CELTA Pre-course Task

CELTA Pre- Course

Task

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS...2

SECTION 1: LEARNERS AND TEACHERS, AND THE TEACHING AND LEARNING CONTEXT... 4 TASK 1... 4 TASK 2... 4 TASK 3... 5 TASK 4... 5 TASK 5... 5

SECTION 2: LANGUAGE ANALYSIS AND AWARENESS...7

TASK 6... 7 TASK 7... 7 TASK 8... 7 TASK 9... 8 TASK 10... 8 TASK 11... 9 TASK 12... 10 TASK 13... 10 TASK 14... 10 TASK 15... 11 TASK 16... 11 TASK 17... 12 TASK 18... 12 TASK 19... 13 TASK 20... 13 TASK 21... 13 TASK 22... 14 TASK 23... 14 TASK 24... 15 TASK 25... 15 TASK 26... 15 TASK 27... 16 TASK 28... 16 TASK 29... 17

SECTION 3: LANGUAGE SKILLS: READING, LISTENING, SPEAKING AND WRITING...18

TASK 30... 18 TASK 31... 18 TASK 32... 18 TASK 33... 18 TASK 34... 19 TASK 35... 19 TASK 36... 20

TASK 37... 20 TASK 38... 20 TASK 39... 21 TASK 40... 21 TASK 41... 21 TASK 42... 22

SECTION 4 PLANNING AND RESOURCES...23

TASK 43... 23

TASK 44... 23

SECTION 5 DEVELOPING TEACHING SKILLS AND PROFESSIONALISM...24

TASK 45... 24 TASK 46... 24 TASK 47... 25 TASK 48... 26 TASK 49... 27 TASK 50... 29

Section 1: Learners and Teachers, and the teaching and

learning Context

Task 1

1. In what context will you be doing the CELTA course?

I have enrolled in 12- week part-time CELTA course. We are informed that group will consist of 12 female members. It is an open group which includes people coming from different organizations, cultural backgrounds and educational levels. Some teachers would begin their career after attending this course while others are taking this course to develop their career further in teaching. As a result, it probably would be a mixed ability group.

2. Do you know what context you will be teaching in after you finish

the course?

I am going to teach Business English at King Abdul Aziz University after attending the course. A normal group of learners there is closed and monolingual attending full-time course at university level. They are in second year of their Bachelor program. Our day classes are usually large ranging between 35 and 60 female students of mixed ability, some of the students are at A2 level while other are at B2. Most of the teachers currently are non-native English speakers.

Task 2

1 Think about why you decided to teach adults.

Adult learners are more responsible and they value education more. They usually have certain goals associated with studies. Their varied experiences in life can bring richness to class activities and discussions. It is easier to build rapport with these students and class management is usually not as challenging as lower grade classes.

3. Think about what you, as an adult, bring to this learning

situation.

I am able to empathise more with adult learner. Sharing ideas and relating to real world is easier with adult students. Moreover, I can choose a diverse range of topics to attract students more. As a mature person I would be open to suggestions and criticism coming from students and peer group and use that input for future development.

4. Look at your answers to question 1 and 2 and use these ideas to

help you to write down what characterises adult learners.

• They are more focused and have certain goals • They can take responsibility of their learning

• They usually apply their knowledge across subject areas • They exhibit more self control and discipline

• They may have prejudice for certain other group members in class

• Some of the learners may feel pear pressure if they or other participant in the course is coming from a strong background

Task 3

1 What would you want to find out about a group of learners that

you had to teach that you could plan your lesson?

There are several things that I would like to know before I actually star the course. To begin with, it would be a good idea to know about age group and level of English proficiency (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 or C2) of the students. Secondly, I would be interested in knowing their motive of attending the course (to improve language skills, to perform better at current job, to appear in an exam etc.). This information is quite critical as course design, types of activities and course material would all depend largely on this piece of information. Moreover, it would be useful to know about their cultural linkup so I can address some culture specific problem related to language during the course.

