International Training Institute

Lesson Shapes

This document summarises the lesson sequences presented in the online course units for different
kinds of lessons. Use the flowchart below to help you choose an appropriate lesson shape.

Is the MAIN focus of the

lesson language or skills?

Clarification

NO

See Lesson Shape Is the main focus See Lesson Shape

B either speaking E
(Language or writing? (Receptive Skills)
Practice)

NO
See Lesson Shape
See Lesson Shape
C or D F
(Productive Skills)
(Test-Teach-Test
or PPP)

NO

See Lesson Shape A

Check again

* Lesson shapes G and H (TBL and Dogme ELT) do not appear on this flowchart. Please talk to your
tutor if you are interested in either of these lesson types.
Lesson shape (A) – Presenting language through a text

Here the idea is that the language is contextualized and introduced using a reading or
listening text briefly first (but this is not the main aim) and then language from the text is
highlighted and clarified (checking meaning, form and pronunciation) before doing further
practice. The overall main lesson aim might be: By the end of the lesson, learners will have
a better understanding of _________ and will have had practice using that language
and be better able to talk about .

You may need to pre-teach some vocab before the reading task.

Lead in/ Building To generate interest in the topic/theme/context of the text or

context listening

Reading or Listening To practice reading/listening for gist/detail/specific

task information
To contextualise and introduce the target language

Highlighting target To highlight the target language so that learners are focused on
language it
• To clarify meaning so learners understand it
Clarifying target • To clarify the pronunciation so learners know how to say it
language • To clarify form so that learners know how to construct it

To provide controlled oral/written practice focused on using the

Language practice language accurately
To provide freer oral/written practice and use the language
productively

See Online Course Units –

Unit 03: Dealing with Language
Unit 05: Using the Coursebook 1 – Task 9: Lesson Plan
Unit 08: Checking Understanding
Unit 12: Lexis
Unit 16: Grammar
Unit 10: Using the Coursebook 2: Language Focus – Task 5 (for making a guided discovery worksheet for
clarifying TL)
Lesson shape (B) - Language Practice
This is connected to/follows on from lesson shape A or C. This lesson may follow on from the
previous teacher who would have clarified the language, i.e., you and the previous teacher
are essentially teaching one large 90 min lesson. It will involve different practice stages, e.g.
controlled written practice, controlled oral practice, less controlled written/speaking practice,
freer written/oral practice. The overall main lesson aim might be: By the end of the lesson,
learners will have had an opportunity to practice using and will be better
able to talk about .
Remember to try to have a variety of task types and focuses, moving from more controlled to
freer.
You may not need a lead-in, but if you do, remember that this lesson is the second part of the
previous lesson and if possible, keep the same context. This type of lesson may need some
student preparation, e.g. pre-teaching, controlled practice, group discussion, role preparation.
Feedback stages are also important.

Lead in
To generate interest in the topic/theme/context of
(optional if following
on same context as the lesson (See notes above)
previous teacher)
To provide controlled oral/written practice focused on using the
Practice activity 1 language accurately
To provide freer oral/written practice and use the language
productively

Practice activity 2, etc. See above. You may have any number of practice activities as
time allows.

Remember that for each activity you should consider the set-up, the task itself, and the
feedback when planning your procedure.

See Online Course Unit –

Unit 03: Practice Activities
Lesson shape (C) – Test-Teach-Test - Presentation of Language

Here the idea is that learners are tested on their knowledge of the language before moving on
to clarification. The teacher monitors the task carefully to see what problems the students have
and then clarifies (checking meaning, form and pronunciation) as necessary – i.e. any new
language or items the students had problems with. For example, if there are 15 pieces of
vocabulary in the test, the teacher would not clarify every item. This is followed by further
practice (test). The main aim here will usually reflect the clarification and practice aims
reflected in the previous two lesson types.

Lead in To generate interest in the topic/theme of the lesson

First Test (diagnostic) To test learners’ current knowledge of and ability to use
the language and identify what the issues are

To clarify issues learners had with meaning so learners

Teach (clarifying) understand it better
To clarify issues learners had with pronunciation so they
know how to say it better
To clarify issues with form so that learners know how to
construct it better

To provide controlled oral/written practice focused on using

Second Test the language accurately
(Controlled practice) To test what learners have learnt from the teach stage
(Freer practice) To provide freer oral/written practice and use the
language productively
To test what learners have learnt from the teach stage

