net languages methodology for teachers pedagogical guide...

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NET LANGUAGES

METHODOLOGY FOR TEACHERS PEDAGOGICAL GUIDE FOR TUTORS

Contents:

A: Overview of the course design and management ............................ 4

1. Who is the course for? .................................................................................... 4

2. How are the courses structured? .................................................................... 4

3. What does each unit of the course contain? ................................................... 4

Methodology for Teachers of Young Learners ....................................................... 4

Methodology for Teachers of Secondary/Adult Students ...................................... 5

4. How do tutors and students communicate? .................................................... 5

5. Correcting students’ written work .................................................................. 5

Marking Conventions and Assessment Criteria ...................................................... 5

Student written work and tutor feedback .............................................................. 6

General points for marking students’ work ............................................................ 9

6. How are students tested? ............................................................................... 9

7. How are students graded? .............................................................................. 9

8. How should records be kept? ......................................................................... 9

Appendix 1: First Contact letter ............................................................................ 10

B: Unit by unit guide for teachers ....................................................... 11

METHODOLOGY FOR TEACHERS - Primary level ................................................... 11

Unit 1: Children as Learners ................................................................................. 11

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Unit 2: Classroom Organisation ............................................................................ 12

Unit 3: Lesson Aims .............................................................................................. 13

Unit 4: Teaching Words ........................................................................................ 14

Unit 5: Drills and Chants ....................................................................................... 15

Unit 6: Listening Activities .................................................................................... 16

Unit 7: Writing Activities ...................................................................................... 17

Unit 8: Using Coursebooks ................................................................................... 18

Unit 9: Projects .................................................................................................... 20

Unit 10: Assessment and Feedback ...................................................................... 22

METHODOLOGY FOR TEACHERS OF SECONDARY/ADULT STUDENTS ..................... 23

Unit 1: Classroom Management – Mixed-Ability Classes ....................................... 23

Unit 2: Planning a Unit of Work ............................................................................ 25

Unit 3: Selecting and Grading Vocabulary ............................................................. 27

Unit 4: Practising Grammar .................................................................................. 29

Students send their ideas to you.Unit 5: Exploiting Learners' Errors ...................... 30

Unit 6: Speaking Activities and Discussions ........................................................... 33

Unit 7: Developing Listening Skills ........................................................................ 35

Unit 8: Teaching Writing ...................................................................................... 37

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Unit 9: Using the Internet ..................................................................................... 38

Unit 10: Course Evaluation and Self-Evaluation .................................................... 40

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A: Overview of the course design and management

1. Who is the course for? These courses are for teachers of English who want to update their knowledge of current English language teaching methodology. There are two courses available: Methodology for Teachers - primary level and Methodology for Teachers of Secondary/Adult Students. Methodology for Teachers - primary level is designed for teachers who are interested in learning more about teaching young learners. It is suitable for teachers with a low intermediate level of English and above, and with limited classroom experience. Methodology for Teachers of Secondary/Adult Students is more appropriate for teachers with a higher level of English (Upper Intermediate and above). It is suitable both for teachers with limited experience of teaching and for more experienced teachers wanting to update their knowledge of language teaching methodology. It covers themes such as: teaching mixed ability groups, role plays and discussions, process writing, using the internet, and course evaluation.

2. How are the courses structured? Each course consists of ten units. Each unit explores a different aspect of English language teaching methodology.

3. What does each unit of the course contain?

Methodology for Teachers of Young Learners Each unit of this course consists of a series of activities which explore the theme of the unit. These include short reading and listening texts, appropriate to the level of the student taking this course. The penultimate section of each component – ‘Discussion Topic’ – consists of a task which students respond to by posting answers in a Forum.

Final Task The final stage of each unit gives students a chance to put into practice what they have studied. They are asked to complete a task and send it to their tutor.

Each unit of the course will take approximately 2-3 hours to complete.

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Methodology for Teachers of Secondary/Adult Students Each unit of this course consists of a series of activities which explore different aspects of the theme of the unit. There are discussion questions to encourage student-student interaction via the methodology for teachers forum. Each unit in this course also contains an extended reading activity in the form of a short article which discusses aspects of the theme.

Final Task Each unit of this level ends with a small project which is carried out independently. After completing a series of tasks, the student writes a report (approx. 300-350 words) for their tutor. Each unit of the Methodology for Teachers of Secondary/Adult Students course will take approximately 4-5 hours to complete.

4. How do tutors and students communicate? Tutors and students communicate by email. Once a student has been assigned to a specific tutor, the tutor should send the student a message (see Appendix 1), which both welcomes the student to the course, and outlines the terms and procedures by which the student can contact the tutor.

