Teaching English as a Foreign Language 2

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 Types of Learning Styles

Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic and Verbal (Reading/Writing)

Learning Characteristics How to teach!!!!

Style

Visual Someone with a Visual learning style • Use maps, flow charts, or webs to
has a preference for seen or observed
things, including pictures, diagrams, organize materials
demonstrations, displays, handouts, • Highlight and color code books/notes to
films, flip-chart, etc. These people will
use phrases such as ‘show me’, ‘let’s organize and relate material
have a look at that’ and will be best • Have students pick out key words and
able to perform a new task after
ideas in their own writing and highlight
reading the instructions or watching
someone else do it first. These are the them in different colors to clearly reveal
people who will work from lists and organizational patterns
written directions and instructions.
• Write out checklists of needed formulas,
commonly misspelled words, etc.
• Write out and use flash cards for review
of material
• Draw pictures or cartoons of concepts
• Write down material on slips of paper
and move them around into proper
sequence. (Can be done on PC too)
• Use the chalkboard (them and you) to
note important information
• If using the computer, have the student
experiment with different font sizes and
styles to enhance readability.

Auditory Someone with an Auditory learning • Engage the student in conversation about
style has a preference for the transfer
of information through listening: to the the subject matter
spoken word, of self or others, of • Question students about the material
sounds and noises. These people will
use phrases such as ‘tell me’, ‘let’s • Ask for oral summaries of material
talk it over’ and will be best able to • Have them tape lectures and review them
perform a new task after listening to
with you
instructions from an expert. These are
the people who are happy being given • Have them tape themselves reviewing
spoken instructions over the telephone,

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 and can remember all the words to material and listen to it together
songs that they hear!
• Read material aloud to them
• Use a talking calculator
• Have them put material to a rhythm or
tune and rehearse it aloud

Kinestheti Someone with a Kinesthetic learning • Write out checklists of materials to be

c or style has a preference for physical
Tactile experience - touching, feeling, holding, learned or looked for
doing, and practical hands-on • Trace words and diagrams on paper
experiences. These people will use
phrases such as ‘let me try’, ‘how do • Use textured paper and experiment with
you feel?’ and will be best able to different sizes of pens, pencils, and
perform a new task by going ahead and
crayons to write down information
trying it out, learning as they go. These
are the people who like to experiment, • Use role play or dramatize concepts.
hands-on, and never look at the Students can move objects around to
instructions first!
dramatize a concept or act out the
concept themselves.
• Ask the student to envision a scene in
which the material to be learned is being
used or acted out somehow. For
example: a student could imagine being a
character in a novel.
• Have the student take notes (on paper,
word processor, in textbooks) while
reading or listening.
• Use some form of body movement
(snapping fingers, pacing, mouthing
ideas) while reciting material to be
learned.

Verbal or You learn well by reading or writing the

(Reading/ material you want to learn
Writing)

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Learning Styles
Besides the three basic types of learning that were covered in the previous grades, namely visual, auditory
and kinesthetic, there are other learning styles. You need to be aware that learners have different ways to
learn. They attain better results if they study according to their own learning style.
There are active learners and reflective learners. The first type gets information and retains it more
easily by discussing and applying it. Such learners learn better in group discussion and problem-solving
activities. On the other hand, reflective learners think through the information before taking any action.
They prefer to work alone. Every learner can be both active and reflective at different times, but both
types find difficulty in listening to lectures and taking notes.
There are also sensing learners and intuitive learners. The former type likes learning facts and solving
problems. Such learners deal well with details, memorize facts and actually do activities that relate to the
world. The latter type likes to discover possibilities and innovation. They are good at understanding new
abstract concepts and don’t like memorization and routine calculations. While sensors are practical and
careful, intuitors are faster.

Another distinction is that of sequential and global learners. Sequential learners, as the word indicates,
learn in logical steps to find solutions. They use the information – though maybe not fully grasped – to do
something. Global learners get information without seeing connections, solve problems quickly and “put
things in novel ways” but cannot explain how.
You must support your students to learn according to their preferred styles. Assure them that there are
differences among them even if they are in the same class. Explain that they don’t all have to study in the
same manner and that they can vary their way of studying in some tasks.

Tolerance for ambiguity is a tendency to consider ambiguous situations in an open way. A learner’s
nature, upbringing and education can help develop such tolerance. Once ambiguity tolerance is acquired
through experience, the learner is able to move on in any task that may be complex. Help students
brainstorm ideas, make and document assumptions then test them, and finally to execute their plan. For
example, when they are reading or listening to a text in English, and they come across a word that is not
familiar to them, encourage them to rely on the context, to guess the meaning (make a hypothesis),
proceed with the task to test the hypothesis and confirm their guess or make another one. In a speaking or
a writing task, if they find difficulty in taking a step, they should learn to stop there, but to carry on with
the task with some uncertainty until they get to the point where they remedy the situation.

Project-based Learning (PBL)

• Project-based learning is a learning strategy that is centered on the learner who is to investigate a topic.
PBL involves such a wide range of skills and activities that all learning styles and many learning
strategies are likely to be deployed. It reflects the real environment students live in and is used to rebuild
real-world complexity. The context of the global project determines the learners’ perspective on a given
task, while subtasks in a smaller context provide guidance of the learning process. So, project-based
learning functions as a bridge between using English in class and using English in real-life situations
outside of class. Learning from doing complex, challenging and authentic projects requires students’
resourcefulness and planning, new forms of knowledge representation in school, expanded mechanisms
for collaboration and communication, and support for reflection and authentic assessment.

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 • Brain training trains the cognitive skills the brain uses to think and learn.

Cognitive skills are the core skills your brain uses to think, read, learn, remember, reason, and
pay attention. Working together, they take incoming information and move it into the bank of
knowledge you use every day at school, at work, and in life.
Each of your cognitive skills plays an important part in processing new information. That means
if even one of these skills is weak, no matter what kind of information is coming your way,
grasping, retaining, or using that information is impacted. In fact, most learning struggles are
caused by one or more weak cognitive skills.
Here’s a brief description of each of your cognitive skills, as well as struggles you may be
experiencing if that skill is weak:

Attention/Sustained
Enables you to stay focused and on task for a sustained period of time
Common problems when this skill is weak: Lots of unfinished projects, jumping from task to task

Attention/Selective
Enables you to stay focused and on task despite distractions
Common problems when this skill is weak: Easily distracted

Attention/Divided
Enables you to remember information while doing two things at once
Common problems when this skill is weak: Difficulty multitasking, frequent mistakes

Memory/Long-Term
Enables you to recall information stored in the past
Common problems when this skill is weak: Forgetting names, doing poorly on tests, forgetting
things you used to know

Memory/Working
Enables you to hang on to information while in the process of using it
Common problems when this skill is weak: Having to read the directions again in the middle of a
project, difficulty following multi-step directions, forgetting what was just said in a conversation

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Logic & Reasoning
Enables you to reason, form ideas, and solve problems
Common problems when this skill is weak: Frequently asking “What do I do next?” or saying “I
don’t get this,” struggling with math, feeling stuck or overwhelmed

Auditory Processing
Enables you to analyze, blend, and segment sounds
Common problems when this skill is weak: Struggling with learning to read, reading fluency, or
reading comprehension

Visual Processing
Enables you to think in visual images
Common problems when this skill is weak: Difficulties understanding what you’ve just read,
remembering what you’ve read, following directions, reading maps, doing word math problems

Processing Speed
Enables you to perform tasks quickly and accurately
Common problems when this skill is weak: Most tasks are more difficult. Taking a long time to
complete tasks for school or work, frequently being the last one in a group to finish something

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 Grammar-Translation Method
Grammar- Translation Method is also called Classical Method of teaching English. This method
has enjoyed a very good reputation amongst the Indian teachers and the students. This method
applied the study of Latin and Greek grammars to the study of foreign languages from the
XVIIth to the XXth centuries. In the 19th century this method was rather widespread for learning
foreign languages, though by the end of the century moves towards the Direct Method were
noticed. Even today, in spite of its obsolescence, it has not entirely died out as some textbooks
still in use and the practice of some classes are there to prove.

Translation Method means teaching the target language (here it is English) by translating it into
mother tongue. The teacher translates each word and sentence in to the mother tongue. This is
one of the simplest way of teaching a foreign language. Neither the teacher nor the taught have to
make extra efforts to learn the target language.

The principles of the Grammar-Translation Method

The most relevant principles of this method can be summarized as follows
(Based on Larsen-Freeman 1986, and Richards and Rodgers 1986):
1) It emphasizes the study and translation of the written language, as it is considered superior to
spoken language.
2) Successful learners are those who translate each language into them other, though they cannot
communicate orally.
3) Reading and writing are the main language skills.
4) Teachers play an authoritarian role in the classroom and the predominant interaction is
between teacher-student.
5) Students must learn grammatical rules overtly and deduce their applications to exercises.
6) Students have to know verb conjugations and other grammatical paradigms.
7) The basic unit of teaching is the sentence.
8) The student's native language is the medium of instruction and used as well to compare with
the language studied.

The main techniques used by the Grammar-Translation Method.

The Grammar-Translation Method focuses on the teaching of the foreign language grammar
through the presentation of rules together with some exceptions and lists of vocabulary translated
into the mother tongue. Translation is considered its most important classroom activity. The
main procedure of an ordinary lesson followed this plan: a presentation of a grammatical rule,
followed by a list of vocabulary and, finally, translation exercises from selected texts (Stern
1983: 453).

Other activities and procedures can be the following:

-reading comprehension questions about the text;
-students find antonyms and synonyms from words in the text;
-vocabulary is selected from the reading texts and it is memorized; sentences are formed with the
new words;
-students recognize and memorize cognates and false cognates;
-Fill-in-the-blank exercises;

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-writing compositions from a given topic.

Advantages of Translation Method

1. This method is useful in the class in which there are a large no of students.
2. It is beneficial to use in the class where there are students of various levels – very intelligent
and not-so-very intelligent.
3. It helps the teacher to clear the meaning of a word and sentence easily by translating it in to
the mother tongue.
4. The students understand the things very easily if taught using this method.
5. It doesn’t consume the time in finishing the syllabus.
6. Precise pictures of the words and the things are made in to the minds of the learners through
this method.
7. This Translation Method is very useful for the average and below-average students.

Disadvantages of Grammar-Translation Method

1. No oral work takes place in the class room due to this method.
2. The main focus remains only on the mother-tongue and the target language remains ignored.
3. No Speaking in the target language is possible. The only thrust remains on the reading.
4. The students don’t develop the power of thinking in the target language.
5. It doesn’t help the students to learn correct pronunciation of English Language or the target
language.
6. Main emphasis is given on the Rules of Grammar.
7. Students try to do everything by translating.
8. This method doesn’t involve the students mentally and just like story telling method.

Direct Method Advantages and Disadvantages

In the mid-nineteenth century, industrialization has taken place all around Europe. There
was desperate need to develop oral proficiency in foreign languages. But Language teachers
had focused on Grammar-Translation Method which was proven inadequate and ineffective
in developing ‘communicative ability’ in learners.Pandergastand Sauveur proposed natural
method to fulfill the need to teach foreign languages and to facilities trade, commerce,
business, and travel between the different European countries. This was later emergence of
direct method.

Advantages of the Direct Method

1- It gives the Pupils a Real Command of English Language. It facilitates in

understanding English by establishing a direct association between the word and its
meaning and it enables the student to grasp the sentence patterns he hears or reads in

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 English. The student is able to express his thought and feelings directly in English. It
develops fluency of speech and efficiency in writing.
2- This Method makes the Study of English Interesting and Lively. Study of language
through this method becomes interesting, motivating, and active participation
because of its emphasis on the spoken idiom. The use of illustrations, objects, use of
audio-visual aids, demonstrations etc.
3- It Facilitates Reading and Students learn to speak fluently and to write fairly quickly
and correctly. They develop a love for the English language.
4- This Method is psychologically Sound. All the principles of modern education, e.g.,
to proceed from particular to general is emphasized.
5- More emphasis is put on practice than on theory.
6- The Direct Method represents a radical change from literary language to the day -to-
day spoken language as the object of language teaching and learning.
7- The use of every day vocabulary and structures is the first priority.
8- Grammar is taught inductively.
9- Oral skills are developed through carefully graded programmers involving question -
answer sessions, interaction between the teacher and the learners and intensive
classroom drills.
Disadvantages of Direct Method

• This Method does not Consider all Aspects of Language Teaching. It puts much
emphasis on speech and ignores other skills like reading, writing, hearing, etc.
• Mostly time Students make spelling errors.
• There is not enough writing, there is not enough reading.”
• Emphasis on Aural-Oral Appeal is Defective. This method is based on the principle of
aural-oral appeal. There are children who learn more with the help of their eyes than with
that, of ears and tongue. Such children are affected.
• Lack of Suitable Teachers. Most of our teachers in English have a inaccurate
pronunciation of English. Their knowledge in English is also limited and imperfect. They
face difficulties to handle the classes. This paucity of good English teachers is
responsible for the failure of this method.
• Direct Method is Expensive. Our schools cannot provide sufficient equipment and other
facilities that are essential to follow this method.
• Lack of Standard Textbooks. We don’t have standard textbooks properly graded in
respect of grammar and composition.
• There is Difficulty in Explanation. We usually follow four ways to explain the words.
Direct Method completely ignores translation. As a result, it becomes difficult to explain
the ideas.
• Direct Method Ignores Human Nature and Pupil’s Nature.
• A student of our country cannot learn English ignoring the mother-tongue altogether. We
have tried this method but we failed achieve the desirable goal.