2 How would you find out?

I can get to know about students’ proficiency through earlier placement test, interview records and scroll grades records

I usually take an interview and a placement test at the beginning of the course to get a fair idea about students’ abilities

Task 4

If you were teaching a group of learners, each of whom had

different motivations for learning English, which learners would be

the most challenging in terms of motivation?

From my personal experience I can say that best performing group in the class is one with medium level of motivation. They are willing to learn, taking responsibility and also letting others to learn. On the other hand, over enthusiastic student would not let many other participants to express their ideas and will try to dominate the group or class during activities. Clever strategies are required to control these students as you cannot stop them from participating as this can totally put them off and at the same time teacher has to make sure that most of the students are participating in class.

Task 5

Look at the list of qualities and skills that a teacher might have.

Which do you think learners most often rate in the top five?

Learners usually evaluate on basis of relationship that teacher holds with them although they do value a knowledgeable teacher. In my opinion, students prefer an approachable teacher with whom they can communicates easily when they have a problem or they are not getting along with the subject under discussion. Secondly, learners enjoy interesting lessons which can be delivered by a teacher who paces lesson to match learners and has a streak of humour. Moreover, leaner would like to take lessons with enthusiastic teacher and who inspires enthusiasm among students especially the ones who are reluctant to participate. Finally, I have seen many students become more interest in what you are teaching when them have this confidence that you are a knowledgeable person.

Section 2: Language Analysis and Awareness

Task 6

Make a list of associations you have with the word .grammar.

 Rules that govern language

 Tool necessary for writing

 Interesting to know how meanings can be altered with even slight changes

 It’s easy part of language if you understand it

 My favourite part on any English test

Task 7

Look at the following sentences and decide which are correct. Write

a correct version of the examples that are incorrect.

1. We’ve been looking for you for ages.

Correct

2. I’ve been to the movies last night.

I went to the movies last night

3. He often come late.

He often comes late.

4. They were waiting by the fountain.

Correct

5. Can I have a coffee black, please?

Can I have a black coffee, please?

6. People with 12 items or less can queue here.

People with 12 items or fewer can queue here

Task 8

Provide a list of reasons why English language teachers need to

know about grammar. In doing so, try to give some thought to the

learners’ perspective.

 Generally, students are reluctant to attempt writing assignments. If they have acquired good grammar skills they can write comfortably with more cohesion and correctness.

 Knowing grammar rules positively effects speech fluency which many students aspire to do in their practical life.

Task 9

Identify the underlined words in the following dialogue. Use a

grammar reference book or a dictionary to help you with this if

necessary.

A: What are you(1) looking at?

(1) Subject pronoun

B: Well, it's a (2) photograph of something very close up, but (3) I

can’t work out what it is.

(2) article

(3) conjunction (coordinating)

A: Yes, it’s quite (4) abstract (5), isn’t it?

(4) Adverb of degree , (5) adjective

B: Yes. It could (6) be one of those (7) things for (8) unblocking a

sink.

(6) modal verb, (7) determiner, (8) preposition

A: Oh, you mean (9) a plunger (10).

(9) irregular verb, (10) singular noun

Task 10

Decide if the underlined verbs in the following sentences and

questions are lexical verbs or auxiliary verbs.

1. He watches TV for at least two hours every evening.

2. What are you looking for?

Lexical

3. They aren’t going to come.

Auxiliary

4. What does he want?

Auxiliary

5. They haven’t been here before.

Auxiliary

6. He was waiting on the corner.

Lexical

Task 11

Decide if the underlined verbs be, do and have have an auxiliary or

lexical function in the following sentences and questions.

1 I had a bad headache yesterday.

Lexical

5. When do you get up each day?

Auxiliary

6. How long have you been learning English?

Auxiliary

7. I did it without thinking.

Lexical

8. We do some exercise every morning.

Lexical

9. Have you had them long?

Lexical

10.

