Using L1 in class

Tt use L1 for:

- Instructions.- Clarification.- Comprehension check.- Reprimands.- Contrast.- Lower the affective filter.

It’s important to avoid translation and L1 intereference (Spanish rules in English)

Mediation:

The skill to help others to communicate by conveying a message from L1 to L2.

Mediation in class: four games.

- English whispers- Diplomatic affairs.- Diplomatic incident.- Translation role – plays.

Cuisenaire rods

- Cuisenaire rods are small coloured blocks of Wood or plastic.

- It´s a tangible material, a very useful language teaching aid.

- Rods can be used as representation of different things such as, houses, trees, people, syllables, diagrams, phonemes, words, intonation, patterns, abstract ideas, money, graph, etc.

Some approaches and some examples:

- Focusing on grammar by restricting the lexis.

- Making meaning tangible and being precise about meaning.

- Clarifying structure- Contextualizing.

DICTIONARIES FINGERS CORRECTIONTIMELINES

Bilingual dictionary:- At lower levels, these can be useful.- Offering a swift way of getting an

idea of the meaning of some new words.

- This is an effective and simple technique for clarifying the structure of sentences and error corrections, especially on spoken English.

- These are tolos for clarifying the “time” of various verb tenses.

- It’s a useful visual aid because Ss see more clearly and exactly how one tense differs from another.

Monolingual dictionaries:- These will offer significantly more

relevant information.- These allows Ss to work more

independently.

General skills to work on:- Knowing alphabetical order.- Knowing phonemic script.

Use: (presentation, contrast, correction)

- When you are asked for an explanation of the meaning of a verb tense.

- It’s one way to become clear on meanings.

- It’s one way making English grammar more accessible.

- In short, finger correction involves assigning a finger to represent each word within a given phrase or sentence. To indicate to learners how the system works, the teacher can point to or move each finger as he/she relays the sentence to the student/class.

ERRORS AND CORRECTIONS

Making errors is an inevitable and necessary part of language learning because Ss erros shows that a progress is being made, Ss are experimenting with language, taking risk and trying to communicate.

Errors can be made in:- Pronunciation- Intonation and rhythm- Grammar- Context – usage.- Lexis

5 teacher decisions have to be made when working with oral errors in class:

- What kind of error…? (Grammatical, pronunciation, etc.)

- Whether to deal with it…? (is it useful to correct?)

- When to deal with? (now? End of activity or later?)

- Who will correct..? (teacher, Ss self-correction, other Ss)

- Which technique to use to correct?

When to correct:

- Accuracy ( fill in the blanks, unscramble, matching, choral repetition) : Focused immediate correction, later or not at all.

- Fluency ( information gap, discussion, communicative tasks) : later, brief, unobtrusive, immediate correction (scaffolding) or not at all.

Who correct:

- Self-correction, student – student, teacher – student, small group, all class, coursebook, reference book.

Indicating/correcting errors:

- Use facial expressions.- Use gestures.- Use finger correction.- Repeat sentences up to the error.- Echo sentence with change intonation or

stress.- Ask, draw a timeline.

TESTING

- Progress test: Ss progress over the course.- Proficiency test: Ss level of English.- You can test anything that has been studied; this usually

means the four language systems and skills.

Three criteria of a good test:

- A good will seem fair and appropriate to Ss.- It will not be too troublesome to mark.- It will provide clear results that serve the

purpose for which it was set.

Traditional pen and paper tests are made up of two questions:

- Discrete items tasks: test specific language points. “Objectively”

- Integrative tasks: items or skills tested n the same question. “Subjectively”

Some common discrete-items testing techniques:

- Gap fill: single sentence, cloze, multiple choices, using given words, using other clues, transformation.

- Sentence transformation: using given words, following a given instruction.- Sentence construction and reconstruction: rearranging words, using given words, finding and

correcting mistakes, situational.- Two options answers: True- false, correct-incorrect, defined options.- Matching: pictures and words, placing words , grammatical labeling, putting jigsaw pieces together.

TESTING: Assessing speaking

Self - assessment:

- Distribute a list of criteria and aski Ss to compare themselves against each criterion.

- Encourage them to have an honest reflection.

Speaking tasks:

- Includes: narrating, discussion, role plays, pair work, information gap exchange.