There might not be time to do the freer practice in the second test stage in a 45 min lesson. In
this case, the next teacher might be doing this as their lesson (i.e. language practice as per
lesson shape B).
See Online Course Units –
Unit 08: Checking Understanding
Unit 10: Using the Coursebook 2: Language Focus – Task 5 (for making a guided discovery worksheet for
clarifying TL)
Unit 08: Checking Understanding
Unit 16: Grammar – Task 6: Alternative Approach
Unit 18: Lesson Planning 2 – Task 8: Diagnosing Problems >Approaches 3
Lesson shape (D) – Presenting language through a situation (PPP)
Here the idea is that the teacher introduces a context in which new language is to be taught.
Having done this, the teacher then presents the target language (checking meaning, form and
pronunciation) before providing controlled practice. In this stage, the teacher monitors the task
very carefully to see what problems the students are having, correct errors and ensure correct
use of the TL. Finally, there is a freer practice (production) in which the learners use the TL
productively and with a communicative end, with more fluent use of the TL encouraged.

Lead in To generate interest in the topic/theme/global context of the

lesson
To narrow the context to a more specific area and continue
Building Context to generate interest while establishing a clear and specific
context for the language to arise out of
To clarify meaning so learners understand it
Presentation To clarify the pronunciation so learners know
how to say it To clarify form so that learners
know how to construct it

Practice To provide controlled oral/written practice focused on using

the target language accurately

Production To provide freer oral/written practice and focused on using

the target language more fluently

See Online Course Units –

Unit 08: Checking Understanding
Unit 10: Using the Coursebook 2: Language Focus – Task 5 (for making a guided discovery worksheet for
clarifying TL)
Unit 12: Lexis
Unit 16: Grammar
 Lesson shape (E) – Receptive Skills – listening or reading
Here the focus is not on language but on practicing receptive skills and helping learners
process written and audio text. The overall lesson aims might be: By the end of the
lesson, learners will have practiced listening for gist and detailed comprehension
(for example). You may also wish to include the context as part of the aim.
The lesson can be divided into pre, while and post reading/listening stages. Not all these
stages are necessary for all receptive skills lessons, nor will you necessarily focus on all the
sub-skills mentioned below in one single lesson. Since learners complete reading/listening
tasks alone, allowing time for peer-checking before moving to whole-class feedback is
essential in building confidence.
Not all texts will lend themselves to all sub-skills. If in doubt as to what type of tasks to use
with your text, check with your tutor.
The basic sequence is:
Lead in
Easy initial task (e.g. for gist or specific information) - Peer-check, feedback
More detailed task (e.g. for specific information, detail, inference) - Peer-check, feedback
Follow-up productive skills task

Pre-reading / listening tasks

To activate Ss’ existing knowledge of the topic

Lead in
To generate interest in the theme/topic of the lesson
To engage students in the topic

Prediction task To encourage Ss to predict/ think about content of the text and give them
(not always necessary) a reason to read the text

To pre-teach/unblock key lexis needed to help students understand the

Pre-teach vocabulary (not text
always necessary) To pre-teach/unblock key lexis needed to help students complete the
next task
While reading / listening tasks

To encourage Ss to listen/read quickly for gist /general

Reading/listening for gist
understanding

For learners to get an overview of the text

Reading/listening for specific To practice listening/reading for specific information (scanning)

info To (further) familiarise learners with the text

Reading/listening for detail To practice reading/listening for detailed comprehension

For learners to understand the text in depth

To practice reading/listening for inferred meanings (either at word or

Reading/listening for inference
text level)
For learners to understand the text in more depth
Post -reading / listening tasks
To allow an opportunity to react to the text
Speaking task / Writing task To develop oral/written fluency on the topic
To provide an opportunity to personalise the topic

See Online Course Units –

Unit 02: Helping Students Understand Texts: Reading
Unit 05: Using the Coursebook 1 – Task 11: Lesson Plan 2
Unit 11: Helping Students Understand Texts: Listening
Lesson shape (F) – Productive Skills – speaking or writing

Here the focus is on helping learners practice their speaking or writing skills. The overall main
lesson aim here will usually be something like:
By the end of the lesson, learners will be better able to talk about ….. (e.g. their
opinions) on the topic of _
By the end of the lesson, the learners will be better able to write …. (e.g.
personal emails on everyday topics).
The lesson can usually be divided into preparation for speaking/ writing and speaking/writing
task stages. Possible stages here are (choose as necessary):

Lead in To activate Ss’ existing knowledge of the topic

To generate interest in the topic/theme of the lesson
(These stage aims will depend on what preparation tasks
you give Ss)
Preparing to To generate/provide ideas to speak/write about
write/speak To provide an opportunity prepare for the task
To provide an opportunity to organize their ideas logically and
take notes
To provide learners with a model of the task (e.g. through
listening or reading)
To provide and clarify language which learners may find useful for
completing the writing/speaking task
Useful language NB: This is NOT target language. It’s there to HELP them
perform the speaking/writing task, i.e. Ss don’t HAVE TO
use it. The more you focus on MPF here, the less of a
productive skills lesson it becomes.

