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Catedra de Limba si Literatura engleză Methodology, English majors, year II

TEACHER, CLASSROOM AND SCHOOL

Introduction A course in EFL Methodologyis the initial step on the journey of professional development in which your teaching skills develop alongside an emerging understanding of the teaching and learning process and the education system in which it operates. This journey of discovery may come to an end only when you retire, as teachers are expected to undertake further professional development throughout their career.

This course will enable you to start developing your personal understanding of the teaching and learning process, it will help you acieve a grasp of the nature, significance or explanation of what is going on in an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) class, comprehend your own practice better and develop into a reflective practitioner. A reflective teacher makes conscious decisions about teaching strategies and adjusts practice in the light of experience.

Society is constantly changing and, consequently, the demands society places on teachers change. As your career progresses you will understand you need new skills and knowledge about teaching and learning; so you can expect to continue to learn throughout your professional life. Professional development is a lifelong process which is based on input, regular reflection on practice and continuing education.

Teaching is a complex activity and is considered both an art and a science. Although certain elements of teaching can be mastered through learning and practice, not everything helps you to become an effective teacher, as there is no correct way of teaching, no single set of skills, techniques and procedures that can be mastered and applied mechanically. This is due to pupil individual differences and to the specific yet ever-changing teaching context in which teachers operate. Moreover, every teacher is an individual who brings something of their unique personality and style. An effective teacher is one who can integrate theory with practice, use personal professional judgement and use structured reflection to improve practice. However, establishing a productive learning environment is a big challenge for teachers. For beginning teachers, it may be the primary concern. Studies show that nearly half of the teachers who leave the profession during the first three years do so because of problems with managing pupils and their learning. Based on the theoretical input that this course offers, on the practical experience that you will start to accumulate during your practical training, and your own reflective activity you will begin to develop your own theory of teaching and learning. More theoretical input will come from tutors and other teachers and print- and web-based resources. Some theory will also arise from practice as every teacher has a theory of how to teach effectively and of how pupils learn. Even if some teachers do not spend a lot of time examining their own views and practices, or they cannot articulate their philosophy, even if they are not fully aware of it, this is implicit in what they do.

Everyone has their own view of what teachers do; this is partially formed by their own experience as learners, the literary and media-inspired images and the passage of time. The fact is that nobody enters teaching as a blank slate: you have all experienced education yourselves and this has shaped your particular views of what teachers are and do. These views are central to your development as a teacher, although not all of them are valid or useful in the current school system and the demands it places on teachers. The views of what teachers are and do are social and cultural constructs and vary from culture to culture, from one social groups to another and across eras. However, ther will always be at least three categories of people interested in what teachers do: teachers, pupils, and parents.

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This course unit and the next will help you establish and maintain a productive and orderly learning environment, i.e. a classroom that is safe, orderly and focussed on learning. Such an environment will enable your pupils to feel safe and to learn as much as possible. Their shared classroom routines, values, expectations, learning experiences, rules and procedures will increase their engagement, their sense of autonomy and will enhance the use of the instructional time. All this will result in their improved achievement and motivation and in your job satisfaction.

After you have completed the study of this unit, you should be able to:

• explain what a professional teacher is; • explain how you can enable your pupils to learn English more happily and effectively • describe how the class atmosphere can assist language learning • identify the qualities of a good learner of English • identify essential teaching skills that help promote learning • identify the talents and skills of a good teacher of English • explain how creating and teaching rules can eliminate management problems

Key Concepts: professionalism in teaching, teacher’s pastoral role, productive and orderly learning environment, formal classroom learning, teaching vs. learning, characteristics of classroom activities, good English learner profile, building a good atmosphere, means for including all pupils in the activities, types of knowledge needed by the teacher, types of classroom time, essential teaching skills, language ability, practical classroom skills, factors affecting learning, guidelines for beginning the school year, establishing classroom rules

The Teacher as Individual and as Professional There are as many ways of being an effective teacher as there are effective

teachers. Your initial teacher education will provide opportunities for you to explore individually what kind of teacher you wish to be, to understand the context in which you will be working and the demands placed upon you as a teacher.

Think First! Before continuing to read this text, think back to your own

schooldays and the teachers you had. What do you remember about them? What did they do? Who are the teachers you most liked and why? Which teachers did you least like and why?

Almost certainly the answers you have just given identify personality issues: enthusiasm, intelligence, humour, disinterest, eccentricity, conformity, efficiency, incompetence, or professionalism, as teaching is a personal profession.

Generally speaking, a ‘professional’ is someone whose work involves performing a certain function with some degree of expertise. However, a narrower definition limits the term to apply to people such as teachers, doctors, and lawyers, whose expertise involves not only skill and knowledge but also the exercise of highly sophisticated judgement, and whose accreditation necessitates extensive study, university-based, as well as practical experience.

One opposite of ‘professional’ is ‘lay’. While members of a professional group posses certain skills, knowledge, and conventions, the lay population do not have these.

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Professionals communicate between themselves employing vocabulary that is not readily comprehensible to a lay person. For instance, an English teacher’s jargon includes words and formulas such as: cloze, i+1, TEFL, L2, EAP, ESP, AmE, BrE, CAE, etc. The professional community of English teachers has developed means of consolidating relationships between its members and created opportunities for them to benefit from each other’s knowledge, such as associations (IATEFL, RATE, MATE, TESOL) and conferences. More opportunities for self development are offered by thinking critically about yourself, by identifying aspects of your professional performance which you want to improve. Opportunities for self-development may also be offered by attending refresher courses, classes in art, music or drama, by joining a local library, arranging to work with teacher colleagues, finding out what local organisations exist and asking what they can do to help, reading books about teaching, etc.

Another opposite of ‘professional’ is ‘amateur’. The difference between the two is based on consistent differences in performance in the field, involving the quality of preparatory and ongoing learning, standards and commitment.

Professionalism means preparing oneself to do a competent job through learning, including preservice and in-service courses, reflection on experience, reading, observation, discussions with colleagues, writing, research. Such learning continues throughout the professional’s working life. The professional also recognises certain standards: of knowledge (of the subject and of its methodology), of dedication and hard work, of behaviour and of relationships with learners and parents and other professionals. Some of these standards are maintained through compulsory examinations and nationally and/or internationally recognised qualifications.

A third opposite of ‘professional’ is ‘technician’. The technician, craftsman, or artisan performs certain acts with skill and becomes more skilful as time goes on, through practice. The professional has not only to acquire certain skills, but also to be able to take courses of action that are based on knowledge and thought, as distinct from automatic routines. Beyond this, s/he has to understand the principles underlying both automatic and consciously designed action, and be able to articulate them, relate them to each other, and innovate. We could say that a native English speaker is a technician, in the sense that s/he is skilled in speaking English.

Yet another opposite term of ‘professional’ may be ‘academic’. An academic can be defined as a researcher, lecturer, and writer, usually based in a university. A teacher is essentially a bringer-about of real-world change; s/he prioritises real-time action whereas the academic prioritises thought. The distinction is thus one of emphasis and priorities rather than of substance. Research and thinking by the academic may not always apply or be relevant to professional practice while ‘what works’ for a professional may not be for the academic a worthwhile or generalisable scientific hypothesis. There is, obviously much to learn from one another but the priorities are definitely different.

Above all, the English teacher is in principle a professional. They cannot only speak the language, but can also explain why it works the way it does and what different bits of it mean, and knows how to ‘mediate’ it to learners in a form that they can grasp and learn. The teacher also knows how to manage classrooms and relationships. All these are thoughtfully evolved and flexible sets of professional behaviours. The combination of these kinds of knowledge enables the experienced teacher to make informed and appropriate real-time decisions. The teacher is essentially a professional engaged in bringing about real-world change, who may on occasion undertake academic research. The two endeavours are different, but mutually beneficial and equally to be respected.

The teacher’s job is first and foremost to ensure that pupils learn. The English teacher’s first and foremost job is to ensure that pupils learn English. To a large extent, what the pupils should learn is determined though legislation and the requirements are

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set out in the national curriculum and various other national documents. On the other hand, how you teach so that pupils learn effectively (i.e. methods, approaches, strategies, activities, interaction patterns, some of the materials used) is left to the judgment of the individual teacher. There is no single, correct way to teach. For effective learning to take place, a whole range of approaches, from formal to experiential, can be used.

On the surface, teaching may appear to be a relatively simple process and many people think that school and learning only mean a teacher standing at the front of the class ‘teaching’ and the pupils sitting in rows listening and ‘learning’. This kind of perception is based on several assumptions. One assumption is that most of the learning takes place in the classroom.

However, throughout the world, the majority of English language learning takes place outside the classroom. Learners are exposed to English in the course of their everyday life: they interact with other English speakers, listen to the radio and TV, read newspapers, write letters, socialize, etc., in a word, they do things with English. This process of learning often involves five steps: (1) doing something; (2) recalling what happened; (3) reflecting on that; (4) drawing conclusions; (5) using those conclusions to inform and prepare for future practical experience:

The experiential learning circle (after Scrivener, 2008:3)

Information, guidance and support from other people may come in at any of the five steps of the cycle (the experiential learning cycle), but the essential learning experience is in doing the thing yourself. And yet, formal classroom learning may suit better some kinds of learners. These prefer that the responsibility of learning be taken away from them.

As an English teacher, you must bear in mind that you are responsible for organising the learning of all pupils within the classroom, but you must also train them in good strategies to enable them to continue learning outside the classroom. You must develop in your pupils habits of independence and autonomy, preparing them to organise their own learning and to exploit other sources of language outside the classroom.

Another assumption is that the teacher is the ‘knower’ and has the task of passing over this knowledge to the pupils. This is sometimes characterised as ‘jug and mug’ – the knowledge being poured from one receptacle into another empty one. There seems to be yet another assumption here: having something explained or demonstrated will automatically lead to learning.

However, when the teacher is ‘teaching’, it is unclear how much ‘learning’ is taking place. In fact, ‘teaching’ and ‘learning’ need to be clearly distinguished. It is quite possible for a teacher to put great effort in to his/her teaching and for no learning to take place; similarly, a teacher could apparently be doing nothing, but the students be learning a great deal.

do

prepare recall

conclude reflect

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Think first!

Before reading on, make a list of the thoughts that may be present in the pupils’ heads while the teacher is teaching. Here are a few suggestions:

I’m not involved at all. I’m tired of sitting on this chair. I haven’t said anything for hours. Long explanations are so dull – I just turn off. I don’t understand – and now she’s talking about something else. I’d rather do something different. Teacher’s going too fast. It’s not an interesting subject. I’m not doing anything myself.

Could you add a few more ‘positive’ thoughts?

Actually, what happens is that each pupil will receive his/her own lesson. Teaching is only one factor in what is learned. As a teacher, one cannot learn for

her/his students. Only they can do that. What the teacher can do is to help create the conditions in which they might be able to learn. This means involving the students, enabling them to work at their own speed, by not giving long explanations, by encouraging them to participate, talk, interact, etc. In the classroom, frequency, pace and order of exposure to English is determined by a syllabus and/or a coursebook, and the teacher determines the learning activities. The control by the teacher of the organization of the classroom provides support to the learners lacking in motivation or confidence. Nevertheless, the same control may be a source of frustration to other learners, who know both what and how they want to learn.

Teacher’s Roles Being a teacher involves the assumption of two important roles: organising learning (an academic role) and guiding and supervising pupils (a pastoral one). The academic role encompasses a variety of activities including:

• subject teaching • lesson preparation • setting and marking of homework • monitoring pupil progress • assessing pupil progress in a variety of ways, including marking tests and exams • writing reports • recording achievement • working as part of a subject team • curriculum development and planning • undertaking visits, field courses • reporting to parents • planning and implementing school policies • extra-curricular activities • being an examiner for public examination boards • keeping up to date, and so on

(after Capel, Leask and Turner 2009: 13) Apart from the academic aspect, another aspect of teaching is the pastoral one. A

teacher is not only an expert in a subject but also a responsible adult in charge of the

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spiritual and moral welfare of the pupils. In this role, which may vary from school to school, you may be involved in pastoral actions (“dirigenţie”) that include:

• getting to know pupils as individuals • helping pupils with problems; • being responsible for a form (being a classmaster/classmistress) • registering the class, following up absence • monitoring sanctions and rewards given to form members • reinforcing school rules and routines, e.g. on behaviour • writing reports, ensuring records of achievement and/or profiles are up to date • teaching lessons of personal, social and health education • organising house keeping activities • liaising with parents • ensuring school information is conveyed to parents via pupils • giving careers and subject guidance • extra-curricular activities, e.g. educational trips • liaising with other schools (e.g. primary, upper-secondary)

Professional Expertise Classroom teaching is only the visible part of the job of the teacher. The invisible

foundations of the teacher’s work are, according to Capel, Leask and Toner, 2009, professional knowledge and professional judgement (routines, skills, strategies which support effective teaching). A teacher’s professional expertise includes:

• planning of a sequence of lessons to ensure learning progresses and planning for a specific lesson

• evaluation of precious lesson • planning and preparation for the lesson • established routines and procedures which ensure that the work of the class

proceeds as planned • personality, including the teacher’s ability to capture and hold the interest of the

class, to establish their authority • professional knowledge such as subject content knowledge: pedagogic

knowledge about effective teaching and learning; knowledge of learners; knowledge about the educational context in which you work

• professional judgement built up over time though reflection on experience. (Capel, Leask, Turner, 2009: 12) A teacher is expected to develop confidence and higher levels of competence in all

these areas. Teaching requires you to transform the professional knowledge and judgement you posses into suitable tasks which lead to learning. This is sometimes called ‘pedagogic knowledge’. Knowing a lot about your subject does not automatically make you into an effective teacher.

Think first!

Before reading the following section, make a list of the knowledge and skills that you consider to be essential for any teacher.

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Professional knowledge is built from a number of different components:

• Content knowledge: the content that is to be taught (important concepts and skills, and knowing how the concepts and skills are structured and organised within the subject).

• General pedagogic knowledge: broad principles and strategies of classroom management and organisation that apply irrespective of the subject.

• Curriculum knowledge: the materials and programmes that serve as ‘tools of the trade’ for teachers.

• Pedagogical content knowledge: the knowledge of what makes effective teaching and deep learning (the basis for the selection, organisation and presentation of the content); the integration of content and pedagogy for teaching the subject. This includes: knowledge about the purposes of teaching a subject at different grade levels; knowledge of pupils’ understanding, conceptions and misconceptions; knowledge of curriculum materials available and knowledge of horizontal and vertical curricula; knowledge of instructional strategies.

• Knowledge of learners and their characteristics: age range (empirical and social knowledge), cognitive knowledge of learners, knowledge of child development, knowledge of a particular group of learners.

• Knowledge of educational context: knowledge of a specific school, catchment area, the wider community.

• Knowledge of educational ends (aims), purposes, values and philosophical and historical influences: both short and long term goals of education and of a subject.

Knowing what kinds of knowledge a teacher needs to have is a starting point for thinking about the complexity of the profession and about the professional knowledge that you need to acquire.

• Knowledge of content. You should know not only English but also be familiar with the concepts used in the lessons and the skills the pupils are expected to acquire. You amass this knowledge from a variety of sources: your education at home, at school, at university, as well as though personal study and reading. All this knowledge will influence the amount and organisation of knowledge you have. Content knowledge is likely to be the area of greatest confidence for you as you begin teaching. You should seek to extend the range of your content knowledge, as this process supports your confidence for teaching and engages you with your subject on a personal level. However, it is way you transform this knowledge into effective teaching that is most important

• Pedagogical content knowledge. This a special amalgam between content and pedagogy; it goes beyond knowledge of content in the direction of knowledge for teaching: the ways of representing and formulating the subject that makes it comprehensible to others. It involves knowledge of the most regularly taught topics, the most useful forms of representations of those ideas, the most powerful analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations, and demonstrations. It includes how you build assessment into your planning so that feedback enhances your understanding of pupil learning and enables you to plan the next lesson.

• General pedagogical knowledge. This is the body of knowledge and understanding that you need for the effective transformation of your content knowledge into meaningful learning activities for pupils. This knowledge consists of broad principles and strategies that are designed to guide classroom instruction, organisation and management: settling a class, managing the learning environment for effective learning, managing resources and other equipment, gaining and sustaining the attention and interest of the class, encouraging the disaffected, supporting the less able and extending the most able). It also requires you to adopt your content knowledge, planning for the

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immediate demands of teaching. You should know how to organise orderly classrooms and use questioning skills that involve your pupils and lead to thorough understanding. You also need to consider carefully how you should introduce pupils to processes (e.g. writing reports or essays). By broadening your general pedagogic knowledge, your classroom becomes a more varied and stimulating place for yourself and your pupils.

• Curriculum knowledge. This is the full range of programmes designed for the teaching of particular subjects and topics at a given level (“programa analitică”), the variety of instructional materials available in relation to those programmes and the set of characteristics that serve as both the indications and contraindications for the use of particular curriculum or programme materials in particular circumstances. It includes knowledge of the subject national curriculum and the requirements of public examinations, such as the baccalureate.

• Knowledge of learners and their charactersitics. There are different kinds of knowledge of the learner. These include empirical or social knowledge of learners, (i.e., what children of a particular age range are like, how they behave in classrooms and school, their interests and preoccupations, their social nature, how contextual factors affect their work (e.g. weather, time of the day) and the nature of the pupil – teacher relationship. To these could be added the cognitive knowledge of the learners: knowledge of child development and knowledge of the particular group(s) of learners that you work with. This is a kind of knowledge that grows from regular contact with these learners, of what they can and cannot know, do or understand. For instance, you should be able to understand when your pupils need concrete examples and what kind of tasks increase motivation and learning.

• Knowledge of educational context. This refers to all settings where learning takes place: schools, classrooms, nursery settings, universities, colleges, and the broader educational context of the community and society. This knowledge ranges from the workings of the group, classroom, school administration, to the character of communities and cultures. It includes the range of teachiong contexts which affect the development and classroom performance. These include the type and size of school, the catchment area, the class size, the extent and quality of support for teachers, the amount of feedback teachers receive on their performance, the quality of relationships in the school, and the expectations and attitudes of the headteacher, as well as school policies, the curriculum and assessment processes, monitoring and reporting, safety, school rules and expecations of pupils and the ‘hidden’ and ‘informal’ curriculum which includes the values demonstrated to pupils through the way the school is run.

• Knowledge of educational ends (aims), purposes, values and philosophical and historical influences. This includes the values and priorities which shape the education pupils receive. Teaching has both short-term goals for a lesson or a series of lessons, while education has long-term purposes (such as producing educated people who can serve efficiently the needs of society).

All the aspects of professional knowledge are brought together in a personal construct. This includes your values and assumptions about English (in your case) which provides the basis of your work as a teacher. Positive attitudes are also fundamental to effective teaching as personal teaching efficacy, energy, enthusiasm, caring and high expectations promote pupil motivation.

