop to practise vocabulary referring to

clothes and colours; one student is the shop assistant and the other is the customer)

story telling (students make up their own stories starting from the new vocabulary)

discussions (students discuss around a theme, for e.g. Unemployment in Romania)

writing tasks (e.g. students are asked to write a letter of application for a job, for the

use of vocabulary connected to jobs, and writing formal letters)

Recycling refers to the revision of previously taught vocabulary by using any of the

practice techniques.

IDEAS FOR TASKS TO BE USED IN THE CLASSROOM

EXAMPLES OF PRACTICE ACTIVITIES

1.. Example of multiple choice activity:

Choose the letter of the item which is the nearest in meaning to the word in bold

type: He wasreluctant to answer.

a) unprepared b) unwilling c) refusing d) slow

(from Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching, 1996 : 70)

2.Example of matching activity:

Draw lines connecting the pairs of opposites:

A B

brave awake

female expensive

cheap succeed

asleep cowardly

fail male


3. Example of Odd Word Out:

Say which is the odd word out and say why:

goat horse cow spider sheep dog cat



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4. Example of vocabulary game: Make a sentence

Students write sentences on separate strips of paper for each word. Then all the

words are collected and mixed and the students pick out the same number of words they

produced originally. Finally they co-operate in the making up of as many new sentences

as possible. (Wright,A, Betteridge,D. & Buckby,M, 1979:120-122).

5. Example of discussions practising the use of character vocabulary.

Students are asked to place in order traits of character that they dislike most in a

partner. Then they could do the same thing with qualities they find most important in a

partner . Finally they discuss in pairs what personal characteristics (good or bad) they

expect to find in people doing various jobs (nurse, teacher, politician,etc.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Campbell,C.

&Kryszewska,H. 1992,Learner-Based Teaching,OUP

Doff,A. 1988, Teach English.A Training Course for Teachers,CUP

Gairns,R.& Redman,S 1986,Working with Words.A Guide to Teaching and

Learning Vocabulary,CUP

Harmer,J. 1991, The Practice of English Language Teaching,

Longman

Haycraft,J. 1978,An Introduction to English Language

Teaching,Longman

Ur, Penny 1996,A Course in Language Teaching,CUPWingate,J. 1993,Getting Beginners to Talk,Prentice Hall

Wright,A.,Betteridge,D.

& Buckby,M. 1979,Games for Language Learning,CUP


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UNIT IV

TEACHING GRAMMAR

There was a time when was seen as a cure for everything. Later,

Dr. Grammar became a cure worse than any disease.

Harmer,J., 1987, Teaching and Learning Grammar,Longman

Aims:

to provide student-teachers with principles of teaching grammar

to provide examples of classroom activities

1. What is grammar?

As Penny Ur (1996:75) defines it, grammar is ...the way words are put together to make

correct sentences. This is a very simple way of defining grammar, and it is not the only

possible definition.

________________________________________________________________________

TASK:

On your own or with a partner, think/ discuss and then write down your definition of

grammar.

________________________________________________________________________

Even though grammar is generally viewed as a set of rules that govern the correct

production of any language item, we should not forget that such items `are alive` only in

the process of communication (both spoken and written) and it is here that they combine

in order to provide meaning. In other words grammar means both form and meaning.

A general tendency in the teaching of grammar is that of neglecting meaning in favour of

accuracy of form, but it is not enough to teach students how to construct the tense of a

verb, for example, if we dont teach them how and when to use it in order to convey a

certain meaning (Penny Ur,1996:76).

The importance given to accuracy (that is the teaching of grammar as a set of rules)versus the discovery of the language patterns necessary in the conveyance of meaning is

still a matter of debate among language teachers. The point we would like to make here is

that the study of grammar rules is not sufficient for learning to use a language properly in

real life situations. Therefore, the following sections are an attempt at giving some

examples of how grammar can be taught with a spoonful of sugar.


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2. Presenting and explaining grammar.