Though the Direct Method is still widely talked about, it is hardly practiced anywhere in its
original and pristine form except in a few private language schools of Europe and It has
failed to function in public secondary schools, by and large. However, some of its principles

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have since been adopted by the relatively new approaches and are being adhered to with
necessary modification and adjustment.

The Aural-lingual Method

The Audio-lingual Method corresponds with the USA structuralism tradition of FLT, which
became the dominant orthodoxy after World War II. Its origin can go back to the seminal work
of Bloomfield, who set up the bases of structural linguistics segmenting and classifying
utterances into their phonological and grammatical constituents. Fries, Brooks, Rivers, and Lado
went on applying these principles up to the 1970s with a close relationship with behaviorism.
Bloomfield (1942) became a basic source for the Army Method, which was a response to the
need of army personnel after the USA entry into the Second World War. Its main procedure was
imitation and repetition.
The objective of the audio-lingual method is accurate pronunciation and grammar, the ability
to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations and knowledge of sufficient vocabulary to
use with grammar patterns. Particular emphasis was laid on mastering the building blocks of
language and learning the rules for combining them. It was believed that learning structure or
grammar was the starting point for the student.

The main activities include reading aloud dialogues, repetitions of model sentences, and
drilling. Key structures from the dialogue serve as the basis for pattern drills of different kinds.
Lessons in the classroom focus on the correct imitation of the teacher by the students. Not only
are the students expected to produce the correct output, but attention is also paid to correct
pronunciation. Although correct grammar is expected in usage, no explicit grammatical
instruction is given. It is taught inductively. Furthermore, the target language is the only
language to be used in the classroom.

The main concepts of Aural-lingual Method

1. Foreign language is the same as any other kind of learning and can be explained by the same
laws and principles.
2. Learning is the result of experience and is evident in changes in behavior.
3. Foreign language learning is different from first language learning.
4. Foreign language learning is a process of habit formation.
5. Language learning proceeds by means of analogy (habit-formation involving discrimination
and generalization) rather than analysis (deductive learning of rule, as the Grammar-Translation
Method).
6. Errors are the result of L1 interference and are to be avoided, as they are considered bad
habits.
7. Language skills are learned more effectively if they are presented orally first, then in written
form.
8. The meanings of words can be learned only in a linguistic and cultural context.

As a consequence from the approach and assumptions considered above, the main procedures put
into practice by Aural-lingualism give a primary emphasis to an oral approach to FLT and focus
on an accurate speech, but grammatical explanations do not have an important role.

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Teaching units are organized following these three methodological points:
Nothing will be spoken before it has been heard.
Nothing will be read before it has been spoken.
Nothing will be written before it has been read.
A typical lesson would have the following procedures (adapted from Richards and Rodgers
1986: 58-9):
1. Students first hear a dialogue with the key structures of the lesson, repeat and memorize
them. The teacher pays attention to pronunciation and fluency. Correction is immediate.
2. The dialogue is adapted to the students' interest or situation.
3. Certain key structures from the dialogue are selected and used as the basis for repetition
and pattern drills, first practiced in chorus and then individually. An example of a pattern
drill could be this:
To elicit: There's (a man watching TV)
Teacher: There's a policeman. He's standing near a car.
Student: There's a policeman standing near a car.
Teacher: There's a girl. He's knocking at our door.
Student: There's a girl knocking at our door.

4. Students may refer to their textbook, and follow-up reading, writing, or vocabulary activities
based on the dialogue may be introduced.
5. Follow-up activities may take place in the language laboratory, where further dialogue and
drill work is carried on.

The central unit of the lessons is, therefore, language structures, which are graded and
sequenced. An example of how lessons may be organized around structures is this partial Index
from a very known textbook (Alexander 1967):
-Is this your...?
-What make is it?
-What's your job?
-Look at...
-Whose is this/that...? This is my/your/his/her...
-What color’s your...?

Advantages

• It aims at developing listening and speaking skills which is a step away from the
Grammar translation method
• The use of visual aids has proven its effectiveness in vocabulary teaching.

Disadvantages

• The method is based on false assumptions about language. The study of language doesn’t
amount to studying the “parole”, the observable data. Mastering a language relies on
acquiring the rules underlying language performance. That is, the linguistic,
sociolinguistic, and discourse competences.

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 • The behaviorist approach to learning is now discredited. Many scholars have proven its
weakness. Noam Chomsky (“Chomsky, Noam (1959). “A Review of B. F. Skinner’s
Verbal Behavior”) has written a strong criticism of the principles of the theory.

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

Background

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) was introduced in 1970s. The demand of teaching
and learning English has created immense opportunities for people around the world. A huge
number of people want to improve their communication skills to survive in the global market.
CLT has served the demand of learning and teaching of English for many decades as a major
source of influence on language teaching practice across the world. In addition, language
teaching has seen many changes in past fifty years.

Approach

The Communicative Approach in language teaching starts from a theory of language as

communication. The goal of language teaching is to develop communicative competence
(Richards & Rodgers, 2001:159). Another linguistic theory of communication favored in CLT is
Halliday’s functional account of language use. Linguistic is concerned with the description of
speech acts of texts, since only through study of language in use are all the function of language
and therefore all components of meaning brought into focus.

Non communicative activities Communicative activities

No communicative desire A desire to communicative
No communicative purpose A communicative purpose
Form not content Content not form
One language item only Variety of language
Teacher intervention No teacher intervention
Materials control No materials control
Designs

These are some considerations to make designs in communicative approach:

1. Objectives

Piepho (in Richards & Rodgers, 2001:162) discusses the following levels of objectives in a
communicative approach:

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a. an integrative and content level (language as a means of expressions)

b. a linguistics and instrumental level (language as a semiotics system and an object of learning)

c. an effective level of interpersonal relationship and conduct (language as a means of expressing

values and judgments about oneself and others)

d. a level of individual learning needs ( remedial learning based on error analysis)

f. a general education level of extra- linguistics goals (language learning within the school
curriculum)

2. The Syllabus

Discussion of syllabus theory and syllabus models in communicative Language teaching has
been extensive. Wilkins’s original notional syllabus model was soon criticized by British applied
linguistics as merely replacing one kind of list (e.g., a list of grammar items) with another (a list
of notions and functions). It specified products, rather than communicative processes.

There are several proposals and models for what a syllabus might look like in Communicative
Language Teaching. Yalden (1983) in Richards & Rodgers (2001:164) describes the major
current communicative syllabus type. Richard & Rodgers summarize a modified version of
Yalden’s classification of communicative syllabus type as follow:

3. Types of Learning and Teaching Activities

The range of exercise types and activities compatible with a communicative approach is
unlimited, provided that such exercises enable learners to attain the communicative objectives of
the curriculum, engage learners in communication, and require the use of such communicative
processes as information sharing, negotiation of meaning, and interaction.

4. Learner’s Role

Discussing about learner role, Breen and Candlin in Richards & Rodgers (2001:166) describe the
learner’s role within CLT is as negotiator between the self, the learning process, and the object of
learning, emerges from and interacts with the role of joint negotiator within the group and within
the classroom procedure and activities which the group undertakes.

5. Teacher’s Role

According to Breen and Candlin in Richards & Rodgers (2001:167) that teacher has two main
roles in CLT. First, to facilitate the communication process between all participants in the
classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and text. Second, to act as an

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independent participant within the learning-teaching group. Other roles assumed for teachers are
need analyst, counselor, and group process manager.

6. The Role of Instructional Materials

A wide variety of materials have been used to support communicative approaches to language
teaching. Practitioners of Communicative Language teaching view materials as a way of
influencing of quality of classroom interaction and language use. Richards & Rodgers consider
three kinds of materials currently used in CLT, they are: text-based materials, task-based
materials, and realia.

Procedure

Because communicative principles can be applied to the teaching of any skill, at any level, and
because of the wide variety of classroom activities and exercise types discussed in the literature
on communicative Language Teaching, description of typical classroom procedures used in a
lesson based on CLT principles is no feasible. Finocchiaro and Brumfit offer a lesson outline for
teaching the function “ making a suggestion “ for the learner in the beginning level of secondary
school program that suggests that CLT procedures are evolutionary rather than revolutionary :

1. Presentation of a brief dialog or several mini-dialogs

2. Oral practice of each utterance of the dialog segment to be presented that day

3. Question and answer based on the dialog topic.

4. Question and answer related to the student’s personal experience

5. Study one of the basic communicative expressions in dialog.

6. Learner discovery of generalizations or rules underlying the functional expression

7. Oral recognition, interpretative activities

8. Oral production activities-proceeding from guided to freer communication activities

9. Copying of the dialog or modules if they are not in the class text

10. Sampling of the written homework assignment

11. Evaluation of learning.

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Characteristics of Communicative Methodology

According to Johnson & Johnson in Richards & Rodgers, (2001:173) there are five core
characteristics that underlie current applications of communicative methodology. They are:

1. Appropriateness: Language used reflects the situations of its use and must be appropriate to
that situation depending on the setting, the roles of participants, and purpose of the
communication.

2. Message focus: Learners need to be able to create and understand messages, that is, real
meanings. Hence the focus on information sharing and information transfer in CLT activities.

3. Psycholinguistic processing: CLT activities seek to engage learners in the use of cognitive and
other processes that are important factors in second language acquisition.

4. Risk taking: Learners are encouraged to make guesses and learn from their errors. By going
beyond what they have been taught, they are encouraged to employ a variety of communication
strategies.

5. Free practice: CLT encourages the use of “holistic practice” involving the simultaneous use of
a variety of sub-skills, rather than practicing individual skills one piece at a time.

Advantages and disadvantages of CLT

ADVANTAGES

• Communicative approach is much more pupil-oriented, because it is based on pupils’

needs and interests.
• Communicative approach seeks to personalize and localize language and adapt it to
interests of pupils. Meaningful language is always more easily retained by learners.
• Seeks to use authentic resources. And that is more interesting and motivating for
children.
• Children acquire grammar rules as a necessity to speak so is more proficient and
efficient.

DISADVANTAGES

• It pays insufficient attention to the context in which teaching and learning take place
• The Communicative Approach often seems to be interpreted as: “if the teacher
understands the student we have good communication” but native speakers of the target
language can have great difficulty understanding students.
• Another disadvantage is that the CLT approach focuses on fluency but not accuracy. The
approach does not focus on error reduction but instead creates a situation where learners
are left using their own devices to solve their communication problems. Thus they may
produce incoherent, grammatically incorrect sentences.

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 Advantages Disadvantages
Language is acquired through communication Student may not see the value in learning
CLT allows learners to use the target language English through group work, games, and
in meaningful context activities.
CLT can be adapted to any level CLT does not focus on error correction.
Students don’t feel challenged
CLT focuses on fluently not accuracy. Thus
student may produce incoherent and
grammatically incorrect sentence.

The Natural Approach

The natural approach developed by Tracy Terrell and supported by Stephen Krashen, is a
language teaching approach which claims that language learning is a reproduction of the way
humans naturally acquire their native language. The approach adheres to a communicative
approach to language teaching and rejects earlier methods such as the audio-lingual method and
the situational language teaching approach which Krashen and terrell (1983) believe are not
based on “actual theories of language acquisition but theories of the structure of language ”

The Natural Approach vs. the Direct Method

Although The Natural approach and the Direct Method (also called the natural method) share
some features, there are important differences. Like the direct method the natural approach is

” believed to conform to the naturalistic principles found in second language acquisition.

Unlike the direct method, however, it places less emphasis on teacher monologues, direct
repetion,and formal questions and answers, and less focus on accurate production of
target language sentences” (Richards and Rodgers, 1986:129)

Theory of language

Krashen and Terrell view communication as the primary function of language, and adhere to a
communicative approach to language teaching, focusing on teaching communicative abilities
rather than sterile language structures.
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What really distinguishes the Natural approach from other methods and approaches are its
premises concerning the use of language and the importance of vocabulary:

• Language is viewed as a vehicle for communicating meaning and messages.

• Vocabulary is of paramount importance as language is essentially its lexicon!

This means that language acquisition cannot take place unless the acquirer understands messages
in the target language and has developed sufficient vocabulary inventory. In fact it should be
easier to reconstruct a message containing just vocabulary items than one containing just the
grammatical structures.

Theory of learning

Krashen grounded the Natural approach on a number of theory of learning tenets.

The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis

Krashen makes a distinction between acquisition and learning.

• Krashen defines acquisition as developing competence by using language for real

communication. It is the natural way, paralleling first language development in children
and refers to an unconscious process that involves the naturalistic development of
language proficiency through understanding language and through using language for
meaningful communication.
• Learning, however, refers to formal knowledge of a language. It is the process in which
conscious rules about a language are developed. It results in explicit knowledge about the
forms of a language and the ability to verbalize this knowledge. Formal teaching is
necessary for “learning” to occur, and correction of errors helps with the development of
learned rules.