I was hoping for a quick answer.

Auxiliary

11.

Are they still here?

Task 12

All of the following sentences (1-5) contain modal auxiliary verbs

that are underlined. Match the meaning of the modal verb to the

definitions below (A-E).

1. You should see a doctor as soon as you can.

Advice

2. You may go now, thank you.

Permission

3. This letter must be from Frank - he’s the only one who hasn’t

written so far.

Logical deduction

4. I can’t play the piano very well.

Ability

5. We could go out, but I don’t know if I’m in the mood.

Possibility

Task 13

Match the underlined verb form examples to the correct definition.

1. I worked until 7 o’clock last night.

Past tense form

2. They’ve been seeing a lot of each other lately.

-ing form

3. She lives not far from here.

3rd person .present simple tense

4. You have to try harder.

base form

5. It was handed to me as I was leaving.

Task 14

Think of the past form and the past participle forms of the following

verbs. Which are regular? Which are not regular?

verb Past form Past participle form Type

hear heard heard irregular

do did done Irregular

help helped helped Regular

think thought thought Irregular

take took taken Irregular

steal stole stolen Irregular

go went gone Irregular

drink drank drunk irregular

arrive arrived arrived regular

Task 15

Identify the different elements (past, present, modal, perfect,

progressive, passive) underlined in the following verb phrases.

1. I was hoping to see you.

Past tense/ Progressive aspect/Active voice

2. They might have got home by now.

Present tense/ Modal/ Perfect aspect/Active voice

3. We have tried to help.

Present tense/Perfect aspect/ Active voice

4. They were being questioned at length.

Past tense/ progressive aspect/ Passive voice

5. I saw it coming.

Past tense

6. This time next week you will be lying on a beach.

Task 16

Identify the tense names of the underlined verbs in the following

sentences. You will most likely need to refer to a grammar reference

book to help you.

1. I am having a really good time.

Present continuous tense

2. We stopped doing that years ago.

Past simple tense

3. She lives somewhere near here.

Present simple tense

4. We had been for a drink before we met him.

Past perfect tense

5. These computers are made in China.

Present perfect tense

6. You will have been here for 2 days by then.

Future perfect tense

7. It happened as I was driving home.

Past simple tense; past progressive tense

8. I have been feeling unwell for a while.

Present perfect continuous tense

Task 17

The following examples of language contain different tenses which

are underlined. The name of the tense is also given. Decide what

the time reference of each example is and remember that the time

reference may not match the tense name.

1. The sun was shining brightly in the sky. (Past progressive)

Past

2. They’ll have finished work on the bridge by then. (Future

perfect simple)

3. She’s been working in the garden all morning. (Present perfect

progressive)

Past

4. Have you got a minute? I was wondering whether we could

have a word. (Past progressive)

Present

5. They own most of the land around here. (Present simple)

A general fact related to past, present and future

Task 18

• What auxiliary verb is used to create the present progressive?

Verb be: am, is and are

• What is the form of the lexical verb of the present progressive?

Verb +ing

Task 19

Look at the following mini-dialogues below and decide the time

reference or use of the underlined examples of the present

progressive.

A: How about going to a movie this evening?

B: I can’t. I’m meeting Judy for a drink.

Future

A: Where’s Tony?

B: I don’t know where he’s got to.

A: He’s always running late.

Past and present (describing a habit)

A: It was late at night and dark and I was on my way back to the

hotel. Suddenly, I find I’m walking down the street all on my own

and I can hear the sound of footsteps…

Task 20

What is the problem with the following examples?

1. He’s having a brother and a sister.

A fact is given in present progressive tense which should have been in present simple form.

Correct: He’s a brother and a sister.

2. I’m liking this ice cream.

Preference should be described with present simple tense. Correct: I like this ice cream

3. What are you thinking of your new job?

Correct: what do you think of your new job?