Besides all the types of knowledge and attitudes, there are basic abilities that all teachers should have to promote order and learning in the classroom.

Basic English Teaching Skills Language Ability. Fluency and accuracy in English do not make anyone

automatically into a successful teacher of English. Many good teachers of English have a

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limited command of English. However, these teachers may have the advantage of understanding better their pupils’ learning difficulties. The secret lies in being confident about your English without being embarrassed about your lack of greater knowledge. When your pupils will ask you What’s the English for ….? and you do not know the answer, it is better to say I don’t know, but I’ll find out for you rather than to try to avoid answering the question. Do not feel embarrassed that you do not know every word of English. Think of how many words of Romanian you do not know! We all continue to learn throughout our lives. What is important is to work on improving the quality of the English you use and want to teach your pupils. And there are lots of ways in which you can develop your language skills.

Think First!

Before reading the following section, write down in the space provided the answer to this question: “What ways of improving your classroom English can you think of now?”

Here are a few solutions:

• Make sure that you are familiar with the language in the lesson. The day before the class, prepare the lesson by speaking out the words, phrases, and sentences, so that you can hear how they sound. See if there are words which you have difficulty in pronouncing, and try to get them right. If there is a cassette to be used with the book, listen to the recording too, as this can help with pronunciation.

• If you can, have regular meetings with other teachers of English to help each other with the preparation of classes, and share with them your difficulties and your successes. You may soon discover that each of you can gain something from the experience of the others. There are also teachers’ clubs (“cercuri”) or teachers’ centres (“CCDs”) where you may check up on anything you are unsure of by asking colleagues or experts.

SAQ

How big an advantage is, in your opinion, the knowledge of an English-speaking country? Explain why you think this is so.

Effective communication. There is a strong link between effective

communication, pupil achievement and pupil satisfaction. The way you interact with pupils influences their motivation and attitudes toward school in general and English in particular. Four aspects of effective communication are especially important: precise terminology, connected discourse, transition signals and emphasis.

• Precise terminology is language without vague terms, which would leave the pupils with a sense of uncertainty and detract them from learning.

• Connected discourse is talk that leads to a point. If the point of a lesson is not clear, if your talk is sequenced inappropriately, if incidental information is included, discourse becomes disconnected. Keep your lessons on track, minimising time spent on matters unrelated to the topic.

• Transition signals indicate that one idea or activity is ending and another is

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beginning (e.g. All right, now we’ll turn to…). They alert the pupils that the lesson is making a shift and allow them to adjust and get prepared.

• Emphasis consists of verbal (e.g. Listen carefully now…) and vocal cues (such as raising the voice) and repetition, which alert pupils to important information in a lesson.

SAQ

What practical implications may terminology, connected discourse, transition signals, and emphasis have for teachers?

Introductory focus attracts pupils’ attention and provides a framework for the lesson. In addition, it can increase motivation by arousing curiosity. In an English lesson you can use concrete objects, pictures, models, materials displayed around the room, information written on the board – all meant to maintain pupils’ attention during learning activities. Use objects, photos, maps, charts, etc. to provide introductory and sensory focus during your lessons.

Using questions, you can guide learning rather than simply deliver information. By questioning you can assess pupil background knowledge, cause pupils to rethink their ideas, help them form relationships. You can also involve shy pupils, recapture pupils’ wandering attention, promote success, and enhance self-esteem. Questioning can also maintain the pace and momentum of a lesson. Effective questioning

• is frequent • is equitably distributed • uses prompting • allows adequate wait-time

Giving feedback. The information pupils receive about the accuracy or appropriateness of their responses and work is crucial in promoting learning. Feedback gives pupils information about the validity of their knowledge or skills. It also helps them to elaborate on their existing understanding. Feedback is also important for motivation because it provides pupils with information about their increasing competence. Effective feedback has four essential characteristics:

• it is immediate or given soon after a pupil response • it is specific • it provides corrective information for the learner • it has a positive emotional tone

The teacher needs to provide feedback throughout all learning experiences. SAQ

Look at the following teacher – pupil dialogue. Which of the characteristics of feedback listed above is not illustrated by this dialogue:

Mr. B: What kind of an animal is shown in the picture, Jill? Jill: A panther. Mr. B: Not quite. Help her out, … Betty?

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Lesson structuring. Lessons are more coherent when review and closure are used to summarise and pull ideas together. Review is a summary that helps pupils link what they have already learned to what will follow in the next activity. It emphasizes important points and encourages elaboration. It can occur at any point in a lesson, although it is common at the beginning and end. Closure is a form of review that occurs at the end of a lesson. It pulls content together and signals the end of the lesson.

Begin and end each class with a short review. Guide the review with questioning. For instance, say “We studied present perfect yesterday. Give me an example that illustrates this, and explain why your example is correct.”

These skills are interdependent as none is effective alone, but only in combination with the others. Their interaction and integration are crucial.

Managing classroom time. You should know how to increase learning by using time efficiently. Different types of classroom time influence learning in different ways:

Type of classroom time

Description

Allocated time The amount of time a teacher uses for a content area or topic Instructional time The amount of time left for teaching after routine management

and administrative tasks are completed Engaged time The amount of time pupils are actively involved in learning

activities Academic learning time

The amount of time pupils are actively involved in learning activities during which they are successful.

As you move from allocated time to academic learning time, the correlation with learning becomes stronger. Unfortunately, teachers do not always use time effectively. Some teachers seem unaware of the importance of time, viewing it as something to be filled or even ‘killed’. In order to increase learning, you should increase instructional, engaged, and academic learning time to make as much use of the allocated time as possible.

Organisation determines how efficiently time is used. It includes starting on time, preparing materials in advance, establishing routines, etc. Routines reduce the load of your working effort and memory, save your energy, and create a sense of order and equilibrium in your classroom.

To check on your organisation and communication skills, you can ask another teacher to visit your class and observe your language and nonverbal communication or to see how many minutes you spend before actually beginning instruction. You can also ask your colleague to see whether you clearly emphasise the important points in the lesson, sequence the presentation logically, communicate changes in topics or the way you give feedback.

Besides knowledge, attitudes and essential teaching skills that are common to teachers of all subjects, the teachers of English can use successfully a variety of other abilities, skills and talents. Moreover, as a teacher you should be aware of the factors affecting learning. This awareness will help you to enhance your pupils’ learning. Also, you should be aware of what makes a good learner in order to try to make your pupils good learners. Moreover, you should be aware of what motivates your pupils to learn English and try to bring about factors which increase your pupils’ motivation.

However, some of the factors that affect your pupils’ leaning either cannot be changed or are difficult to change.

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SAQ What factors cannot be changed and what factors can you

influence or change in making your pupils good learners of English?

Practical Skills and Talents

A clear voice, good presentation skills, self-confidence are all big advantages. Or, perhaps, you are good at singing or playing an instrument. If you cannot play or sing well, you can still have a song in your class by playing a tape or a record and singing along with the recording. If you cannot lead the singing yourself, just join in and encourage the pupils to sing.

Drawings are often used as a way of presenting new language and explaining new vocabulary. You do not have to be an artist: just make sure that you keep the drawing simple and you draw it big enough to be seen by every pupil in the classroom. Always try it out or prepare it in advance.

Use your acting skills if you decide to read out a dialogue or organise a role play activity. You will sound more convincing if you use different voices to indicate changes of speaker. Even if you only change the loudness or speed or pitch of your voice, you will still make the contrast between speakers clear. This will show your pupils what you expect of them and will encourage them to take part in the activity. Otherwise, it is unreasonable to expect your pupils to do things that you are not willing to do yourself. It is always acceptable to say I’m not very good at this, but I’ll try.

Practical Classroom Skills. Your good performance in the classroom will have a significant effect on the way in which the pupils see you and, consequently, on their behaviour.

Think First!

Before reading the next section, think of the practical skills that a good teacher needs.

Here are some necessary practical skills: In the classroom, you should read clearly and loudly, without stumbling over

difficult words, with a good intonation and sounding as if you care about what you are reading. Always practise any piece you want to use in the next lesson.

Organise your board work well, write legibly and quickly on the board. Write your lines right, and your letters clear and big, so that they can be read easily from the sides and back of the class). Clean the board before you start writing on it.

It is important for you to master the equipment. You need to know how to use an overhead projector or a video player. The best way to learn is by ‘hands on’ experience: have someone explain it and demonstrate it, and then go through the various steps a number of times yourself. Read carefully the instruction manual, if it is available. If you cannot handle the equipment, you will get angry and frustrated, and you may lose the respect of your pupils.

As a teacher you should be aware of the factors affecting learning. This awareness

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will help you to enhance your pupils’ learning. Also, you should be aware of what makes a good learner in order to try to make your pupils good learners. Moreover, you should be aware of what motivates your pupils to learn English and try to bring about factors which increase your pupils’ motivation.

However, some of the factors that affect your pupils’ leaning either cannot be changed or are difficult to change.

SAQ What factors cannot be changed and what factors can you

influence or change in making your pupils good learners of English?

The Effective Teacher Think First!

Before reading the next section, think of the kind of teaching you have mostly experienced in your life. This may also help you to clarify what kind of teacher you see yourself as being in the future

Jim Scrivener considers that there are three categories of teachers: the explainer, the involver and the enabler.

The explainer has limited knowledge of teaching methodology and relies mainly on explaining or lecturing as a way of conveying information to the students. Done with style and enthusiasm, with wit and imagination the lessons can be entertaining, interesting and informative. The pupils are listening, occasionally answering questions and perhaps making notes, but are mostly not being personally involved or challenged. The pupils often receive practice by doing individual exercises after one phase of the presentation has finished.

The involver knows well the subject matter (the English language and how it works). However, she is also familiar with teaching methodology; she is able to use appropriate teaching and organizational procedures and techniques to help her students learn about the subject matter. Teacher explanations may be one of these techniques, one option among many that she has at her disposal. She tries to involve the pupils actively and puts effort into finding appropriate and interesting activities that will do this, while still retaining clear control over the classroom and what happens in it.

The enabler knows about the subject matter and about methodology, but also has an awareness of how pupils and groups are thinking and feeling within her class. She actively responds to this in her planning and working methods and in building effective working relationships and a good classroom atmosphere. Her own personality and attitude are an active encouragement to learning.

This kind of teacher is confident enough to share control with the learners, or to hand it over entirely to them. Decisions in her classroom are often shared or negotiated. She sees herself as someone whose job is to create the conditions that enable the pupils to learn for themselves. Sometimes this will involve her in less traditional teaching; she

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may become a guide or a counselor or a resource of information when needed. When autonomous learning is going on, such a teacher may be hardly visible.

The three descriptions are very broadly painted. However, this simple categorisation may help you reflect on what kind of teaching you have mostly experienced in your life and may also help you to clarify what kind of teacher you see yourself as being in the future.

Here are a number of factors in a teacher that might positively affect the learning atmosphere in the classroom. The effective teacher:

• really listens to her pupils • shows respect • gives clear, positive feedback • has a good sense of humour • is patient • knows her subject • inspires confidence • trusts pupils • empathises with pupils’ problems • is well-organised • paces lessons well • does not complicate things unnecessarily • is enthusiastic and inspires enthusiasm • can be authoritative without being distant • is honest • is approachable.

Carl Rogers, an American psychologist, suggested that there are three core teacher characteristics that help create an effective learning environment: respect (a positive and non-judgemental regards for another person), empathy (being able to see things from another person’s perspective, as if looking through their eyes) and authenticity (being oneself without hiding behind job titles, roles or masks). When a teacher has these three qualities, the relationship within the classroom are likely to be stronger and deeper and communication between people much more open and honest. The climate becomes positive, forward-looking and supportive. The pupils are able to learn with less fear of taking risks or facing challenges. In doing these they increase their own self-esteem and self-understanding, gradually taking more and more of the responsibility for their own learning themselves rather than assuming that it is someone else’s job.

In order to improve the quality of the relationship teacher – pupils, one does not need to learn new techniques but to look closely at what they really want for their pupils, how they really feel about themselves.

Here are some conclusions for English teachers:

• The ‘jug and mug’ approach may be inappropriate if it dominates classroom time. Giving your pupils time to do things themselves may be much more important.

• You may be a better teacher if you tried to make the enabling of learning your main concern.

• You need to ensure your pupils practical experience in doing things using language rather than simply listening to explanations about language)

• Being an ‘over-helpful’ teacher could get in the way of your pupils’ learning. The more you do things in the classroom, the less space there will be for the learners to do things.

• It may be useful to help pupils become more aware of how they are learning. To reflect on this and to explore what procedures, materials, techniques or approaches

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would help them learn more effectively. • It is OK for pupils to make mistakes, to try things out and get things wrong and learn

form that.

2 The Classroom: a Complex Environment In most cases, you have to accept the room(s) you are allocated for your work. In

the schools where there are fixed rooms for English or language labs, you will have the opportunity to create an appropriate environment (with wall-charts, posters photos, pupils’ work, and the like) so that everyone coming in knows immediately that English is the focus of attention there. But if you must move from class to class, you can still do quite a lot to ensure that the environment in which your classes are held is as encouraging as possible.

SAQ

How would you describe the ideal room in which you would love to teach?

Few classrooms are ideal. They may be too small or too large, too dim or too bright, storage space may be limited, maps may cover the board, etc. Rearranging desks is sometimes impossible, but if it is possible, try to experiment with different arrangements to see what works best for you. Do not forget to consider the room arrangement in your planning.

Before planning rules and procedures, you must consider both the characteristics of your pupils and the physical environment of your classrooms. The relationship among these factors is illustrated below.

(after Paul Eggen and Don Kauchak. 2004. Educational Psychology, Pearson)

Class Atmosphere. The general atmosphere in the class can assist learning. Both your behaviour and language and those of the pupils can contribute to this atmosphere.

Pupil

characteristics

The physical environment

Planning for effective

management

Procedures and rules

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Think First!

What factors are the most important, in your opinion, for building a good atmosphere in your classes? Put in order the following suggestions according to how important they are for you and the pupils you are teaching.

addressing pupils by name encouraging the whole class to use first names always being polite to your pupils expecting your pupils to be polite to each other as well as to you always being punctual to classes encouraging your pupils to arrive to classes on time encouraging pupils to apologise for late coming making sure you do not show favouritism towards any particular

pupil planning clearly what you are going to do in each lesson allowing valid questions and interruptions telling your pupils from the beginning what you want to achieve in

the lesson saying, at the end of the lesson, how successful you think it has

been including, if possible, every pupil in some way during each lesson not letting one or two pupils monopolise the class providing opportunities for the pupils to talk and listen to each other reducing communication between you and your pupils to an

optimum amount saying what you mean and meaning what you say: being firm in

approving or disapproving doing the things which you have told your pupils you will do treating all your pupils alike.

Classroom rights and responsibilities. Another important area for which you are responsible is establishing and managing the rigths and responsibilities of the classroom, including your own. It is important that these are clear to everyone and that rights are counterbalanced by responsibility in terms of behaviour and participation. In order for the classroom to run the way you wish to, it is important that you establish clearly the framework according to which everyone must operate. There must also be clear and appropriate sanctions for those who do not comply. Here are few areas to consider in relation to the rights and responsibilities of your classroom:

• Respect. Every pupil has the right to personal respect; everyone should use respectful language; it is important to respect the views and beliefs of others.

• Attention. Every pupil has the right to receive a fair share of the teacher’s attention; when addressing the class at the teacher’s invitation each pupil has the right to be heard; everyone must pay full attention to the requirements of the lesson; when the teacher speaks all must pay attention.

• Learning and teaching. All pupils have the right to learn; the teacher has the right to teach; everyone has the responsibility of cooperating so that effective teaching and learning can take place.

• Safety. Everyone should expect to be safe; everyone must take all reasonable steps to ensure that safety is not compromised.

There may be other rights and responsibilities that you wish to establish for your

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classroom. Think First!

Think now what these other rights and responsibilities may be.

You will find some more ideas in the following section dedicated to routines.

Classroom Routines. The first few days of the school year are crucial to classroom management, because they create lasting impressions and patterns of behaviour for the year are established in these first days. Spend a little time at the beginning of the year explaining how you intend the class to operate, and making it clear what you consider to be acceptable behaviour. This should be done in a friendly but firm manner, without sounding threatening.

Your life will be made easier and your class more successful if you establish rules for your lessons which everybody understands and accepts. Here are a few examples of teacher’s rules:

Primary school Lower secondary Upper secondary • We raise our hands before speaking We leave our seats only when given permission by the teacher

• Be in your seat and quiet when the bell rings Raise your hand for permission to speak or to leave your seat

• Be in your seat before the bell rings • Give your full attention to others in discussion, and wait your turn to speak

SAQ

What rules that you have already used when you were pupils would you like to add to the lists in the table above?

Such rules can be worked out together with the pupils. Although involving pupils in

rule making does not solve all management problems, it is an important step in gaining their cooperation. Once established, rules create a sense of ownership, and contribute to the development of responsibility and self-regulation in your pupils.

Try to find out what the norms there are in your school, and comply with them. For instance, the pupils may be expected to stand (or not) when you come into the room. Homework may be collected by a pupil rather than by you. The board may be always cleaned by the pupil sitting nearest to it or by a pupil on duty. If there are no norms, it is wise for you to establish some of your own.

Asking your pupils to put up hands is not always appropriate in a class where everybody must speak. Sometimes you need responses from pupils who do not know them, or who do, but do not put up their hands. Make sure you first ask the question and then name a pupil to answer. Ask a second or a third pupil if the first pupil is unable to answer.

Get your pupils to put up their hands before they want to ask a question. This helps to prevent noisy interruptions. However, do not insist on your pupils’ always raising their hand before asking, as one of the skills they must acquire is that of being able to interrupt and seek clarification.

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SAQ

When would you insist on your pupils’ raising their hands?

Your pupils need to know in advance of the lesson what will need to bring to class. You have to plan this and ask them to bring only what they will use. Then you should be firm in reprimanding those who fail to bring what is needed to the first few lessons, so that it becomes second nature for your pupils to bring the right things. On the other hand, if you ask them to bring something and never ask them to use it, do not be cross if someone fails to bring that thing to the lesson when you finally decide to refer to it.

With younger pupils, insist that they do not keep on the desk things which are not to be used during the lesson.

Help your pupils establish an organised way of keeping their notes by using the lesson/unit titles of the coursebook and perhaps the exercise/section/activity number as headings. The pupils can then write under these headings and the notebook can be referred to alongside the coursebook. If your pupils buy their own coursebooks, do not forbid them to write in them or mark things they want to remember, or even colour the pictures. If, however, books belong to the school, the notebook must become an essential tool for the pupil.

There is almost always an established way in which young pupils will address you and you them. With older pupils you may establish the form of address together. However, this will depend largely on school custom and pupils’ expectations. Make it clear from the outset what your name is and how you like to be addressed.