In presenting and explaining a grammatical structure, the teacher should decide whether

to elicit rules from the learners on the basis of examples (inductive method) or give the

rule first and then invite the students to produce examples (deductive method).

Another matter of decision for the teacher is the use of grammatical terminology(various

terms used in the explanation of grammatical structures, e.g. clause, sentence,

adverbial, etc.) and the use of mother tongue, target language, or a combination of both.

Such decisions depend on the age, background and language level of the students.

Tips for presenting and explaining grammatical structures

a good presentation should include both oral and written forms, and both form and

meaning

it is important for the teacher to use plenty of contextualised examples of the structure

visual materials help learners understand both the form and the meaning

the grammar explanation should attempt at covering the great majority of instances

students are likely to encounter

obvious exceptions should be noted without going into too much detail which may

confuse the students

the presentation of grammatical structures should be followed by practice which

should aim at their use within meaningful contexts.(adapted from Ur,Penny,1996:75-85)

3. Examples of grammar structure presentation

Suppose you want to introduce the Present Perfect Continuous to your students, focusing

both on form and meaning. For the presentation of form, you can either start by giving

your students the rule and then ask them to provide examples (deductive method), or by

giving them examples and then ask them to work out the rule (inductive method).

In the first case, you pick out examples from the lesson you are teaching and write them

on the blackboard. Then explain how the tense is constructed and ask students to give

similar examples. In methodological terms this method is also called giving, and

involves transmitting form to the students, who are relatively passive recipients.

In the second case, which according to the above mentioned terms would be guiding,

you start from examples in the context of the lesson, and ask the students to work out the

rule of how the tense is formed.


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Students can be helped to understand the meaning that the present perfect continuous

conveys by means of graphical representations or concept questions. Here is an example

of a graphical representation (a time-line) of the meaning of present perfect continuous.

Shes been living here for 20 years.

She moved in She still lives herex~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~x

1978 1998

Concepts questions, whose purpose is to check the understanding of the meaning, could

be:

Did she live here before 1978?

Does she live here now?

Did she start living here in 1978?

Did she live here in 1979?

________________________________________________________________________

TASK:

Draw time-lines and formulate concept questions for the following:

I lived in Paris for 8 years.

She has just spilt the milk.

She spilt the milk half an hour ago.

I was having a bath when the telephone rang.

When he started his car, the bomb exploded.

When it begins raining, Ill open my umbrella.

________________________________________________________________________

4. Grammar practice activities

The purpose of grammar practice activities is to provide a bridge between the use of form

and that of communicative meaning. It is the teachers job to help the students step

forward from form-focused accurate practice to fluent and acceptable production, by a

variety of practice activities.

Types of grammar practice:

a. Awareness. The teacher introduces a grammar structure and then gives the students anewspaper article in which they identify and underline the structure.

b. Controlled drills can be found in any textbook. For example,

Replace the underlined words with the following:

watch/films - not watch/quiz shows

Tom reads newspapers but he doesnt read magazines.


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c. Meaningful drills: The teacher asks the students to choose a partner and interview

him/her and then write what he/she likes, dislikes (for the use of the present simple)

d. Guided meaningful practice. For example, in the practice of If-clause, the teacher gives

the students questions like: What would you do if you were a teacher/millionaire,etc.,

and asks the students to answer them.

e. Free sentence composition. The teacher provides visual or situational cues and directs

the students to use the structures and create their own sentences.

f. Discourse compositions. Students are instructed to hold a discussion or write a passage

according to a given task which includes a certain grammar structure. For example, use of

modals in giving recommendation and advice to partners.

g. Free discourse. Students are given no instruction to use a specific structure and have to

speak or write on a topic which implies the use of certain structures. For example, write

or speak about your daily programme (this implies the use of the present simple).

(adapted from Ur,Penny, 1996)

IDEAS FOR CLASSROOM TASKS

1. Practice of prepositions: Pictures with differences (Bank of materials)

Make two photocopies of the pictures

Give each student one picture which they are not allowed to show each other.Each student then has to find someone who has the exact duplicate of his/her

picture: they do this by describing their pictures to each other or asking questions.