4. This sauce is lacking salt.

Correct: This sauce lacks salt.

Task 21

Make a list of what extra information dictionaries can provide about

words apart from the meaning. It would be a good idea to refer to a

dictionary to help you.

• Pronunciation key • Synonyms

• Antonyms

• Word in sentence

• Type of word (e.g. noun, verb, adjective, adverb etc.)

Task 22

In the following sentences, there is a vocabulary error of some kind.

Identify and describe the problem.

1. He’s the highest person in the family by more than 2

centimetres.

Correct: He’s the tallest person in the family.

High or highest is used for objects like buildings and mountains not for living things in general

2. I think I’ll go to bed now. I’m feeling a little enervated.

Correct: I think I’ll go to bed now. I’m feeling a little tired.

Verb enervate is used mostly with ing to describe feel it is usually not used as an adjective with ed.

3. It is an extremely good essay. The ideas in it are original and

pretentious.

The pretentious is always used in a negative connotation. In this situation the speaker wants to praise not criticise the writer of the essay.

4. Her grandfather gave her a loving slap on her face.

Slap means hitting with force. Instead, we can use words like creased, touched or patted to describe an affectionate and friendly action.

5. Every day I like to go footing after work. It’s good exercise and

it helps me to relax.

Footing should be replaced by jogging.

Task 23

In the following sentences, you can find the following examples of

collocation: 2 verb-noun collocations; 1 verb-preposition collocation;

1 adjective-noun collocation; 3 adverb-adjective collocations.

Underline and identify these different examples. Note: some

sentences contain more than one collocation.

1. Not only was he nice, but he was also strikingly handsome.

Strikingly handsome (adverb-adjective collocation)

2. After he got up, he made his bed and did some housework.

Got up (verb-preposition collocation) Made bed (verb-noun collocation) Did housework (verb-noun collocation)

3. It was absolutely fabulous!

Absolutely fabulous (adverb-adjective collocation)

4. They both really depend on each other.

Depend on (verb-preposition collocation)

5. Their farewell at the airport was highly emotional.

Highly emotional (adverb-adjective collocation)

6. She was caught in a vicious circle.

Task 24

Match the terms 1-3 with the definitions A-C.

Stress giving emphasis to one syllable

phoneme an individual sound

intonation the music of our voices

Task 25

Match the problems 1-3 with the outcomes A-C.

1. an individual sound is mispronounced B. the listener might understand bin when the speaker wanted to say .pin.

2. a request is made with very flat intonation C. the speaker can sound arrogant and demanding

3. the wrong syllable is stressed in a word A. the word is incomprehensible

Task 26

What are these words?

1. the 2. south 3. language 4. peaceful 5. young 6. coil 7. search 8. equations 9. sugar

Task 27

Where does the stress fall on the following words?

Guarantee Cavalry

Mechanisation Language Retreat

Speculative Success Balance Identity Articulate

Task 28

1. Mark the main stress on the words in the following ’word

family’. Why do you think nonnative speakers often experience

problems with these words?

photograph photography photographer photographic

2. Mark the stress in the following pairs of words. Can you

identify a pattern?

to record / a record to increase / an increase to present / a present to import / an import

In nouns with two syllables have stress on the first syllable whereas in verbs with two syllables the stress is on the second syllable.

Task 29

Underline the /W / in the following words:

mother forget announce tonight notable mention patrol Indicative

Section 3: Language Skills: Reading, Listening, Speaking

and Writing

Task 30

Think of all the texts you have read so far today and comment on

the way in which you have read these texts.

Exam paper draft Intensive/detailed reading

Face book feed Scan reading

Students’ assignments Intensive/detailed reading Route directions Skim/gist reading

Task 31

Below are some different text types. Think about which of the above

reading sub-skills we would use to read these texts.

An academic article we need to read for an essay we are writing.