To plan a learning activity or a sequence for a certain class means to be able to predict as much of the unpredictable as possible: you need to know your pupils and to build up a wide repertoire of skills and techniques. All these will enable you to develop useful structures and a personal style of teaching. You will then maximize both your pupils’ potential and your own in the limited time and with the limited resources of the school.

In an ideal classroom, class management is invisible. The atmosphere is calm, movement and interaction are comfortable, and pupils work quietly. The teacher gives few directions and reprimands pupils infrequently. However, in the real world, some classes are tough to manage. And yet, in most instances, a teacher can create an orderly classroom. Doing so requires good knowledge of the pupils and careful planning. It also requires the existence of a clearly understood and consistently monitored set of rules and procedures that prevents management problems before they occur.

Classroom activities have characteristics that make them complex and demanding: o Several activities and tasks occur at the same time. When you teach a classroom, you

need to maintain order, attract and keep your pupils’ attention, and keep them involved in a learning activity (individual, whole class, small groups, pairs). You may also have to deal with discipline problems.

o The events occur rapidly. Things happen quickly and you need to make many of the decisions right now. This need to make quick decisions can be almost overwhelming, particularly for beginning teachers.

o Events often take unexpected turns. You must always plan your classroom activity, and try to anticipate as much as you can of what will happen. And yet it is impossible to plan for all of your pupils’ responses. Pupils and classroom activity are often

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unpredictable, but experienced teachers get used to expecting the unexpected. The unpredictable nature of classrooms increases their complexity and challenge.

o You teach in front of people. In a sense, you are on a stage and your successes and mistakes occur in the public space. The pupils’ (and possibly other observers’) perceptions of your actions can have unintended consequences.

The complexity of a teacher’s activity is especially apparent in the large classes of the primary and secondary schools, where the number of pupils and their immaturity combine to put to constant test the teacher’s classroom managerial skills. In such a context, knowing your pupils and knowing how to approach them is crucial.

SAQ

You know that pupils think, act and feel differently at different stages of development. What are the general characteristics of the behaviour of the primary school pupils (grades 2 to 4) compared to that of the lower secondary school pupils (grades 5 to 8)?

Whether you teach younger or older children, your way of approaching them,

especially in the early stages of the classroom activity, will be a major factor that affects your pupils’ confidence. Learners of all ages should be treated with care and respect. Knowing your pupils by name, knowing their backgrounds and interests, knowing about their previous language-learning experiences and their attitudes to English will enable you to help them learn more happily and effectively.

Being able to address your pupils by name has considerable advantages both for you and for them. It avoids confusion which might arise in identifying which pupil should be responding. Also, it is the natural way to attract somebody’s attention; it speeds up the organising of pair and group work; it generates a friendly relationship with the pupils and among them, and it produces a secure atmosphere.

SAQ

What can you do if you have large classes and you are not good at remembering pupils’ names?

A language class gives you more opportunities to discover details about your pupils’ lives than most other classes. Very often you may find yourself wondering what you can ask and what is better to be left unasked. A good principle is never to ask your pupils anything that you yourself would not wish to be asked.

Your pupils will find their English lessons more stimulating if some of their work is concerned with things that interest them. You will want to find out what these things are as almost any pupil’s hobby can be incorporated into an English lesson.

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Think First! Before continuing to read this text, think where you can find

information about your pupils’ previous experience of learning English.

There is always an official syllabus (”programa”) of what needs to be taught at

each level, which you can consult. You can also ask your pupils to bring you the coursebook(s) and notebook(s) they used. Sometimes, you can talk to the previous teacher(s). This kind of discussion is very important as you may be able to find out what your pupils’ strengths and weaknesses are. Both the pupils and the previous teacher may also tell you what kinds of learning experience they had.

Sometimes, however, you will find that the class is different from what you would have expected. This may simply mean that the class, or individual pupils within it, have changed.

Think First! Before continuing to read this lecture, think of what you can

do to find out what your pupils really know.

The best way to establish what your pupils already know is to start with a

diagnostic test to discover what they can and cannot do. However, when you give them such a test, you must make sure that your pupils understand that the test is given only to help you decide what gaps they have in their knowledge, so that you can help them to fill these gaps.

In most cases, the young pupils’ attitude to English is more influenced by you than by their wants or needs. Your enthusiasm and skills have an enormous effect on the attitude of your pupils. However, positive attitudes to learning English need to be fostered constantly, as pupils almost always reach a stage when they feel that they are not making any progress. At this point you need to find new ways of motivating them and making their study seem worthwhile by seizing every opportunity to make their learning meaningful.

Remember that no matter what facilities the school offers, it is the lively, purposeful class atmosphere with plenty to do, which you create, which will maintain your pupils’ positive attitudes. The most important factor in keeping your pupils motivated is your own skill and enthusiasm.

The Good Learners of English

Recent approaches is EFL have acknowledged the importance of the ‘whole person’ in the learner (as opposed to only their mental processes such as thinking, remembering, analysing, etc.) The pupils bring to the classroom a range of less visible things such as their needs, their wishes, their life experience, their home background, their memories, their worries, their dreams, their anger, their toothache, their fears, their moods, etc. Given the opportunities, they will make decisions for themselves and their learning and they will move forward.

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New learning is constructed over the foundations of earlier learning. The pupils will make use of whatever knowledge and experience they already have in order to help them learn and understand new things. Thus the message taken away from one lesson is quite different for different pupils.

Drawing on your experience as learners of English, you could draw the profile of the good learners of English. Consider these features:

• Perceptual skills: they can perceive new sounds. • Analytical skills: they can formulate hypotheses, memorise language items, monitor

their own speech and that of others. • Motivation: they have a high motivation. • Strategy: they concentrate on meaning rather than on form when practising; they

look for cues in the context. • Study: they can organise their studies and study independently (e.g. they make

vocabulary lists and use them). • Experiment: they try out their language knowledge and are uninhibited about making

mistakes. • Sociability: they mix well and work well in groups. They can transfer from Romanian

to English communication strategies such as paraphrasing, circumlocution, checking that listeners have understood, etc.

• Exposure: they seek out every opportunity to come into contact with English, (watching films and TV programmes, reading books and newspapers, etc.)

• Cultural openess: they are open-minded and open hearted with regard to foreign cultures and individuals.

• Age: young children do not make good learners of grammar. • Adaptability: they learn well despite the method, the teacher, and the school.

Think First!

What fundamental skill is hidden behind most of the features listed above?

It would be difficult to imagine that all your pupils show all the above mentioned features and are all good learners of English. However, you should be able to show your pupils how to be ‘good’, which clearly involves helping them to become independent. Independence is a quality which seems to cut across most of the features listed above.

Motivating Students

Language classrooms depend more than other classes on the climate; in its turn this is influenced by the national and cultural influences on the language being learned, the education system and the immediate classroom environment (M. Lewis in Richards, J. C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002: 40). If the education system or the national curriculum, and the status of the foreign language being learned cannot be influenced by the teacher, the latter can influence the students feel about learning English. Teachers can influence the classroom environment where learning takes place by motivating unmotivated pupils.

Unmotivated pupils can be recognised when they fail to take part by sitting in silence, they distract other pupils by talking off the topic, or they provide ‘nonlanguage’ entertainment. All of these call for teacher’s management skills.

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A future English teacher needs to know that teaching a foreign language involves more than her pupils’ interest, for language is a skill that needs to be applied/used, not just stored in the head.

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Teachers encourage language use through both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Some students have strong intrinsic motivation as they are already aware of the benefits of learning English. Others need to be reminded of the benefits: standing better chances of getting a good job, making travelling more rewarding and enjoyable, access to literature of all kinds in the original, etc. Extrinsic motivation can come through rewards. Some of the activities done in class can be presented as rewards to the pupils: supplying additional reading materials, showing a video, inviting guest speakers, organising games, etc.

An ongoing aspect of motivation is dealing with the behaviour of particular students. Teachers build a scale of responses to off-task behaviour, which helps them decide whether to ignore or attend to the problem. Here are a few typical cases of off-task behaviour and possible teacher responses (from M. Lewis, idem: 42 – 43)

1. The back-row distractor: the pupil who always sits at the back and distracts others:

Use eye contact while continuing to speak. Stop mid-sentence and stare until the pupil stops. Talk with the pupil after class to investigate the cause.

2. The nonparticipants: several pupils are not taking part in the assigned activity. 3. Ignore them if they are not distracting others.

Walk past their desks and ask if there is a problem. Ask other teachers how the same pupils participate in other classes.

4. The overexuberant pupil: one outgoing student dominates answering most questions, making most comments and filling most of the student talking time. This calls for tact, because such a pupil is often a good language model for the rest of the class.

Interrupt with “Thanks for that” and call on someone else to continue. Remind the student that there will be more talking time soon in groups. Talk to the student individually later.

In brief, making quick decisions on what to do about a problem depends on answers to questions like:

• Does the behaviour hinder other student’s learning? • Is this just a single occurrence not worth wasting time on? • Is it a whole-class problem or specific to one or two people?

Remember that if large numbers of pupils are failing to attend to the lesson, there could be a problem with the lesson itself. The task may be too difficult, or an activity may have continued for too long, or the content may be boring. On the other hand, the problem may not be within the class: a forthcoming event such as a match or even unusual weather can change the mood of the class and signal to the teacher the need for a change of activity.

Discipline

Discipline is an important matter. As a teacher, you should be able to solve a number of questions, referring to maintaining order, the amount of noise you can tolerate, what you consider unacceptable behaviour and how you can punish misbehavers.

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SAQ How much freedom do you think you have in dealing with

discipline problems?

It is important to try to be fair, and not to punish misbehaviour severely on one

occasion while ignoring it on another. It is always better to avoid situations that may lead to misbehaviour. If you keep your pupils busy and if they believe that what they are doing is worthwhile, they will be less likely to become disruptive. Also, if you are well organized, you are less likely to have problems with discipline.

Involving All the Pupils

You should seize every opportunity to give encouragement to those pupils who are making a real effort and not just to those who are being successful. This can be done briefly and frequently, without interrupting the flow of the lesson, by the use of “Yes”, “Good”, “That’s right” and even by a simple nod of the head.

Avoid comparing one pupil’s performance with that of other pupils. It is always more constructive to compare a pupil’s work with his/her own previous performance as this gives the pupil a sense of one’s own progress.

Ensure that all the pupils are included in the class activity. In large classes in particular, it is very easy to miss some pupils out. Often teachers tend to focus on one particular section of the class – the area where the very good pupils sit, the front of the class, or the area by the window –, without realising it.

Think First!

Before you read the rest of this section, write down the means you can think of used for including all the pupils in the class activity.

Here are some ways of making sure that you involve all the pupils.

• Use the class register list. Your pupils will know if you are calling on them in the order of the class register list. To avoid this, use every second or third name, or some other pattern, so that they may not realise what order you are using. Avoid looking down at the list (by putting it where you can see it easily). Also, to prevent the ‘switching off’ of pupils who have just responded, ask one or two for a second response.

• Think of your class as a set of lines or rows of pupils and address a question to a pupil from each line or row in turn.

• Set rules. If your pupils tend to shout out the answers before the others have time to try, make a rule that the pupil who has responded once must miss the next three questions before s/he can answer again. This keeps the pupils busy counting, while waiting to join in again.

• Invite the pupil who answers to name the one who will answer next. If the pupils get used to this system, it can move quite briskly and be successful. However, it can become unpleasant if the pupils see it as a way of victimising their slower classmates

• Repeat the question and/or prompt. If the pupil you nominated is unable to respond, help him/her by repeating or prompting, while insisting that the rest of the class

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remains quiet. Sometimes, however, you may wish to pass a factual question to another pupil, or the class in general.

Extra-Curricular Activities. Activities conducted outside lesson times can make an important contribution to maintaining a good atmosphere in the classroom. If their knowledge of English opens the way to other interesting activities, the pupils will take a more positive attitude to their studies.

By organising a class library or an English club you can provide your pupils with the possibility of extending their knowledge and interests outside the classroom as well as giving them an opportunity for genuine communication. Try to help your pupils set these up and then give them assistance in running them.

SAQ

What advantages or disadvantages can you see in your pupils’ attending the activity of an English club?

3. School. Getting a New Job

No two schools are alike. Schools may range from very formal, with strict discipline to very casual, where discipline is not considered important. School principals also range from authoritarian to permissive. It is important for you to realise what type of school you are in and to adjust your own behaviour accordingly. While you are new, keep your teaching style rather formal until you learn more about how the other teachers work. It is always easier to become more relaxed with your pupils as time goes on rather than to become more formal with them.

It is important to respect the norms of the school in which you are working and not to impose your own system from the beginning. Once you have become accepted by the other members of the staff, you may perhaps suggest ideas which they can consider and possibly adopt.

In the beginning, you need to be careful about how much noise your classes make. You may need to try to convince the other teachers and the school principal that in order to learn to speak English and understand the spoken language, your pupils will need to make some noise, that group and pair work cause some noise.

School responsibilities are relevant for teachers of all subjects. They are important aspects of school life and affect the status of English in the school. This in turn affects what you can achieve. Understanding the system can save you a lot of time and trouble and leave you to devote more energy to the actual teaching - learning process.

Here are a few guidelines for beginning the school year:

Establish expectations

• Explain requirements and grading systems (particularly with older pupils) • Emphasize that learning and classroom order are interdependent

Plan structured instruction

• Plan with great care during this period • Conduct eye-catching and motivating activities • Assess pupils’ skills and background knowledge • Use large- rather than small-group instruction • Minimize transitions from one activity to another

Teach rules and procedures

• Begin teaching rules and procedures the first day • Discuss and practise rules and procedures during the first few days

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• Intervene and discuss every infraction of rules Begin communication with parents

• Meet the parents or send them a letter, and state your positive statements for the year • Call or visit parents after the first or second week to nip potential problems in the bud

As a teacher you have responsibilities to your pupils, their parents, your head of department, your school, youe headteacher and others. Being an effective teacher does not mean simply knowing English. It also means delivering lessons that are intellectually robust, challenging and stimulating; managing the classroom effectively and faily, assessing pupils’ progress promptly and accurately; modelling in your own behaviour and practices what you expect pupils to do; planning for the inclusion and the needs of the individual learners; managing the rights and the responsibilities of the classroom; upholdong school policies and procedures; responding to the pastoral needs of your pupils; completing administrative duties; contibuting to the wider life of the school; knowing your legal responsibilities; and so on.

Summary This unit presents the complexity of the job of being an English teacher and the

many requirements that you need to comply with: you must have a deep understanding of the process of learning and of the characteristics of your pupils, a good understanding of the topics you teach; you should be able to represent the topics in ways that are understandable to pupils, to organize and maintain productive learning environments.

As a teacher, you are responsible for classroom learning and should be able to increase it. You should be caring and enthusiastic, a good role model, and have high expectations for your pupils. You should be well organized, know what is going on in your classrooms, use your class time well, and communicate clearly. You should present content in attractive ways, provide clear and informative feedback, and review important ideas. You should use effective questioning strategies, prompt pupils who do not answer successfully, and give pupils time to think about their answers. You should be able to draw, write legibly and speak convincingly, and maybe have other talents, too.

You should be able to create a classroom atmosphere conducive to learning and establish rules and routines which enhance the use of classroom learning time.

Further Reading Capel, Susan, Leask, Marilyn and Turner, Tony, 2009, Learning to Teach in the

Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience, Routledge Harmer, Jeremy. 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman Richards Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.

Cambridge: CUP. Scrivener Jim, 2008, Learning teaching: A guidebook for English language teachers,

Heinemann Underwood, Mary. 1987. Effective Class management. A Practical Approach, Longman Ur, Penny. 1996. A Course in Language Teaching. Practice and Theory, Cambridge

University Press Ur, Penny. “The English Teaching as Professional” in Richards Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

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Catedra de Limba şi Literatura engleză EFL Methodology

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Any average person in this country can tell you what teaching is about: a teacher speaking in front of a large number of pupils who sit in rows at their desks; the pupils listen or not. If the teacher knew how to make her pupils listen to her, education would be better.

In reality, what happens in the classroom is complex. Managing the learning environment is a key part of the teacher’s pedagogic knowledge and it resembles driving, as the teacher is trying to achieve several objectives at the same time. However, like in driving, after some time class management skills become part of the subconscious, internalised patterns of behaviour. The organisation of the lesson becomes implicit in what the teacher does rather than explicit. There are common skills and techniques that combined with an awareness of and sensitivity to the teaching and learning contexts, enable you to manage the class effectively. Your first task is to provide a range of learning experiences to the pupils. Then, you need to cater for individual differences by organizing activities that make use of various learning resources and different tasks. You need to provide opportunities for the pupils to take responsibility of their own learning, while still managing the classroom activities. In one word, you need to manage classroom learning.

The skills of creating and managing a successful class may be the key to success. An important part of this is to do with your role, attitude, intentions and personality, and with your relationships with the learners, but also with their motivation and classroom constraints. Another important part is the organizational skills and techniques that you use. All these are often grouped under the heading of ‘classroom management’.

Classroom management emphasizes the complexity of classroom life and focuses on the managerial skills that you need to have and on the systematic way in which you coordinate classroom variety and complexity. The teacher is the coordinator of a varied and complex environment: setting objectives, planning activities, attending to communication and motivation and evaluating performance. As a teacher you have to develop a set of effective strategies for encouraging behaviour for learning amongst your pupils: trying to prevent poor behaviour through establishing positive expectations rather than managing it after inappropriate behaviour has begun, but first and foremost you are there to manage their learning, and that should be your primary emphasis. This is not always easy, as a whole range of circumstances come into play. As Rogers (2002:5) identifies:

Day-to-day teaching normally takes place in a rather unusual setting: a small room (for what is asked of it), often inadequate furniture and space to move, a 50-minute time slot (or less) to cover set curriculum objectives, and 25 to 30 distinct and unique personalities, some of whom may not even want to be there. Why should there not be some natural stresses and strains associated with a teacher’s day-to-day role?

Teaching is a continuously creative and problem-solving activity. Each learner and each group of learners has their own characteristics and group dynamics which the teacher needs to take into account in planning a suitable learning programme. Although lessons with different groups may have similar content, a lesson is rarely delivered in the same way twice. Variations in interactions between pupils and the teacher affect the teaching strategy chosen.

One of the most important roles you will have as a teacher is to bring together the various personalities of your classroom (including your own) and to create from these the best possible context for learning. This means you need to do some careful thinking, planning and preparation. Minimising surprise is essential. Of course, issues always arise within the classroom to which you have to react. The majority of events and issues that arise in the classroom are, however, foreseeable and can be planned for. It is always better to be proactive than reactive.

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Classroom management involves both decisions and actions. The actions are what is done in the classroom. The decisions are about whether to do these actions, when to do them, how to do them, who to do them, etc. The essential basic skill for classroom management is therefore to be able to recognize what options are available, to make appropriate decisions between these options and to turn them into effective and efficient actions. As you grow in experience, your awareness of possible options will also grow.