The Monitor Hypothesis

Conscious learning can function only as a monitor or editor that checks and repairs the output of
the acquired system. The Monitor Hypothesis states that we may use learned knowledge to
correct ourselves when we communicate, but that conscious learning hasonlythis function. Three
conditions limit the successful use of the monitor:

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 1. Time. Sufficient time for a learner to choose and apply a learned rule.
2. Focus on form. Focus on correctness or on the form of the output.
3. Knowledge of rules. Knowing the rules is a prerequiste for the use of the monitor.

The Natural Order Hypothesis

The acquisition of grammatical structures proceeds in a predictable order. Certain grammatical

structures or morphemes are acquired before others in first language acquisition of English, and
the Natural Order Hypothesis claims that the same natural order is found in second language
acquisition. It is also believed that errors are signs of naturalistic developmental processes.
Similar developmental errors occur in learners during acquisition (but not during learning) no
matter what their native language is.

The Input Hypothesis

The Input Hypothesis relates to acquisition not to learning and states that people acquire
language best by understanding input that is slightly beyond their level of competence. Krashen
refers to this by the formula L +1 (where L+1 is the stage immediately following L along some
natural order.) Comprehension is achieved through linguistic and extra linguistic context clues
including knowledge about the world, the context of the situation etc… Comprehension precedes
the emergence of speaking as fluency appears only as a result of the provision of sufficient
comprehensible input. By comprehensible input Krashen means the utterances that learners
understand based on linguistic and extra-linguistic context and which consists of a sort of
simplified code. He contends that when there is such comprehensible input language acquisition
proceeds successfully. Krashen also claims that when there is enough of such comprehensible
input, L+1will usually be provided automatically.

Affective Filter Hypothesis

There are three types of emotional attitudinal factors that may affect acquisition and that may
impede, block or freely passes necessary input for acquisition. These are motivation, self
confidence and anxiety. Acquirers with high affective filter are less likely to develop comptence.

In a nutshell

18
Teaching according to the Natural Approach involves the following principles:

• Teaching according to the Natural approach focuses on communicative abilities.

• One of its objectives is to help beginners become intermediate.
• Vocabulary is considered prior to syntactic structures.
• A lot of comprehensible input must be provided.
• Use of visual aids to help comprehension.
• Focus is on listening and reading. Speaking emerges later.
• Reducing the high affective filter by
o Focusing on meaningful communication rather than on form.
o providing interesting comprehensible input
• The technique used in this approach are often borrowed from other methods and adapted
to meet the requirement of the approach. These include:
o Total Physical Response command drills
o The Direct Method activities mime, gestures and context are used to elicit
questions, and answers.
o Communicative Language Teaching group work activities where learners share
information to complete a task.

Conclusion

The Natural Approach belongs to a tradition of language acquisition where the naturalistic
features of L1 acquisition are utilized in L2 acquisition. It is an approach that draws a variety of
techniques from other methods and approaches to reach this goal which is one of its advantages.
But the originality of this approach does not lie in these techniques but on the emphasis on
activities based on comprehensible input and meaningful communication rather than on only
grammatical mastery of language.

Eclectic Method
Eclectic method is a combination of different learning approaches. Today many people
use an eclectic method of teaching to adjust to the requirements for achieving the purpose of
teaching without the need to face many difficulties as the use of one particular method.
Therefore, an eclectic use of methods is based only on the best parts or parts that are beneficial
from a variety of teaching methods, then the weaknesses of a particular teaching method can be
avoided. In other words, when teachers use this method, it can avoid the problems that occur

19
when delivering teaching material. In addition to the eclectic method of teaching and learning in
an activity, teachers can easily adapt to the needs of teaching so that teaching objectives or goals
can be achieved.
Implementation of Eclectic Method
Eclectic method was adopted based on the belief that children should be valued as unique
individuals. "And to promote this belief, we chose this method of teaching so that we can apply
individually what we feel is appropriate for each child," says Teacher Nelle.

Advantages
• This method allows language teachers to absorb and implement the best techniques of all
well known language teaching methods into their classrooms.
• Multiple tasks, high interaction, lively learning and fast results are the salient features of
this method.
• Teachers have the chance to choose different kinds of teaching techniques in each class.
• Flexibility in choosing any method that suitable for teaching
• Giving students a chance to see different kinds of teaching techniques that break
monotony
• It helps connect life experiences to the presented idea.

Disadvantages

Depending on an individual’s motivation and interest on a particular subject that will determine
how well they would learn
High stakes create increased chances for conflict and therefore need for conflict resolution skills
It is difficult for the teacher to be sure that the groups are discussing the academic content rather
than something else.
Lower ability students may feel perpetually in need of help rather than experiencing the role of
leader or expert relative to the others in their group
Increases the intellectual content of lessons (condemning those pupils whose IQ isn't sufficiently
high)
Decreases the number of active oral contacts the pupils require
Still means the teacher is unable to provide for the pupil the required number of oral contacts
(thus leading to incomplete/inaccurate responses).
Makes it easier for the pupil but more difficult for the teacher himself

20
 Aural-lingual Communicative Approach

1. Attends to structure and form more than Meaning is paramount.

meaning.
2. Demands memorization of structure based Dialogs, if used, center on communicative
dialogs. functions and are not normally memorized.
3. Language items are not contextualized. Contextualization is a basic premise.
4. Learning language is learning structures, Language learning is learning to communicate.
sounds or words.
5. Mastery is sought. Communication is sought.
6. Drilling is a central technique Drilling may occur, but peripherally.
7. Native-speaker-like pronunciation is sought. Comprehensible pronunciation is sought.
8. Grammatical explanation is avoided. Any device that helps the leaner is accepted.
9. Communicative activities only come after a Communication may be encouraged from the
long drilling. beginning.
10. Use of L1 is forbidden. Judicious use of L1 is accepted.
11. Translation is forbidden at early levels. Translation may be used.
12. Reading and writing till speech is mastered. Reading and writing can start from first day.
13. Linguistic competence is the desired goal. Communicative competence is the desired
goal.
14. The sequence of units is determined solely Sequencing is determined by any consideration
by principles of complexity. of content, function or meaning that maintain
interest.
15. "Language is habit so errors must be Language created through trial and error.
prevented.
16. Accuracy, in terms of formal correctness, is Fluency and acceptable language is the primary
a primary goal. goal: accuracy is judged not in the abstract but
in context
17. Students are expected to interact with the Students are expected to interact with other
language system. people.

Comparison of the Grammar-Translation, Direct and Aural-lingual Methods

Type of Grammar-Translation Direct Method Aural-lingual Method

Comparison Method
Goal Students should be able Students should learn Students should use
to read literature Written how to communicate in English
in English English communicatively
Teacher’s & The teacher is the The teacher and the The teacher directs and

21
student’s authority in the students are partners in controls the language
Roles classroom the teaching-learning behavior of the students
process
The students do as the The students follow the
teacher says so they teacher’s direction and
learn what the teacher respond as accurately
knows and rapidly as possible
Characteristics Students are taught to Students associate New vocabulary and
of teaching- translate from one meaning with English structural patterns are
Learning language to another. directly. presented through
Process Students study grammar Grammar is taught dialogue.
deductively. inductively. The dialogues are
Students memorize Syllabus used in direct learned through
Arabic equivalents for method is based on imitation and repetition.
English vocabulary situation or topic. Grammar is induced
words. Students practice from examples given.
vocabulary by using new Cultural info is
words in complete contextualized in
sentences. dialogues or presented
by the teacher.
Student’s reading and
written work is based
upon the oral work they
did earlier.
The nature of Teacher to students. Teacher to student& Teacher and student
student- Little student initiation student to teacher Student to student: in
teacher & and little student-student Students converse with chain drills: teacher-
student- interaction. one another
student
interaction
How is Literary language is Language is primarily Everyday speech is
language considered spoken not written emphasized and
viewed? comprised several
different levels:
Phonological,
morphological,
syntactic

How is culture Culture is viewed as They study history, Culture consisits of the
viewed? consisting of literature geography, and daily everyday behavior and
and fine arts. lives of speakers of the lifestyle of English
language. language speakers
Areas of Vocabulary and vocabulary Sound system and
language grammar grammatical pattern
emphasized
Language Reading and writing Reading, writing, Listening, speaking,

22
 skills speaking and listening reading and writing
emphasized (natural order)
Role of The students’ native The students’ native English language is
students’ language is mostly used language shouldn’t be used in the classroom.
native used in classroom.
language
How is Written tests in which No formal evaluation Not obvious
evaluation students are asked to
accomplished? translate.
Teacher Teacher provides correct Teachers tries to get Students errors are to be
response to answers. students to self-correct avoided at all possible.
students’
errors

Criteria Necessary for Effective Method in Learning / Teaching a Foreign Language

1. It must be simple for both teacher and learner, and must be within the capabilities of all
teachers. Also, the teacher must feel that pupils are progressing satisfactorily.
2. It must bring about a balance between the spoken and written or printed word
(and must be flexible enough for the teacher to concentrate on the area (s) he wants).
3. It must overcome the conflict between fluency and accuracy.
4. It must increase the rate and amount of learning which takes place in the classroom.
5. Testing must be part of the method, and not a separate entity.
6. Constant revision must be part of the method.
7. It must enable the teacher to set defined limits and have control over oral responses.
8. It must be variable (cf. the difficulty of the Direct Method where framing the right question to
make the pupils apply various persons / tenses / cases and vocabulary is most difficulty without
pre-arranged coding.
9. It must reflect the linguistic habits the child has already acquired by learning his/her mother
tongue and their ability to assimilate a new language.
10. It must offer a new approach to the application of translation work.
11. It must give the pupils a stimulus to say something in the first instance - and it must find ways
of supplying the pupils constantly with ideas which they can use for their expression in the
foreign language.
12. It must enable work done with modern teaching aids (e.g. audio-visual aids, computer) to be an
extension of the method used in class.
13. It must give the teacher an opportunity to speed up intercommunication between him/her and
individual pupils.
14. It must be sufficiently flexible to cope with various class conditions (as far as pupils' specific /
general interests are concerned)
15. It must ensure that pupils are given the opportunity of having the greatest number of meaningful
contacts possible both with and in the foreign language - THE most important criteria for the
validity of any modern method.

23
 How to Teach Reading
Reading Styles
The basic ways of reading are as follows: 1) intensive and extensive reading 2) scanning 3)
skimming 4) search reading 5) receptive reading 6) critical reading 7) reading for meaning 8)
Prediction 9) Redundancy.

Intensive and extensive reading

In intensive Reading, the labels indicate a difference in classroom procedures as well as a
difference in purpose. Intensive reading involves approaching the text under the guidance of a
teacher or a task which forces the student to focus on the text. The aim is to arrive at
understanding, not only of what the text means, but of how the meaning is produced. The ‘how’
is as important as the ‘what’, for the intensive lesson is intended primarily to train strategies
which the student can go on to use with other texts.

In extensive reading, it is often assumed that in order to understand the whole (eg. a book), we
must first understand the parts (sentences, paragraphs, chapters) of which made up.
Moreover, longer texts are liable to get forgotten in the classroom, since it is easier to handle
short texts which can be studied in a lesson or two. But the whole is not just the sum of its parts,
and there are reading strategies which can be trained only by practicing on longer texts.
Scanning and skimming, the uses of a contents list, an index similar apparatus, are obvious ones.
More complex and arguably more important are the ability to discern relationships between the
various parts of a longer text, the contribution made by each to the plot or argument, the
accumulating evidence of a writer’s point of view, and so on. These are matters which seldom
get much attention expect in the literature class, but they apply to reading any kind of book. They
cannot be ignored if students are to become competent readers. But class time is always in short
supply and the amount of reading needed to achieve fluency and efficiency is very great – much
greater than most students will undertake if left to themselves. So we need to promote reading
out of class. (Nutall, 1996)

Scanning
This involves looking quickly through a text to locate a specific symbol or group of symbol, e.g.
a particular word, phrase, name, figure or date. The focus here is on local comprehension and
most of the text will be ignored. The rate of reading is rapid and sequencing is not usually
observed. It is surface level rather than deep processing of text and is mainly reader-driven
processing. There is a rapid inspection of text with occasional closer inspection.
Pugh (1978) describes it as: finding a match between what is sought and what is given in a text,
very little information processed for long term retention or even for immediate understanding.

Skimming
This involves processing a text selectively to get die main idea(s) (to understand the main idea of
a paragraph it is useful to find the topic sentences first.) and the discourse topic as efficiently as
possible, which might involve both expeditious and careful reading. The focus may be global or
local and the rate of reading is likely to be rapid, but with some care. The text is processed
quickly to locate important information, which then may be read more carefully. Purposes for
using this strategy might include:

24
. To establish a general sense of the text
. To quickly establish a macro propositional structure as an outline summary
. To decide the relevance of texts to the established needs.
Readers would be taught to be flexible as not all strategies would work with all texts. (Urquhart
& Cyril, 1996)

Search reading (Locating info)

This differs from skimming in that the purpose is to locate information on predetermined
topic(s), for example, in selective reading for writing purposes. It is often an essential strategy
for completing written assignments. The process, like skimming, is rapid and selective and is
likely to involve careful reading once the relevant information has been located. Unlike
skimming, sequencing is not always observed in the processing of the text although it is likely to
be more linear than scanning. The periods of closer attention to the text tend to be more frequent
and longer than in scanning. It normally goes well beyond the mere matching of words to be
found in scanning activities, and might include the following

operationalisations where appropriate:

. Keeping alert for words in the same or related semantic fields (unlike scanning, the precise
from of these words is not certain)
. Using formal knowledge of the text structure for locating information
. Using titles and subtitles
. Reading abstracts where appropriate
. Glancing at words and phrases (Urquhart & Cyril, 1996)

Receptive reading
In receptive reading, to discover what the author is trying to convey the reader gives attention to
the supporting ideas that confirm arguments and uses such strategies as reading paragraph by
paragraph, summarizing the main ideas of each paragraph, underlining, making notes, and
writing a summary after reading. (Dubin, 1982)

2.6 Critical reading

To read a text critically is to make judgments about how a text is argued. This is a highly
reflective skill requiring you to "stand back" and gain some distance from the text you are
reading. (You might have to read a text through once to get a basic grasp of content before you
launch into an intensive critical reading.)