5. Correcting students’ written work Each unit of both courses ends with a Final Task for which students send written work to their tutor. The Final Task provides learners with the opportunity to explore the theme of the unit in a more practical way, applying what they have learned during the unit so far.

Marking Conventions and Assessment Criteria For the Final Task the assessment criteria for marking student’s written work are as follows:

Relevance to rubric

Task completion

Accuracy of factual content

Accuracy and effectiveness of English (relative to course level)

Accurate use of terminology

Length Mark out of 20

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Student written work and tutor feedback Below is an example of student written work for the Final Task for unit 2 of the Methodology for Teachers Primary level course, together with tutor feedback. Final Task Choose a coursebook activity that involves the class working in pairs or groups, such as a game.

Describe how you would arrange the class.

Write the instructions you would give the class at the beginning of the activity, during the activity and at the end of the activity.

Describe your own role during the activity. Send the completed task to your tutor.

METHODOLOGY FOR TEACHERS - Primary level Final Task Unit 2: Classroom organisation Student: Alex Tutor: Catherine Task: Choose a coursebook activity that involves the class working in pairs or groups, such as a game. 1. Describe how you would arrange the class. 2. Write the instructions you would give the class at the beginning of the activity, during the activity and at the end of the activity. 3. Describe your own role during the activity

Activity: The coursebook activity I chose is a speaking-writing activity from Surprise 4, OUP.

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1. Organisation: This activity is designed to be done sitting 2 by 2. I would probably not allow students to choose their partner, because this might take a long time. I would indicate who they should work with, if possible the person sitting next to them, to avoid students having to move to another table. I think that is a good strategy Alex: with this age group it is more efficient to assign partners. Letting them choose might be chaotic and take a long time, as you say. 2. Instructions: Before the activity: a) Vocabulary: I would hold up a copy of the exercise for the class to see. I would say: "Please write the vocabulary under the picture." (reading comics, playing computer games, etc.) OK, good to hold up the exercise to focus the students' attention on you. But the choice of the word vocabulary is a bit vague here. You want them to write the verbs, don't you? So you need to say that. Otherwise students might write: comic book, console, etc.

b) Checking results: "OK everybody, what's the first activity? And the next one?"etc. ✓

c) Preparation for task: "Now think about your likes and dislikes. If you like reading comics, draw a happy face – here. And if you don't like reading comics, draw a sad face." Again I would hold up

the copy of the exercise to show the class where to draw the happy/sad face. ✓

The activity: Speaking: "Now ask your partner: 'Do you like....?' And your partner has to answer: 'Yes, I do. / No, I don't.' If your partner likes the activity, draw a happy face here, and if no, draw a sad face." I would also write the question and answers on the board for extra clarity. Good idea to write the question and answers on the board. Students can refer to to it if they get stuck. After the activity: a) Writing: I would hold up the copy of the exercise again, wait for everybody to look at me. Then I would point to the writing exercise. "Now write a report about your partner. For example: My friend's name is Maica. She likes reading comics. She doesn't like writing emails." Giving an example is an essential part of clear instructions. It would be especially effective if you involved the students in creating the example by eliciting it from them.

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b) Checking: "Now change your reports with your partner. Check for mistakes." ✓

c) Extra writing: "Write other activities that your partner likes and doesn't like." Asking the students to extend the activity is an excellent idea. But maybe do this right at the start of the lesson. After writing the 6 verbs in stage 1, they could add some free-time activities of their own. 3. My role: My role will vary depending on the stage of the lesson. When I set up the activity I'm an organiser. I indicate who works with who and where they will sit. Part of my role as organiser is giving the instructions and ensuring that everybody knows what they have to do. While performing this role I want the class to be focused on me. I will speak loudly and distinctly so all

the students can hear and understand me. ✓

Once the activity has started, my role changes. I am now a monitor, I will check that students are doing the activity correctly, I will help those who are having difficulties, I will praise and encourage students when appropriate. In this stage of the lesson I will work with individuals, so I will speak quietly so I don't distract the other students. I will be moving around the classroom