Reading to infer

A telephone directory. Scan reading The editorial of a newspaper on a topic

we care about a lot.

Skim/gist reading

An advertisement for a job that might be suitable.

Intensive/detailed reading

Task 32

• What problems are there with this way of reading?

When a person is reading in the manner mentioned above, he can face several problems. To begin with, he will lose the actual meaning of the text. In this case, reader goes down to word level meaning of the text but misses out the overall meaning of the sentence or paragraph. Further, the reader gets meanings of all the difficult words at the expense of continuity. Moreover, he will take too many breaks while reading which can cost him a lot of time.

Task 33

• Make a list of reasons why you think non-native speakers might

find listening more challenging than reading.

Its true many non-native speakers find listening more difficult compared to reading. In my opinion, they try to understand each word of the text which makes it quite overwhelming. Secondly, listeners are usually translating the text which can let them lose track of the conversation being played. Thirdly, at times, listeners are not used to of the ascent used by the speakers in the audio being played.

Task 34

Think of three different situations in which you listened today. Make

a note of who you were listening to, your motivation for listening

and describe how you listened.

Who I was listening to Motivation for listening

How I listened

Radio on way to work low Tune in and out based what was being played Meeting with head of

department

Highly involved Listened very carefully and took all the details Student in my office

asking me to correct her email

Listening for the meaning Tried to collect main points from her conversation

Task 35

Match the above listening sub-skills to the following listening texts.

1. A lecture for a course you are taking at university.

Intensive listening

2. A sales pitch for a computer that doesn’t really interest you. However, you are at work and you can’t just walk out.

Scan listening

3. Announcements at a train station when you are waiting to hear the time of the next train to your destination.

Scan listening for all the announcements Intensive listening for announcement you are interested in

5. An interview with someone who is famous and whose political opinion you would like to find out about.

Skim/gist listening

6. A radio programme on a topic that is mildly interesting for you.

Skim/gist listening

Task 36

Think about this disparity between 2 years’ study of a language and

a lack of ability to speak. Why do you think this happens?

Spoken English or any other language can be easily compared with driving. You cannot learn driving by knowing all the rules and regulations for driving. You have to intensively practice driving in order to become an expert driver. Similarly, in a two-year course one can learn all the rules of language, but cannot become a fluent speaker unless he is provided with enough opportunities to practice verbal language skills. Moreover, most of the learners are not able to listen to native speaker in real situations in their country. For example, Saudi students learning English cannot practice their language skills in most of the offices and markets.

Task 37

Look at the following examples of learner language and decide

whether the student has managed to communicate successfully or

not.

1. Could I please have a ..? (learner gesticulates, indicating he is

unsure of the word)

This sentence does not successfully communicate about the word he wants to know about although grammar of the sentence is correct.

2. You come my house tonight? (said with rising intonation)

Grammatically this sentence is incorrect but it conveys the desired meaning.

3. Yesterday good time. Next week we see, no? (learner smiles)

This sentence is also grammatically incorrect, but to some extent conveys the meanings.

4.

A: How long have you been in New Zealand?

B: I stay here 5 weeks.

Use of pronoun ‘here’ has made the meaning ambiguous.

Task 38

Decide if the following descriptions of conversations are

transactional or interactional.

transactional 1. You ask a colleague if s/he would mind helping you with something. transactional 2. You offer to collect your neighbour’s mail while s/he is away on holiday. interactional 3. You comment on the weather to an acquaintance at a bus stop.

interactional 4. You visit a friend and spend time admiring and talking about his/her garden.

transactional 5. You participate in a university group tutorial that is useful for an essay you are writing.

interactional 6. You go out with your boss and other colleagues for a drink and a chat after work.

Task 39

Make a list of reasons why you think speaking fluency practice could

help learners’ language development.

• It helps them activate (practice) the language they have acquired.

• Practically, spoken language is used more compared to written language. • Helps students learn language used in different situation

Task 40

Which of the following characteristics would you associate with

spoken language (S) and which with written language (W).