. Don’t read looking only or primarily for information

. Do read looking for ways of thinking about the subject matter
When you are reading, highlighting, or taking notes, avoid extracting and compiling lists of
evidence, lists of facts and examples

3. The Three Phases in a Reading Lesson

There are three phase in a reading lesson. These are pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading.
3.1 Pre-Reading

25
'Please turn to page 34. Read the passage and answer the questions.' A teacher who starts the
lesson in this way is hardly likely to motivate the learners. What the pre-reading phase tries to do
is:
1. To introduce and arouse interest in the topic
2. To motivate learners by giving a reason for reading
3. To provide some language preparation for the text.

Of course not all of these aims will be relevant for all texts. In some cases the language might
already have been introduced, or there may be no particular language problems. In any case,
language preparation does not mean that the teacher should explain every possible unknown
word and structure in the 'text, but that he should ensure that the learners will be able to tackle
the text tasks without being totally frustrated by language difficulties. Furthermore, as we shall
see, language preparation can often be carried 'out by the learners, as well as by the teacher.
In order to help prepare for pre-reading work, useful questions that the teacher can ask himself
are:
a. What knowledge, ideas or opinions might the learners already have on the text topic,
and how can this knowledge be drawn out and used?
b. Why should anyone want to read this text, and can the same, or similar, reasons be
generated in the learners?
The answers to these questions will give clues to ways of introducing the text, motivating the
learners, and at the same time will incorporate language preparation. Visuals (e.g. diagrams,
maps, and photographs), drawing up of lists, or the setting or answering of questions (oral or
written) may all play a part in pre-reading. (Williams, 1984

While-Reading
This phase draws on the text, rather than the learner’s ideas previous to reading. The aims of this
phase are:
1. To help understanding of the writer' s purpose
2. To help understanding of the text structure
3. To clarify text content.
The traditional 'comprehension exercise' at the end of a text is a typical while-reading activity.
In other cases the learner may be asked to find the answers to questions given at the beginning of
the text (pre-text questions), or to questions inserted at various points within the text. Completing
diagrams or maps, making lists, taking notes are other types of while-reading work. Course
books and 'text collection' books generally provide plenty of while-reading exercises. What the
teacher needs to do is consider what the effect of these exercises is, and whether this corresponds
to both his and his learners' aims.

The sorts of questions that the teacher can ask himself as a guide to while-reading work are the
following:
a. What is the function of this text?
b. How is the text organized or developed? (e.g. a narrative, an explanation with various
examples, an argument and counter-argument)
c. What content or information is to be extracted from the text?
d. What may the reader infer or deduce from the text?
e. What language may be learned from the text?

26
f. What reading styles may be practiced?

Question (a) deals with the first aim of while-reading, question (b) deals with the second aim,
while answers to questions c, d and e will help to clarify the text content. Depending on the
answers to these questions, the teacher can select or devise appropriate exercises. As a rule,
while-reading work should begin with a general or global understanding of the text, and then
move to smaller units such as paragraphs, sentences and words. The reason for this is that the
larger units provide a context for understanding the smaller units - a paragraph or sentence, for
example, may help the reader to understand a word. (Williams, 1984)

Post–Reading
Right! We've read the passage on page 34, and finished the comprehension exercises. Now turn
to page 42.' Perhaps some passages deserve to be finished with and erased from the memory as
soon as possible! But certainly not all of them

The aims of post-reading work are:

1. To consolidate or reflect upon what has been read
2. To relate the text to the learners' own knowledge, interests, or views.
The work does not refer directly to the text, but 'grows out' of it. 'Post-reading may also include
any reactions to the text and to the while-reading work, for example, learners say whether they
liked it, and found it useful or not. .

Setting up and organizing post-reading work depends very much on all the objectives of the
program as a whole. Post-reading work should thus contribute, in a coherent manner, to the
writing, speaking and listening skills that the program aims to develop.

Notice that the problems of motivation, language, and reading-related activities are not dealt with
separately in each of the three phases, but are 'spread' throughout the three phases. Thus
motivating the learners need not necessarily only take place in the pre-reading phase. It may
occur in the while-reading phase, where an interesting task can often compensate for
uninteresting text. A further point is that the pre- and post-reading in particular can make use of
the fact that a class consists of a group of individuals to introduce interactive work.

Obviously, this three phase approach is not to be carried out mechanically on every occasion.
Sometimes the teacher may wish to cut out the pre-reading stage and get learners to work on the
text directly. Sometimes post-reading work may not be suitable. However, the advantage of the
three phase approach is twofold. First it respects and makes use of the student’s own knowledge
of language and of the world and uses this as a basis for involvement, motivation, and progress.
Secondly the three phase approach leads to integration of the skills in a coherent manner, so that
the reading session is not simply isolated. (Williams, 1984)
The Purpose of the Reading Lesson
Of course as they read the students will improve their knowledge of the foreign language. But
this ought to be considered an incidental bonus: it is not the purpose of the reading lesson. We
are not saying language must not be taught, of course, but simply that this is not the kind of
lesson we are talking about. In a reading lesson we are not setting out to teach language;
alternatively, if we are setting out to teach language, we are not giving a reading lesson.

27
Certainly we want students to understand the content of the text, otherwise they cannot be
considered to have read it in any real sense. Yet when we use a text for intensive reading, is it
chosen because we want the class to learn more about the topic? Not really: the text may deal
with history, biology, economics, but we are not teachers of these subjects, and when we use
these texts, any increase in the students’ knowledge of the subject is another incidental bonus,
not our primary aim, We are interested in the understanding that results from reading because it
is evidence that the students have completed the reading process satisfactorily. We choose texts
that give practice in the process; but to improve students’ knowledge of the content is not our
aim.

The focus of interest in the reading is neither language nor content, but the two together; we want
our students to learn how language is used for conveying content. We want them to develop the
skills they need in order to become effective independent readers.

An ideal reader would be able to extract the content from any text at all; but of course such a
reader does not exist; he would have to have not only complete command of the language but
also enough knowledge of every area of study to be able to tackle every ever produced. We do
not expect to produce this ideal reader, but we cannot be satisfied with a reader who can tackle
only a single text. We have to push him as far as possible towards becoming an ideal reader (or
an ideal reader of, say, science text, if our aim is specialized); that is the target towards which we
move, even if we do not reach it. Every text we handle in the reading course helps to move the
students towards the goal; but that particular text is not itself the goal, it is just a step in the right
direction. You have not exploited a text effectively unless you have used it to develop
interpretive skills that can be applied to other texts.

When you choose a text, therefore, you need to be clear what sort of interpretive skills it
demands, and what methods you will be able to use to help your students to develop them.
But don’t forget that the first requirement is that the text should interest the students.
(Nuttall, 1982,)

TEACHING WRITING

Writing is usually one of the major skills involved in learning a foreign language because it is
one medium of conveying language. This chapter presents the different stages of teaching
writing starting from the stage of pre-handwriting and ending with the stage of free writing. This
chapter will also suggest a plan for a writing lesson.

l. 1. Gradation:

Teaching the writing skill should be graded like all educational processes. The principle of
gradation implies that teaching a certain program should proceed in accordance with a carefully
designed plan and should start with the easiest part of the learning material and gradually move
to more complicated parts.

28
 If the gradation principle is applied to writing, one should start with teaching handwriting and
then successively and cumulatively go to copying, dictation, controlled writing and finally free
writing. To put it differently, writing is to start with letters then words, sentences, paragraphs and
at last long compositions.

Such gradation is necessary for at least two reasons. The first reason is an educational one. By
gradation we ensure that learning experiences 90 from the easy to the difficult. The second
reason is a logical one. For example, we cannot teach writing a paragraph before teaching
students to write a sentence. Similarly, we cannot teach students how to write a long composition
or a multi-paragraph composition before we teach them how to write a single paragraph. O 85

Another implication of graded writing is cumulativeness. This means that when we teach the
skill of copying, for example, and then move to dictation. The second does not take the place of
the previous one but it is added to it. Similarly, when free writing starts, it does not exclude
previous steps but it is added to them.

VI. 2. Pre-writing:

The first stage in teaching writing is to teach handwriting which may be called the pre-writing
stage. In this stage, learners are to be trained to write the graphic symbols of the foreign
language, i.e. graphemes and alphabet. While teaching handwriting, the teacher is expected to
notice the following:
1. There is a preliminary stage that precedes handwriting. This stage may be referred to as the
pre-handwriting stage where beginners are trained to draw straight, curved and complex lines in
certain modeled shapes. The purpose of these exercises is to train the learner to control his
manual movements as to line length and line direction.
2. Beginners are to be guided to catch the pen or pencil properly, because some learners may
develop bad habits if left without observation 0r guidance.
3. It is also important to make sure that students sit in the right manner with the copybook in
front of them in the right position.
4. The letters of the alphabet may be graded according to their difficulty. It may be more
convenient to start with straight-line letters such as i l v w. and x. Then students practice curved-
line letters such as o and c. Finally, they practice complex or combined letters. i.e. letters com
posed of straight and curved lines such as b. d. g. and q
5. The student must be trained to unify the sizes of letters of the same status. This means that all
capital letters should be of the same size and so should all small letters.
6. All letters should be written in the same slant.
7. All letters within a Word should be equally spaced.
8 All words within a sentence should be equally spaced as well.
9. Students should be trained to write in straight. horizontal. and parallel lines
10. Students are to be trained to write cursively.
11. Initial handwriting drills are to be written in pencil. end not in ink. W‘"°° beginners
frequently make mistakes and want to erase them.

29
I3, Copying:

After mastering the alphabet of the foreign language, students are "required to copy familiar
passages. i. e., passages they have already read. Copying can serve several purposes:

1. Copying is an exercise in handwriting.

2. It develops learners' consciousness of spelling.
3. It helps in focusing learners' attention on capitalization and punctuation.
4. It reinforces previously learned words and patterns.

EQ Dictation :

The stage that follows copying is dictation which is essential for the development of spelling
consciousness in learners. However exercises may accompany copying exercises.
The dictation material is preferably a previously read material. It is also advisable that the
teacher assigns a passage to be prepared at home for dictation in the coming class period. This is
because the main goal is to teach students and not to corner them through a dictation exercise
they have not prepared themselves for.
Concerning the role of dictation in learning a foreign language, it does not help in the
development of spelling only, but in the development of most language skills as well. First of all,
it reinforces the learner s ability to recognize sounds and phonemic contrasts. Therefore,
dictation trains the ear to distinguish phonemes upon hearing them. Besides dictation may also
reinforce both punctuation and grammar

. A dictation exercise may follow these steps

L The teacher assigns a familiar passage to be prepared at home for dictation.

2The teacher dictates to his class the whole assigned passage or some selected sentences or
words. Each dictated unit has to be repeated three times at a fairly slow speed. The teacher has to
pay additional attention to the accuracy and clarity of his pronunciation while dictating because
what and how he says determines what students will write.

3. After dictating comes to an end, correction starts. In fact, the shorter the time between
dictation and correction is, the better it will be because feedback will be made close to the
attempt itself.

4. Model answers are written on the chalkboard by students or the teacher

. 5. Each student may check his own exercise. Students may exchange copybooks and check one
another's exercise. In some cases, the teacher may collect the exercise copybooks to do the
correction by himself or check students' corrections. However, this technique of self-correction,
by which each student checks his own exercise, has often proved to be successful and
motivating. Further, it saves the teacher's time and effort and secures instant feedback.

6 The teacher is expected to discuss common mistakes with his class.

30
7. Every student is required to write his misspelled words in their correct forms three to five
times each.

In brief, a dictation exercise passes through the steps of preparation, dictation, correction,
discussion and finally re-writing.

Moreover, to help students improve their spelling, they may be provided with some spelling
generalizations on condition that these generalizations are given to the suitable level of students
and in suitable doses. Here are some examples of spelling generalizations, which have proved to
be helpful to students:

1. Nouns ending in s. x, z, sh, or ch take -es in the plural. e.g. class. box. M, brush, and watch.

2. If a word ends in y preceded by a consonant and a suffix is added U is changed into i,

e.g..city+es -+ cities, carry+ed --) carried

3 if a word ends in silent e and a suffix starting with a vowel is

M e is usually dropped, e.g._ write+ing --> writing, come+er comer

4. if a word ends in one consonant preceded by one stressed short

vowel. and a suffix Starting with a vowel is added. the final consonant is gubled. 5-9..run+er "V
runner. hot+est -» hottest.