and I will try to spend some time with each couple. ✓

Good work, Alex. You describe in detail how you plan to exploit this material and the decisions you made about how to manage the activity are very sensible. Your instructions are short and to the point and the language you use is carefully graded. For the writing stage of the lesson you included a concrete example of what the students have to do. This is probably the easiest and clearest way to set up an activity and is highly recommended. You also described precisely how you will vary your role for the different stages of the lesson. You have made appropriate decisions about how to manage the different interactions effectively (open group work and closed pairs practice). You are clearly aware of the principles of classroom management and can see how they can be applied effectively. I'm giving you 17 out of 20 for this task. A couple of points to consider: 1. When giving instructions, try to be as precise as possible. As I mentioned above: "Write the vocabulary" could be confusing. It is clearer to say: "Write the verbs" in this case. 2. At lower levels it is important to include an example of the activity in the instructions, so students can be absolutely sure of what they have to do before they go into pairs. Language: As agreed, I'm including some comments on your English. In fact, your writing is of a high standard and I only noticed some very minor things. They are highlighted in yellow in your task. 1. designed to be done sitting 2 by 2 = ..sitting in pairs. "Sitting two by two" sounds unnatural. 2. and if no = The expression is: If not, .... 3. Now change your reports = Here you need: "exchange your reports", which has they idea of both giving and taking. 4. each couple = ..each pair. A "couple" refers to married people or people who are in a relationship. I look forward to your next task! All the best, Catherine

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General points for marking students’ work Tutors can use a "footnote" system for responding to written tasks, or they can respond in the body of the text, using a different colour. Comments should refer to the content rather than language use. In addition to the comments about individual points, tutor feedback should include a general comment on the written work which summarises its strengths and weaknesses and also provides a rationale for the mark which has been given. Finally, if the student wishes to receive feedback on language use, the tutor should add comments on a limited number of errors. Given that this course requires tutors to send feedback on topics connected with teacher training and development, it is strongly recommended that tutors are themselves qualified to at least DELTA level.

6. How are students tested?

Testing for both courses is by continuous assessment. For the Final Task of each unit, students send a piece of written work to their tutor. The marks for these pieces of work are totalled to make up the student’s final score for the level.

7. How are students graded?

The Final Task for each unit is scored out of 20 to make a total maximum score of 200. To pass, a student must get 120 marks or more (i.e. 60%).

8. How should records be kept? The marks should be recorded on the online marksheet available on the platform.

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Appendix 1: First Contact letter

Dear _______, Welcome to the Methodology for Teachers course. My name is (_______) and I will be your tutor. The course has 10 units, and you will have access to the course material for one year. However, I recommend that you try to finish one unit every two weeks. There is one piece of written work in each unit which you need to send to me. This is part of the FINAL TASK. I recommend that you write your answer in a Word document and then send it to me by the internal mail system on the platform. I will make comments on your work and send it back to you in the same way. The course is graded by continuous assessment. Each writing task is marked out of 20 which makes a maximum total of 200. In order to pass the course, you need at least 120 marks (60%). So I can get an idea of your teaching background, could you send me an email answering the following questions? (Please feel free to add any other information that you think might be relevant.)

1. How long have you worked as a teacher? 2. Where do you teach? What kind of a school is it? 3. What level do you teach? 4. Which books do you use? Did you choose the books? What do you think of them?

And one final question: Would you like me to comment on your English usage, or would you prefer to concentrate on the content of the course? If you have any questions during the course, please send me an email and I will get back to you as quickly as possible. I hope you enjoy the course! All the best, (_______)

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B: Unit by unit guide for teachers

METHODOLOGY FOR TEACHERS - Primary level

Unit 1: Children as Learners

Summary

The unit focuses on how children between the ages of 5 and 12 learn, and looks at teaching activities that are suitable for young learners.

Discussion Topic Share your ideas with other teachers. Do you agree or disagree with these statements from exercise 8? Explain why.

"I never do songs with my group of 10-year-olds. They think singing songs is for babies."

"I always start the lesson with a review of the previous lesson. And I always end the lesson with a song."

"I prepare extra exercises for the children who finish early. It's not good if they have nothing to do."

For example:

I disagree with the first statement. I find that all age groups like songs. I think

this is because ....

Post your comments in the Forums

Final Task This is the final task students are given: Children as Learners Find a story you would like to use in class. It can be real, invented or from a coursebook.

1. Write a lesson plan, showing how you would use the story with a group of six-year-olds.

2. Write comments about how your lesson plan would be different for a group of 10-year-olds.

Send the completed task to your tutor.

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Unit 2: Classroom Organisation

Summary

In this unit students learn about teacher roles and learner interaction, and look at different types of classroom organisation and activities.

Discussion Topic

Share your ideas with other teachers.

Do you change the organisation of the class during the lesson? Explain why/why not.

What are your favourite management tips? For example: I find it useful to get learners to work in pairs to check their homework. This means that they can help each other. They are more motivated and engaged. Post your comments in the Forums

Final Task This is the final task students are given: Choose a coursebook activity that involves the class working in pairs or groups, such as a game.