The aim of this lecture is to help you become aware of the lesson management skills that you need to develop. After you have completed the study of this lecture on classroom management, you should be able to:

• explain what makes a lesson effective • appreciate the importance of effective verbal and non-verbal communication • appraise the use of language • use questioning more effectively as a teaching and learning tool • be aware of and have control over you own self-presentation • classify patterns of interaction • explain the advantages and disadvantages of various patterns of classroom interaction • use various patterns of classroom interaction to involve all the pupils in your lessons

Key Concepts: lesson management, cooperative learning, patterns of

interaction, whole class teacher-led activities, pupils’ independent activities, class dialogue, questioning, teacher feedback, supervised learning, supported independent learning, pair work, group work

1 Classroom Management: Strategies and Tactics Effective classroom management is essential to effective learning. Classroom

management refers to arrangements made by the teacher to establish and maintain an environment in which learning can occur, e.g. effective organisation and presentation of lessons so that pupils are actively engaged in learning. Interacting with pupils, communicating effectively with them to enhance their knowledge, skills and understanding, developing relations between teachers and pupils, adapting appropriately to the demands of the situation, creating a motivational climate, managing behaviour and misbehaviour, reacting and responding adequately in any situation on any given day are all aspects of classroom management.

What is it that makes a teacher successful and respected? Why do such a teacher’s pupils work with positive and constructive attitudes?

Both teachers and pupils have their own characteristics and habits. These influence the effectiveness of the lesson. Like a taxi driver who knows every city street, you need to develop a good understanding of your pupils and of yourself.

Your physical presence, the way you move, sit or stand, the way you are dressed, all have an effect on your pupils’ perception. To some extent, these may also affect the effectiveness of your lesson. You need to be aware of all these details, adapt your language and your voice, your gestures, your expressions, your mime, your movements, the frequency of eye contact with individual pupils, for all these carry a message for your pupils.

Your lessons should be prepared thoroughly: materials, activities, and assessments. When the pupils feel that you are filling time, or when you have to change activities because you cannot find the materials, or if you are unprepared for the problems that may emerge, you may lose your pupils’ respect and confidence. A good idea is to prepare for each lesson more than you need. It is always good to have a reserve activity ready in case of extra time. As you are planning a lesson, note in advance which component(s) of the lesson you will sacrifice if you find yourself with too little time for everything.

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During the lesson, keep a watch or clock easily visible, and make sure you are aware throughout how time is going relative to your plan. It is difficult to judge intuitively how time is going when you are busy, and the smooth running of the lesson depends to some extent on proper timing.

Try to create a serious impression of purpose by your contributions and by the demands made on your pupils. This means attention to detail, and an assumption that your pupils will take their work seriously and with a sense of responsibility. At every point in the lesson a teacher has options. To say one thing or to say something different; to stop an activity or to let it continue, to take some time to deal with difficult questions or to move on with what you had previously planned. There is no single correct answer, no single route through a lesson – though some routes may in the end prove to be much more effective than others. Different people and different situations will create different solutions. The lesson is created by these choices.

Long-term strategies can help you build up good standards of personal relationships that result in good classroom atmosphere. Nevertheless, pupils are not always capable of coping with all the stresses of their lives and they may react by laziness, insubordination, defiance, aggression, or destructiveness. Such pupil behaviour will undermine the building up of good classroom practice, and the effectiveness of your classes. What can you do?

Unfortunately, advice about classroom tactics is less reliable than advice about general strategies.

The complexity of classroom life is responsible for many difficult situations. Classroom life is multidimensional, with many different kinds of activities, many different objectives, and many people having different needs and different styles. At any one time you need to consider what to do next, thinking ahead of the development of the lesson, watching the pupils’ progress, looking out for what might disrupt the flow of the lesson. There may be numberless unpredictables, interruptions, unforeseen difficulties, or minor incidents. In such a context your action and reaction are driven by intuition more than by deliberate thinking about alternative courses of action. Moreover, advice from other teachers may not be reliable, as different teachers use different tactics with equal (in)success.

Becoming an effective teacher is partly a matter of increasing your awareness of what options are available. It is also about the skilful selection of the most appropriate option at each point and efficiently, effectively turning these into actions.

What informs and influences a teacher’s decisions between different options? Here are some factors to bear in mind: (Scrivener, 1994: 11)

• What is the aim of the activity? • What is the objective of the whole lesson? • Is what we are doing useful? • What is hindering the effectiveness of what we are doing? • What have I planned to do? • What would be the best thing to do now? • Is it time for a change of mood or pace? • Are we using time efficiently? • How do the students feel? • How do I (the teacher) feel? • What are the possible outcomes of my actions?

Classroom decisions and actions are influenced by the teacher’s own attitudes, intentions, beliefs and values: what you think about learning, what is important for you in learning, what you genuinely feel towards the pupils.

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Teacher’s decisions and actions Teacher’s attitudes and intentions Teacher’s beliefs and values 2 Communicating with Pupils

The quality of classroom communication is critical to effective learning. Teachers may have different personalities and teaching styles, but they all need to communicate effectively with pupils. Communication is a complex two-way process involving the mutual exchange of information and ideas that can be written, verbal and non-verbal. Clear and effective communication includes delivering and receiving information, involving listening, observation and sensitivity. The quality of communication can enhance or hinder learning. Pupils learn from communicating with each other, through discussion or by talking about a task. However, irrelevant communication will interfere with the progress of the lesson and detract from pupils’ learning.

Verbal communication You need to establish procedures for gaining pupils’ attention at the beginning of a

lesson and also when you want the class to listen again after they have started an activity. Before you start talking, make sure that all pupils can see and hear you, that you have silence and that they are paying attention. Establish a means of getting silence, e.g. say ‘quiet please’ and/or clap your hands; use the same technique with the class each time to ensure consistency of approach. Wait for quiet and do not speak until there is silence. Once you are talking, do not move around, as this distracts pupils.

Using your voice A teacher’s voice is a crucial element in classroom communication. Certain qualities

are fixed and give your voice a unique character. However, you can alter the volume, projection, pitch, speed, tone, clarity and expressiveness of your voice to use it more effectively and to lend impact to what you say.

Volume. The most obvious way you can vary your voice is by altering the volume. However, it is rarely a good thing to be loud, as loud teachers will have loud classes. If you shout too much you may get into the habit of shouting and, moreover, you may lose your voice each September.

Projection. You project your voice by making sure it leaves your mouth confidently and precisely. This needs careful enunciation and breath control. If your voice is projected well, you are able to make a whisper audible at some distance. Equally, good projection brings considerable volume to your ordinary voice without resort to shouting or roaring.

Pitch. Generally speaking, deep voices sound more serious and significant; high voices sound more exciting and lively. To add weight to what is being said the pitch should be dropped; to lighten the tone the pitch should be raised. A voice with a lower pitch can create a sense of importance as it comes across as more authoritative and confident than a high-pitched voice. It can also be raised more easily to command attention, whereas raising a naturally high-pitched voice may result in something similar to a squeak.

Speed. Variations in speed give contrast to delivery. You can use pause to good effect. It shows confidence if you can hold a silence before making a point or answering a question. Having achieved silence, do not shout into it. Equally, have patience to wait for a

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pupil to respond. A reasonable time for any such pause is three seconds or slightly longer although up to fifteen seconds may be required for open-ended, higher level questions.

To use your voice effectively these factors need to work together. For example, you do not communicate effectively if the pitch of your voice is right, but you are not enunciating clearly or the volume is wrong. It is also important to put feeling into what you say to engage pupils so that your voice does not sound dull and monotonous. Often pupils respond to how you say something rather than what you say. For instance, if you are praising a pupil sound pleased and if you are disciplining a pupil sound firm.

Classroom language In order to develop pupils’ language skills, a teacher’s language must be accessible.

There is no point in talking to pupils in language they do not understand. It is easier for pupils to understand a new concept if you make comparisons or use examples, metaphors or references to which they can relate. Where appropriate, use a variety of words or explanations that ensures the meaning of what you intend to convey is understood by all pupils. As a teacher your language must be concise. When you are speaking, you stress or repeat important words or phrases. Pupils understand something and learn it better if they hear it a number of times and if it is explained in different ways. Therefore:

• tell them what you are going to tell them, • tell them, • tell them again what you have told them.

As well as conveying content, a teacher’s language is also used to create individual relationships with pupils that make them more interested in learning. Using pupils’ names, saying something positive to every pupil individually over a period of time and thanking pupils at the end of a good lesson, showing interest in their lives outside the classroom, valuing their experienced, are all important in building mutual respect and creating a positive atmosphere for classroom learning.

Teachers also use language to impose discipline. Often, negative terms are used for this. This is not inevitable and a positive approach may have more success. For examples, try to suggest a constructive activity rather than condemning a destructive one.

Types of communication There are many different ways in which verbal communication is used in teaching:

explaining, questioning, discussion, and listening. Explaining Teachers spend a lot of time explaining to pupils. In some teaching situations it can

be the main form of activity in the lesson. Consequently, being able to explain something effectively is an important skill to acquire. Pupils learn better if they are actively engaged in the learning process and a good explanation actively engages pupils and therefore is able to gain and maintain their attention. You must plan to involve pupils, e.g. mix an explanation with tasks, activities or questions, rather than relying on long lectures, dictating notes or working out something on the board.

Explaining provides information about what, why and how. It describes new terms and concepts or clarifies new meaning. Pupils expect teachers to explain things clearly and become frustrated when they cannot understand an explanation. A good explanation is clear and well structured. It takes account of pupils’ previous knowledge and understanding, uses language that pupils can understand, related new work to concepts, interests and work already familiar to the pupils. Use of analogy and metaphor can also help an explanation. In the following table you will identify a range of features that characterise effective explanations and a set of questions that you make ask yourself about your own questions:

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Clear structure Is the explanation structured in a logical way showing how each part links together?

Key features identified What are the key points or essential elements that pupils should understand?

Dynamic opening What is the ‘tease’ or ‘hook’ that is used at the start? Clarity – using voice and body

Can the voice or body be used in any way to emphasise or embellish certain points?

Signposts Are there clear linguistic signposts to help pupils follow the sequence and understand which the key points are?

Examples and non-examples

Are there sufficient examples and non-examples to aid pupils’ understanding of a concept?

Models and analogies What models might help pupils understand an abstract idea? Are there any analogies you could use? Will pupils understand the analogy? How might you help pupils identify the strengths and weaknesses of the analogy?

Props What concrete and visual aids can be used to help pupils understand more?

Questions Are there opportunities to check for pupils’ understanding at various points, and to note and act on any misconceptions or misunderstandings?

Connections to pupils’ experience

Are there opportunities, particularly at the start, to check pupils’ prior knowledge of the subject and to link to their everyday experiences?

Repetition Are there a number of distinct moments in the explanation when the key points that should be learned are repeated an emphasised?

Humour When and how might it be appropriate to use humour? C, L & T: 112

Teachers often reinforce verbal explanations by providing pupils with a visual demonstration, or model. Modelling is an effective learning strategy that allows pupils to ask questions about and hear explanations related to each stage of the process as it happens as the teacher can:

• ‘think aloud’, making apparent and explicit those skills, decisions, processes and procedures that would otherwise be hidden or unclear

• expose pupils to possible pitfalls of the task in hand, showing how to avoid them • demonstrate to pupils that they can make alterations and corrections as part of the

process Showing learners what to do while talking them through the activity and linking new

learning to old through questions, resources, activities and language is sometimes referred to as scaffolding. The idea is that learners are supported in carrying out a task by the use of language to guide their action. The next stage in scaffolding is for the learner to talk themselves through the task. Then that talk ca, in turn, become an internalised guide to the action and thought of the learner. Combining verbal and visual explanations can be more effective than using verbal explanations exclusively, particularly with pupils who prefer a visual learning style.

Presenting A presentation is meant to inform, to describe or to explain. A classroom presentation

should not resemble a higher education lecture. It should be informal and spontaneous, and as short as possible (no longer than 10 minutes with younger pupils). Such an exposition can be interrupted by other short activities, such as a dialogue or individual tasks.

If you want the presentation to achieve its objectives, it needs to have a clear structure that the pupils can grasp. It is always helpful to present at the very beginning the structure of the exposition. Tell your pupils first what you are going to say, then say it, and then tell them what you have said! A way of involving the pupils is to ask them to take down notes. Alternatively, you can give them a handout with a gapped structure of your presentation, and ask them to complete it as you are presenting.

A thorough, high quality presentation can motivate and inspire your pupils. However, during the presentation the pupils may want help, especially if a new topic is introduced.

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They need to have a vision of the new knowledge, to understand why it is important and relevant, how it fits in with their previous work and knowledge, how it will contribute to their mastery of English.

A good presentation will stimulate your pupils’ intellectual curiosity; it may review, organize and consolidate their previous knowledge of the topic, or it can make the new learning more personal. Also, it can give guidance to the pupils about the styles and techniques to be used in doing work on the new topic.

At personal level your pupils may need help in order to see how they may personally identify with the new topic, how they can build clear ‘images’ of what the topic is about. They may feel the need to share the excitement of the discovery with their classmates.

Whole class presentations are particularly valuable at the beginning, at the end and at critical points in the lesson, such as topic changes, or where the concepts that need to be taught are difficult. Also, after a period of time of independent activities (individual, in pairs or in small groups), your pupils will be prepared to work again together as a class for the consolidation of their work. At this stage, you should encourage pupil contributions, as they can report back, discuss the issues raised during independent work, revise and consolidate, assess the quality of the work done and evaluate the topic.

Teacher as presenter. During presentations, you are the focus of attention, playing

a number of related roles: organizer, information source, or discussion leader. The pupils are relatively passive, listening, following instructions, responding to questions, and making contributions when you invite them to do so.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Get the attention of your class before you start. Either insist on their paying attention to you or give them something to do (e.g. writing a title, an introductory example or statement). This will bring the class into the work frame of mind.

• Your first sentences must be attention holding. Appeal to their curiosity, surprise them, intrigue them or move them emotionally.

• Keep your voice level to the minimum necessary. A low voice creates a feeling of expectancy, gives a sense of importance to the occasion, and builds a sense of mutual confidence, a serious and trusting atmosphere.

• Vary the volume and pace to give variety. • Occasionally, make appeal to feelings and use a more theatrical language. Temper

your projections of personality with sensitivity. • Do not forget that there is virtue in silence. A pregnant pause in a presentation can be

effective. Offer silence to your pupils so that they can reflect and consider their responses. Build in pauses in which you invite the pupils to summaries what you have said so far.

• Be simple, be brief and be human. Start with plenty of examples and then gradually introduce new vocabulary or more complex statements.

• Remember that much communication is non-verbal; how you look, where and how you stand, how you move are all observed and registered by the pupils.

Remember that no matter how good your presentation is, you cannot use it for

lengthy periods, as their span of attention is limited. It is better to introduce variety and more pupil participation. The most common way of doing this is by using class questions. Questioning One technique in the scaffolding process for actively involving pupils in their learning is questioning. Asking questions effectively. Effective use of questioning is a valuable part of interactive teaching. However, if not handled effectively, pupils misunderstand and/or become confused. To use questioning effectively you need to consider:

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• Why you are asking the question(s) • What type of question(s) you are going to ask • When you are going to ask the question(s) • How you are going to ask question(s) • Of whom you are going to ask a question, how you expect the question to be answered,

how you are going to respond if the pupil does not understand the question or gives an inappropriate answer, and how long you are going to wait for the answer.

However, you cannot plan your questioning rigidly; you must be flexible, adapting your plan during the lesson to take account of the development of the lesson.

Asking questions is not a simple process. Think First!

Before continuing to read this text, think back to your own schooldays and try to explain why you were asked questions:

Questions are asked for many reasons. Your motive in questioning is usually to get your pupils to engage with the language material actively through speech. But there are other various reasons why you might ask a question in the classroom:

• to provide a model for language or thinking • to find out something from the pupils (facts, ideas, opinions) • to check or test understanding, knowledge or skill • to get the class to be active in their learning • to direct attention to the topic being learned • to inform the class via the answers of the stronger pupils rather than through your input • to provide weaker pupils with an opportunity to participate • to stimulate their thinking (logical, reflective or imaginative) and to make them probe

more deeply into issues • to get pupils to review and practise previously learnt material • to encourage thinking and self-expression • to communicate to them that you are genuinely interested in what they think • to develop a discussion.

Questions show different levels of complexity and abstraction, from those which demand factual, descriptive answers to those which are more complex and require more sophisticated thinking from pupils. Remember that pupils’ cognitive abilities and levels of achievement can be increased when they are challenged and have regular access to higher-order thinking. Questions can be classified according to various criteria:

• the kind of thinking they try to elicit (plain recall, analysis, or evaluation) • whether they are ‘genuine’ or ‘display’ questions (does the teacher really want to

know the answer, or is she simply checking if the pupil does?) • whether they are closed- or open-ended (do they have a single right answer or

many?). Closed and open questions

The most common reason for asking questions is to check that pupils have learned what they are supposed to have learned or that they have memorised certain facts or pieces of information. These are called closed questions. There is only one correct answer; pupils recall information. The pupils either know the answer or not, no real thought is required. Closed questions may be given to the whole class, with answers coming

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instantaneously. A short closed question – answer session might reinforce learning, refresh pupils’ memories or provide a link to new work.

Say which of the following questions seem to be closed and why.

1. How do most people travel to work in your city or town? …………………………………….. 2. Is there a subway in your country? …………………………………….. 3. What is the number of Richard’s house on Linden Street? …………………………………….. 4. What topics do you usually talk about with someone you meet for the first time? …………………………………….. 5. Do you like staying in a hotel? ……………………………………..

(questions from Howard Beckerman, Family Album, U.S.A, Editura Univers, 1993)

By way of contrast, open questions have several possible answers and it may be impossible to know if an answer is ‘correct’. These questions are often used to encourage divergent thinking and to develop understanding. They are much more complex than closed questions. They are designed to extend pupils’ understanding of a topic. To answer them the pupil has to think and manipulate information by reasoning and applying information and using knowledge, logic and imagination. Open questions cannot usually be answered quickly. Pupils probably need time to gather information, sift evidence, advance hypotheses, discuss ideas and plan answers.

You can ask closed and open questions or a combination of the two as a series of questions. The questions in a series can start with a few easy closed questions and then move on to more complex open questions. A series of questions takes time to build up if they are to be an integral part of the learning process. They must be planned as an integral part of the lesson not as time filler at the end of the lesson when their effect is lost. Questions at the end of the lesson are more likely to be closed-recall questions to help pupils remember what they have been taught in the lesson.

Other aspects of questioning that are important to consider: who you address the questions to – the whole class, to groups or to specific named individuals? Moreover, questions can be spoken, written on the board or given out on printed sheets. Answers can be given at once or produced after deliberation, either spoken or written.