1. Includes gesture and facial expression to back up the message. (S) 2. Uses punctuation to make the content easier to understand. (W)

3. Includes hesitation devices and fillers such as .yeah., .umm., .ah. etc. (S)

4. The communicator usually gets immediate feedback from the person they are communicating with. (S)

5. Is usually pre-prepared, although e-mail and text messages often are not. (W) 6. Uses pauses, stress and intonation to show where ideas begin and end. (S)

7. Is spontaneous and planning usually takes place in the moment of communicating. (S) 8. Suggests that meaning is static in the communication, although open to interpretation. (W) 9. The communicator may never find out what the person he is communicating with thinks of

11. Is usually smooth-flowing. (W)

12. Involves negotiation of meaning between the communicator and the person they are communicating with. (S)

Task 41

Look at the learner errors in the sentences below. Identify the

mistakes and try to decide why the learner made these mistakes.

1. She through the ball hard so it hurt when I court it. Wrong word with the same sound is used (correct: threw) 2. My brther livs in Swedn.

Vowels in the underlined words are missing because these vowels do not have prominent sount in the word.

3. However, hard I try it never works.

Punctuation mistake: we put a coma after ‘however’ when it is used to present a contrast between ideas.

4. first of all he invited me to sit down after that he offered me a coffee I was very surprised by his politeness

Above is run-on sentence with no punctuation marks. This kind of error is made by a person who can fluently speak English.

Task 42

1. Look at the samples of learners. writing below and identify the

difficulties encountered by these learners and other learners

whose first language do not have a Roman script.

There are several problems encountered by persons whose native language does not have roman script. Firstly, they face problem writing from left to right as a result at times they write inverse letters. Secondly, many learners find difficulty in capitalization and punctuations. Finally, these learners are not able maintain appropriate size of letters and they are also not able to write in straight lines.

2. Suggest some activities that teachers can use to help students

to develop basic writing skills.

PPP approach of teaching should be used for these students. These students should be presented with handwritten scripts of native language users at the beginning stage. Later, they should be asked to copy these scripts on four-lined pages and then single lined pages. Finally, free writing tasks should be given to these students to help them improve their handwriting skills.

 Running dictation

 Gapped text exercises

Section 4 Planning and Resources

Task 43

Below are some extracts from lesson plans. Decide which part of the

lesson plan (1-7 above) they may come from.

Probably from Extract

Personal aim a. I’d like to smile more and create a better rapport today. Interaction pattern b. Students → Students in pairs

Stage aim c. By the end of the lesson students will be able to use a range of adjectives to describe someone’s personality.

Procedure d. Teacher hands out text and gives a different set of questions to each group.

Anticipated problems and solutions

e. Some students may find the pronunciation of several words quite difficult. I must make sure I use lots of repetition.

Stage aim f. To get students interested in the topic of the listening text.

Task 44

Resource Can be used for

1. Published course book f. Developing students’ language and skills in a structured way and allowing them to review at home 2. Cassette or CD player g. Developing students. listening skills with specially

prepared or real materials

3. Newspapers in English b. Developing students. ability to read real texts

4. Internet e. Finding information on a particular topic area and developing reading skills

5. Overhead Projector (OHP) i. Showing pre-prepared work on a large screen for clarity 6. Whiteboard h. Writing down new words for students to focus on, making the form, meaning or pronunciation features of a language area clear

7. TV/radio d. Developing students. ability to listen to authentic speech

individual needs

9. Dictionaries a. Encouraging students to expand their vocabulary and to find out about new words on their own

Section 5 Developing Teaching Skills and Professionalism

Task 45

Below are some instructions given by teachers. In each case the

group of learners had difficulty following the instructions. For each

one write:

Why do you think the difficulty occurred?

How could you give the same instruction in a more effective way? 1. Jot that down. Advanced language is

used

Please write it on your notebooks.