1. Describe how you would arrange the class. 2. Write the instructions you would give the class at the beginning of the

activity, during the activity and at the end of the activity. 3. Describe your own role during the activity.


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Unit 3: Lesson Aims

Summary

In this unit students learn about lesson planning, and consider aims, stages and procedures.

Discussion Topic

See a page from a coursebook. Look closely at the page and identify the following:

Topic

Linguistic aims

Communicative aims

Activity types

Appropriate age group


Final Task This is the final task students are given: Choose a coursebook lesson that you are planning to teach (or one you would like to teach).

1. Read the Teacher's Book for the instructions. 2. Write out the plan for the lesson, using exercise 4 as an example. When you

write the plan, include these points:

Give each part (or stage) of the lesson a name.

Say why you are doing the stage (aim).

Briefly outline what will happen at each stage (procedure).

Estimate the time for each stage.


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Unit 4: Teaching Words

Summary This unit looks at factors to consider when introducing new vocabulary, and students practise different presentation and practice activities.

Discussion Topic


Write the commands for a "Listen and do" activity to practise body vocabulary. Write a simple version for real beginners and a more challenging version for an elementary group.

For example: First, touch your nose. Now, ... Then, compare your commands with what other teachers have written. Post your comments in the Forums

Final Task This is the final task students are given: Teaching Words

1. Choose a theme, such as sports, clothes, transport, animals, etc. 2. Choose 10 words related to this theme. Decide how you would teach them.

For example, would you use translation, gesture or visuals to help the children understand the words?

3. How would you practise the words that you have chosen? 4. Write a plan for the lesson, including the above points.

Send the completed task to your tutor

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Unit 5: Drills and Chants

Summary

Students look at different types of drills and chants, and investigate the effectiveness of using drills and chants in class.

Discussion Topic


Do you use drills and chants in your lessons? Explain why/why not.

What do you like or not like about using them?

For example: I often use drills in class, especially to practise the pronunciation of a new word. I never use chants, but I would like to try ...


Final Task This is the final task students are given: Drills and Chants

1. Write a language drill (including the different prompts, like ball, bike ...) or a chant for a grammar structure you are going to teach soon.

2. Explain how you will set it up. For example: Will you use any visual material? Will you drill all the children together? Will you drill the answer, the question or both? Will you write the drill/chant on the board? When? What will your instructions be?


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Unit 6: Listening Activities

Summary Students look at different types of listening activities for use in class, and practise planning listening practice lessons.

Discussion Topic


Do you use live listening in class? Explain why/why not.

If you do use live listening, describe a lesson idea you have used. Do you think it was successful?

For example: Occasionally, I talk about the weekend in class. The children really like this and ask me lots of questions. When I do this, first I ..., and then I ... Post your comments in the Forums

Final Task This is the final task students are given: Find a story you would like to use in class. It can be real, invented or from a coursebook.

1. Choose a story you would like to use in a class for a listening activity. (If it is a fairy tale, you might need to adapt it to make it easier for the children to understand.)

2. Decide what you would do before, during and after the listening. Think of ways of helping the children to understand the story, and to focus their attention on the main points.

3. Write an outline of what you would do.


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Unit 7: Writing Activities

Summary Students will look at different types of writing activities, and practise how to use writing activities effectively in class.

Discussion Topic Share your ideas with other teachers.

Describe more interesting ideas for writing lessons using lessons that you have tried yourself or that you have seen or heard about from other teachers


Final Task This is the final task students are given: Writing Activities

1. Choose a speaking or a listening activity in a coursebook, such as a game or a song.

2. Think of ways of including or adding a writing element. For example, could you follow the game (or song) with a story, a letter or a poster? How would you set this up? What instructions would you give? What materials would you need to provide?


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Unit 8: Using Coursebooks

Summary Students look at the advantages and disadvantages of using coursebooks, and evaluate a coursebook they use.


Look at these comments from teachers about coursebooks. Do you agree or disagree with them? Give your reasons.

1. "I think it is impossible to find the perfect book; each one has good and

bad features."

2. For example: I agree. I think it's impossible to find the perfect book. This is because every teacher and every class is different. However, I think that some books ....

3. "A good coursebook should have themes which relate to the children, lots of recycling and lots of pictures."

4. "It isn't enough to have a Students' Book, Teacher's Book and Workbook; a teacher needs other things, like flash cards and supplementary components."

5. "My school chooses the coursebook. I don't have any say in the matter."

6. "I like coursebooks with central characters and a story."

7. "If the workbook has an answer key, the children just copy the answers."

8. "We don't use coursebooks for very young learners at my school. I make all my own materials."