5. If a word begins with the same consonant a prefix ends in, both
consonants remain. 6.9..dis+satisfied -+ dissatisfied, un+necessary ,, unnecessary.

6. If all is combined with another word. one I is dropped. e.g.. all +ready ">already, all+ together
-*altogether

7. If full is combined with another word. one I is dropped. 8.9..hand+full>handful ,care+tull -+

careful.

These are just examples of spelling generalizations, which have proved to 3 be practicality
helpful to learners. Their helpfulness is strengthened by the high ‘~ " frequency of the cases
where such generalizations are applicable.

s\>_\

VI. 5. Controlled Writing:

After the stages of handwriting (copying and dictation), controlled writing may be started. This
stage is controlled writing or guided writing as it is sometimes called, contrasts with the
following stage of free writing in controlled writing students are usually provided with the
needed content words, whereas in free writing content words are mainly produced by the
students themselves.

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Controlled writing may take any of the following forms:

1. Parallel sentences. A model sentence is given and a group of content words is supposed to be
patterned after that model. For example, he cleans the car every day may be the model sentence.
?:e group of substitutes may be Mary, house, and morning. The parallel sentence will be Mary
cleans the house every morning. In this exercise, the student is supplied with content words and
the pattern. What he is supposed to do is only to put some words in the place of other words and
this is why such writing is called controlled or guided.

2, Parallel paragraphs. In the previous exercise, the model was a sentence in this exercise, the
model is a paragraph. Some words are given to replace others in the model paragraph and a new
paragraph grammatically parallel to the model is to be written including the given substitutes.

3. Missing words. A passage or isolated sentences are given with some missing words which are
often of the grammatical type such as relatives, conjunctions and prepositions. Students are
required to supply the sentences with those missing words.

. 4. Word ordering. A group of words is given and they are to be ordered to make a complete
sentence ,e.g.. speak he Chinese can fluently ->he can speak Chinese fluently or can he speak
Chinese fluently ?

5. Sentence ordering. A group of sentences is given in a haphazard order and they are to be re-
arranged temporally, spatially or logically to build one paragraph or more. In this exercise, the
student does not produce any words or patterns. He only understands the given sentences and
their semantic or logical relationships and orders them accordingly.

6. Joining sentences. A group of simple sentences is given. They are to be joined together into a
limited number of compound, complex or compound-complex sentences probably to form a
paragraph or more. The connectors may be provided by the exercise or required to be produced
by students. This depends on the difficulty degree of the exercise which in its turn depends on
the students' level.

7. Sentence completion. One clause of a complex sentence is given and it may be the main or
the subordinate one. Students are required to supply the missing clause that suits the situation
semantically and grammatically. e.g. if you ask your teacher.

These seven types are just examples of exercises that may be given under controlled writing. The
list of controlled exercises may include dozens of different types. In fact, all the exercises
discussed in the chapter of Teaching Grammar in the section of Grammar Exercises may be
considered as exercises of controlled writing.

Controlled writing mainly aims at training students to build sentences through imitation,
substitution, ordering means. However, controlled writing should not be emphasized at the
,expense of free writing because the two activities, though related are quite different.

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x. Free Writing:

After about three years of learning a foreign language in a normal school program, students are
expected to start free writing. In the first three years, students practice handwriting, copying,
dictation, and controlled writing.
Afterwards, free writing is added to go hand in hand with dictation and controlled writing.

6. 1. Mechanics of Free Writing:

In free writing, it is important to teach students writing mechanics, which include the following;

1. Margin: An inch-wide margin is to be left preferably on both sides of the page. Such margins
will be needed for the teacher's comments on the student's composition.

2. Date: students are instructed on where and how to write the date in the foreign language.

3. 'Title: Students are to be taught how and where to put down the title of the -composition. This
involves teaching which words in the title have to be initially capitalized and which words have
to be written in initial small letters. The first word and the last one in the title are capitalized.
Concerning medial words, they are capitalized if they are content words and not capitalized if
they are function ones.

4. Indentation: Students are to be instructed to leave a nearly inch-wide Space at the beginning
of every paragraph.

5. Where to write: Students are to be given clear instructions on whether they will write on the
right hand page or the left hand one on both pages of each sheet or one page. The teacher should
also instruct them on where to do their re-writing of their composition after correction.

I. 6. 2. Composition Topics:

Composition may be classified into different types with regard to topic or content:

1. Descriptive writing. A descriptive composition is just an account of the described thing. Such
an account may be factual or imaginative. The tense of verbs is usually present simple: however,
they may be past simple if the described thing does not existent. Descriptive topics may be the
easiest types to begin free writing with.

2. Narrative: Narration is simply telling a story. The sequence of ideas here is normally
chronological and verbs are usually in the past tense. Of course the story may be factual or
imaginative and thus it is similar to description in this respect.

3. Expository writing: The purpose of expository writing is to explain and clarify ideas directly
through definition, analysis, comparison of information.

33
4. Persuasive writing: The purpose of persuasive writing is to emotionally-persuade or rationally
convince the reader of a certain opinion.

5. Precis: Precis is a kind of summary that requires concentrated reading, disciplined thinking
and accurate writing.

All these types of writing may be practiced in the secondary stage. i.e. after three or four years of
foreign-language learning within a school program. Description and narration may be
emphasized at the beginning whereas exposition and persuasion may be added later. Concerning
precis, it may accompany all the other types with proper attention to the difficulty level of the
passage to be summarized.

I 6 3. An Effective Paragraph:

First of all, the teacher himself has to know the characteristics of an effective paragraph. The
reason is obvious. He cannot teach his students how to write good paragraphs if he himself does
not know those qualities. Therefore, it is advisable that the teacher exposes his students to model
paragraphs and helps them to analyze such paragraphs so as to let them get a clear idea of the
factors that secure paragraph effectiveness. Here is a brief discussion of those main factors: 1J3)

1. Unity. The unity of a paragraph means that all the sentences of the paragraph serve the same
purpose and centre on the same topic. In other words, all sentences within a paragraph pour into
the central idea of the topic sentence which is illustrated by some following major supporting
sentences, each of which is illustrated by some following minor supporting sentences. This
paragraph unity may be established through careful pre-outlining. An outline is a plan of ideas to
be included in a paragraph and it is to be schemed before actual writing starts.

2. Coherence. The second characteristic of an effective paragraph is coherence which means that
the sentences within a paragraph stick together in a way that marks the progress of thought. This
is attained through the organization of ideas and; through linking devices which may be
automatic or deliberate. One way of automatic linking is repeating a content word in two or more
consecutive sentences. Concerning deliberate devices, they may be general nouns such as theory,
suggestion and opinion or meaning links such as further, however, major, in brief and as a result.
These devices connect sentences within a paragraph in a way that makes it easy for the reader to
follow the sequence of the writer's thinking and to grasp the semantic and logical relationships
among sentences

3. Emphasis. It is conscious ordering of ideas, which can be secured through careful outlining
and careful writing. The order of ideas may follow any of these patterns: chronological order,
spatial orders, the cause then the effect, advantages then disadvantages or vice versa, Instances
then generalizations, the general then the specific. To put it differently, the ideas of a paragraph
may be ordered chronologically, spatiality or logically.

4. Clarity. Clarity can be attained through several ways. Firstly, Terms have to be defined so as
to limit their indication. Secondly, writing should suit the reader’ level in terms of style

34
structures content, and vocabulary. Thirdly the writer’s hand should go with his mind; no wide
jumps to conclusions are made. Fourthly, the writer should avoid all sorts of lexical and
grammatical ambiguities.

5. Correctness. Correctness is simply obeying the regulations 0} the correct usage of language.

In brief, unity means the oneness of thought in all sentences within a paragraph; coherence is the
linking of sentences; emphasis, the ordering of sentences; clarity is the elimination of
ambiguities; correctness, is lacking to the habits of language. Of course, knowing these qualities
of a good paragraph will not make a person a famous paragraph writer. Nevertheless, knowing
them helps a person develop his writing skill more easily because he will be conscious of what
makes a paragraph an effective one.

VI. 6. 4. A Long Composition:

In a six-year foreign language program, a long composition will be the culminating stage in
writing, because it is in fact the most difficult skill if compared to other writing skills. A long
composition refers to a composition of two paragraphs or more.

This means that long compositions may be written in the last two years in a six-year program.
Further, the factors that secure the effectiveness of a long composition are the same ones that
secure the effectiveness of a paragraph; unity of each paragraph and unity of all paragraphs.
Intra-paragraph coherence and inter-paragraph coherence, Clarity, emphasis and correctness.

In school programs such as those in the Arab countries, English as a foreign language is
generally taught for six years. Students in the fifth year are to be trained to write two-paragraph
compositions and students in the sixth year of the program are to be trained to write three
paragraph compositions. It is advised that the teacher analyses with his class some models of
long compositions before they start practicing them.

Ell. 7. Writing Scheme

:1 Now that we have discussed the different stages of writing, let us see how each stage can fit
Into a general scheme within the foreign language program.

This distribution of writing skills may be shown in this table, where the horizon ml headings
refer to the writing skills graded according to their difficulty and where the vertical headings
refer to the six years of the foreign language program. In this table, the symbol S Indicates that a
certain writing skillsarestarted in a certain year in the program. The symbol 0 indicates that a
certain 9km is continued in that year. If the skill is not practiced in a certain year,eduh appears in
that slot
.
Hand Copy Dict Con. One Two Three Precle writing ingation trolled para parapara. Writing
graph graphs graphs
1st year S S - - - - - -
nd
2 year C C S S - - - -

35
 3rd year - C CC - - - -
th
4 year - - C C S - - S
5th year - - C C C S - C
6th year - C cCCS c
This table illustrates the following points: 1.

In the first year of the foreign language program, Hand Writing

I. started and copying follows.

2. In the second year. Handwriting and copying continue: dictation and controlled writing start.
3. In the third year, handwriting comes to an end; copying. dictation, and controlled writing
continue.

4. In the fourth year. Copying is stopped: dictation and controlled writing continue; one-
paragraph composition and précis start.

5. In the fifth year. Dictation, Controlled writing, one-paragraph composition, and precis
continue; two-paragraph composition starts.

6. in the sixth year. Dictation, controlled writing, one-and-two-paragraphs composition, and

precis continue; three-paragraph composition starts.

In terms of writing skills, the table also shows the following points:

1. Handwriting starts in the first year of the foreign-language program and continues in the
second year only.

2. Copying starts id the first year and continues for two more Years

3. dictation starts In the second year and continues till the end of the program

. 4. Controlled writing starts in the second year and continues an through the program

5 One-paragraph free writing starts in the fourth year and the and continues all through till the
end of program

6. Two-paragraph free writing starts in the fifth year and continues in the following year.

7' Three-paragraph free Writing starts in the last year of the Program

8. Precis starts in the fourth year and continues for two years More.

VI. 8. Focused Method:

36
 The focused method may be used in teaching free writing. According to this method, each
composition period has a specific goal. On which the teacher focuses in his teaching and later his
correction.
The possible list of such goals may look him this:
1. Outline
2. Title
3. Margin
4. Indentation
5. Date
6. Handwriting
7. Topic sentences
8. Supporting sentences
9. Unity
10. Linking devices
11. Vocabulary
12. Spelling
13. Punctuation
14. Grammatical structures
15. Ordering ideas
16. Clarity

The teacher focuses on one goal or more in each period. However, In the following period
previously-achieved goals added to the new goal in other words . goals are approached and
retained in a cumulative manner

The focused method has several advantages:

1. Grading the student depends on taught material a student's chronic weaknesses.

2. This method takes into consideration the teacher's limited time since the teacher focuses
on one goal each time.

2. The complex skill of free writing is broken into learnable units.

4. The teacher ceases to be an error hunter

5. Progress in writing becomes measurable and goals become more 'achievable.

6. The method is somehow programmed and the teaching material is carefully graded.

VI. 9. A Writing-Lesson Plan:

When a free-writing lesson is to be planned, the teacher may follow these steps : preparation,
writing, correction, and re-Learning. In the coming sections, we shall discuss each step in
some detail.

37
 VI. 9. 1. Preparation:

Before students start writing freely on a certain topic, the teacher should prepare them for
such writing so asto minimize their mistakes and train them how to handle such tasks fairly
successfully. Before this preparation, the teacher is\advised to consider these suggestions:

1. Remind your class of the mechanics of writing such as margin, date, title, and indentation.

2. Let students be acquainted with the factors of effective writing through the analysis of
some model paragraphs and long compositions.

3. Help your students to set an outline before they start writing. Such outlining is necessary
for securing unity and emphasis.

4. Lead some oral discussion on the topic especially when the main aim is teaching and not
testing.

5. Supply the class with key words they need for writing on a certain topic

6. . 0. Remember that the composition content should be both interest. me Ind Within the
student' level.

7. Provide students with helpful restrictions on the number of paragraphs they are required to
write, the number of words, sentences or lines. You may give them the topic sentence of
each paragraph. Further you my guide them to suitable verb tenses. These quantitative and
quantitative restrictions make free writing somehow controlled or guided

. ll”. 9. 2. Actual Writing:

After students are prepared as has been explained in the previous section, they start writing
a draft copy first and then the final copy. It is generally better to let students write their
compositions in the classroom and not at home, because in the case at home writing many
students will persuade parents. other relatives. or friends to do the writing for them. Further.
some students will do no writing at all; they just copy other classmates' compositions. When
this occurs, many students lose the opportunity of real practice and will be deceiving
themselves and their teachers.