Students who have found duplicates bring them to you.

The activity ends when all the pictures are paired.

(from Ur,Penny, 1988:169-170)

2. Practice for Future and Future perfect tenses:Future achievements(Bank of materials: )

Copy the timeline and give each student one copy

Ask the students to write down three achievements they are pleased with, and to

mark below the line the year nowand in 20 years time.The sloping lines represent every second year between now and 20 years hence

Ask the students to imagine what they will have achieved by every marked year

on the timeline and to write a sentence for every marked year, writing up the sloping lines

Group the students in threes and ask them to compare past achievements and

timelines, reading their sentences out.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Frank,Ch, &

Rinvolucri,M 1991,Grammar in Action Again,Prantice Hall

Harmer, J 1987,Teaching and Learning Grammar,Longman

Harmer,J 1991,The Practice of English Language Teaching,Longman

Ur,Penny 1992,Grammar Practice Activities,CUP

Ur,Penny 1996,A Course in Language Teaching,CUP

Wajnryb,R. 1993,Grammar Dictation,OUP


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UNIT V

TEACHING LISTENING

Language learners often have a compulsion to comprehend everything [when listening]

which may be the result of a fear of making incorrect guesses...

Penny Ur, 1984, Teaching Listening Comprehension,p.14)

Aims:

to make student-teachers aware of the difficulties of listening for a foreignlanguage learner

to show student-teachers how the teacher can help the learners overcome these

difficulties

to help student-teachers devise listening tasks which replicate real-life listening

strategies

In the language of methodology you will often find concepts like receptive skills

referring to listening and reading, and productive skills referring to speaking and

writing. Though receptive skills mean that the listener (reader) does not produce

language, in real life he/she is actively involved in these activities because he/she has a

certain purposeand expectationswhen listening or reading. On the other hand, speakingand writing are considered to be productive skills because they involve language

production on the part of the speaker (writer).

In native as well as foreign language, the listeners (readers) make use of a number

of sub-skills which lead to their understanding of the content of what they hear or see.

Harmer,J. (1991:183-184) mentions six such sub-skills:

a). predictive skills

b). extracting specific information

c). getting the general picture

d). extracting detailed information

e). recognising function and discourse patterns

f). deducing meaning from context

These subskills, subconsciously used by the native listener (reader), create difficulties for

the foreign language learner because of psychological barriers (fear of failure or

frustration).

What are the difficulties of listening for a foreign language learner?________________________________________________________________________

TASK:


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Here are some problems a listener might be confronted with. Sort them into categories of

your own choice and give reasons for putting them together. Add any other problems you

might think of:

- speed of speech -accents

- background noise -memory (trying to remember everything)

- weak forms - predictive ability

- lack of knowledge of context - listening for every word

- redundancy (repetitions,fillers,eg.well) - distinguishing individual words

- tension - previous learning experience

- short concentration span - lack of background knowledge of L2

- contractions - no interest in topic

- tiring - activity overload

________________________________________________________________________

In answer to the previous question we shall approach ways by which teachers can help

their students to listen successfully in English:

encouraging the students to exploit the redundancy of spoken English and to guess

meaning from context (e.g., by listening for gist, see below)

encouraging the students to make use of their general knowledge while listening (e.g.

by asking students to state the type of spoken text)

introducing and talking about the topic before listening and asking them to predict

what they will hear

giving students a reason to listen (by devising simple tasks to be done while listening)

Real life listening

In real life situations we listen to a variety of spoken texts: radio/TV programmes,

announcements at railway stations, lectures, casual conversations,etc.

We listen to such texts in different ways.

