British Council Resources II

The following resources are designed by members of the British Council and are meant to be implemented thorughout LINGUAVENTURAS, ESL

Project from SED

SESSION AIM

• By the end of this session you will have clarity about the procedure you must follow for the microteaching

assignment.

ELEMENTS YOUR MICROTEACHING SHOULD INCLUDE

• a WARM UP to allow your students switch from a Spanish speaking environment to an English class.

• AIMS to guide the activities and to let students know what they are expected to do and achieve by the end of the lesson.

• a formal PRESENTATION of the target language. Use one of the techniques reviewed earlier.

STEPS TO PLAN YOUR MICRO TEACHING

ELEMENTS YOUR MICROTEACHING SHOULD INCLUDE

• A COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITY to allow students use the language studied during the lesson.

• A WRAP UP activity in which you can provide students with feedback and finish the lesson.

STEPS TO PLAN YOUR MICRO TEACHING

AIMS

• By the end of this session you will • have a clearer understanding of the differences between LBL

and TBL.• analyzed TBL framework from a practical example• be better able to plan lessons with the TBL approach

CONDITIONS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING

Exposure Use

Motivation Instruction

The TBL Framework

LANGUAGE FOCUSAnalysis Practice

TASK CYCLETask Planning Report

PRE -TASK

Introduction to topic and task

What is a task?

A task is an activity "where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome.“

Jane Willis

TYPES OF TASKS (1)

ListingSequencing

Comparing

TYPES OF TASKS (2)

Problem solving Narrating

Creative Tasks

COMPARING APPROACHES

Language Based Learning (LBL)

• Language is learnt by building up discrete blocks. Linear.

Task Based Learning (TBL)

• Language is learnt in the struggle to communicate.

• Non-linear.

FEATURES OF TBL APPROACH

• The central focus of the lesson is the task itself, not a grammar point or a lexical area.

• The objective is not to ‘learn the structure’ but to ‘complete the task’.

• The language, therefore becomes an instrument of communication, whose purpose is to help complete the task successfully.

• The students can use any language they need to reach their objective. Usually there is no ‘correct answer’ for a task outcome. Students decide on their own way of completing it, using the language they see fit.

ADVANTAGES OF TBL

• TBL model allows students to focus on real communication before doing any serious language analysis.

• It focuses on students’ needs by putting them into authentic communicative situations and allowing them to use all their language resources to deal with them.

• It makes learners aware of their needs and encourages them to take (some of the) responsibility for their own learning.

• Learners are exposed to a wide variety of language and not just grammar.

ADVANTAGES OF TBL• Unlike LBL (a PPP approach), students are free

of language control.

• A natural context is developed from the students’ experiences with the language.

• Students will have a much more varied exposure to language. • It is a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of time communicating.

• It is enjoyable and motivating.

MAKING TASKS WORK1) Treat tasks primarily as an opportunity for

communication.

2) Adapt them to suit your class.

3) Set the final objective clearly before students start preparing

4) Give students time to think and plan.

5) Feed in ‘useful language’

6) Make notes for further input and correction after the task.

SESSION AIMS

•By the end of this session you will…

• have gotten a better understanding of the methodologies and techniques that can be used to plan and develop classes in the immersion rooms.

• count on a wider variety of ways of structuring a class and give your students the chance to become familiar with English.

HOW MANY TEACHING APPROACHES CAN YOU IDENTIFY?

• ARC

• PPP

• TTT

• PBL

• TBL

AUTHENTICATION

RESTRICTED

CLARIFICATION

ARCIt stands for AUTHENTIC, RESTRICTED AND CLARIFICATION was developed by Jim Scrivener, not as a teaching method but rather as a means to examine the different stages in a lesson and evaluate them in terms of what the students get out of them. The idea is that every lesson should have an appropriate balance of activities that can be categorised as above.

Authentic activities are those in which the language is not restricted. They can be either receptive or productive activities. An example of receptive would be a relatively authentic reading or listening which exposes students to natural English. Productive would be a speaking activity with a focus on fluency, where the student has free choice of language rather than practicing specific structures. Communicative activities are authentic.

Restricted activities are those which restrict the students to using specific linguistic items, such as specific lexis or grammatical structures. Typical activities might include gap fills or substitution drills (i.e. the students use the grammatical form in a different way). Controlled practice activities are restricted.

Clarification refers to any activity in which the language is explained to the students. It could simply be explanations of grammar or lexis provided by the teacher, or it could be students discovering meanings and/or rules for themselves through guided discovery.

PRESENTATION

PRACTICE

PRODUCTION

WHAT IS PRESENTATION – PRACTICE – PRODUCTION? Presentation – Practice – Production, or PPP, is a method for teaching structures (e.g. grammar or vocabulary) in a foreign language. As its name suggests, PPP is divided into three phases, moving from tight teacher control towards greater learner freedom. Note that some writers1 use the name to refer to a specific method that focuses on oral skills, but it can also be applied more broadly to a family of related methods which rely on the progression from presentation, through controlled practice, to free production.

TEST

TEACH

TEST

PROJECT

BASED

LEARNING

TASK

BASED

LEARNING

What is TBL?

The primary focus of classroom activity is the task and language is the instrument which the students use to complete it. The task is an activity in which students use language to achieve a specific outcome. The activity reflects real life and learners focus on meaning, they are free to use any language they want. Playing a game, solving a problem or sharing information or experiences, can all be considered as relevant and authentic tasks. In TBL an activity in which students are given a list of words to use cannot be considered as a genuine task. Nor can a normal role play if it does not contain a problem-solving element or where students are not given a goal to reach. In many role plays students simply act out their restricted role. For instance, a role play where students have to act out roles as company directors but must come to an agreement or find the right solution within the given time limit can be considered a genuine task in TBL.