Effective questioning is a skill you must develop as a teacher. An effective questioning technique is one that elicits fairly prompt, motivated, relevant and full responses. If your questions result in long silences, are answered by only the strongest pupils, bore the class, or elicit only very brief or unsuccessful answers, then there is probably something wrong. Effective questioning should follow a few criteria:

• Clarity. The pupils should immediately grasp what the question means, and what kind of answer is required. The language must be simple, clear and unambiguous.

• Learning value. The questioning should start with an invitation to observe or identify. The question should stimulate thinking and responses that will contribute to further learning of the target material. It shouldn’t be irrelevant, unhelpful or merely time-filling. The key word is What?

What are the people in the picture doing? What is the difference between these two animals? What surprised you in this anecdote? What is this?

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• Interest. The pupils should find the question interesting, challenging, stimulating. • Availability. Most of the pupils in the class should be able to answer the question.

However, allowing a few seconds’ wait-time before accepting a response can make the question available to a larger number of pupils.

• Extension. The question should invite and encourage extended and/or varied answers. Try to eliminate questions which can be answered simply by Yes or No, or by any single word. Questions likely to get fuller answers often start with Why…? How…?, What would happen if…?

• Grading. The questions should build up to higher levels of thinking. Follow-up questions can be used to probe further, encourage pupils to develop their

answers, extend their thinking, change the direction of the questioning and distributing questions to involve the whole class. Non-verbal aspects of communication such as eye-contact, gesture, body language, tone of voice, humour, smiles and frowns are important in effective questioning because they go with the words that are used.

You can use several prompts to help pupils answer questions: verbal prompts (cues, reminders, tips, references to previous lessons or giving part of a sentence for pupils to complete); gestural prompts (pointing to an object or modelling a behaviour), and physical prompts (guiding pupils through motor skills). The way you respond to your pupils’ answers will affect the way they perform at the time but also the way they will perform in the future. You will need to respond to content not only to the language form. If there is no answer at all during questioning, if your pupils cannot think of what to say, prompt them forwards. This kind of help has to be offered gently, with tact and discretion.

Here are a few suggestions for managing your pupils’ answers:

• Be prepared to wait for an answer. Refrain from filling the gap immediately if the question is met with initial silence. During the silence, use non-verbal communication, give encouraging nods or raise your eyebrows. You may also try a short prompt. Signal that you are actually enjoying the silence and are not in the least embarrassed or annoyed.

• Encourage pupil answers. Praise the good answers and preserve the self-esteem of those who give wrong answers. The pupils should be sure that their responses will be treated with respect, that they will not be put down or ridiculed if they say something inappropriate. Give help if you see it is needed during an answer.

• Try to get answers from as many pupils as possible. Responding only to the bright and eager tends to focus attention on them at the expense of the others. A reluctant pupil can be helped by being nominated to answer an easy question.

• Encourage answers which express the pupils’ personal thoughts or feelings, or which are bold and imaginative. Even if it is incorrect, such an answer deserves praise.

• Encourage respect for the contribution of others. Set a good example of respect, courtesy and constructiveness and then expect it of the pupils. Do not tolerate sarcasm, aggression, or destructive criticism.

Avoid the common pitfalls or ‘errors’ in questioning:

• asking too many questions at one • asking a question and answering it yourself • asking questions only of the brightest or most likeable pupils • asking a difficult question too early in the sequence of events • asking irrelevant questions • always asking the same type of questions (e.g. closed ones) • asking questions in a threatening way • not indicating a change in the type of question • not using probing questions • not giving pupils the time to think

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• not correcting wrong answers • ignoring pupils’ answers • failing to see the implications of pupils’ answers • failing to build on answers

Dealing with pupils’ spontaneous questions Dealing with pupils’ spontaneous questions is an important aspect of unplanned

classroom management. You have to make quick decisions about whether to answer, postpone, or dismiss a spontaneous question. As usual in classroom management, you have options and you have to make a quick decision concerning your response. Being honest about why a question is not being answered can give pupils information about the learning process. Saying “let me look that up so I can check all the details” is a reminder that everyone, teachers as well as pupils, should make use of reference material. Postponing the question is something teachers do whether or not they need to look it up. They might say, “That’s an important question, but if I answer it now I think it will muddle you about the grammar point we are looking at today. Let me come back to that next week.” Making a scribbled note of the question as the pupils watch lets them see that the teacher is taking the question seriously. However, when a pupil asks a question about a point you have just explained, the first step is to gauge whether others too need further explanation (“Please put your hands up if you would like to hear the answer to that”). The show of hands will suggest whether more explanation is needed. If only a few hands go up, you can ask those pupils to listen later when most of the class has started an exercise.

Class dialogue In class dialogue, you lead the thinking of the class by asking questions and building

on the responses received from the pupils. Class dialogue should be carefully prepared. You might start with familiar examples, with the presentation of a stimulus (a picture, a drawing, a map, a piece of text, a recording, etc.) which has the aim of rousing the pupils’ curiosity. Then your questioning can help the pupils to build upon their existing knowledge and understanding. Gradually you help them to recognize general principles or rules and finally give them opportunities to demonstrate their understanding by applying it.

Questioning is a universally used activation technique in teaching, mainly within the IRF (Initiation – Response Feedback) pattern. If we consider a question to be a teacher’s utterance which has the objective of eliciting an oral response from the pupils, we need to understand that teacher questions are not always realised by interrogatives, e.g. We’ll describe what is going on in this picture, Tell me what you can see in this picture, etc. It is often hard to prepare the exact wording of the questions in advance, as the questions need to be adapted to the responses which are previously received.

Getting the best responses from the pupils calls for patience and skill. In the role of discussion leader you need to exercise a democratic, rather than an authoritarian style. Pupils’ contributions must be encouraged with reinforcement, prompting and occasional summaries as to where the discussion has reached.

Effective questioning leads to class discussion. However, an average class may be too big to operate as a successful discussion group. That is why you have to be in firm control, and the rules for discussion should be clearly established. In the role of discussion leader you need to be neutral and to exercise a democratic style.

A class discussion must be brought to a satisfactory close by summarising the main points made and the conclusions reached. Discussion techniques are particularly useful for topics involving personal attitudes and in problem solving.

Listening For effective communication, being able to listen effectively and take account of the

response is as important as being able to send the message effectively. Learn to recognise and be sensitive to whether or not a message has been received properly by a pupil, e.g.

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you get a bewildered look or an inappropriate answer to a question. Be able to react appropriately, e.g. repeat the same question or rephrase it. However, also reflect on why the communication was not effective, e.g. was the pupil not listening to you? If so, why? For example, had the pupil ‘switched off’ in a boring lesson or was the question worded inappropriately? Do not assume that pupils have your grasp of meaning and vocabulary. Wragg and Brown (2001: 34) identify four types of listening:

Skim listening – little more than awareness that a pupil is talking (often when the answer seems irrelevant); Survey listening – trying to build a wider mental map of what the pupil is talking about; Search listening – actively searching for specific information in an answer; Study listening – a blend of survey and search listening to identify the underlying meaning and uncertainties of the words the pupil is using.

It is easy to ask a question and then to ‘switch off’ while an answer is being given, to think about the next question or next part of the lesson. This lack of interest conveys itself to the pupils. It is distracting for them to know that the teacher is not listening and not responding to what is being said. Also, you may convey boredom and indifference, which has negative impact on the tone of the lesson. Effective listening is an active process, with a range of non-verbal and verbal responses that convey the message to the pupil speaking that you are listening to what is being said. Effective listening is associated with conveying enthusiasm and generating interest, by providing reinforcement and constructive feedback to pupils. These include looking alert, looking at the pupil; who is talking to you, smiling, nodding and making verbal signals to show you have received and understood the message or to encourage the pupil to continue, e.g. ‘yes’, ‘I see what you mean’, ‘go on’, “oh dear’, ‘mmm’, uh-huh’.

3 Getting Organised Some of the options the teacher needs to take come at key moments: the beginning

of the lesson, the start of an activity, the end of an activity, when a discipline problem occurs in the lesson. A decision taken at such critical moments has great impact.

You need to develop clear routines for monitoring and controlling, for regular organizational tasks such as taking the roll, distributing materials, clearing away at the end of the lesson, forming pairs and groups, using equipment.

Adopt a supervisory role at regular intervals throughout the lesson. All gestures and signals can be effective: a finger to the lips, a hand signal to sit down, a finger to beckon, a nod to approve something to happen, a head shake to signal disapproval, etc. If it is really necessary to speak, approach the pupil and say it quietly, not to disturb the rest of the class.

Anticipate discipline problems and act quickly and decisively. If you are uncertain of the cause of a disruption (which is very common), approach the disruptive pupil in a non-critical way, asking her/him to report what progress has been made or what problems have been encountered. Where the misbehaviour is overt, remove the pupil from any possible audience. Set the pupil to work in a different part of the room, making it clear that s/he may return when s/he has finished the task. This helps the pupil to accept the arrangement. Avoid confrontation, which is public and emotionally charged, and can result in conflict escalation.

Getting started. A first impression is always important. Pupils tune in to the image which you present to them from the first appearance. Make sure you arrive in time and with everything you need for the class. Your leaving the classroom or sending pupils to fetch forgotten items breaks the continuity and gives an opportunity for the pupils’ minds to wander.

Glance around to make sure the classroom and resources are in a state of readiness, with windows open or shut (as they suit you and your pupils) and the board clean. If not, ask the pupils to help. Then look around to see where the pupils are sitting and

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if their seating arrangement suits you. You may also need to ask pupils to put away things from their desks.

Make sure you are ready before beginning the actual lesson. Arrange your books, papers, etc. so that you can pick them up easily as you need them. Keep calm and do not rush to start. The time you take to get organised may seem shorter to the pupils than you may think. Allow your pupils to continue to talk quietly, while remaining in their seats, until you announce that you are ready to begin the lesson. This prevents you from being under pressure and also makes it clear that when you require silence the lesson will begin.

Make a clear and definite start. You can declare yourself ready by saying clearly and quite loudly Good morning / afternoon, everybody and waiting for silence before going on. Then, say briefly what the plan for the lesson is, so that your pupils can be aware of the way they are progressing through the work, e.g. Today we’re going to learn…. We’ll be using Unit… in our books. I’ve brought… for you to… We’ll do some pair work, too… But first of all, I want to ask you…

When your way of beginning will become familiar to your pupils, they may even get prepared for the lesson without you having to ask. The routine nature of this part of the lesson establishes a secure environment. It sets up an atmosphere that is friendly but purposeful and conducive to serious and organized work.

Moving from one activity to another. During a lesson, the class moves from one activity to another. You may also want to change the pattern of interaction from time to time, so that for some part of the lesson pupils are working with each other, in pairs or in groups. The activities you choose must suit the objectives you have for the lesson, and many of them will be based on material in the textbook. There is a wide range of activities which you can use:

• all pupils listening to recorded material • pupils repeating individually or chorally • individual pupils responding to you • pupils reading silently (e.g. sections of the coursebook) • pupils completing written exercises individually • pupils working in pairs to complete written exercises • pupils doing oral practice in pairs • pupils solving problems in groups • pupils preparing material (stories, questions, etc.) in groups • group discussion of a topic • pupils completing tests individually, etc.

For all pupils, but especially for the weaker ones, a change of activity is motivating as it gives a new chance to those who have not enjoyed or not done well in the last activity.

Transitions. It is a good idea to mark transition moments, using transition signals, e.g.: Right. We’ve finished…, so we’ll leave our books for today and go on to… I want you to listen to… and decide… There is little point in beginning a new activity while some pupils are still trying to work out what they must do. For this reason, it is well worth checking and confirming that everyone has understood.

Always try to move from one part of the lesson to another without allowing a gap to occur. It is quite difficult to regain the attention of a class, particularly a large one.

Sometimes you can prepare for the next activity while the pupils are busy finishing the previous one (e.g. you can write something on the board). It is important not to reveal all the idea for a lesson at the beginning of the period. For instance, if you intend to use a picture, do not put it on show from the beginning of the class: pin it up and cover it with a large sheet of paper that can be removed easily. When you show it to the class, the pupils will have something fresh to focus on and their motivation will be helped. In the same way, if you are going to use handouts, keep them until the time they are to be used arrives.

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Overhead projectors are especially useful in this respect because you can prepare the material in advance and reveal it to the class bit by bit.

Pictures and handouts should be made visible or available to all the pupils as quickly as possible. When you have handouts or other papers to distribute to a large class, do not try to give every paper yourself to each pupil. A number of handouts can be given to pupils at different points in the class, asking them to take one and pass the rest on. Then wait quietly for a few moments so that the pupils have time to look at what they have received. If you begin speaking at once, many pupils will simply not listen as they will be preoccupied with what they are looking at. Do not forget that for most people the eyes almost always take precedence over the ears.

Ending a lesson. Keep an eye on the time so that you are not in the middle of an activity when the lesson should be ending. Give the homework towards the end but not in the last few seconds of the lesson. If homework is given too early, some pupils may try to do it during the lesson. If it is given too late, there may be no time to sort out any difficulties. It is often a good idea to tell the class what the homework is and then finish the lesson with an activity which helps with the tasks you have set. This gives an opportunity for any problems to be raised and helps to make the pupils feel confident that they will be able to do the homework.

It is better to finish a little early rather than late, even if you have to say We’ll have to leave this exercise until another day. It’s almost time for the end of the lesson. The pupils will appreciate your courtesy in finishing on time. Conclude the lesson, rather than just stop by saying something which indicates that you have finished. For instance, refer to what has been done and to what you plan to do next.

When you are not in a hurry to your next lesson, take time gathering up your materials and books. Then, individual pupils have an opportunity to speak to you informally, and you may have time to say a few friendly words (in English) to some of the pupils. Of course, you must not delay pupils and make them late for their next lesson.

Leave the classroom in good order – as you would expect to find it. You can ask the pupils to help you. Even if it is normal in your school for a pupil to be asked to clean the board, you should ensure that it is clean before you leave the classroom and, if necessary, clean it yourself.

4 Patterns of Interaction

Classroom interaction is central to effective instruction. However, your pupils work better in some circumstances than in others: some pupils may prefer a collaborative and conversational style, with interruptions and more than one pupil talking at a time. Others tend to be less active and yet others more independent.

The most common type of classroom interaction is that known as ‘IRF’: Initiation → Response → Feedback. The teacher initiates an exchange, usually in the form of a question, one of the pupils answers, the teacher gives feedback (in the form of assessment, correction, or comment), then initiates the next question, and so on. There are however, alternative patterns: the initiative does not always have to be in your hands. Interaction may be between pupils, or between a pupil and the material.

Here are some interaction patterns ordered from most teacher-dominated to most pupil-active:

• Teacher talk: the teacher is talking or reading aloud with all pupils listening. There may be some kind of silent pupil response, such as writing from dictation or making notes in notebooks. There is no initiative on the part of the pupils.

• Closed-ended teacher questioning: the teacher asks a question which can get only one ‘right’ response.

• Open-ended teacher questioning: the teacher asks a question to which there are a number of possible ‘right’ answers, so that more pupils answer each cue.

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• Choral response: the teacher gives a model which is repeated by all the class in chorus; or gives a cue which is responded to in chorus.

• Pupil initiates, teacher answers: the pupils think of questions and the teacher responds. Such an interaction pattern can be found in guessing games. The teacher decides who asks the question.

Five types of pupil groupings are common in the classroom:

• Whole-class interaction: the whole class is working together with the teacher; the pupils debate a topic or do a language task as a class. The teacher may intervene occasionally to stimulate participation or to monitor.

• Individual work: the teacher gives a task or set of tasks, and the pupils work on them independently. They may also mix together as individuals. The teacher walks around monitoring and assisting where necessary.

• Collaboration or pair work: the pupils do the same sort of tasks as in ‘individual work’, but work together, usually in pairs. The teacher may or may not intervene. This is different from group work where the task itself necessitates interaction.

• Group work (done in small groups of three to eight pupils): the pupils work on tasks that entail interaction, conveying information or making decisions. The teacher walks around listening and intervenes little if at all.

• Self-access: the pupils choose their own learning tasks, and work autonomously Varying groupings is one way of enabling a variety of experiences for the learners. The range of activity patterns is infinite, but we can group them into two main

categories: 1. whole class teacher-led activities 2. pupils’ independent activities

teacher presentation whole class class dialogue pupil activities

Teacher-led activities briefing tutorial reviewing discussion individual work library work course work project work homework

Independent activities pair work private study discussions

collaborative projects private reading small group work use of audio/video/IT technology

Fig. 2.1 The components of classroom management (after Philip Watehouse, Classroom Management, Network Educational Press, Stafford, 1990, p.13)

Teacher-led activities and independent activities Teacher-led activities. These are the best known of teaching arrangements, and

they are often referred to as traditional teaching. Although traditional, if they are well done, teacher-led activities (also called ‘lockstep’ teaching) can be very powerful. These activities include: teacher presentation, class dialogue and teacher-led pupil activities.

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What are, in your opinion, the advantages and disadvantages of whole class teacher-led activities?

Independent activities. Independent activities can be done individually, in pairs or

in groups. Independent activities can range from pupils doing exercises on their own, to

activities where pupils take charge of their own learning in self-access centres or out-of-class activities. Such independent activities are a vital preparation for the development of the pupils’ learning autonomy.

When you wish your pupils to work on their own in class, you can, for instance, ask them to read a text privately and then answer questions individually, or you can ask them to complete worksheets with different tasks or to write tasks by themselves. You can give them worksheets with several different tasks and allow them to choose which tasks to do. Or you can hand out different worksheets to different pupils depending on their skills, needs or tastes. You can allow your pupils to do some research on their own or choose what they want to read or listen to.

Pupils enjoy to be given some degree of independence. While they need your guidance and help, they also need their own time and space, and some freedom in making decisions of their own. However, simply getting the pupils to work on their own is no guarantee of a high level of motivation.

• Individual work is a good opportunity for the pupils to work entirely alone. Such an opportunity should be given frequently to all pupils. Good prior instructions are essential, as is the need to give additional support if it is required.

• Paired work is very popular and usually the classroom seating decides the pairing. It is easy to use the pair as the normal unit for independent work and to break for individual work occasionally, or combine with other pairs for small group work.

• Small group work can be very productive, but it is not easy to manage. Many young pupils may run into difficulties when they are left on their own. Working well as a member of a small group is an advanced activity which even adults may find hard to handle. That is why you need to offer constant care and monitoring of the group progress.

Whole class teacher-led activities. Whole class activities play an important part in classroom management. They can be very attractive and powerful, and they can be an opportunity for you to show your charisma.

• A teacher’s presentation can be very effective if it is done for short periods and with sparkle. The pupils can be inspired and stimulated by the charisma of a teacher with good presentation skills.