________________________________________________________________________

TASK:

Make a list of different real life listening situations and group them according to the

following types of listening:

A.Listening for the general idea (GIST)

B. Listening for specific information (only the items the listener is interested in)

C. Intensive listening (focused listening)

D. Listening for communication (in order to respond and communicate)

________________________________________________________________________

The characteristics of real life listening situations:


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the speaker uses short chunks of language (e.g. in a conversation people take short

turns to speak)

pronunciation is often noticeably different from the phonological representation given

in a dictionary

vocabulary is often colloquial

language used in informal situations is often ungrammatical

noise can prevent the listener from understanding every word

redundancy (repetitions, use of fillers, etc.)

the hearer looks as well as listens, except when listening to the radio or speaking on

phone

Real life listening in the classroom:

Though classroom listening is not real life, the listening activities should give learnerspractice in coping with, at least, some of the features of real life listening. Thus, the

teacher can use the cassette recorder and recordings of real life situations for which he/she

constructs tasks.

Principles in the construction of listening tasks

In the construction of listening tasks the teacher should bear in mind the following:

questions on the listening text should be short and clear because students hear the text

only once and they cannot go over it as in reading

students should not be required to write too much as they do not have time while

listening

it is much better that questions should first check understanding of gist rather than

specific information

listening tasks should have a variety of question types and make them answerable by

one or two words or by ticks in squares.

using grids for the practice of note-taking

integrating listening activities with speaking, reading and writing activities within one

lesson

Examples of listening activities (with or without cassette recordings)

It is important to mention that listening tasks should be preceded by pre-listening

activities and followed by post-listening activities .

1. Pre-listening activities

- looking at pictures and talking about them

- looking at a list of items, thoughts, etc.

- making lists of possibilities, ideas, suggestions, etc.

- reading through questions to be answered while-listening

- labelling

- predicting


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- pre-viewing language

- class discussion

2. While-listening activities

- marking/checking items in pictures

- matching pictures with what is heard

- story line picture sets

- putting pictures in order

- picture drawing

- carrying out actions

- following a route on a map

- completing grids (forms, charts)

- T/F- multiple-choice questions

- gap-filling

- spotting mistakes

- prediction

- seeking specific items of information

3. Post-listening activities

- form (chart) completing

- extending lists

- extending notes into written responses

- summarising- using information for problem solving activities

- identifying relationship between speakers

- establishing mood, attitude of the speaker

- role-play /simulation

- dictation

________________________________________________________________________

TASK:

Take any tape (or tapescript) which accompanies the English textbooks and construct a

listening tasksheet. Mention the level of the students for whom you devise the task and

include at least one pre-listening and one post-listening activity too.________________________________________________________________________

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Doff, A. 1988, Teach English, CUP

Harmer,J 1991, The Practice of English Language Teaching,Longman

Nunan,D 1991,Language Teaching Methodology, Prentice Hall

Ur,P. 1996,A Course in Language Teaching, CUP


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1984, Teaching Listening Comprehension, CUP

UNIT VI

TEACHING SPEAKING AND PRONUNCIATION

When two people are engaged in talking to each other we can be fairly sure that they

are doing so for good reasons.

(J.Harmer:1991)

Aims: to develop student-teachers awareness of what the process of communication

involves

to help student-teachers to understand the difference between non-communicative

and communicative activities

to help student-teachers in the design of successful speaking activities in the

classroom

to help student-teachers to design specific activities for teaching pronunciation of

difficult sounds for Romanian learners of English

1. The nature of communication

Communicating in real life situations involves two people : a speaker and a listener.

The speakers:

- want to say something, that is they have a reason why the feel they need to speak. For

example, people may wish to speak in order to make requests or inquiries, to express

opinions and feelings, to convey information, to socialise, etc.

- select from their language store what is appropriate for the communicative situation. For

example, they will use different registers, formal or informal language, depending on the

communicative context.

The listeners:- want to listen to something and have a desire to understand the message.

- process a variety of language in order to understand exactly what is being said

(Adapted from Harmer,J.,1991:46-48)

In conclusion, the nature of communication consists of a process of interaction between

two people, in which one knows something and wants to communicate it, and the other is

interested in listening and responding to it.

2. Non-communicative vs. communicative activities


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When teaching speaking the teacher will have to distinguish between communicative and

non-communicative activities in order to set up successful speaking tasks and to

encourage students to speak.