Which coursebooks have you used? Which do you like best and why?


Final Task

This is the final task students are given:

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1. Use the evaluation criteria in exercise 7 to evaluate a coursebook you have used, or one you would like to use. See the evaluation criteria again.

2. Write a short report about the coursebook. Include:

a brief description of the age and level of learners it is designed for.

the book's components.

the book's positive and negative features.

why you like or don't like the book. Send the completed task to your tutor.

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Unit 9: Projects

Summary Students look at the advantages and disadvantages of doing projects in class, and practise planning a project.


Choose the project below that you think would work best in your class. Explain why you think it's the best choice.

Finding out about food and health Making a family photo album Planning a party Planning a new zoo Designing a CD cover and posters advertising gigs for a band Making a class Web page

What other kinds of projects have you (or other teachers you know) done? Post your comments in the Forums

Final Task

This is the final task students are given:

1. Planning: Describe how you would set up a project. Follow these steps:

Think of a topic or theme you could make into a project.

Write a list of the stages or components that you could incorporate into it.

For example: Food and health

Food from different countries Food that is good for you and food that is not Food from animals and plants Different colours in food Different forms of packaging (tins, packets, etc.) Healthy recipes

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2. Research: Now decide how you will get the children to research these areas. For example: magazines, books, maps, the Internet, etc.

3. Presentation: Think about how and where the children will display their work. For example: posters on the wall to show illustrations of food, maps to show where food comes from, etc.


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Unit 10: Assessment and Feedback

Summary

Students look at factors related to assessment and feedback, and design a test to use in class.


Do you use continuous assessment? Explain why/why not.

Is continuous assessment difficult to evaluate?

What information does continuous assessment give the teacher that tests don't give?

Does continuous assessment create more work for the teacher? Post your comments in the Forums

Final Task This is the final task students are given:

1. Choose a unit in a coursebook. Identify the aims of the unit in terms of language and skills.

2. If you were teaching this unit, how would you test to see if these aims had been achieved?


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METHODOLOGY FOR TEACHERS OF SECONDARY/ADULT STUDENTS Unit 1: Classroom Management – Mixed-Ability Classes

Summary Unit 1 explores the topic of mixed-ability groups. The first part looks at the factors which make learners different from one another and includes a text which discusses this topic. The second part focuses on how to work with mixed-ability groups and provides teachers with suggestions as to deal with them most effectively.

Discussion Questions Students choose two of the questions below:

1. What factors do you consider important in causing mixed ability? Put these in order of importance for you:

Previous exposure

Attitude

Learning style

Personality

Aptitude

Motivation 2. Look again at the classroom scenarios in exercise 1 and the solutions

suggested by teachers. What do you think of the teachers’ suggestions? What else would you do in these situations?

3. “Every group is a mixed-ability group.” Do you agree with this? What are

the implications of this statement for teachers? 4. Mixed ability is usually considered a problem. But is it? Could there be

some advantages to having students of different levels and abilities in the same class?


Final Task This is the final task students are given:

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Look at one unit of a coursebook you are familiar with. Evaluate it in terms of its usefulness for mixed-ability groups. Include the following points and illustrate where appropriate with examples from the unit:

Identify the book and unit you will be looking at: title, publisher, level, unit, topic, main language and communicative aims of the unit.

Are the tasks in the unit graded? Are there simple tasks, and more complex tasks that could be assigned to faster students?

Are there extra exercises and activities available for students who need further practice or for those who need to be challenged?

How does the teacher's book deal with the issue of mixed-ability classes?

Give some examples of how you could adapt the material of the unit to cater for the needs of faster and slower students.

Write a report of between 250 and 300 words and send it to your tutor.

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Unit 2: Planning a Unit of Work

Summary Unit 2 looks at the different ways in which teachers plan lessons. The text focuses on the factors which make for an effective lesson plan, such as the teaching context, or the importance of balance and variety. The text is also used to present students with some basic concepts connected with lesson planning. The second part of the unit explores how and why teachers plan lessons differently from one another, with a view to raising the students’ awareness of different ways of planning lessons.

Discussion Questions 1. Whose planning style is most like your own – Deniz, Paolo or Erika? (See

exercise 1). Or none of these? Why? 2. Which qualities are most important in planning a unit of work? Give your

reasons. Choose from this list (and add others if necessary):

Variety

Logic

Relevance

Balance

Cohesion

Flow 3. When you plan a lesson, do you…

a. plan one lesson at a time or a series of lessons? b. start with the aims? c. use the coursebook a lot? d. Start with a general idea of what will ‘fit’?