• Class dialogue (also known as the “Socratic method”) is a very useful method. By skilful questioning, you can lead the thinking of the class. Class dialogue is best when it is lively and motivating for the pupils. However, it needs firm and careful handling, as it can lose its vitality and become mechanical and repetitive.

• Pupil activities, that is giving the pupils something to do, help to bring variety into whole class teaching. The pupils may all repeat something in the chorus; or respond to a cue, they may take notes, or write after dictation. The teacher remains in control of what is happening, but the pupils are given opportunities to be active.

Tutorials. Not as common as whole class teaching, mostly used in private schools, tutorials (extra-class small group work) are also teacher led. Tutorials can make a real

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difference to the quality of the pupils’ learning. During tutorials, you can help the pupils to prepare for their next assignment, give them guidance, and indicate resources, possible problems or standards. Reviews can also be organised during tutorials to look back at the work which has been completed, and to assess it. Tutorials can be organised to encourage the pupils to talk about their work, and to explore issues and ideas together, or to allow you to help them overcome their difficulties. Working in a small group, during tutorials it is easier to identify problems and to offer pupils more personal and individualised support.

Whole class teaching is an important part of a teacher’s repertoire of methods, and has a lot of potential. It relies on teacher talk, which may be more or less inspiring and motivating. That is why, during class teaching the pupils may become passive as individual differences are ignored and their motivation may decrease. However, class teaching has its place in the repertoire of a teacher, provided it is not the only method in use!

Pupils’ independent activities Before reading the next section, try to think of a few important

advantages of pupils’ independent activities.

Independent learning is characterized by the pupils’ active and responsible

participation in the lesson:

• the pupils show study skills (personal organization and learning skills) • they take active steps to prepare for work • they show initiative in finding the resources they need for the work assigned • they show initiative in getting help from their classmates before seeking help from the

teacher • they offer help to classmates • they contribute to the task in a responsible way • they are often organized in teams • they often follow up classroom work with further investigation • they are so involved or absorbed in their work that the teacher is able to step back.

Independent learning can take place in various groupings: individual, pair or team / small group. The pupils need to be thoroughly prepared and briefed for independent learning tasks and they should be constantly monitored and controlled.

Two modes of independent learning can be distinguished a) supervised study (individual or paired work), and b) supported independent work (individual, paired or small group).

Mode

Pupil grouping

Briefing for

task

Monitoring and

control Supervised learning individual or paired

whole class Teacher circulating

Supported independent work

individual paired or small group

group

Teacher circulating

Adapted after Waterhouse P., 1990, Classroom Management, Network Educational Press, Stafford, p. 56

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Supervised learning In supervised learning, the teacher sets a task or a series of tasks to be done

individually, or in pairs. After you give the explanation of what to do and how to do it to the class as a whole, the individual pupils or pairs then proceed with their tasks. Your role is to monitor – to move around the class, checking that everyone is on task, helping with problems, making suggestions, giving advice, supervising work and behaviour. During such an activity, you can find opportunity to talk to individuals or small groups. This system helps the pupils to be more active and this can be an important move towards real pupil independence.

However, when working individually, the pupils may feel deprived of the stimulus of working with other people, or they may find out that they are unable to make decisions and are still dependent on your directions.

Here are a few suggestions for how you can reduce the pupils’ dependence on the teacher:

• brief thoroughly before the task • allocate enough time for the task • make sure the task is at the right level and the pupils can cope with it and the resources

necessary for it • encourage the pupils to seek help from each other • spend time listening to individual pupils, encouraging them to expand on their difficulties

and their problems • refrain from answering a pupil’s question directly; try to get the same pupil to answer

the question or get another pupil to join in • intervene by asking questions of your own to find out how well they have understood

the task • do not revert to class teaching, although this may seem an economical way of solving

problems • keep a low profile, monitoring quietly and unobtrusively.

Supported independent learning The concept of supported independent learning or individualized learning is

sometimes identified with the provision of a self-access centre, or a full self-access learning programme. These offer various kinds of materials, and the pupils may participate in the choice of materials, and then work on their own, in groups or in pairs.

Individualized learning may have a more modest sense, too: the pupils are given a measure of freedom to choose how and what they learn at a particular time. This implies less direct teacher supervision and more learner autonomy and responsibility for learning. Tasks and materials are adapted or selected to suit the individual.

Individualized learning is a serious attempt to provide for different learner needs and to place a higher responsibility for learning on the learners themselves. Individualized learning is the opposite of ‘lockstep’ learning, where everyone in the class is expected to do the same thing, at the same time, in the same way.

Procedures that allow for individual choice include: 1. Speed: how fast or slowly each individual may work (everyone being engaged in the

same basic task) 2. Level: tasks may be presented in easier or more difficult versions, so that the pupil can

choose the one that suits his/her level 3. Topic: the pupil will be able to select tasks that vary in the subject or topic, while all are

based on the same language skill or teaching point 4. Language skill or teaching point: each pupil may choose to work on a different

aspect of language (e.g. listening, grammar, reading, etc).

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Try to summaries the disadvantages of pupils’ individualized learning.

Cooperative learning Most foreign language teachers hope to teach small classes in which pupils are more

or less homogeneous in terms of foreign language proficiency. However, most teachers find themselves working with a class of thirty or more pupils who exhibit a wide range of abilities. This less than ideal situation often leads to the use of teaching methodology which does not promote optimal learning: interaction in the classroom is dominated by a teacher who ignores individual differences with the pupils mainly responding to the teacher’s initiatives. Another characteristic is one in which every pupil in class is doing more or less “the same thing, at the same time, and in the same way” (Ur, 1996: 233). Cooperative learning can be implemented by a number of principles and techniques, and when carefully planned and executed, it can lead to a dynamic classroom interaction that promotes more learning. Benefits of cooperative learning include (Richards & Renandya: 49 f.):

• Less teacher talk • Increased student talk • More varied student talk • More negotiation of meaning • A greater amount of comprehensible input • A more relaxed classroom atmosphere • Greater motivation for learning

With cooperative learning, pupils work together in groups whose usual size is two to four members. However, cooperative learning is more than just putting students in groups and giving them something to do. Cooperative learning principles and techniques are tools which teachers use to encourage mutual helpfulness in the groups and the active participation of all members. In planning and executing cooperative learning, you have many decisions to make. In the planning stage you need to think about questions such as whether to stimulate intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, how much choice to give pupils in such matters as how, about what, and with whom they will collaborate and how tightly to structure activities to help encourage effective cooperation.

5 Pupils’ Groupings Pair work and group work In pair and group work pupils perform a learning task through interaction. Both pair

and group work are forms of learner activation that are of particular value in the practice of oral fluency. They have the added advantages of fostering learner responsibility and independence, of improving motivation and contributing to a feeling of cooperation and warmth in the class.

Pair and group work can mark a transition from one stage of the lesson to the next. If the pupils are reluctant to join in group work, then the first step is to overcome their preconceptions. Here are a few arguments you can use (Lewis, 44):

• Groups are a chance to speak without the teacher noticing mistakes; • When the students complain about having to listen to all the other students’ bad English

when they get into groups, point out that communication involves listening to everyone and making sense whether people speak slowly or fast, formally or informally.

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• Make the activities age-appropriate. • Make the purpose of each activity clear beforehand; • Call for student feedback on group activities. What went well? What could be changed? • Start with self-selected groupings, so that students are working with people they know or

like; • Show connections between group activities and the rest of the programme to overcome

the belief that group work is an extra. If the barrier to group work is managing large numbers, you could experiment different types of group work which call for different management skills: free discussions, projects, or tasks. In free-discussion groups, you can use the multilevel nature of the class to advantage by appointing specific roles to avoid problems such as having one student dominating the group and others sitting passively. A chairperson invites people to speak and holds back those who have talked long enough; a timekeeper watches that the group moves on to various stages of the activity, a reporter takes notes ready for reporting back. Another type of group work is the project. Projects involve collating material from a number of sources (the Internet, libraries, informants, etc.) The most specific type of small-group activity in the language class is the task (e.g. to categorise a collection of words). A task requires input data, procedures, goals, and specific roles for teachers and learners. Whether the group work activity is a discussion, a project, or a more specific task, it can have a variety of goals/aims. In a multilevel class, aims can be graded for different members of the group, according to their language competence, by modifying:

• The topic (more abstract or more applied) • The language difficulty (two versions of the same text)\ • The amount of input • The graphic support (more or fewer pictures) • The time taken to finish • The level of language students are expected to use for the same purpose • The length of the final ‘product’ • The amount of support from the teacher and from other students.

Some teachers may be hesitant about using pair and group work with very large classes. They fear that they will have difficulty in controlling the pupils. There is no doubt that collaborative work can lead to a lot of noise if it is not controlled carefully. For this reason, you may find it useful to explain why you want to do pair work and group work and to impress upon the class the need to behave in a responsible way. On the first one or two occasions when you organise pair or group work, you should be especially firm in dealing with noisy or troublesome pupils.

Some thinking needs to be given to the life-span of the group. While permanent groups may not be the best solution, constant changes are not advisable, either.

A group should start with a clearly defined task to be done within a defined time. This helps the pupils build a sense of team identity but also removes the fear of being locked into a grouping which an individual may feel uncomfortable with. While the pupils are working in pairs or groups, you need to observe how well they interact together. You will need to change the pairs to groups in future if you notice that some pupils cannot concentrate on the task and talk about something else (usually in Romanian), that one pupil dominates the group, or that some weaker pupils are lost.

The advantages of pair and group work soon become apparent. Questions directed at the pairs or at the teams can anticipate longer, more thoughtful answers, which are the result of group deliberation. This overcomes the main disadvantage of the class dialogue which can degenerate into a succession of short questions, with one-word answers supplied by the bright and eager, and the teacher jumping from one student to another in

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search of the right answer. In the collaborative work approach, different solutions can be explored, and pupils can learn to justify their arguments to their fellow group members.

As with other forms of organisation, pair and group work can be overdone. The teacher’s challenge is to decide which class activities can best be done individually, which work well in pairs or groups, and which call for whole-class work.

Pair work organisation. The amount of practice each pupil gets is greatly increased by the use of pair work. The pupils can sit either facing each other for conversation or side by side when looking at the same book or paper. Pair work can be done simply by some pupils turning round or moving along a bit to sit with a partner. Young learners tend to prefer to make pairs with their special friends and this is often perfectly satisfactory. However, it is a good idea sometimes to vary who sits with whom. It is sensible to be more selective about pairing if you are planning an activity which is long and perhaps difficult for some pupils. You may wish to try to pair a ‘good’ pupil with a less able one, if this can be done without it being too obvious.

For quick snippets of oral practice, use random pairing which occurs as a result of seating. This has the advantage of not interrupting the flow of the lesson too much.

To organise pair work, you need to give a clear directive, e.g. We can do this as pair work. Will the front row please turn round and work with the people behind them. Pupils soon get used to the idea of pairing, and a simple We’ll do this in pairs prompts them to sort themselves out quite quickly and quietly.

Group work organisation. Group work tends to occur less frequently but pupils who have got used to pair work can easily be put into groups..

Group size. Generally speaking, the smaller the group, the more each member talks and the less chance there is that someone will be left out. If time is short, smaller groups can usually do an activity more quickly. Smaller groups also require fewer group-management skills. Thus, when starting group work, groups of two (pairs) or three may be best.

The advantage of larger groups is that they provide more people for doing big tasks, increase the variety of pupils in terms of their skills, personalities, backgrounds, and reduce the number of groups for the teacher to monitor.

Before you fix the group size, say what resources (books, handouts, etc.) the pupils will need.

Forming the groups. One way (Jacobs and Hall, 54 f.) is to organise groups as for pair work, and then say We’re going to work in bigger groups, so you three pairs make Group 1, you three Group 2, and so on. With a class which is used to group work you may say We’re going to do the next activity in groups. So take your notebooks and pens and get into groups of six, please. A few moments of chaos may follow, but once group work has become a normal part of the class routine, it will not be much trouble.

Most experts suggest that teacher-selected groups work best. At least until pupils become proficient at collaboration. Teacher-selected groups usually aim to achieve a heterogeneous mix. Such a mix promotes peer tutoring, helps to break down barriers among different types of pupils, and encourages on-task behaviour.

In creating teacher-assigned groups, factors to consider include language proficiency, sex and diligence.

An effective way to set up mixed-proficiency groups is to band the learner’s names in four proficiency clusters from high to low and then select randomly from within each band so that groups will involve learners with a range of proficiencies. Other criteria such as sex and diligence can be considered whom to decide from each band.

Random grouping has the advantage of being quick and conveys the idea that one can work with anyone. A way of randomising groups is counting off. Take the number of students in the class, divide by the number of students you want per group. And the result will be the number students should count to. Other ways of randomising include using

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playing cards, giving out numbered pieces of paper, distributing cards with different categories on them (such as animals, plants, names of countries, and so on) and letting students groups themselves according to the category. All the animals would find each other and form a group, all the plants would look for the other plants, and so forth.

Once the groups have been formed, give clear, precise instructions about what you want them to do. Also, give examples of what you expect and indicate how much time they will have to complete the task. The instructions given at the beginning are crucial: if the pupils do not understand exactly what they have to do there will be time-wasting, confusion, and lack of effective practice. A preliminary rehearsal or ‘dry run’ of a sample of the activity with the full class can help to clarify things.

A group of 4 – 8 pupils is large enough to produce a variety of opinions and responses, but small enough to give each pupil a sense of belonging. If each group consists of an even number of pupils, this allows you to set activities for pairs or for the whole team. A common approach is to start an activity with paired work and to take the results of pair work to the whole group.

Some teachers find that having group leaders (different ones on each occasion) and/or giving each group a name (Group A, Group B, etc. or the Wonder team, the Dream team, etc.) helps to make the session run smoothly. At first you will probably want to name the leaders, but in time each group can choose its own. Every group member should have a job and be answerable to the group. The jobs should be rotated frequently. Also, every member of the group should know that help for another member of the group is encouraged.

Select tasks that are simple enough to describe easily. Sometimes it may be cost-effective to explain some or all in Romanian.

You should be able to foresee what language will be needed, and have a preliminary quick review of appropriate grammar or vocabulary. Also, before giving the sign to start, you should tell the class what the arrangements are for stopping: if there is a time limit, or a set signal for stopping. If the groups simply stop when they have finished, then you should tell them what they will have to do next.

In the table below tick the advantages that characterise pair work, group work or both:

pair work

group work

both

increases the amount of pupil speaking time allows pupils to work and interact independently promotes pupil independence allows the teacher time to work with one or two chosen pairs

helps the classroom to become a more relaxed and more friendly place

helps pupils to share responsibility can be easily organised personal relationships are less problematic more opinions and more contributions are made public encourages cooperation and negotiation skills more private than whole class work promotes learner autonomy pupils can choose their level of participation

When pupils become good at working in groups, they can group themselves,

according to their interests, for self-directed projects. Pair and group work in progress. While the pupils are working in pairs or groups,

you have two options: either to go from group to group, ask and contribute, or keep out of the way. You could stand at the front, at the back or anywhere else in the classroom, and

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monitor what is happening, or go round the class observing. You can be acting as monitor or as prompter, resource or tutor.

What can your contribution be during pair and group work?

During pair and group work you have an opportunity to work with individual pupils whom you feel would benefit from your help. Do not spend too long with one pair or group as this sometimes leads to other pupils losing interest in the task as they feel you have lost interest in them. Pair and group work which goes on for too long cause problems as the pupils get bored.

If you have set a time limit, this will help you to draw the activity to a close at a certain point. In principle, you should try to finish the activity while the pupils are still enjoying it and interested, or only just beginning to flag.

A frequent problem is that some pairs or groups will finish earlier than others, and will want or need to do something else. When they are tired, some will be happy to just wait for the others to finish. Sometimes you need to organise an individual activity to follow, and return to a discussion of outcomes when everyone has finished. For such situations, May (1996: 8) suggests the following solutions:

• Setting different word limits for different groups of students, • Providing more able students with different extra tasks rather than just more of the

same. More suggestions are found in Jacobs and Hall (idem, 56):

• Check to see if the groups have done the assignment properly; • Have groups that finish early compare what they have done with other groups that

also finished early; • Have groups discuss how they worked together. Smooth-functioning groups can

provide good models from others and this might help all groups work together more efficiently.

• Develop one or two ‘sponge activities’ (short activities, related to the main task, that soak up the extra time between the first and last groups finish).

• Ask pupils to help other groups that have not yet finished. • Groups that finish early can work on homework or other assignments.

In other circumstances, you may ask them all to stop the activity after the first pairs or groups have finished. This solution removes the problem of boredom, but it may de-motivate those who have not yet finished.

Getting the class’s attention during group work. Un case you feel there is a need to bring group discussions to a temporary halt, you may raise the hand. When pupils see this, they are to raise their hands also, bring their discussion to a close and alert other pupils who may have not seen the teacher’s raised hand, and face the teacher. Other possible signals include knocking on the board, ringing a bell, playing a musical instrument, blowing a whistle, snapping one’s fingers or flicking the lights on and off. Some teachers play music in the background as groups study together. In this case, turning off the music can be the attention signal. One pupil in each group can take the role of group checker with the responsibility of watching out for the teachers’ signal.

Noise level with group work. A signal similar to the one used to get the class’s attention can be used as a sign to continue working more quietly. Another idea is to have

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one pupil per group as noise monitor or quiet captain whose fuinction is to urge the group to collaborate actively yet quietly. Having pupils sit close together not only helps reduce the noise level, but also helps foster cooperation and minimises the chance of someone being left out.

Dealing with reluctant pupils. Discussing the advantages that pupils can derive from learning in groups may help overcome resistance to group activities. These potential advantages include learning more, having more fun, and preparing for tasks away from school in which collaboration is necessary. Pupils may look more favourably on cooperative learning if they understand that talking with others is a language learning strategy that they can apply outside of class as well (Oxford, 1990).

Group games may encourage pupils to look forward to other group-learning activities. Many enjoyable games also teach academic and social skills.

Starting with pair work and assigning tasks that require exchange of inofrmation, providing language support (vocabulary and structures) so that the pupils are more likely to succeed, all facilitate group work. Success will build confidence in the ability to work in groups. Pupils who refuse to work in groups can be allowed to work on their own. After a while, they may want to take part in the group interaction.

Keeping groups together. Keeping groups together for fairly long periods gives them a chance to become comfortable with one another, allows them to form a group identity and bond, and gives the opportunity to learn how to overcome difficulties they have working together. Groups that stay together for longer periods of time facilitate long-term projects.

You should resist the tempatation to disband groups that are not working well. Stress to pupils that we need to learn to be able to work with all sorts of people, including those whom we do not like. Use team-building activities and instruction in collaborative skills to help create a spirit of togetherness in groups. However, even when pupils are in long-term groups, short one-shot activities can be done with different grouping configurations; this may add variety.