According to the nature of communication discussed above and the principles of

communicative methodology, the communicative activities that the teacher designs for

classroom use are those which meet the following characteristics, compared to the non-

communicative ones:

Non-communicative activities Communicative activities

no communicative desire a desire to communicate

no communicative purpose a communicative

purpose

form not content content not form one language item variety of language

teacher intervention no teacher intervention

materials control no materials control

3. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity

________________________________________________________________________

TASK:

In groups, discuss and make a list of what you think are the features of learners

involvement in speaking activities.

________________________________________________________________________Checklist of features of a successful speaking activity:

a. Learners talk a lot;

b. Participation is even - classroom/group discussions are not dominated by a minority of

talkative participants;

c. Motivation is high: learners are eager to speak because they are interested in the topic

and have something new to say about it;

d. Language is of an acceptable level: learners express themselves in utterances that are

relevant, easily comprehensible to each other and of an acceptable level of language

accuracy.

(From Ur,Penny, 1996:120)

4. Criteria for setting up a speaking activity

It is not an easy task to set up speaking activities in the classroom because of the many

problems the learners are faced with when they are asked to speak. Some of these

problems are:

a. Inhibition: learners are often inhibited about trying to say things in a foreign language

in front of an audience because they are worried about making mistakes, are fearful of

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


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b. Nothing to say: even if they are not inhibited, learners often complain that they cannot

think of anything to say. They have no reason to express themselves;

c. Low or uneven participation: in a large group, participants will have little talking time

since some learners tend to dominate, while others speak very little or not at all;

d. Mother tongue use: learners may tend to use mother tongue because it is easier,

because it feels unnatural to speak to one another in a foreign language, and because they

feel less exposed if they are speaking their mother tongue.

The criteria for setting up successful speaking activities imply ways by which the teacher

can help learners overcome these problems. Thus when devising speaking activities the

teacher should:

check or pre-teach useful VOCABULARY or STRUCTURES that the learners are

likely to need;

select interesting topics in order to MOTIVATE learners, generate INTEREST in the

activity, and give the activity a PURPOSE;

set appropriate CLASS LAYOUT for speaking activities. For example, group work for

solving problems, pair work for information transfer, circle for discussion, back to

back for telephone conversations, etc.

give clear INSTRUCTIONS so that students know what they have to do;

give learners TIME TO PREPARE for the speaking activity, to work out ideas,

opinions,etc. leave time for FEED-BACK

think about what, how, when to CORRECT (try not to interrupt unless the

communication is broken down).

5. Examples of communicative speaking activities

Spot the differences: learners are given slightly similar pictures and they have to find

out the differences by asking questions, describing, etc.

Matching cards, e.g., half of the class gets cards with questions and the other half cards

with answers. Learners have to find their partners.

Filling in grids about fellow students: students are asked to interview their partners and

fill in grids

Information gap: (see the example The Eurovision Song Contest in the Bank of

Materials)

Prioritising: rating according to certain criteria (see the example Survival in the

Desert in the Bank of Materials)

Guessing games (see Wright,A, Betteridge,D and Buckby,M :1979, for examples)

Problem solving (see the example Zoo Plan in the Bank of Materials)

Role play (see Ladousse Porter, Gillian:1987 for examples)


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Discussions: teacher sets a topic and the students express their opinions

5. Teaching pronunciation

Pronunciation includes the production of L2 sounds that do not impair the understanding

of meaning. The communicative approach to the learning of English does not insist on

the correct (received/standard = RP) pronunciation , since the focus is upon meaning,

function, appropriacy in communication. Yet, pronunciation is a matter of concern for

teachers, especially at the beginners level, when students are initially exposed to the

sounds of English.

Difficult sounds for Romanian learners should be the aim of teaching pronunciation in theclassroom.

________________________________________________________________________

TASK:

Think back at your experience as learners of English, and write down the English sounds

that you found difficult or different from Romanian ones.