4. What advice would you give a new teacher who says: “I spend hours and hours

planning a scheme of work: I seem to go round and round, not getting anywhere.”


Final Task This is the final task students are given: Plan a 45-minute lesson at the elementary level, based on the following material:

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You could include some of the following activities. (Or, you could choose to do different activities.)

Exploit the receipt as a reading text. Prepare some questions for the students to answer. For example: What's the name of the restaurant? Where is it? etc.

Include a vocabulary stage where you get students to focus on restaurant food.

Include a personalisation stage where students describe the last restaurant meal they had.

Include a language focus stage where students work on past simple questions. For example: What did you eat? How much did it cost? etc.

Include a restaurant role play between waiter and customers.

Conduct a survey about good restaurants in your city. Think carefully about the order of the stages and make sure you include a language focus and a speaking activity in the lesson. Send the completed lesson plan to your tutor.

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Unit 3: Selecting and Grading Vocabulary

Summary This unit looks at the factors which help teachers to determine which vocabulary to teach. It explores the topic of what makes certain words easier or more difficult to learn and presents criteria which can be used to decide which vocabulary might be most usefully learned. It also presents students with key concepts and terminology which they need to discuss the topic of teaching vocabulary.

Discussion Questions Students choose two of the questions below: 1. Look again at the three lists of "house and garden" vocabulary in exercise 1. Do

you agree with the way they are graded? What five other words would you include at each level?

2. When did you last travel to a country where you didn't speak the language?

What were the first words you learned? Why did you learn these ones? Do you still remember any of them?

3. Use a dictionary to check that you know the meanings of these words which can

all be used to describe someone’s character.

Which of these words would you choose to teach to an intermediate group of learners? How did you make you choice?

4. List some English false friends for speakers of your language. What do they mean

in English? What does the equivalent word mean in your language? 5. Which of the two statements below do you agree with most? Why?

a. Students can decide for themselves which words they would like to learn. b. It’s the teacher’s job to decide which words students need to learn.


carefree, easy-going, optimistic, cheerful, nosy, sociable, obstinate, stubborn, insecure, calm, outgoing, hardworking, intelligent, brainy, reliable, gregarious, obstinate, bossy, assertive, even-tempered

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Final Task This is the final task students are given: You are going to look at how two different coursebooks deal with the same vocabulary theme

Choose a topic or theme – such as "clothing" or "house and home" or "food and drink".

Compare the way that two different coursebooks of the same level treat this area. What similarities and differences do you notice?

Which of the two books would you prefer to use – from the point of view of their treatment of vocabulary? Explain your choice.

Write between 250 and 300 words and send your work to your tutor.

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Unit 4: Practising Grammar

Summary

This unit focuses on different reasons for using grammar practice activities and provides students with a range of different practice activities to look at. The central aspect of the unit concerns how to provide effective grammar practice. A key point here is to incorporate a focus on meaning in order to make grammar practice more meaningful and therefore more motivating for students. The text in this unit offers ideas about how this can be done.

Discussion Questions Students choose two of the questions below: 1. There are many games which teachers can use to make practice activities more

interesting and motivating for students. Do you have any favourite games which you use to practise specific language items?

2. How do you try to make controlled practice activities more communicative and

motivating for your learners? 3. What do you think about how the practice activities in Reading have been

adapted? What else could you do to these activities to make these activities more communicative?

4. What are some of the benefits of providing learners with receptive grammar

practice activities? What is the balance of receptive and productive grammar practice activities in your classes?


Final Task This is the final task students are given: You are going to adapt two grammar practice activities in order to make them more communicative.

1. First, look at the practice activities below. What structures are they designed to practise? a)

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Write two pieces of advice for the remarks below. Make one negative and one positive. Use should, shouldn't, ought to and ought not to. For example: I feel very cold. You should close the window. You shouldn't walk around with just a T-shirt on. 1. I find it very difficult to sleep at night. 2. I don't seem to have any friends. 3. My parents are always telling me off. 4. I never have anything to do at the weekend.

b)

Look at the picture. Write sentences to describe where the following objects are: plant sofa pictures TV radio lamp coffee table

For example: The plant is next to the window.

2. Think of two or more ways you could make these grammar exercises more communicative. Consider the following points:

How could they be turned into speaking activities?

How could the learners personalise when doing the activities?

If they remained as written exercises, how could a communicative element be added?

How would you adapt the exercises and set the tasks?

Students send their ideas to you.

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Unit 5: Exploiting Learners' Errors

Summary This unit provides students with an opportunity to reflect on their attitudes to learner error and how they deal with it in their own teaching contexts. The unit questions traditional ideas that errors are ‘bad’, arguing that errors are often evidence of learning and are also a useful indication of a learner’s progress. The material provides students with some learner language to analyse and discusses a number of options for responding effectively to learner error.