- It’s an opportunity to assess, Ss have to interact while you watch and evaluate.

Prepare criteria:

- Think about the kind of speaking Ss have worked over the course and turn them into a criteria list.

- Asses Ss against them.

Too many students:

- Having a list of criteria becomes easier asses a large group of Ss.

- Extend your assessment over a few lessons, keep listening and adjusting your evaluation over a variety of tasks.

Connected speech

Weak forms:English is a stressed timed language, and in trying to make the intervals between stressed syllables equal, to give the phrase rhythm, we tend to swallow non-essential words.

The schwa:It´s the most common weak vowel form (unsttressed) and its the only sound in english that have a name. This is the sound that you pronounce when all the muscles are relaxed.

De-schwaed text:Students go through the text and work out the missing written vowels. This will raise awareness about the many way schaw sound is spelt in english.

Stress and unstress:Student identify in a short

text every syllable that would probably be

stressed. It helps Ss to get sense of structuring,

timing and weak syllables in english.

Count the words:Record yourself saying sentences fast and with natural pronunciation, learners will listen to count how many words are in each sentence.

Learn a limerick:Teach some poems line by line, modelling and getting students to repeat. Make

sure rythm, stress and accurate. Then, Ss mark the

stresses and the schaws.

Which pronunciation? Starting points for pronuntication:

- Ss need to learn pronunciation that will - Draw attention to local variations you allow them to be understood. are aware.

- Teach the pronunciation you speak. – Highliight differences in accent.

SOUND

- There is a number of english phonemes that are familiar .

- English has a phoneme that doesn’t exist in the students own language.

- Getting Ss to produce the sound themselves can be difficult-, it is necessary to get them to hear the difference.

- Receptive awareness comes before productive competence.

Useful games to familiarize SS with phonemic symbols:

- Phoneme bingo.- Anagrams.- Category words.

Some general ideas:

- Integrate phonemics into all your teaching of grammar and lexis.

- Observation of mechanics.- Ear training, tongue twister.- Transliteration, train Ss to use the

dictionary to find pronunciation and spelling.

- Keep a phonemic chart in the classroom (tap out words and Ss say the word, use the chart to point correct sounds).

- Try a phonemic crossword.

WORD STRESS: INTONATION:

PROMINENCE:

- Stress and unstress are very importat aspects of english pronunciation.

- The syllables that are not stressed are weak, small, quiet, spoken more quickly and with less well defined.

- Fluent speakers of English listen for the stressed syllables, not the weak syllables.

- Intonation is something referred to as the music of the language.

- It is used as a kind of equivalent of written punctuation.

- It´s closely connected with prominence for the main movements of intonation.

- Intonation has a definite effect on meaning and speakers attitudes.

- It’s important to mark out the rhythm.

- Individual words have their own stress and it is important in a sentence because prominence involves stress, tone and meaning in the whole sentence.

- Changes in prominence make differences on meanings.

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Use dialogues:

It not consist in just read dialogues, you have to give students the chance to analyse the intonation patterns according to discourse function and identify which syllabables are stressed. The aim is that students can speak naturally, also its important to give feedback.

Voice settings:

It consist on discriminate characteristics of one language's voice- setting compared to another's are those 'general differences in tension, in tongue shape, in pressure of the articulators, in lip and cheek and jaw posture and movement

Model new words in context:

In class give students the chance to hear the teacher speaking naturally in the context of a typical phrase ,chunk or sentence. Students are allow to repeat the phrase and the teacher have to give them feedback if he notice a mistake.

Chants:

A chant is a poem or dialogue suitable for reciting. It involves rhytms, intonation, repetition and feelings. The teacher model and then, Students repeat the chants using teh correct intonations and showing feelings.

Shadow reading:

Choose a short part of the text or a dialogue, and give the script out for the students to read and listen at the same time. At this stage they could analyse the script. You can also use a recording.

Recognise the feeling:

The teacher writes short spoken phrases on the left of the board and on right a number of modos, then learners have to match according ti what they listen (intonation, and stress to trasmit feelings). Then Ss repeat it to each other by expressing real feelings.

Modelling intonation:

Provide students typical examples of natural uses of the language. Model a phrase or sentence expresing feelings with the correct intonation and make Students to repeat.