________________________________________________________________________

Some of the possible difficulties that the Romanian learners could have might be:

the vowel sounds in minimal pairs; for example [e] [] ; [I] [I:], etc.

the sounds [] and [] which do not exist in the Romanian language word and sentence stress

intonation

IDEAS FOR PRONUNCIATION ACTIVITIES TO PRACTICE IN CLASS

1. Choose a sound to practise or two sounds to contrast. Invent a profile of someone (to

go with a picture of them) . Read the profile to the students and ask them questions about

the person. Students practise the sound(s) when answering.

Example profile:

Hank Travers is a mad, bad gangster. When he was young he used to trap cats, but now

he robs banks. Theyre going to hang him but he doesnt give a damn.

2. Give the students an example of two names having sounds that make up minimal

pairs.Choose three or four topics to talk about the two people and make sure that the

words include the sounds on focus.

Example:

Collin Coleen


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Likes: tinned fish lean meat

Dislikes: garlic leak

Travels to: Finland Greece

3. Rhythm and intonation:

Jazz chants are very suitable for practising rhythm and intonation. Here is an example.

The students could be asked to role-play the jazz chants :

YOU DID IT AGAIN

I told you not to do it, and you did it again

Im sorry, Im sorry.

You did it!What did I do?

You broke it!

What did I break?

You tore it!

What did I tear?

I told you not to do it and you did it again.

Im sorry, Im sorry.

You shook it!

What did I shake?You took it!

What did I take?

I told you not to do it and you did it again.

Im sorry, Im sorry.

TIPS FOR IMPROVING LEARNERS PRONUNCIATION

imitation of teacher or recorded model of sounds, words and sentences;

recording of learners speech contrasted with native model and self correction;

systematic explanation and instruction (including details of the structure and

movements of parts of the mouth);

learning and performing dialogues

learning by heart of rhymes, tongue twisters and jazz chants

(Adapted from: Penny Ur, 1996:54)

________________________________________________________________________

TASK:

Design some pronunciation activities of your own that you think might give useful

practice to your students.

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UNIT VII

TEACHING READING

Using a text does not necessarily equal teaching reading

Aims:

to raise student-teachers awareness of what skills are involved in the process of

reading to help student-teachers devise classroom reading tasks with the aim of

encouraging learners to deal with texts

1. What reading involves

When we read a text in either L1 or L2, we usually focus on:

recognition of words and phrases

understanding grammar

predicting the type of text, what follows in the text,etc.

guessing the meaning of words from the context

the logical ordering of paragraphs into larger units of text

The teaching of reading should reproduce as closely as possible real-life reading

situations.

________________________________________________________________________

TASK:

In your groups discuss and write down WHAT you read in real life situations and WHY

you read. Make a list under the heading WHAT and WHY.

________________________________________________________________________

Real life reading:

WHY WHAT

pleasure novels, poetry, magazines,etc.

study coursebooks, dictionaries, science,etc.

work journal, reports, catalogues, memos,etc.

information timetables, newspapers, leaflets,etc.

2. Modes of reading texts


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When reading such texts for the purposes above-mentioned, we read them in different

ways, we employ different reading strategies. For example, we may read some texts just

to get a general idea of what the text is about (skimming); we read other texts to find out

specific information that we are interested in, for example, names, dates, locations, etc.

(scanning); and, finally, we may read texts in detail (e.g. for study) in order to

comprehend the whole text (detailed/intensive reading).

3. Reading subskills

The reader uses specific subskills whenever he/she deals with a text. Such subskills may

be:

Decoding the written text:

- dealing with handwriting/typefaces- word recognition - relating the spelling of a word to its spoken form

Using layout

- recognising text type from layout

-understanding how the structure of texts is emphasised by layout (paragraphs,

subtitles, etc.)

Predicting the content

- from visual clues (layout, pictures)

- from source of text (e.g. Is it from a popular magazine?, the introduction to a

university textbook?, etc.)

- from readers own prior knowledge of subject

Understanding the text- identifying topic - extracting the main idea

- recognising discourse functions , e.g. defining, comparing, contrasting,etc.