2. I wonder if you’d mind just looking at question number 4 and then if you could just answer it.

language is quite complicated

Please answer question number 4.

3. I’d like you to read the text on page 4 and answer the first three, then compare your answers with the person next to you. After that write a short summary of the story and discuss this with your partner.

Instruction is quite long. It should be broken down into smaller instructions and should be sequenced with students’ progress.

1. Please read the text on page 4.

2. Answer question 1, 2 and 3.

3. Compare your answers in pairs.

4. Write a short summary of the story and discuss with your partner.

4. Look at the question at the bottom of the page and think about an answer.

It is an ambiguous instruction and does not include a productive command.

Answer the last question on the page.

Task 46

Imagine you are the teacher of the students who made the

comments below. How would you respond to them?

1. I don’t want to work in a group because I will only learn mistakes from other students. Off course, you will get to know about the mistakes but you will learn not to repeat these mistakes. You will be able to exchange your knowledge and generate new ideas. Plus, you will get a chance to speak in English.

2. I wish you could translate more words into my language.

Translating words in your language would be definitely helpful now, but this will be disadvantageous for you in long run. You will always think in your language and then translate into English. If you want to be good at English, you should practice thinking in English.

3. Please don’t ask me to work with that student. I don’t like people from her country. O Really!! There are good and band people in every country. You can never generalize people based on their nationality. As far as I know she is a very nice person. Look at her, she is smiling even now and I am sure you two can make friends.

4. Could we just talk in class and not use any books?

We will surely have lots of speaking activities, but we cannot ignore the book. This book will actually provide use with many ideas related to speaking. For example, we have chapter on phone calls and I planning to have role play activity in which you can apply the concepts learned in the chapter.

Task 47

Below is a description of an activity you might use in a language

learning classroom. Read it and describe:

• How you would arrange the classroom to carry out the activity (position of desks, chairs, students and teacher)

I would like to arrange desk at the rear end in my class as shown in the diagram below. Students performing role of information desk assistants are going to take seats while students inquiring about the information will be able to move from one desk to other freely. Teacher is going to stay near the whiteboard and observe the speaking activity.

• What resources you could use to make the activity more effective (pictures, real objects, handouts, music, etc.)

I would use a few resources for this activity. Information desk students will be provided with handouts containing information. They would be allowed to convey the information only verbally. Each information desk will be provided with queue tokens in order to avoid any potential clash among the students seeking information. Besides that, each information desk will have its own poster containing some graphics and course name.

• Any problems about the organisation of the activity that you could anticipate.

In absence of tokens, clashes among the students can occur if they are not patient enough to wait for their turn. Moreover, additional time will be required to setup class at the beginning and end of the activity.

Task 48

You notice that your students have been confusing certain areas of

language. You decide to have a lesson focusing on these different

areas. Describe how you would make the differences clear to your

students. Try to avoid long explanations and use as many different

ways as possible (pictures, stories, diagrams, miming, etc).

• Different meanings 1. Slim / thin

Pictures will be quite handy in explaining the difference between slim and thin. It would be easy to demonstrate that thin has a negative meaning and slim has a positive context.

2. To wink / to blink

Difference between a blink and a wink can be practically demonstrated through role playing.

3. I used to get up early / I am used to getting up early

We can use diagrams and time line along with sentences to show the difference. E.g. ‘I used to wake up early in 2010’ and ‘I am used to getting up early’ (routine). 4. Nervous / upset

Miming with dialogues would suitable to explain the difference 5. 4 weeks ago / 4 weeks before

4 week ago = 4 weeks before (now)

• Different pronunciation 6. I do it / I’ll do it

I will use other contraction to explain pronunciation she’ll, he’ll, they’ll, it’ll etc. And compare it with I’ll

7. Read (present tense) / read (past tense)

I will speak some words sound /i:/ e.g. lead, bead and then ask them to pronounce read (present tense) then I will present word “red” to the students and tell that it has same sound as read (past simple) /e/

8. Put / putt

9. Record (noun) / record (verb)

I will write on the board “rec-cord” and “re-cord” to distinguish between the two words

10. Live (verb) / live (something happening now)

I will use word families to distinguish between pronunciations of two words. Live (verb) belongs to family give, and live (happening now) belongs to hive, five, revive etc.