[IL 9. 3. Correction:

When actual writing comes to an end, the teacher collects copybooks for correction. This may
take one of the following forms:

1. Error hunting. The teacher may correct all mistakes made by the Student. However; this
method of correction may cause some negate elder effects. A student who sees that almost every
word he has written has been remarked by the teacher becomes quite frustrated and forms a

38
conclusion that he will never write correctly. Such a conclusion usually ends up with despair and
losing the motive for learning or progress.

2. Selective correction. In this method, the teacher does not correct all mistakes He only selects
some of them and especially those big ones. This method saves the teacher's time and effort and
may motivate students better.

3. Symbolized. The first two methods deal with iii! Why of mistakes to be corrected. On the
other hand, this method and the next one deal with how to correct regardless of quantity. In
symbolized correction, the teacher underlines the mistake without writing the correct alternative.
He only writes a symbol such as l. P. G. S. or V, which toils the student that he has made a
mistake in indentation, punctuation, grammar and spelling or vocabulary. The student himself is
expected to discover the correct alternative with the teacher's guidance.

4. detailed correction. In detailed correction, the teacher underlines the mistake and writes down
the correct alternative in detail.

El. 1 d. Re-Reaming:]

While correcting students’ writing the teacher is expected to make a list of common errors. In the
next period, he should do the following as a part of a re-teaching process which may lead to re-
learning:

1. He should discuss common mistakes with his class

2. He should re-teach areas that require re-teaching. What areas to be re-taught depend on what
students' writing reveals.

3. Students are required to re-write the composition in its correct form

. Discussion: 1

1. How is the gradation principle applied to writing?

2. Give twenty different exercises on controlled writing with at least two sentences in
each exercise. ‘

3. Give ten more spelling generalizations with five examples in each case

4} what are the qualities of an effective paragraph?

5. Write I model paragraph of your own on any topic you choose. Show how it is built up
and how its effectiveness is achieved.

6. Think at five tomes: suitable for the secondary stage. If three paragraphs are to be
written on each topic, suggest a topic sentence for each paragraph.

39
 7. Set an outline of a three-paragraph composition on any topic you choose and then
write those paragraphs. '

Teaching Speaking:
Speaking is "the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-
verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts" (Chaney, 1998, p. 13). Speaking is a crucial part of
second language learning and teaching.
What Is "Teaching Speaking"?

What is meant by "teaching speaking" is to teach ESL learners to:

• Produce the English speech sounds and sound patterns

• Use word and sentence stress, intonation patterns and the rhythm of the second language.
• Select appropriate words and sentences according to the proper social setting, audience,
situation and subject matter.
• Organize their thoughts in a meaningful and logical sequence.
• Use language as a means of expressing values and judgments.
• Use the language quickly and confidently with few unnatural pauses, which is called as
fluency. (Nunan, 2003)

How to Teach Speaking

Now many linguists and ESL teachers agree on that students learn to speak in the second
language by "interacting". Communicative language teaching and collaborative learning serve
best for this aim. Communicative language teaching is based on real-life situations that require
communication. By using this method in ESL classes, students will have the opportunity to
communicate with each other in the target language. In brief, ESL teachers should create a
classroom environment where students have real-life communication, authentic activities, and
meaningful tasks that promote oral language. This can occur when students collaborate in groups
to achieve a goal or to complete a task.

Activities to Promote Speaking

Discussions

After a content-based lesson, a discussion can be held for various reasons. The students may aim
to arrive at a conclusion, share ideas about an event, or find solutions in their discussion groups.
Before the discussion, it is essential that the purpose of the discussion activity is set by the
teacher. In this way, the discussion points are relevant to this purpose, so that students do not
spend their time chatting with each other about irrelevant things. For example, students can
become involved in agree/disagree discussions. In this type of discussions, the teacher can form
groups of students, preferably 4 or 5 in each group, and provide controversial sentences like
“people learn best when they read vs. people learn best when they travel”. Then each group
works on their topic for a given time period, and presents their opinions to the class. It is

40
essential that the speaking should be equally divided among group members. At the end, the
class decides on the winning group who defended the idea in the best way. This activity fosters
critical thinking and quick decision making, and students learn how to express and justify
themselves in polite ways while disagreeing with the others. For efficient group discussions, it is
always better not to form large groups, because quiet students may avoid contributing in large
groups.
Role Play

One other way of getting students to speak is role-playing. Students pretend they are in various
social contexts and have a variety of social roles. In role-play activities, the teacher gives
information to the learners such as who they are and what they think or feel. Thus, the teacher
can tell the student that "You are David, you go to the doctor and tell him what happened last
night, and…" (Harmer, 1984)

Simulations

Simulations are very similar to role-plays but what makes simulations different than role plays is
that they are more elaborate. In simulations, students can bring items to the class to create a
realistic environment. For instance, if a student is acting as a singer, she brings a microphone to
sing and so on. Role plays and simulations have many advantages. First, since they are
entertaining, they motivate the students. Second, as Harmer (1984) suggests, they increase the
self-confidence of hesitant students, because in role play and simulation activities, they will have
a different role and do not have to speak for themselves, which means they do not have to take
the same responsibility.

Information Gap

In this activity, students are supposed to be working in pairs. One student will have the
information that other partner does not have and the partners will share their information.
Information gap activities serve many purposes such as solving a problem or collecting
information. Also, each partner plays an important role because the task cannot be completed if
the partners do not provide the information the others need. These activities are effective because
everybody has the opportunity to talk extensively in the target language.
Brainstorming

On a given topic, students can produce ideas in a limited time. Depending on the context, either
individual or group brainstorming is effective and learners generate ideas quickly and freely. The
good characteristic of brainstorming is that the students are not criticized for their ideas so
students will be open to sharing new ideas.

Storytelling

Students can briefly summarize a tale or story they heard from somebody beforehand, or they
may create their own stories to tell their classmates. Story telling fosters creative thinking. It also
helps students express ideas in the format of beginning, development, and ending, including the
characters and setting a story has to have. Students also can tell riddles or jokes. For instance, at

41
the very beginning of each class session, the teacher may call a few students to tell short riddles
or jokes as an opening. In this way, not only will the teacher address students’ speaking ability,
but also get the attention of the class.

Interviews

Students can conduct interviews on selected topics with various people. It is a good idea that the
teacher provides a rubric to students so that they know what type of questions they can ask or
what path to follow, but students should prepare their own interview questions. Conducting
interviews with people gives students a chance to practice their speaking ability not only in class
but also outside and helps them becoming socialized. After interviews, each student can present
his or her study to the class. Moreover, students can interview each other and "introduce" his or
her partner to the class.
Story Completion

This is a very enjoyable, whole-class, free-speaking activity for which students sit in a circle. For
this activity, a teacher starts to tell a story, but after a few sentences he or she stops narrating.
Then, each student starts to narrate from the point where the previous one stopped. Each student
is supposed to add from four to ten sentences. Students can add new characters, events,
descriptions and so on.

Reporting

Before coming to class, students are asked to read a newspaper or magazine and, in class, they
report to their friends what they find as the most interesting news. Students can also talk about
whether they have experienced anything worth telling their friends in their daily lives before
class.

Playing Cards

In this game, students should form groups of four. Each suit will represent a topic. For instance:

• Diamonds: Earning money

• Hearts: Love and relationships
• Spades: An unforgettable memory
• Clubs: Best teacher

Each student in a group will choose a card. Then, each student will write 4-5 questions about that
topic to ask the other people in the group. For example:
If the topic "Diamonds: Earning Money" is selected, here are some possible questions:

• Is money important in your life? Why?

• What is the easiest way of earning money?
• What do you think about lottery? Etc.

42
However, the teacher should state at the very beginning of the activity that students are not
allowed to prepare yes-no questions, because by saying yes or no students get little practice in
spoken language production. Rather, students ask open-ended questions to each other so that
they reply in complete sentences.

Picture Narrating

This activity is based on several sequential pictures. Students are asked to tell the story taking
place in the sequential pictures by paying attention to the criteria provided by the teacher as a
rubric. Rubrics can include the vocabulary or structures they need to use while narrating.

Picture Describing

Another way to make use of pictures in a speaking activity is to give students just one picture
and having them describe what it is in the picture. For this activity students can form groups and
each group is given a different picture. Students discuss the picture with their groups, then a
spokesperson for each group describes the picture to the whole class. This activity fosters the
creativity and imagination of the learners as well as their public speaking skills.

Find the Difference

For this activity students can work in pairs and each couple is given two different pictures, for
example, picture of boys playing football and another picture of girls playing tennis. Students in
pairs discuss the similarities and/or differences in the pictures.

Suggestions for Teachers in Teaching Speaking

Here are some suggestions for English language teachers while teaching oral language:

• Provide maximum opportunity to students to speak the target language by providing a rich
environment that contains collaborative work, authentic materials and tasks, and shared
knowledge.
• Try to involve each student in every speaking activity; for this aim, practice different ways of
student participation.
• Reduce teacher speaking time in class while increasing student speaking time. Step back and
observe students.
• Indicate positive signs when commenting on a student's response.
• Ask eliciting questions such as "What do you mean? How did you reach that conclusion?" in
order to prompt students to speak more.
• Provide written feedback like "Your presentation was really great. It was a good job. I really
appreciated your efforts in preparing the materials and efficient use of your voice…"
• Do not correct students' pronunciation mistakes very often while they are speaking.
Correction should not distract student from his or her speech.
• Involve speaking activities not only in class but also out of class; contact parents and other
people who can help.
• Circulate around classroom to ensure that students are on the right track and see whether they
need your help while they work in groups or pairs.

43
 • Provide the vocabulary beforehand that students need in speaking activities.
• Diagnose problems faced by students who have difficulty in expressing themselves in the
target language and provide more opportunities to practice the spoken language.

Steps to Teach a Listening Lesson

The EFL teachers can teach a listening lesson easily if they do eight steps in the following order:
Before:
1. Determine a reason for listening ( Assign a simple task to be done during listening) .
2. Give a general idea of the topic (Say the title & introduce the topic).
3. Identify the type of the speech (conversation, radio ad, passage …) and the functions included
in the text (persuade, request …)
4. Present and practice the lexis included in the text.
5. Ask students to predict the information they will listen to.
6. Activate background information & build some more knowledge related to the listening text.
During:
7. Show & point to a visual support to assist the meaning.
After:
8. Elicit the answer for the pre-assigned task and then give some more exercises or activities to
check students’ understanding of the information included in the listening text.

Teaching Vocabulary to EFL Learners

• Introduction

• What a student may need to know about an item

• Ways to present vocabulary

• Alternative ways of teaching vocabulary

• Other things to consider

Introduction
With hundreds of thousands of words in the English language, teaching vocabulary can seem like
a very daunting prospect. Remember though that the average native speaker uses around only
five thousand words in everyday speech. Moreover, your students won't need to produce every
word they learn, some they will just need to recognize. Selecting what to teach, based on
frequency and usefulness to the needs of your particular students is therefore essential. Once you
have chosen what to teach, the next important steps are to consider what students need to know
about the items, and how you can teach them.

44
 What a student may need to know about an item

• What it means
It is vital to get across the meaning of the item clearly and to ensure that your students have
understood correctly with checking questions.

• The form
Students need to know if it is a verb / a noun / an adjective etc to be able to use it effectively.

• How it is pronounced
This can be particularly problematic for learners of English because there is often no clear
relation between how a word is written and how it is pronounced. It is very important to use the
phonemic script in such cases so the sts have a clear written record of the pronunciation. Don't
forget also to drill words that you think will cause pronunciation problems for your students and
highlight the word stresses.

• How it is spelt
This is always difficult in English for the reason mentioned above. Remember to clarify the
pronunciation before showing the written form.

• If it follows any unpredictable grammatical patterns

For example, man-men / information (uncountable) and if the word is followed by a particular
preposition (e.g. depend on)

• The connotations that the item may have

Bachelor is a neutral/positive word whereas spinster conjures a more negative image.

• The situations when the word is or is not used

Is it formal/neutral/informal? For example, spectacles/glasses/specs. Is it used mainly in speech
or in writing? To sum up is usually written whereas mind you is spoken. Is it outdated? Wireless
instead of radio.

• How the word is related to others

For example, synonyms, antonyms, lexical sets.

• Collocation or the way that words occur together

You describe things 'in great detail' not 'in big detail' and to ask a question you 'raise your hand'
you don't 'lift your hand'. It is important to highlight this to students to prevent mistakes in usage
later.

• What the affixes (the prefixes and suffixes) may indicate about the meaning
For example, substandard sub meaning under. This is particularly useful at a higher level.

Which of these areas you choose to highlight will depend on the item you are teaching and the
level of your students. Now it's time to think about how we can get the meaning across.

45
 Ways to present vocabulary
There are lots of ways of getting across the meaning of a lexical item.

• Illustration
This is very useful for more concrete words (dog, rain, tall) and for visual learners. It has its
limits though, not all items can be drawn.

• Mime
This lends itself particularly well to action verbs and it can be fun and memorable.

• Synonyms/Antonyms/Gradable items
Using the words a student already knows can be effective for getting meaning across.

• Definition
Make sure that it is clear (maybe check in a learner dictionary before the lesson if you are not
confident). Remember to ask questions to check they have understood properly.