Feedback to pair and group work When pairs and groups stop working together, a feedback session usually takes

place. The pupils need to discuss what occurred during the activity, and you need to provide assessment and make corrections. Feedback on the task may take many forms:

• giving the right solution (if there is one) • listening to and evaluating suggestions • pooling ideas on the board • displaying materials the groups have produced • having a few pairs or groups to demonstrate the language they used, and so on. Where the task had definite right or wrong answers, you need to ensure that it was completed successfully. By comparing solutions, ideas, and problems, the pupils can reach a better understanding of the task or topic. An alternative is not to treat the discussion of goals as a whole-class activity, but to discuss with pupils group-by-group how their goals have been reached.

Your main objective is to express appreciation of the effort that has been invested and its results. Constructive feedback on pupils’ work will enhance their motivation. Feedback on language mistakes is only one part of the process. Feedback on language may be integrated into the discussion of the task, or provide the focus of a separate lesson later.

The achievements of the group members could be publicised and recorded either individually, or as sum totals for the group. Rewards (and minor sanctions) should be given on a pair or group basis.

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Could you now summarise the disadvantages of group work?

Maximizing student interaction in class Here are some ideas, selected from Scrivener’s book:

• Create an effective learning environment. Be as honestly yourself as you can be. Respect the learners. Work on seeing things from their perspective as well as your own.

• Encourage a friendly, relaxed learning environment. A trusting, positive, supportive rapport among the learners and between learners and teacher leads to a better chance of useful interaction happening.

• Ask questions rather than giving explanations. • When you want the pupils to discuss something, ask open questions. • Allow time for the pupils to listen, think, process their answer and then speak. • Really listen to what they say. Let what they say really affect what you do next. Work

on listening (1) to the student, (2) the meaning as well as (3) the language and (4) the mistakes.

• Allow thinking time without talking over it. Allow silence. • Increase opportunities for STT (Student Talking Time). • Use gestures to replace unnecessary teacher talk. • Allow students to finish their own sentences. • Make use of pairs and small groups to maximize opportunities for pupils to speak. • When possible, arrange seating so that students can all see each other and talk to

each other (in circles, squares or horseshoes rather than parallel rows). Try out seating arrangements that allow the whole class to be the focus, rather than the teacher.

• Encourage interaction between students rather than only between student and teacher and teacher and student. Get students to ask questions, give explanations to each other rather than always to you. Use gestures and facial expressions to encourage them to speak and listen to each other.

• Encourage co-operation rather than competition: we learn from others and from working through our own mistakes. The result of an activity may be less important than how the pupils are getting there.

• Allow students to become more responsible for their own progress. Put them in situations where they need to make decisions for themselves.

• If a student is speaking too quietly for you to hear, walk further away, rather than closer to them. Encourage the quiet speaker to speak louder so that the others can hear.

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Varying work patterns with multilevel classes Varying work patterns can be a solution for managing large, multilevel classes. You

can plan to work with different groups of pupils at different times during the lesson. An example of this was reported by Lewis (1998). In summary, four time slots can be used as follows:

(after M. Lewis, 2002: 46)

In this model, the teacher has different roles at different times. For example:

• answering or asking questions • up-front roles or supporting individuals • language informant or eliciting language • congratulating or encouraging individuals • designer of tasks or materials.

Problematic class management Here are some common ways in which teachers unintentionally hinder or prevent

learning. TTT (Teacher talking time). English teachers tend to believe that silence is horrible

and fill it with their own talk. However, the more a teacher talks, the less opportunity there is for the learners. They need time to think, to prepare what they are going to say and how they are going to say it. Allow them the time and the quiet they need. Don’t feel the need to fill every gap in a lesson, and explore the possibilities of silence.

Echoing. If you tend to echo what the students say, start to control this; the students will get more talking time and they will start to listen to each other more. When you echo they will learn that they don’t need to listen to anyone except the teacher, because they know the teacher will repeat everything.

Helping the students with sentence completion. Often the teacher is so desperate for the students to say what she wants them to say that she predicts the words the student will produce and often adds ‘tails’ to sentence after sentence. This kind of ‘doing the hard work’ for the pupils is counter-productive for them. Pupils need to learn to finish off their own sentences, using their own words and their own ideas.

Complicated and unclear instructions Unplanned, unstructured instructions are extremely confusing to students. They

understand a small percentage of what the teacher is saying and guess only from one or two words they catch what the teacher is trying to say. Work out what is essential for them to know and tell them only that.

Organisation Activity Purposes whole class theme-based building on

individual interests social, language input, fluency

class in two halves, one with self-access materials, the other with the teacher

1. independent tasks

2. direct teaching

language practice, self-assessment; preparation for independent work

as above, reversed 1. communicative tasks 2. independent work

focus on meaning follow-up to direct teaching

Individual, pairs, or small groups

choice of tasks one-to-one interaction with teacher and other students

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Not checking understanding of instructions. Even the clearest instructions can be difficult to understand for some students. So, after you’ve given them, check that they have been understood. A simple way is to ask a student or two to repeat them back to you. In this way you satisfy yourself that the task has been understood,

Asking Do you understand? When you want to check the pupils’ understanding, a question such as Do you understand? is often useless. A Yes may mean “I don’t want to seem stupid”, or “I don’t want to waste the class time” and not necessarily “I think I understand”. The best way to get clear information about what students have taken in is to get them to demonstrate their understanding, by giving examples, by repeating an instruction, by explaining their interpretation of an idea. This provides real evidence rather than possibly untrue information.

Fear of genuine feedback. In an active, forward-moving class the learners give constantly their teacher feedback on what they have understood, what they think, what they need, how they feel. Many teachers believe in the importance of open, honest feedback but find it hard to get. This is partly due to classroom atmosphere, partly to the questions asked, and mainly to the teacher’s attitude and response to feedback received. If the teacher sees feedback as a threat to herself or her position she will avoid feedback, or will defend herself against perceived attack when she gets feedback. If she can open up to pupil feedback without self-defence, justifications or arguments, she will find that she can start to find out what the students are really thinking, and that she can work on responding appropriately to that.

Insufficient authority and over-politeness. Too much politeness (e.g. if you don’t mind, it would be nice if you could just... if you feel that’s OK) can be a way in which teachers undermine themselves. A teacher needs to be clear and say directly what needs to be done. An imperative like Stop now, please, is a sign of natural authority.

Lack of confidence in self, learners, material, activity, etc. A common cause of boredom in the classroom is when the material used is too difficult and hard to recognize or too easy and unchallenging. A teacher should try to keep the level of challenge right, be demanding and believe that her pupils can do more than they are aware of being able to do – and help them to do it.

Over-helping and over-organizing. When you give pupils a task to do in a group, it’s often best to let them get on with it. A lot of teacher help, although well-intentioned can be perceived as ‘teacher interference’ and gets in the way of students working on their own. As long as you are around they will look for guidance, control and help. When you are not there they are forced to do the work themselves (and learning may happen!). For teachers it can be a difficult lesson to learn – but sometimes the students will do much better without us, if only we have the courage to trust them.

Flying with the fastest. If you only listen to the first pupils who speak, it’s very easy to get a false impression of how difficult or easy something is. You may find that the strongest and fastest students dominate and you get little idea of how the majority of the class finds the work. This can lead you to fly at the speed of the top two or three students and to lose the rest completely. Make sure you get constant answers and feedback from many students. Try directing questions at individuals and sometimes actively ‘shh!’ the loud ones – or simply don’t ‘hear’ them.

Not really listening (hearing language problems but not the message). We can easily become overconcerned about the accuracy of what is said and to fail to hear the person behind the words. Teachers frequently fail to hear what the learners say. However, the point in learning a foreign language is to be able to communicate and receive messages, and the mechanical production of correct English should not blind us to the message conveyed.

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Weak rapport – creation of a poor working environment. If rapport seems to be a problem, then plan work designed to focus on improving the relationships and interaction with the class. Until the relationships are good within the class the learning is likely to be of a lower quality – so it’s worth spending time on this. Remember that a teacher should be authentic, respectful and emphatic.

Summary Effective lesson management needs careful planning. The cornerstone of effective

management is a clearly understood and consistently monitored set of rules and procedures that prevents management problems in all stages of the lesson. These take into account both the characteristics of the pupils and the physical environment of the classroom. Lesson rules and procedures are the steps for the routines the pupils follow in their learning activities.

While in whole class teacher-led activities opportunities for pupil participation are limited, collaborative learning activities (pair work and group work) rely on interaction to promote cooperative knowledge construction, increased motivation and interest.

What a teacher can hope for in the classroom can be summarised in these three hopes for pupils and three for the teachers (Stevick 1996: 250):

• pupils are involved • pupils feel comfortable while they are involved in intellectual activity • pupils listen to one another as well as to the teacher • teachers are in general control • teachers allow and encourage originality in students • teachers look “relaxed and matter-of-fact..., giving information about ...

appropriateness or correctness ... rather than criticising or praising.” Further Reading

Capel, Susan, Leask, Marilyn and Turner, Tony, 2009, Learning to Teach in the Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience, Routledge

Harmer, Jeremy. 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman Jacobs George M. and Hall, Stephen. 2002. “Implementing Cooperative Learning” in

Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Lewis, M. 1998. “Diverse levels and diverse goals in a community class”. In J. C. Richards (ed.) Case studies from second language classrooms. Alexandria, VA: TESOL

Lewis, M. 2002. “Classroom management.” In Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

May, P. 1996. Exam classes. Oxford: OUP. Oxford, R. L. 1990. Language learning strategies. What every teacher should know. New

York: Newbury House. Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.

Cambridge: CUP. Rogers, B. 2002. Classroom Behaviour, London: Paul Chapman Publishing. Scrivener, J. 1994. Learning Teaching, Heinemann. Stevick, E. W. 1996 Memory, meaning and method. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle. Underwood, Mary .1987. Effective Class management. A Practical Approach, Longman. Ur, Penny .1996. A Course in Language Teaching. Practice and Theory, Cambridge

University Press. Wragg, E.C. and Brown, G. 2001. Questioning in the Secondary School, London: Rutledge

Falmer.

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Catedra de Limba şi Literatura engleză EFL Methodology

LESSON PLANNING The success with which a teacher conducts a lesson is often

thought to depend on the effectiveness with which the lesson was planned. (Richards 1998: 103)

If the time you spend with the pupils in the classroom is to be used effectively, you

need to plan carefully each lesson, taking account of how pupils learn, the requirements of the curriculum, the most appropriate techniques and resources available as well as the evaluation of previous lessons. Three levels of planning are particularly relevant to work in the classroom: the scheme of work, which outlines a long term activity, timetabling (planning and sequencing a series of lessons), and the lesson plan for each individual lesson.

Many of your decisions intended to promote learning in the classroom will be based on your answer to the question: “How do I plan my lessons to promote as much learning as possible?” Planning includes all the decisions you make before working directly with the pupils. Most teachers have in advance some idea of any lesson they are about to teach: of what they will try to cover and how. Fewer teachers prepare their lessons in detail. However, you are encouraged to write a wide range of lesson plans. Even though you may later on choose to plan your lessons more skeletally, the exercise of thorough and disciplined planning will provide you with an insight into your teaching and will make your lessons more effective.

During the planning phase, you will make decisions about goals, activities, resources, timing, pupils’ grouping, and other aspects of the lesson.

Objectives

By the end of this lecture you will: • have a good idea of what needs to be included in a lesson plan • explain what is meant by the terms: aims, objectives, outcomes, progression,

differentiation • be able to formulate main and subsidiary lesson aims for various types of

lessons • distinguish aims from activities • use a suitable lesson plan layout.

Key Concepts: scheme of work, timetabling, pre-planning, planning, timetable fit, assumed knowledge, anticipated problems, aims, objectives, outcomes, progression, differentiation, timing, plan layout, lesson implementation, lesson plan evaluation

Introduction to lesson planning

Planning is a key aspect of effective teaching. Lesson planning means “the daily decisions a teacher makes for the successful outcome of the lesson” (Richards and Renandya, 30). Before you teach a lesson it helps to be clear about what exactly you want to do. A lot is going to happen on the spot in the class, but the better prepared you are, the

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more likely it is that you will be ready to cope with whatever happens. Lesson plans are systematic records of the teacher’s thoughts about what will be covered in a lesson. A lesson plan helps the teacher think about the lesson in advance and be prepared to resolve problems, deal with difficulties, provide a structure for the lesson. According to Richards (1998, 103), a lesson plan is like a map for the teacher to follow and a record of what has been taught. If the content of the lesson is often decided elsewhere, how much you teach in each lesson and how you teach it are the teacher’s own decision.

In this country, teachers are given clear guidelines about what to teach and the goals for pupils’ learning within the subject. These goals are usually set out in government produced documents, e.g. the National Curriculum, syllabuses, school documents and syllabuses prepared by examination boards. You need to become familiar with the curriculum requirements and the terminology relevant to your subject. However, before you plan individual lessons, you need an overall picture of what learning is planned for the pupils over a period of time. This overall plan is called a scheme of work and in this country schemes of work cover a years’ work and the work for each term. Teachers engage in yearly, term, unit, weekly, and daily lesson planning. Yearly and term planning usually involve listing the objectives for a particular programme. A unit plan is a series of related lessons around a specific theme, such as “Going shopping” (see also Timetabling). Planning daily lessons is the result of a complex planning process that includes the yearly, term, and unit plans. A daily lesson plan describes how you will organise the pupils’ learning in order to attain specific objectives, in other words, how your teaching behaviour will result in pupil learning.

The scheme of work, the timetable, and the lesson plan There are three main stages to planning for pupil learning: 1. preparing an outline of the work to be covered over a period – the scheme of

work; 2. planning and sequencing a whole series of lessons - timetabling; 3. planning each individual lesson – the lesson plan. While the formats for the schemes of work and lesson plans in use may differ and

the level of detail may vary between different approaches, the purpose is the same – to provide an outline of the work to be completed either over an extended period (scheme of work – ‘planificarea anuală sau trimestrială’) or in the lesson (lesson plan) so that the planned learning objectives and learning outcomes can be achieved. The best plans are the ones which support you in your teaching so that your pupils learn what you intend them to learn.

The scheme of work This might also be called ‘programme of work’ or ‘unit of work’. It is a long-term plan

for the pupils’ learning. It sets out the long-term plans for learning and thus covers an extended period of time – a year or a term. A scheme of work should be designed to build on the learning which has gone before in order to ensure continuity of pupil learning.

Schemes of work should be designed to ensure that the knowledge, skills, capabilities, understanding and attitudes of the pupils are developed over a particular period in order to ensure progression in learning. ‘Progression’ means the planned development of knowledge, skills, understanding or attitudes over time.

Usually on school experience you are given or at least shown a scheme of work. In putting this together, the classroom teacher has considered a number of questions:

1. What are you trying to achieve? (Aims for the scheme of work and learning

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objectives for particular lessons) 2. What has been taught before? 3. How much time is available to do this work? 4. What resources are available? 5. How is the work to be assessed? 6. (sometimes) How does this work fit with work pupils are doing in other subjects? 7. What is taught later? 8. Are there immovable slots? The scheme itself may be quite brief, but it will be

based on the above information. Each of the areas in the scheme of work is discussed in turn: 1. What are you trying to achieve? The aims of a scheme of work are general

statements about the learning that should take place over a period. Learning objectives are specific statements which set out what pupils are expected to learn from a particular lesson in a way that allows you to identify if learning has occurred. Learning objectives are prepared for each lesson (see lesson planning).

2. What has been taught before? This information should be available from school documentation and from staff.

3. How much time is available to do this work? The number and length of lessons devoted to a topic are decided by the department or school in which you are working, or by yourself. Don’t forget that not all the lessons you expect to have are available for teaching. Some time is taken up by such things as tests, revision, special events, etc.

4. What resources are available? Resources include material resources as well as human resources and what is available depends on the school where you are working. You need to find out the procedures for using resources in the school and what is available. You may find there are resources outside the school to draw upon – parents, authorities, private enterprises, etc.

5. How is the work to be assessed? Teaching, learning and assessment are interlinked. Most of the work you are doing with pupils is teacher assessed although some is externally assessed. A key purpose of teacher assessment is formative, assessment for learning, - to check and guide pupils’ progress in relation to learning objectives. Teacher assessment may also be summative – undertaken at the end of an extended period to assess the level achieved. In any case, you should keep good records of the pupils’ progress (homework, classwork, test results) in your own record book as well as providing these in the form required by the school.

6. How does this work fit in with work the pupils are doing in other subjects? There are many areas of overlap where it is useful to discuss pupils’ work with other colleagues, for instance the teachers of Romanian or other foreign language teachers.

7. What is to be taught later? Progression in pupil learning has to be planned and a scheme of work is drawn up for this purpose. From the scheme of work you know what work is to come and the contribution to pupil learning that each lesson is to make.

8. The immovable slots may filled up by events organised by the school, such as tests, which may be given to you by the school’s administration.

Timetabling Timetabling involves planning and sequencing a series of lessons. The fundamental

questions that you need to answer are:

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• What will I teach? What is the syllabus? • How will the separate items be sequenced (what is the timetable)?

You need to consider a few more questions when you sequence a series of lessons. Here are some:

1. How far ahead do I plan (in terms of lesson hours)? 2. What do I need to include in the timetable? 3. What factors do I need to consider when timetabling? 4. How do I see the role of the textbook in timetabling? 5. What problems can I anticipate and what solutions?

The syllabus provides a longer term overview. It lists the contents of a course and puts the separate items in an order. In Romania there is a national syllabus for each subject, but in other parts of the world the syllabus is given by the coursebook or decided by the teacher.

Having a syllabus can be of great help as it sets out clearly what you as a teacher are expected to cover with your class. It can be a burden too, if it is unrealistic for your students in terms of what they need or are likely to achieve within a certain time.

Timetabling in practice The day-to-day, week–to week decisions about how to interpret a syllabus into a

series of lessons are usually wholly or partly the teacher’s job. This process typically involves you looking at the school syllabus or/and coursebook contents page and trying to map out how you will cover the content in the time that is available, selecting items from the syllabus and writing them into the appropriate spaces on a plan. Timetables are usually written out in advance (at the beginning of the term). In most schools a head of the department or school principal may provide you with a timetable format.

A time table enables other teachers to understand what work is being done in your class. The information it provides may be especially important if another teacher shares your class with you or takes over from you. The timetable should give others a clear idea of what work was planned for a particular lesson and also show how that fits into the overall shape of the week and the course.

Here are some practical guidelines for timetabling:

1. Analyse the contents of the textbook and fill in an analysis sheet. 2. Review and note down separately:

a) links with previous units’ work; b) your perceptions of the pupils’ needs (in terms of language needs, skills, recycling and remedial work).

3. Take a look at the next unit. 4. Using the information from 1 and 2 decide:

a) what to teach, and what to omit; b) which material is useable for what (input and practice, skills and freer practice,

warmers and homework, etc.); c) where you need to supplement with other material. 5. Allocate: a) input and skills, paying attention to the balance within and

between lessons; b) relevant bits of textbook; c) homework (including balance and variety). 6. Review and make changes as appropriate. Think about when you teach

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vocabulary and pronunciation, what and how often you recycle, when you introduce new language receptively for later activation, when you set grammar preparation homework, etc.