Discussion Questions Students choose two of the questions below: 1. Do you think it is best to avoid errors in class? 2. Which of the ideas (in exercise 5) have you tried yourself? 3. Do you believe it is important not to interrupt students when they are speaking

in order to draw attention to their errors. 4. How do you help learners to see that making mistakes can be a positive thing? 5. Do you have any other ideas for exploiting students’ mistakes? Post your comments in the Forums

Final Task This is the final task students are given: Here is a piece of student writing, written by a lower intermediate student:

Daily schedule She starts at 9:00 reading all the e-mails received. She use to keep reading and answering them till 10:00. Then she carry on writing letters to the customers who are waiting for their orders to be delivered. She stops at 11:30 to make a break and have a coffe in 30 minutes. After the coffe she start making telephone calls till 1:30 when it is time to have lunch. At 2:30 she make the photocopies that his boss needs for a meeting that will be tomorrow. She go on making copies till 4:00 that she starts to check the e-mails and correspondence. She keep doing this till 5:00 that she stops her job to go home.

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Identify and classify the learner's errors referring to the following: Organisation Function words (articles, prepositions, pronouns, determiners, conjunctions) Vocabulary and phrases Spelling Word order Tenses

What are this student's strengths and weaknesses?

What steps would you take to improve the learner's development?

Write between 300 and 350 words and send your task to your tutor.

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Unit 6: Speaking Activities and Discussions

Summary This unit focuses on how to make discussion activities effective. First, it outlines some of the problems which teachers have with discussion activities while the text outlines some of the principles of an effective discussion, such as providing preparation time and an aim for the discussion. The second part of the unit shows students how to plan a discussion class and provides them with a model lesson plan for this kind of class.

Discussion Questions Students choose two of the questions below: 1. Look again at the speaking activities mentioned in exercise 1.

Role play Show and tell Debates Conversation Chat Do you use all these different types of speaking activities? Why / why not? What advice would you give a teacher who was going to use one of these types of activities for the first time?

2. Here are some of the potential problems with discussion activities, which we

looked at in exercise 2:

Students make lots of mistakes Not all the students participate Sometimes students aren’t interested in the topic. The students spend a lot of time speaking in their mother tongue. What do you do to solve these problems?

3. Comment on the lesson plan in exercise 5. Would you like to teach this class? Do

you agree with the points the teacher mentions in exercise 6? Is there anything you would like to say in response to this teacher?


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Final Task This is the final task students are given: Choose a coursebook that you are familiar with. Evaluate it with regard to the opportunities for freer speaking that it provides. Think about these points:

Are there lots of suggestions for free speaking activities?

What kind of activities are they?

In what way are the students prepared for the activities?

Are the activities potentially generative?

What follow-up is there to the activities?

Would they work in a context you are familiar with?

How would you adapt or supplement some of these activities? Write between 250 and 300 words and send your work to your tutor.

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Unit 7: Developing Listening Skills

Summary This unit shows how teachers can use themselves as a valuable source of listening material for their students and discusses some of the pros and cons of this kind of listening activity, comparing it with using pre recorded material. The second part of the unit offers suggestions as to how to make a live teacher listening effective and in particular how to make it interactive. The unit also provides students with suggestions about when they might want to carry out this type of activity.

Discussion Questions Students choose two of the questions below: 1. Which the activities from exercise 2 do you use in class? Do you have any other

favourite activities that you use to help develop students' listening skills? 2. What is the balance of interactive/non-interactive listening activities that you use

in your classes? 3. Do you think that live teacher listening is an activity type that can be used equally

by both native and non-native teachers? Why? 4. In exercise 5 you looked at some ways of making live teacher listenings successful

such as using real questions and display questions. What else could a teacher do to make this kind of listening interactive, and to help students to understand the listening?


Final Task This is the final task students are given: You are going to prepare a lesson based on a live listening about the following: Topic: Last weekend Language: Past simple (regular and irregular) Level: Elementary Assumptions: Students have already encountered the past simple, but need further practice.

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First prepare what you are going to say about your weekend. You can write it out in full, but then prepare prompts or notes from which you can tell your story. For example: Sat. evening: cinema with Toni.

Rehearse your story a couple of times, speaking from the notes. It's better to speak from notes, rather than reading out the text. It will sound more natural.

Record yourself telling the story. Speak slowly and clearly, pause and emphasise the key words, so the students can follow you. Your recording should be about one minute long. You can use the Net Languages Record Yourself tool to make your recording.