• Translation
If you know the students' L1, then it is fast and efficient. Remember that not every word has a
direct translation.

• Context
Think of a clear context when the word is used and either describe it to the students or give them
example sentences to clarify meaning further.

Again which you choose will depend on the item you are presenting. Some are more suitable for
particular words. Often a combination of techniques can be both helpful and memorable

Alternative ways of teaching vocabulary

• Give your students a few items of vocabulary and tell them to find the meaning, pronunciation
and write an example sentence with the word in. They can then teach each other in groups.

• Prepare worksheets and ask your students to match words to definitions.

• Ask students to classify a group of words into different categories. For example, a list of
transport words into air/sea/land.

• Ask students to find new vocabulary from reading homework and teach the other students in the
class.

Other things to consider

• Review the vocabulary you teach through a game or activity and encourage your students to do
the same at home
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• Encourage autonomy in your learners. Tell them to read, watch films, listen to songs etc and note
the useful words

• Have a section of your board for vocabulary items that come up as you are teaching. Use
different colors for the word / the phonemics / the prepositions / the part of speech

• It is a good idea to teach/learn words with associated meanings together

• Encourage your students to purchase a good dictionary and use class time to highlight the
benefits of one

• Teach your students the grammatical names for the parts of speech and the phonemic script

• Always keep a good dictionary by your side in case a student asks about a word you don't know

• If you don't and have never heard of the word, tell the student you will check and get back to
them. Do get back to them

• Give extra examples sentences to the students if they are unsure and encourage them to write the
word in an example sentence (maybe for homework)

Games to teach vocabulary, outlined for each of the stages of vocabulary acquisition

Stage 1: Noticing and understanding new words

• Introducing nouns, things, objects, animals, etc…

Visual elements work best with concrete nouns, but try to go beyond flashcards and illustrations.
Try to use real objects whenever possible, or even sounds, smells, and tastes. Appeal to all of
your students’ senses!
• Introducing adjectives
Opposites, like “big” and “small”, “long” and “short”, are usually illustrated with pictures, but
here’s another case where realia will help you teach new adjectives; the use of real life objects is
wonderful for words like “soft” and “rough”, adjectives that may take precious minutes of class
time to explain. For more advanced adjectives, like “stunning”, “gorgeous”, “spectacular”,
“huge”, or “immense”, bring in photos of famous sights from around the world like the Louvre,
Egyptian pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, etc…then use these new adjectives to describe these places
in ways that clearly illustrate their meaning.
• Introducing abstracts
There are things you simply cannot teach with a flashcard. What works best in these cases are
synonyms, definitions, substitutions, or simply placing students within a given context. Consider
this simple example: To teach the difference between “early” and “late”, remind students what

47
time class begins, then state that those who arrive before this time are “early” while those that
arrive after this time are “late”.

Stage 2: Recognizing new words

• Bingo
Bingo is one of the most versatile games employed by ESL teachers. For younger learners, make
bingo cards with illustrations, and call out each word. For those who can read, do the opposite,
make the cards with words, and then draw the flashcards from a bag. For teens or adult learners,
you can make cards with the definition and call out the words, or vice versa.
• Matching
Another type of exercise with countless possibilities: Students may be required to match
opposites, synonyms, or a word with its definition, as well as a picture to a word.
• Fill in the blanks (with options)
Hand out a piece of written text (anything from a description, song, letter, to even a short story)
with blank spaces that must be filled in from a list of words. You can adapt this to longer texts,
and also have longer word lists.

Stage 3: Producing vocabulary

• Descriptions
From a newspaper photo of a recent event to a personal account of a recent trip, there are
countless things students can describe while putting new vocabulary to good use. This goes for
both oral and written descriptions. You may give them some guidance, like indicating that they
have to use at least five adjectives in their description, or five words related to sports, weather,
etc…to no guidance at all.
• Fill in the blanks (no options)
Supply students with a piece of written text with blank spaces that have to be filled in with any
word that fits. You may give them indications for each space, like “noun”, “adjective” or
“adverb”, if they’re advanced students. You can then read several out loud to compare the
different words used to fill in each blank.
• Mind maps or brainstorming
Tell students they need to think of words they can use to describe the weather. Write “weather”
at the center of a blackboard or whiteboard and circle it. Write every word supplied by students
as “rays” that shoot out this circle. They should reply with previously taught words, like “chilly”,
“scorching”, or “mild”. You may even have sub-circles shooting off to the side for winter,
summer, etc…words. This works great for vocabulary review lessons.
• Guess what I'm thinking

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 Students take turns describing something, like a place: “I’m thinking of a place that is so huge it
takes visitors hours to see all of it. It has stunning works of art. It is a breathtaking building, very
old, but with a modern glass pyramid in the front.” Students choose to be as obvious or as cryptic
as they like. Even little ones can do this with simple descriptions: “It's an animal. It has a very
long neck and big brown spots.” Or simply state a series of words: “Africa, black and white,
stripes”.
It’s better to teach vocabulary in context, in other words, teach highly descriptive adjectives
when the lesson is about travel or clothes and accessories when you’re talking about shopping.
Never teach a list of words just because, or students won’t have a chance to practice this new
vocabulary.
On a final note, remember to cater to different learning styles or multiple intelligences.
Use songs and music, real life objects, or puzzles, but the more you mix the better. Remember
the difference between recognizing and producing words: to practice recognition the words have
to be supplied by YOU; then students use them to fill in blanks or match them. For students to
effectively and accurately produce vocabulary, they have to spontaneously recall the words.

Teaching grammar
Without grammar, words hang together without any real meaning or sense. In order to be able to
speak a language to some degree of proficiency and to be able to say what we really want to say,
we need to have some grammatical knowledge.

By teaching grammar we not only give our students the means to express themselves, but we
also fulfill their expectations of what learning a foreign language involves. Fortunately,
nowadays with the emphasis on a communicative approach and a wealth of stimulating
resources, teaching grammar does not necessarily mean endless conjugation of verbs or grammar
translation.

• Which approach?

• Presentation, practice and production (PPP) Presentation

o Presentation
o Practice
o Production

• Conclusion

Which approach?

There are two main approaches to teaching grammar. These are the deductive and the inductive
approach.

49
• A deductive approach is when the rule is presented and the language is produced based on the
rule. (The teacher gives the rule.)

• An inductive approach is when the rule is inferred through some form of guided discovery. (The
teacher gives the students a means to discover the rule for themselves.)

In other words, the former is more teacher-centered and the latter more learner-centered. Both
approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. The deductive approach is undoubtedly
time saving and allows more time for practicing the language items thus making it an effective
approach with lower level students. The inductive approach, on the other hand, is often more
beneficial for students who already have a base in the language as it encourages them to work
things out for themselves based on their existing knowledge.

Presentation, practice and production (PPP)

A deductive approach often fits into a lesson structure known as PPP (Presentation, Practice, and
Production). The teacher presents the target language and then gives students the opportunity to
practice it through very controlled activities. The final stage of the lesson gives the students the
opportunity to practice the target language in freer activities which bring in other language
elements.

In a 60-minute lesson each stage would last approximately 20 minutes. This model works well as
it can be used for most isolated grammatical items. It also allows the teacher to time each stage
of the lesson fairly accurately and to anticipate and be prepared for the problems students may
encounter. It is less workable at higher levels when students need to compare and contrast
several grammatical items at the same time and when their linguistic abilities are far less
uniform.

Presentation

In this stage the teacher presents the new language in a meaningful context. I find that building
up stories on the board, using realia or flashcards and miming are fun ways to present the
language.

For example, when presenting the 2nd conditional, I often draw a picture of myself with thought
bubbles of lots of money, a sports car, a big house and a world map.

• I ask my students what I'm thinking about and then introduce the target language.
"If I had a lot of money, I would buy a sports car and a big house."

• I practice and drill the sentence orally before writing it on the board (positive, negative, question
and short answer).

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• I then focus on form by asking the students questions. E.g. “What do we use after 'if'?" and on
meaning by asking the students questions to check that they have understood the concept (E.g.
“Do I have lots of money?" No."What am I doing?" Imagining.)

• When I am satisfied that my students understand the form and the meaning, I move on to the
practice stage of the lesson. During this stage of the lesson it is important to correct phonological
and grammatical mistakes.

Practice

There are numerous activities which can be used for this stage including gap fill exercises,
substitution drills, sentence transformations, split sentences, picture dictations, class
questionnaires, reordering sentences and matching sentences to pictures.

• It is important that the activities are fairly controlled at this stage as students have only just met
the new language. Many students' books and workbooks have exercises and activities which can
be used at this stage.

• When teaching the 2nd conditional, I would use split sentences as a controlled practice activity. I
give students lots of sentence halves and in pairs they try and match the beginnings and ends of
the sentences.
Example: "If I won the lottery," …. "I'd travel around the world."

• I would then do a communicative follow up game like pelmanism or snap using the same
sentence halves.

Production

Again there are numerous activities for this stage and what you choose will depend on the
language you are teaching and on the level of your students. However, information gaps, role
plays, interviews, simulations, find someone who, spot the differences between two pictures,
picture cues, problem solving, personalization activities and board games are all meaningful
activities which give students the opportunity to practice the language more freely.

• When teaching the 2nd conditional, I would try to personalize the lesson at this stage by giving
students a list of question prompts to ask others in the class.
Example: do / if / win the lottery?

• Although the questions are controlled the students are given the opportunity to answer more
spontaneously using other language items and thus the activity becomes much less predictable.

• It is important to monitor and make a note of any errors so that you can build in class feedback
and error analysis at the end of the lesson.

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 Conclusion

When teaching grammar, there are several factors we need to take into consideration and the
following are some of the questions we should ask ourselves:

• How useful and relevant is the language?

• What other language do my students need to know in order to learn the new structure
effectively?

• What problems might my students face when learning the new language?

• How can I make the lesson fun, meaningful and memorable?

Although I try to only use English when teaching a grammar lesson, it is sometimes beneficial to
the students to make a comparison to L1 in the presentation stage. This is particularly true in the
case of more problematic grammatical structures which students are not able to transfer to their
own language.

It is also important to note that using the PPP model does not necessarily exclude using a more
inductive approach since some form of learner-centered guided discovery could be built into the
presentation stage. When presenting the 2nd conditional I sometimes present the language in
context and then give the students a worksheet with a series of analysis questions to do in pairs.

PPP is one model for planning a lesson. Other models include TTT (Test, Teach, Test), ARC
(Authentic use, Restricted use, Clarification and focus) and ESA (Engage, Study, Activate). All
models have their advantages and disadvantages and I, like many other teachers I know, use
different models depending on the lesson, class, level and learner styles.

Aspects of a Lesson Plan

A Basic Lesson Plan Formula
There are as many ways to structure a lesson plan as there are different teaching situations, and
no single plan can serve as a model for all situations. However, for planning many English
classes, a basic initial formula would consist of the following parts:

1. Preview: Giving students an overview of the day’s lesson conveys a sense that there is a
definite purpose and plan behind the day’s activities. (This step may be done either before or
after any warm-up activities.)
2. Warm-up: Just as a concert often starts with a short lively piece to warm the audience up, a
lesson often starts with a brief activity that is relatively lively. Its main function is to generate a
good class atmosphere, but it can also be used for reviewing material from previous lessons or
introducing new material in the day’s lesson. Incidentally, the warm-up tends to set the tone for

52
the lesson, and if it involves real communication, it will tend to reinforce the importance of
genuine communication right from the beginning of the class period.
3. Main activities: These are the main course of the day’s menu, the more demanding activities
to which most of the lesson will be devoted.
4. Optional activity: This is an activity that you hope to use but are ready to omit if you are
running out of time. (Normally, I simply designate one of my main activities as optional by
marking it If time allows in my lesson plan.)
5. Reserve (or spare-tire) activity: This is an activity that is not a key part of your lesson plan,
but you have it available in case the other parts of the lesson go more quickly than planned,
leaving you with unexpected time at the end of the class.
How might this formula be applied to a specific lesson? The following sample lesson plan is
designed for a fifty-minute class period in an oral skills class for secondary school students.

Sample Lesson Plan

(Preview) Introduction (5 minutes)

1. (Put the words healthy, exercise, diet on the board.)
2. “Today’s lesson is about how to stay healthy.” (Explain healthy if necessary.)
3. “One way to stay healthy is to get lots of exercise.” (Explain . . . .)
4. “Another way is to have a good diet.” (Explain . . . .)
5. “Today we will learn vocabulary for talking about health. We will also practice using the right
part of speech (gerunds) for talking about kinds of exercise.”
6. “Let’s start with a warm-up exercise.”

(Warm-up) Survey: What’s your favorite kind of exercise? (10 minutes)

1. (Ask everyone) “What is one kind of exercise?” (As they answer me, I list two or three kinds
on the board in gerund form—walking, playing basketball, swimming.)
2. Assign survey. “In a minute, please survey three or four classmates.” (Explain/demonstrate
survey if necessary.) Instructions:
• Ask three or four classmates, "What is your favorite kind of exercise?" (Put the question on the
board.)
• Write down their answers—in the right form.
• This is to practice speaking, so speak in English! If you don't know a word in English, ask me.
• You only have five minutes!
• Get up and start!
3. Debrief.
• Have students volunteer answers—put them on the board—use gerund form.