- inferring the meaning implicit in text

- understanding conventions associated with different text types (e.g., footnote

numbers in academic texts, etc.)

Working from the text

- note-taking

- summarising

- relating and transferring written information to graphic formats (graphs,

charts,etc)

3. Teaching reading: strategies for dealing with a text

This section deals with the ways in which the teacher can help students to cope with

reading a text. We will consider the stages involved in teaching reading, the points the

teacher has to bear in mind for each stage, and the classroom techniques suitable for each

stage:

Introducing the topic is the stage at which the teacher could try to personalise the topic

so that the students might be more involved and motivated . For example, the teaching

of a text dealing with entertainment could start with discussions about the students


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personal experience. Another possibility of introducing the topic is to ask the students

to predictthe context and possible content of the text by looking at the layout, visuals

or title of the text. These introductory techniques aim at creating a need to read the

text.

Facilitating the task: is the stage at which the teacher pre-teaches the vocabulary items

by focusing upon key words only (see criteria for selecting vocabulary).

Getting the gist: can help students practise the subskill of skimming by the use of such

techniques as T/F and multiple choice exercises. Do not forget that the questions

should be given to the students before starting to read the text. At this stage it is

important to set a relatively short time limit in order to be sure that students just skim

the text and do not read every word!

Intensive reading: refers to students re-reading of the whole text and aims at checking

if they understood the message of the text. It involves a detailed reading.Some of the

techniques for the checking of text comprehension are: T/F, Yes/No, Wh- questions,multiple choice, drawing of maps, filling in charts, ordering scrambled pieces of texts

(or pictures), etc.

Important point to consider: though reading is an individual activity, the teacher can

encourage students to co-operate in the exchange of information by working in pairs or

groups when checking and exchanging information, comparing notes, problem

solving,etc.

4. Reading activities

The instructions and examples in italics, refer to the newspaper text The Hungry

Tomato which is in the Bank of Materials.Here are examples of task-sheets that the teacher could construct for reading texts if the

textbook does not contain such exercises. Not all the examples should be used for one

text.

Pre-reading

- Predicting: by looking over the text and pictures, headlines e.g.:

Look over the text quickly. Does it come from:

a. a novel

b. a magazine

c. a newspaper

Read the headline/Look at the pictures. Do you expect the passage to be:

a. serious

b humorous

While-reading

- Skimming for gist: The teacher may ask students to read quickly and:

- identify pictures

- find key words

-give or select a title

-answer gist questions e.g.:

Which is the best description of the passage. Is it about:


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a. a man who was killed and eaten by a tomato?

b. a man who wanted to kill and eat a giant tomato?

- Scanning for specific information: The teacher may ask the students to:

- answer T/F questions

- answer open ended questions

- complete tables, grids

- order information in the text e.g.

How many people are mentioned by name in the passage?

-----------------------------

Three different places are mentioned. List them below.

------------------------------

-----------------------------

----------------------------- Reading for detail: The teacher may ask the students to:

- answer open ended questions

- answer T/F questions

- complete notes or summary e.g.

Read the text carefully to answer the following questions.

Tick the two most important pieces of information in this passage:

a. Eric is British

b. Eric ran away from the tomato

c. Eric has two children

d. The tomato wanted to eat Eric.True or false?

a. Eric claimed a killer tomato was chased off an allotment.

b. Experts believe that a deranged botanist could have produced the killer tomato.

- Deducing meaning from context: The teacher may ask students to

-label a diagram

-match words with definitions

-match words with paraphrases e.g.

Match the words to their synonyms:

allotment disturbedderanged expert

boffin vegetable garden

-Understanding text structure: The teacher may ask students to:

-re-order sentences, paragraphs

-find/use cohesive devices by giving such tasks as the following:

Find the link words:

a. Eric was forced to run for his life------------the tomato attacked him.


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b. People probably think that Eric was joking---------------he knew what he had

seen.

Who is the person referred to by I in the paragraph under Balloons (I looked

out.....)

Order the main stages in the organisation of the passage:

elt methodology students_ guide

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