Speaking/writing task (These stage aims will depend on what the actual task
requires Ss to do)
e.g. For learners to practice their oral/written fluency in relation
to…
To allow learners to compare results of the task
Feedback/error
correction on oral/ To provide content feedback on results of the task
written task To provide language feedback based on the task

See Online Course Units –

Unit 17: Speaking – N.B. – For Approach 2, see Lesson Shape H – Task-Based Learning
Unit 19: Writing – N.B. – ‘Task 10: Another Approach to Teaching Writing’ follows a Process Approach to writing.
In this approach, there is no Useful Language stage. Instead the Preparing to Write stage may
be separated into more than one stage, e.g. brainstorming ideas, ordering ideas, etc.
Lesson shape (G) – Dogme ELT

Dogme ELT is not so much a methodology as it is an approach to teaching. The three main
precepts of Dogme ELT are:

• Conversation driven (based around authentic, meaningful discourse)

• Materials-light (relying on student-generated materials/texts instead of coursebooks)
• Focus on emergent language (language focus comes up naturally based on
students’ output)

As such, there is typically no rigid lesson plan for a Dogme class, although there may be some
type of ‘lesson skeleton’ which includes the initial prompt or speaking task. Alternatively, there
may be a lesson mind-map which predicts some of the directions the lesson may take and what
language might naturally emerge.

Although the procedure for a Dogme lesson will necessarily be much sparser than other types
of lessons, this does not mean that it is ‘just winging it’. Much greater consideration needs to be
given to the context, learners, anticipated problems and solutions, etc. In addition, if you wish
to try a Dogme lesson, a more detailed evaluation of the lesson, including the students’ output
is required as well as a completed post-lesson language analysis of any emergent language that
was focused on.

See Online Course Unit –

Unit 23: Beyond the Coursebook – 12: Dogme ELT & Task 10: Evaluate Dogme
Lesson shape (H) – Task-Based Learning / Teaching (TBL /TBT)

In TBL, the idea is that the learners first carry out a task in pairs or small groups, focusing on
communication and completing the task, not worrying about using pre-selected language or
grammatical accuracy. They then report how this was accomplished to the class, before going
on to analyse relevant language or features of a text. Finally, they practice this new language
through some controlled activities or ideally, repeating a similar task and incorporating that
language into it.
The overall main lesson aim might be: By the end of the lesson, the learners will have
completed a speaking/writing task about and be better able to talk/write about .
They will also have clarification of (relevant language
point).

To generate interest in the topic/theme of the class and to set

Pre-task
the task
Pre-Task /Lead in (To clarify any lexical items helpful for the task/topic)
(For learners to be exposed to a model of the task to gain an
idea of what to do)

To carry out the task in pairs or small groups/ to have

Task
practice speaking/writing about the topic

Task Cycle
To prepare a report (orally or in writing) on what their group
Planning
did during the task, the discussion had or what they
decided/discovered

To share their task results with a larger group or the class

Report To compare and discuss different outcomes to the task and
consolidate learning
Analysis/Clarification e.g.
To clarify meaning so learners understand it
- Praise good language
use To clarify the pronunciation so learners know how
- Highlighting errors to say it
- Comparing language To clarify form so that learners know how to
features in a model of construct it
the same task
Language selected to teach at this stage should be based on
Post-Task

- Filling in gaps in
learners’ the task results. However, it is also possible for the teacher to
knowledge/abilities predict and prepare beforehand what the TL will be.

To have controlled practice of the language items focussed

Practice To repeat a similar task to the one completed earlier
incorporating the new language from the analysis
To establish correct answers and highlight correct use of
new language
Feedback To give learners appropriate praise
To raise learners’ awareness of errors in their language use

See Online Course Units –

Unit 17: Speaking – An Alternative Approach >Task 9: Consolidation Quiz
Unit 18: Lesson Planning 2 – Task-based Lessons > Task-based Lesson 3
Plus:
Online Video Observation: Justin Vollmer