Task 49

Below are descriptions of two activities used by teachers. In 1 the

teacher was trying to develop students’ reading skills; in 2 the

teacher was trying to develop the students’ speaking skills. Neither

activity was very successful. Read the descriptions and:

• Explain why you think the activities were not very successful in

developing the students. reading/speaking skills

• Describe two activities (one for reading, one for speaking) that

you think would develop those skills.

Reading

Read-text-aloud activity was not successful because it only helps students in reading words with correct pronunciation but it fails at developing reading comprehension. None of the reading skills (skimming, scanning or inference) were developed through this activity.

Teacher begins a reading lesson with general discussion about the topic. It helps create interest about the topic among students. Then teacher introduces essential vocabulary.

the text strips in correct order. Groups compare the sequence with each other once they have arranged their own strips.

Later, teachers give them a multiple choice question sheet which includes some of the following question types:

• pronoun reference • suggest a suitable title • scanning for information

• find a word with given meaning • inference questions

Speaking: Living in the city

Speaking activities usually require some preparation from teachers. Speaking activities cannot be started with discussion directly. It is difficult for people to collect their thoughts and start discussion immediately. That is the main reason why this speaking activity didn’t take off and students requested to ‘write something about it for homework.’

In my opinion, we should use a staged activity for speaking. At stage 1, teacher introduces the topic “Living in the city” and introduces some vocabulary words by writing them on board.

Stage 2: teacher divides the class into groups of fours and distributes a picture depicting city life. Students are then asked to discuss about pictures given within group.

Stage 3: teacher puts up the expressions below on board and asks one member from each group to give a short talk using as many expressions on the board as possible. The group that uses highest number of expressions will be the winner.

Task 50

Consider how the following form part of a teacher’s professionalism:

•

confidentiality

It is an integral part of professionalism. Teachers have a great deal of information about students and institution they are working with. This information should not shred with outsiders.

•

setting standards

Setting standards is important both for personal development and fair student assessment. Generating rubrics for various assessments (speaking, writing etc.) can

•

Punctuality

Punctuality plays an important role in class management. Arriving and leaving organisation on time can save your impression and the precious minutes lost here and there.

•

course planning/review

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Course materials and level of course should be planned well in advance in order to provide effective teaching.

•

record keeping

There are various forms of record keeping which are necessary for a professional teacher e.g. Attendance record of the students, lesson plan record, students’ assessment record. This record keeping helps in proper and effective teaching

•

assessment

To keep a track of students progress and provide students with a feedback •

team work

Teachers is most of the organisations have to work with and along many other staff member in an organisation. Cordial relation and team spirit is very helpful in conducting effective classes

•

relationship with students

The phenomenon of teaching revolves around link between teacher and student. I would count this aspect of professionalism of prime importance. Learning may not take place if a teacher has all other qualities but lacks in this area.

•

cultural awareness

Cultural awareness would play a supportive role in a teacher’s professionalism. A culturally aware person would be able to develop report with management of organisation and students with ease. Moreover, it would reduce stress for the teacher himself as he or she would be able to adjust and know what to expect in certain situation.

•

self-development

Teachers of all subject areas should keep abreast with new developments to be able to meet students’ requirements effectively. It would help them acquire new skills and refresh the ones they already possess.

•

school/college policies and rules (including equal opportunities and health and safety)

It is highly important to follow policies, rules and regulations set by organisation you are working with. These regulations have direct effect on your class conduct, curriculum, classroom management and even assessments.