Now prepare a lesson plan based on the live listening about your weekend. What activities could precede the listening? What activities could follow it? Don't forget to design a listening task and a speaking component.

Send the audio file of the recording and the lesson plan to your tutor.

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Unit 8: Teaching Writing

Summary This unit looks at two popular approaches to teaching writing – process and product. The unit breaks down both product and process approaches into broad stages and examines the characteristics of each. It also compares the two and discusses when and why a teacher might favour one over the other. Finally, the unit looks at how a product and process approach could also be combined within the same lesson.

Discussion Questions 1. A product approach? A process approach? Which approach do you prefer? Why? 2. In what contexts might one be more preferable than the other? For example,

think of teaching children, teaching business people, teaching English for academic purposes, exam preparation etc.

3. What other activities for teaching writing have worked for you? Post your comments in the Forums

Final Task This is the final task students are given: You are going to evaluate the writing component of a unit of a coursebook that you are familiar with.

Identify the book you are going to look at. Include the following information: Title Level Unit Topic of the unit Main linguistic and communicative aims

List and briefly describe the activities that practise the writing skill. Does the book take a process or a product approach? How do you know?

Choose one writing activity from the unit. - If it is a process-focused activity, how could you adapt it and include more product-focused activities? - If it is product-focused, how could you adapt it to make it more process-focused?


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Unit 9: Using the Internet

Summary This unit explores the variety of ways in which the internet can be exploited for teaching purposes. It discusses how the internet can be used both as a resource and as a means of communication by both teacher and learners and it also looks at typical activity and exercise types which internet-based language teaching material offers. The unit also provides students with basic terminology which they will need to talk about these topics.

Discussion Questions 1. How have you used email and the Internet to help you in your teaching? For

example, have you ever used materials from the Internet in your classes. Do you use email to communicate to your students? Do you belong to a listserv?

2. What are some problems involved in using the Internet in your teaching? How

would you suggest avoiding or solving these problems? 3. Make some predictions about the way technology is likely to affect the teaching

of languages in the next 5 to 10 years. For example, what kinds of translation and interactive programs will we be using? Will this make teaching easier?


Final Task This is the final task students are given: Visit the following Web site and take a look around to see what there is on offer. Learning English: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/ Look at the materials, watch some of the videos and try a couple of the activities. Then write an evaluation of the material and include the following points:

Who do you think this Web site is aimed at? What level would the material be suitable for? What age group would the material appeal to? Give reasons and examples to support your opinions.

Suppose you are teaching in a school that has all the necessary technology. Choose an activity or a piece of material from the BBC site that would be suitable for a group of young adults at intermediate level studying general English. How would you use the material in class? Write the outline of a

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

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lesson plan, showing how you would develop the online material into a 45-minute lesson. For example: devise one or two activities that could precede the material. Or devise one or two activities that could follow the material. And don't forget to include a speaking component!


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Unit 10: Course Evaluation and Self-Evaluation

Summary This unit looks at a range of different options available to teachers both for assessing students’ progress and for encouraging students to reflect on their own progress. The unit compares and contrasts two type of evaluation (summative and formative) and provides a number of activities which teachers can use to evaluate their students’ progress, such as learner diaries, course questionnaires, student-generated quizzes and so on.

Discussion Questions 1. Look again at the activities for evaluating students’ progress from exercise 1.

Have you ever used these activities? Did you find the activity useful? If you haven’t used these activities, would you like to? Why / why not?

Can you recommend another activity for one of these areas that you have used with your students?

2. End of course questionnaires

Can you suggest other questions that you would include in an end of course questionnaire? Is there any other method that isn’t mentioned here that you use to collect feedback from your students?

3. Ongoing evaluation

Which of the activities discussed in question 4 have you used with your students? How effective did you think the activity was? Is there anything else that you do to encourage your learners to evaluate their own progress?


Final Task This is the final task students are given: You are going to describe how you evaluate your students' learning and consider different self-evaluation activities.

Think of your present teaching situation. How do you evaluate your students' learning? Describe the different techniques that you use.

Do you give your students any self-evaluation activities? Describe them.

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Which of the following evaluation activities would work in your teaching situation?

Which ones would not be suitable? Explain your choices.

1. Students review what they have learned and write tests for each other. 2. Students write a letter to their teacher evaluating their progress. 3. Students listen to and evaluate a recording of themselves doing a

speaking activity. 4. Students keep a diary about their learning process. 5. Teacher gives students a questionnaire about their progress at the end of

the course. 6. Teacher conducts one to one tutorials with the students to talk about

their progress.


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