• Go over the words on the board (especially any new ones)—using sentence My favorite
exercise is . . . .
• Encourage students to write new words in their notebooks.

(Main Activity) Small-Group Task: A Healthy Menu (20–30 minutes)

1. Tell students I am new in China and want to have a healthy diet here.

53
2. I n groups, have students make up the best possible menu for me for breakfast, lunch, and
dinner, and be ready to explain their choices to me.
3. Remind students that the purpose is to practice speaking English.
4. Debrief. Have first group give me the breakfast menu, and explain why they chose the foods
they did. Then have one or two other groups report on breakfast. Then repeat for lunch, dinner.
5. Follow up by describing a healthy daily diet in the United States.
6. Close by reviewing any new words.

(Main Activity—If Time Allows) Dictation (10–15 minutes)

1. Dictate the following short passage to students for listening/writing practice.

(1) My favorite kind of exercise is walking. (2) Running makes my knees hurt and it makes me
too hot in the summer. (3) Swimming is nice, but I can’t find a swimming pool. (4) I like
walking because I can always find a place to walk, (5) and because it doesn’t make me too hot.
2. Have students compare their dictations in pairs and help each other.
3. Debrief by having the students say each sentence aloud (in chorus) while I write it on the
board.
4. Afterward, they check, and I walk around to see how they did.
5. Close with brief comments on their writing (e.g., capitalization, punctuation).

(Reserve Activity) Health Proverbs

1. Put the following health-related proverbs on the board:

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
Early to bed, early to rise, makes one healthy, wealthy, and wise.
2. Then have students guess what they think the proverb’s meaning is and whether they agree
with the wisdom contained in the proverb.
3. In pairs or groups, have students think of similar health sayings in their language and translate
these into English.
4. Have groups report. Different groups will probably have translated the same sayings, so
compare the translations.
5. Close by choosing the translation that seems closest to idiomatic English.

Lesson Planning

Long-term goals, lesson outlines, lesson plans, and testing.

Long-term goals should be relevant, motivating, and concrete.

Lesson outlines include:

Objectives
Language skill focus
Vocabulary
Grammar focus

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 Materials
Activities
Assignments

Lesson plans have five steps:

Review
Presentation
Practice
Application (production)
Assignment

Testing principles include:

Test what you have taught
Test course goals
Test all four language skills
Sequence test items
Make directions clear
Develop students' review practices
Develop students' test-taking strategies
Go over corrected tests with students
Make policies on cheating clear

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 Classroom Management

Definition of Classroom Management

Classroom management refers to the ways in which student behavior, movement and interaction
during a lesson are organized and controlled by the teacher” Richards (1990, 10) .

Definition of Discipline

• To maintain order and to keep the group on task and moving ahead, not to spot and punish those
students who are misbehaving.“(Greenwood and Parkay, 1989)

The best teachers anticipate when misbehaviors are likely to occur and intervene early to prevent
them. The most effective interventions are subtle, brief and almost private. They do not,
therefore interfere with classroom activities.

• Causes of deviant behavior (Cole and Chan, 1987)

Class Rules

• At the beginning of the school year, establish the class rules.

• Discuss Classroom rules with the students and consequences of misbehavior.

• Post room rules and consequences of misbehavior.

Students’ Seating

The way the students are seated in the classroom will often determine the dynamics of the lesson.
Indeed, a simple change in the seating pattern can make an incredible difference to group
coherence and student satisfaction.

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 In many cases the seating has been a crucial element in the success or failure of the lesson.
In some cases, the desks are fixed to the ground or the school has strict rules about not moving
the furniture.

Student numbers are also going to be an issue.

Teachers have different preferences for seating arrangements – each group is seated round small
tables is often one choice. This is probably the best option for the larger classes.

For smaller numbers and with adult or teenage students I think the horseshoe shape, which I find
has all of the advantages of groups, and none of the disadvantages. A horseshoe may be desks in
a U-shape with a hollow centre, students in a semicircle on chairs with arm-rests and no desks, or
students seated around three sides of a large table, with the teacher at one end.

In any case, whatever seating pattern you choose or is imposed on you, the class is likely to be
more successful if you keep the following principles in mind:

Try and maximize eye contact.

Make sure students are seated at a comfortable distance from each other.

Think in advance about how you will organize changing partners or changing groups.

Students’ Names

• Make two sets of name tags – one for the child's table space or desk, and one for the child to
wear around the neck to special classes.

• Hang name tags on a hook by the door.

• Make it private: call to desk, whisper, nonverbal cues.

• Briefly talk to student/assess penalties.

• Time out at desk or another room.

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• Communicate positive expectations to students: convey confidence in students’ ability to do well
and maintain high expectations.

Teacher Talk & Drawing Attention

• Don't speak when children aren't listening and ready. Wait.

• Establish a signal for getting the group's attention:

1. turn off the lights

2. clap a pattern with your hands
3. Say “Freeze!” and everyone halts right where they are, like a statue. Then say “Melt!” when you
are ready for them to move again.

• Practice numbers, in the beginning, even when children are doing well, just so they get the idea
of how to respond to your signals. Then praise them.

Example: “One, two, three eyes on me”

• Establish good listening habits for story time. Sometimes we read and listen, and sometimes we
read and discuss, but we always listen.

Giving Instruction

• It is better to make your instructions for primary students precise and concise.

• Use puppets to help with classroom management. Puppets can whisper in the teacher's ear, and
they can write messages to the class.

• Compliment leadership in students. "Oh, I like the way Antonio is ready!" will cause everyone to
turn to look at the ready student and to get ready also.

• Use the same standards for everyone – no favorites!

Using Pair and Group work

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• One of the successful ways, if the teacher is resourceful and skilful enough, to motivate his/her
students to participate in the lesson is to use “pair work” or “Group work” appropriately.

Language is best learned through the close collaboration and communication among students.
This type of collaboration results in benefits for all or both learners. In fact, learners can help
each other while working on different types of tasks such as writing dialogues, interviews,
drawing pictures and making comments about them, play roles, etc…

Setting Time Limits

1) You should set time to each activity when you are planning your lesson so that you would
know if you would be able to finish your objectives or not.

2) You should tell your students about the time assigned for each activity when you give them a
task to do in class.

3) Your students should gradually be aware of the importance of the time issue and respect it.

Role Play

• This is a technique to vary the pace of the lesson and to respond to the fundamental notion of
variety in teaching. Teachers are advised to use the role- play activity in order to motivate their
students and to help the less motivated learners take part in the lesson. Besides, certain tasks in
the student’s book are followed by a role- play activity where it becomes a necessity to undergo
such an activity. As good examples of that we can state: the hide (item) and guessing game,
dramatizing an interview of customer and shop assistant, doctor and patient conversation, etc…

Tasks for Early Finishers

• This especially happens when students finish an assignment while other students are still
working on it. That’s why you need to include an “early finisher” activity with every assignment.

• Think in advance for possible activities, options including extension activities related to the
current topic, journal writing, silent reading, and educational games

Whole Class Feedback

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• Take a look at the following classroom exchange:

Whole class: He bought a sandwich. (Sea of noise in which the teacher hears the answer)
Teacher: And number 4?
Whole class: He drank orange juice. (Sea of noise in which the teacher hears the answer)

• Sound familiar? How many times have you done feedback like this? Probably many. Why do we
fall into the pattern of getting feedback in this way? Is it the easiest way? The quickest?

• I began to realize that generally it was only the stronger or the more confident students who
would shout out the answers. When I looked at individual student’s work, I saw that they didn’t
always have the correct answer and, more importantly, they didn’t know what the correct answer
was.

• Feedback is better checked through each student’s response on a written form paper.

Using Whiteboard

Make sure students easily see the board.

Have your lesson objectives clear for your students. Write them on the board or get the kids to
know them at the beginning – by the end of this lesson I will have learned……

These clear objectives provide a guide to what you want to achieve and can be the basis of the
lesson structure. A map on the board can help to show the kids where you are going with the
lesson.

Common Classroom Problems in EFL classrooms

Most classroom management problems are a combination of both the external (your students)
and internal (your lack of training).
1. Kids that won't pay attention
Isn't it annoying when you have students who just can't seem to listen? They can't seem to follow
directions or pay attention. Solution:

60
o Change your teaching method or lesson plan. If they are not paying attention there is usually
a reason why and that is because something you're doing stinks. It's not necessarily what, but
maybe how you are doing it.
o Ask them questions about what you have just said, get them involved, have them participate
in an exercise or activity.

2. Kids that are talking when they shouldn't be

Isn't it frustrating when you have students who keep talking when you're talking? Or maybe
they're just talking about whatever they feel like and it's totally unrelated to your lesson.
Solution:

o Does your lesson plan stink? If so change it if not...

o Change their seating. Separate the students who are talking.

3. Classes are out of control

Do you feel that your classes are out of your control? And whatever you do it just doesn't seem
to work? Solution:

o You probably need to improve the quality of your lessons. Make them more interesting, fun
and educational.
o You need some rules in place. You also need to have a system and some repercussions for
when rules are broken.

4. Students who won't talk

Have you ever had students who just won't talk? And their only answer is silence? Solution:

o Use pair work. Pair them up with someone else. They will feel less pressure.
o Start a sentence and have them finish it.
o Try role playing or a dialogue from a story. Then they will be pretending to be someone else.

5. Students who use inappropriate language

Have you ever had students who use disrespectful language in class? They swear at their friends
or in the worst case scenario at you. Solution:

o You need rules in place and you need to issue a repercussion when this happens.

6. Teaching large classes

Have you been thrown into large classes of 20, 30, 40 or more students? Do you find it difficult
to control them? Solution:

o Use groups and pair work.

o Have one half of the class asks and the other answers the asked questions.

7. Students who are bored

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Do you have students who are yawning or who are having a difficult time staying awake?
Solution:

o Usually that means they are not interested in what you are doing. It also could be how you are
doing it. Add more activities and games to your classes.
o Choose topics that they are interested in.

8. Stress
Is teaching English stressing you out? Are you dreading going to work every day? Solution:

o Try to have more fun. Joke, play and make your classes more active.

9. Students who don't want to be there

Do you have students that hate English? Does it seem like they are forced to be there? Solution:

o Use music in your lessons. For example, if you are doing a dictation, taking or quiz or writing
you could play some classical, didgeridoo, gamma wave, or any other kind of relaxing music
in the background.
o Make your classes more fun with games and activities.

10. Students who are speaking their native language

Do you have students that just won't stop speaking in their native language? Solution:

o You need to make it a rule that they cannot speak their native language unless they ask.
o You need a system in place and to issue consequences when they break the rule.

11. Crying Kids

o If you’re teaching kids, at some point you will encounter tears. The best way to deal with this,
counter-intuitive as it may be, is to ignore them. Of course if a kid is crying because they are
hurt, you need to make sure it’s not serious. However, if they are sulking because they lost a
game or you shouted at them, it’s better to leave them be. The more attention you give them,
the longer they will keep crying and interrupting the lesson.
o Getting your students in order early on is a must for any new teacher. Teaching badly
behaved children can be a nightmare, so be tough, fair and consistent with your discipline and
your kids will respect you and learn all the more. Once they know their boundaries, you can
start to have fun and make your classes a real pleasure both for them and for yourself.

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 Sample Interview Questions for EFL Teachers

What follows are some sample interview questions which we have used with some success in the
past. We believe the quality of an interview question can be judged by its ability to provoke
spontaneous thought and rich reflection. The candidates need to be gently challenged into
revealing themselves, their values and their passions.

1. If I were to visit your classroom next week, what would I see? (The key word is see. For
example, how does the teacher organize the students' desks? What is displayed on the classroom
walls and why? How do the children behave?)
2. Tell me about a mistake you have made recently in your teaching and what you have done about
it.
3. Describe to me how you would teach the concept of __________ (the seasons, absolute zero, the
Third World, the beauty of mathematics, tragedy, the interdependence of global supply and
demand, etc.).
4. How would you respond to the following student question: "Why are we studying (quadratic
equations, Romeo and Juliet, entropy, etc.)?" Is the student's question fair?
5. What are the most influential factors in the success or failure of a lesson?
6. What specific strategies do you use to ensure that your students are engaged in active learning?
7. If I were the parent of a child who learns differently (e.g. ESL or Highly Capable), why would I
want my child in your class?
8. What specific aspects of your teaching are you currently working to improve?
9. How has recent educational research affected your teaching?
10. Sentence completion questions:
When I am criticized. . .
When I am not sure about something. . .
When I am told what to do. . .
When someone doesn't agree with me . . .
11. What is your own preferred learning style?
12. How do you know that you are continuing to learn how to learn?
13. What has been the most significant learning experience of your life?
14. What do your students learn from you that you don't explicitly teach?
15. All egos require gratification; what satisfies yours?
16. Give me a metaphor for a __________ (pre-school child, middle school student, high school
student, etc.)
17. What is the most important outcome for a parent conference? What strategies do you use to
accomplish this outcome?
18. Develop a higher level critical thinking question that is related to __________ (human rights,
ocean tides, Romantic poetry).
19. What is the most difficult aspect of co-planning and co-teaching? How have you addressed this
issue?
20. What does differentiated instruction mean? Can you give me a recent example of how you have
provided individual accommodation to make a lesson more accessible for an exceptional
student?

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