Lesson Planning

Although planning is sometimes seen as a chore, lesson planning has enormous advantages for both pupils and teachers. Here are a few of the (internal) advantages a teacher may have from planning:

• it means anticipation, coherence, balance and clarity of purpose • it helps you learn the subject matter better • it makes lesson execution easier • it makes the lesson run smoothly • it allows for flexibility in lesson execution • it saves time in the long run • it looks professional • it makes you understand that some things are more important than others • it helps you teach more confidently • it makes self-appraisal much easier.

The pupils will benefit from the decisions made by the teacher after considering their backgrounds, interests, learning styles and abilities. The result of these decisions will be a coherent, varied, well-targeted and well-shaped lesson, which will be appreciated by your pupils.

Moreover, there are external reasons for planning lessons: teachers may be asked to do this by the school principal or a supervisor or to guide a substitute teacher. A lesson plan will also be a guide to anybody observing your teaching or reading about your lessons:

• A lesson plan will help your observer or reader see how you have prepared for your lesson and the factors you have taken into consideration.

• A lesson plan makes the task of commenting upon lessons much easier. It explains why you are doing something at a particular point in a lesson, and it may locate and identify any problems.

• A lesson plan is something concrete that can be referred to. This is useful either in feedback with your inspector, observer and tutor or for your reader.

Think first!

What elements do you need to know before starting to plan for an English lesson?

The lesson plan provides an outline of one lesson within a scheme of work. In planning a lesson, you are working out the detail required to teach one aspect of the scheme of work.

The following information is required to plan effectively:

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1. Overall aim(s) of the scheme of work and the specific learning objectives of the lesson. Defining learning objectives and associated learning outcomes which clarify exactly what learning you hope will take place is a crucial skill for the effective teacher. These help you to be clear about exactly what pupils should be achieving and help the pupils understand what they should be doing. However, drawing up effective objectives and specifying and planning for outcomes require considerable thought. Listing learning objectives introduced by the phrase “By the end of this lesson, pupils will be able to … “ may help you to devise clear goals and to understand the difference between aims (general statements), learning objectives (statements about specific goals, e.g. demonstrate an understanding of an idiom) and learning outcomes (specific lesson outputs, e.g. the accurate completion of an exercise with idioms).

Words that help you be precise are those such as state, describe, list, identify, prioritise, solve, demonstrate and understanding of. These words force you to write statements which can be tested. If you think your learning objectives are vague, ask yourself whether objectives can be measured and if the learning outcomes make it clear what the pupils must do to achieve the objectives. When you tell the pupils what learning outcomes are expected from the lesson so they understand what is expected of them? Objectives may be related to knowledge, concepts, skills, behaviours and attitudes.

2. Range of abilities of the pupils. A teacher needs to incorporate differentiation into planning. This refers to the need to consider pupils’ individual abilities when work is planned so that both the brightest pupils and those with lesser ability are challenged and extended by the work. Differentiation can be achieved, for example, by outcome, i.e. different types or qualities of work may be produced, or by task, i.e. different tasks may be set for pupils of different abilities, or by teacher input.

Also, ask yourself whether they will enjoy the lesson and how they will benefit from it. Plan for your pupils. If you do not know much about the class, try to find out as much as possible about them before you decide what to teach. Bear in mind their level of language, their background, their motivation and their learning styles.

3. Time available. In all lesson plans, you need to mention the (anticipated) time spent on each activity, so that, during the lesson, you can see easily if it is necessary to adapt the original plan to fit the time available.

4. Resources available (texts, tapes, pictures, exercises, role-cards, etc.). Before planning, check what resources are available and how they can be reserved.

5. Classroom management (what you will say, how the seating will be arranged, how much time each stage will take, etc.). This should be suitable to the topic and subject.

6. Teaching strategies and the learning situations. These should be set up as appropriate to the work being covered. Modelling, explaining and questioning are three key skills which you should work to improve. It is a good idea to write out questions in advance which you may want to use to test the pupils’ grasp of the topic and which develop thinking. Phrasing appropriate questions is a key skill for a teacher.

7. Assessment methods. Decide which ones to use in order to know whether your learning objectives have been achieved.

8. What did the pupils know now? As your experience of the curriculum and of pupils’ learning develops, you will find it easier to answer this question. You need to consider what has been taught before as well as the experience outside school which pupils might have had. It may be appropriate to do some form of testing or analysis of knowledge, skills, attitudes and understanding or to have a discussion with pupils to discover their prior experience and attitudes to the work in question. As a student teacher you should seek advice from the staff who normally teach your classes.

Your lesson plan will reflect many of the important features of your lesson:

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• your understanding of aims (main and subsidiary) • your awareness of the language • your ability to anticipate problems • the balance and variety of activities in the lesson • the interaction patterns used • whether or not whole stages of the lesson are missing • the allocation of time to particular activities

Fig. 3.1 Lesson Planning

(after Harmer, J., 2001, The Practice of English Language Teaching, p. 310)

We therefore need to look at the construction of a lesson and at writing lesson plans and consider what they should contain.

Writing a lesson plan The lesson plan provides an outline of one lesson within a scheme of work. In

planning a lesson, you are working out the detail required to teach one aspect of the scheme of work. Even though a lesson may have already been planned by the textbook writer, the teacher still needs to relate that lesson to the needs of the specific class s/he teaches, to the needs, wants, problems and interests of the pupils. During this process of adaptation, the teacher transforms the content of the lesson and makes decisions that will make the lesson successful. Not all these decisions will be included in the written lesson plan. Many experienced teachers teach successful lessons based on brief notes or mental plans. However, student teachers are expected to produce a detailed lesson plan for each lesson taught, as an awareness-raising tool. Requiring you to sit down and think through your aims and procedure very carefully may help you to become clearer about what works and why. A lesson plan turns a potential lesson (such as a textbook lesson) into the basis for an engaging and effective lesson. A lesson plan results from a number of thinking processes and involves making decisions about what topics to study, what the pupils should know or be able to do by the end of the lesson, what examples are needed, what strategies can be used and how learning will be assessed.

The dominant model of lesson planning is Tyler’s rational-linear framework (1949). This model has four sequential steps: (1) specify objectives; (2) select learning activities; (3)

Teacher’s knowledge of the pupils

Teacher’s knowledge of the syllabus

Activities Language

skills Language

type Subject and content

Practical realities

The plan

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organise learning activities; (4) specify methods of evaluation. Harmer (2001) says that in your lesson plan you will need to include four main

elements: activities, skills, language and content:

• Decide what the pupils will be doing in the classroom and how they will be grouped. Think what kind of activity would fit them at any particular point in the lesson. Vary and balance the activities so that each pupil gets a chance of finding the lesson engaging and motivating.

• Decide which language skill(s) you need to develop in that lesson. Your choice may be limited by the syllabus or the textbook. However, you still need to plan how the pupils will work on the respective skill(s) and what sub-skills you want to develop.

• Decide what language (e.g. lexical items, grammar structures) you need to introduce and practise.

The key question, probably, is “What are the aims of the lesson?” If you can answer this – if you can be clear about what you hope your learners will have achieved by the end of the lesson – then perhaps the other questions will become easier to answer.

Starting from the textbook, select the content. Keep in mind that the textbook is just a guide and that you are free to replace what is given in the textbook with something else. You are, after all, the class teacher who knows the pupils personally and can predict which topics will be found interesting and which boring. Remember however, that the most interesting topic will become boring if the task set for the pupils is uninteresting and that, on the other hand, topics that are not particularly interesting can become very successful if you assign a task that your pupils find engaging.

Harmer (1991) also includes the following elements in a lesson plan: a. description of the class b. recent work c. objectives d. contents (context, activity and class organisation, aids, language, possible

problems) e. additional possibilities. Lesson planning involves decisions about the pedagogical dimensions of the lesson,

but also decisions about the management of the class during the lesson: eliciting pupils’ attention, maintaining their engagement in the lesson, organising their interaction, monitoring their learning.

Preliminary information A lesson plan normally contains preliminary information under several headings.

Think first!

What preliminary information do you think is usually introduced at the beginning of a lesson plan?

The preliminary information sheet is usually about 1 or 2 pages:

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1. Timetable fit 2. Level 3. Time 4. Class profile 5. Aims (main and subsidiary) 6. Assumed knowledge and anticipated problems 7. Materials and aids

1. Timetable fit. This shows how your lesson fits into a sequence of lessons. Here you need to show how this lesson relates to other lessons that have gone before and those that will follow. State briefly what textbook you are using with the class, the work relevant to the lesson that you have covered and give some indication of how the lesson will be consolidated in future lessons.

2. Level. Here you state the level of the class: Beginner, Elementary, Lower or Upper Intermediate, Advanced, or Proficient and the year of study.

3. Time. The usual length of a lesson is about 50 minutes.

4. Class profile. Make some brief general comments about the class as a whole (atmosphere, etc) and mention any relevant points about individual students (age, particular strengths or weaknesses, etc). This information is particularly useful if your reader, tutor or inspector has not seen your lesson.

5. Aims (main aim/objective and subsidiary aims). For every lesson you teach, and for each activity within that lesson, it is useful to be able to state what the aims are. An aim is the description of a learning outcome, the destination where you want to take your pupils (not the journey itself). It is important, therefore, to separate mentally the following from the aims of the lesson: (a) the material you use; (b) the activities that will be done; (c) the teaching point (the language skills or systems that the lesson will work on); (d) the topics or contexts that will be used;

You cannot say, for instance, that your aim is “to do a role-play” since this is an activity, not an aim. You need to specify what your aim for the activity (subsidiary aim) is (e.g. “to consolidate vocabulary related to previous work in class” or “to recycle expressing polite refusals”, or “to develop fluency in…” etc.)

In the following list of headings, say which is an aim and which is an activity. a) Develop the scan reading skill; b) Dialogue building; c) Headway p. 36; d) Grammar revision: conditional clauses; e) Jigsaw reading; f) Further practice of /s/ vs. /z/ and /iz/ in plural endings; g) Introduction of the language of disagreeing; h) Warmer; i) Elicit use of Present Perfect.

6. Assumed knowledge and anticipated problems. Thinking about your pupils when you are planning is crucial. The assumptions and anticipated problems are the

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specific things, relevant to the aims of your lesson, which you anticipate your pupils may either find easy or have problems with. This is an important part of your lesson plan since it shows your ability to analyse language.

Specify briefly what relevant language you think your pupils already know (vocabulary, structures, etc). If you intend to do some skill work, state the level of ability your pupils have with that skill.

It is more difficult to make assumptions about levels of skill than about levels of knowledge. If you have recently taken over a class, then you may need to test out the pupils’ skills before you can make any safe assumptions.

Analyse anticipated problems under the following headings on your lesson plan: a) meaning, b) form, c) phonology, and d) level of skill (e.g. present level of your pupils’ ability in coping with listening tasks). Occasionally, you may need to add a fifth heading, e) socio-cultural problems.

Here are some example statements of assumptions and anticipated problems:

• The pupils have good gist listening skills but are not very used to listening to loudspeaker announcements.

• The pupils have come across most of the vocabulary before, but only in their reading. • The pupils are familiar with the topic area; it was the subject of a discussion in a

previous lesson. • The pupils have good higher processing skills but tend to make mistakes in

interpreting grammatical discourse markers.

Alternatively, you can analyse separately the pupils’ assumed knowledge and the problems you anticipate when teaching that lesson.

7. Materials and aids. List any materials, references, tapes, pictures, board drawings, diagrams, handouts, realia, etc. you intend to use. State also if the material is your own or where you took it from (as this will be very useful when you teach the same lesson again.)

Formulating aims

You are expected to offer a clear statement of aims before you start teaching a lesson. This is a useful training discipline, forcing you to concentrate on deciding what activities and procedures are most likely to lead to specific outcomes for the learners. This is probably the most important part of your lesson plan since your lesson will ultimately be judged in terms of your aims.

It is essential that the lesson aims are realistic, achievable, clearly specified and directed towards an outcome that can be measured. Clear, well-written aims are the first step in daily lesson planning. They state precisely what you want your pupils to learn; they also help you guide the selection of the activities, the overall lesson focus and direction. They also help you evaluate what the pupils have learned at the end of the lesson. If you are unsure about the aims of your lesson, use this maxim: “What is it that my pupils should be able to do by the end of the lesson that they couldn’t do at the beginning?”

The most important aim concerns intended student achievements: things that they will have learned by the end of the lesson. You can deal with aims under two headings: ‘main/major’ and ‘subsidiary’. In a lesson of 50 minutes you will normally have two or three main aims. These should encapsulate what the lesson is basically about. Aims refer to either language development or skills improvement. In an English lesson, language-oriented aims may be for instance the introduction and controlled oral practice of a certain grammar structure, while a skill-oriented aim may be to improve the pupils’ listening skill or

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to increase the pupils’ confidence and ability to scan a text. Subsidiary aims will be derived from the main aims (e.g. to give the pupils practice in selective listening, in anticipating content, and in using guessing strategies to overcome lexical difficulties).

In an English class, the lesson aims will be mainly cognitive and affective. Generally speaking, the cognitive aims are statements that describe the knowledge that the pupils are expected to acquire or construct. Use in the formulation of these aims verbs like: remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate and create. Apply these verbs to the four main dimensions of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive, as you will most probably want your pupils to do more than “remember” facts. In the 21st century, your pupils will expect thinking, decision making and problem solving to be increasingly emphasised in the classroom.

A number of aims that fit into the affective domain, which focus on attitudes, values and on the development of the pupils’ personal and emotional growth, are also recommended. Although much of the focus in the affective domain is implicit, sometimes we need to concentrate on it deliberately. For example, in a lesson with reference to multiculturalism, your aim may be to develop your pupils’ awareness of and appreciation of another culture’s values and customs. Remember that attitudes, values and emotions strongly affect learning, and when you plan and teach a lesson, you should keep in mind factors like willingness to listen, open-mindedness, commitment to values and involvement.

If you have a clear objective (main aim) for a lesson, you can bear this in mind all the way through the class. Knowing where you are going enables you to make moment-by-moment decisions about different paths or options to take en route, while keeping the main objective always clearly in front of you. Good lesson planning, and especially good specifying of objectives does not restrict you, but in clarifying the end point you intend to teach, sets you free to go towards that point in the most appropriate ways in class. Remember that the lesson has limited aims (2 – 3), and that you shouldn’t try to achieve too much.

Is “teaching the present perfect” a realistic aim for a lesson? How about “doing a listening exercise”?

Try to formulate aims that are learner-centred, such as “to enable the pupils to use the present perfect with a greater degree of accuracy”.

Distinguish between teaching aims and learning aims. You may have aims for yourself in the lesson (teaching aims), such as “to improve the clarity of my instructions”. These should be expressed in a separate section.

The following headings can help you specify aims for a reading or listening lesson: text type, style and register, reading or listening style, specific language aim, specific skills aim, and so on. Here are some examples of lesson aims:

• Text type, style and register: To provide practice in reading magazine articles in informal style. To present an ESP (medical) journal article, with formal style and marked register. To provide practice in listening to loudspeaker announcements. To provide practice in listening to formal speeches.

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• Reading or listening style: To test pupils’ intensive reading abilities To provide practice in skim listening

• Specific language aims To provide receptive practice of some discourse connectors (e.g. however, although, though) To present ‘comment’ segments introduced by which (e.g. “I got there early, which is why I had to wait so long”, etc.)

• Specific skills aim To help pupils use their background knowledge to make correct inferences To present a way of dealing with unfamiliar words by breaking them down into parts

It is often desirable to kill two or more birds with one stone and set aims, thus: To provide practice in reading magazine articles in informal style and to help the

pupils use background knowledge to make correct inferences. To present discourse linkers such as however, although, though.

How could you formulate the above aims in a more learner-centred way?

The language you use for stating aims is important. Action verbs are typically used to identify the desired pupil behaviour. Vague verbs such as understand, appreciate, enjoy or learn are avoided because these situations are difficult to quantify. Action verbs such as identify, present, describe, explain, demonstrate, list, contrast or debate are clearer and the situations easier to understand and evaluate. The best-known source for useful action verbs is Bloom’s Taxonomy of Thinking Processes. Here are a few verbs taken from Bloom’s taxonomy, together with the cognitive process involved:

Knowledge: tell, list, define, name, identify, state, remember, repeat; Comprehension/understanding: transform, change, restate, describe, explain,

review, paraphrase, relate, generalise, infer; Application: apply, practice, employ, use, demonstrate, illustrate, show, report; Analysis: analyse, distinguish, examine, compare, contrast, survey, investigate,

separate, categorize, classify, organise; Synthesis: compose, construct, design, modify, imagine, produce, propose Evaluation: judge, decide, select, evaluate, critique, debate, verify, recommend,

assess.

Procedure After writing the preliminary information, you must decide the activities and

procedures that you will use to ensure the successful attainment of the aims. Therefore, at this stage you need to think through the purposes and structures of the activities, in other words, the shape of the lesson. A generic lesson plan has five phases (Shrum and Glisan 1994):

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1. Perspective or opening. The teacher asks the pupils what was the previous activity (what was previously learned)? Then the teacher gives a preview of the new lesson.

2. Stimulation. This phase prepares the pupils for the new activity. The teacher (a) poses a question to get the pupils thinking about the coming activity; (b) helps the pupils to relate the activity to their lives; (c) begins with an attention grabber: an anecdote, a picture, or a song; and (d) uses the response to the attention grabber as a lead into the activity.

3. Instruction/participation. This phase involves the teacher in presenting the activity, checking for pupils’ understanding and encouraging active pupil involvement. Interaction can be stimulated by pair and/or group work.

4. Closure. The teacher asks what the pupils have learned by asking questions such as “What did you learn?” “how do you feel about these activities?” The teacher then gives a preview about the possibilities for future lessons.

5. Follow-up. The teacher uses other activities to reinforce some concepts and even introduce some new ones. The teacher gives the pupils opportunities to do independent work and can set certain activities or tasks taken from the lesson as homework.

Of course, teachers can have variations on this generic model. As pupils gain competence, they can take on a larger role in choosing the content and the structure of the lesson. On the other hand, language lessons may be different from other lessons because the concepts may need to be reinforced time and again using various procedures.

If the question “What do you want the pupils to learn and why?” needs to be addressed before reaching the procedure part of the lesson plan, the following questions, suggested by Farrell (in Richards and Renandya, 34) may be useful for you to answer before starting to write the procedure part of the lesson plan:

• Are all the tasks necessary – worth doing and at the right level? • What materials, aids, will you use, why and when? • What type of interaction will you encourage – pair work or group work – and why? • What instructions will you have to give and how will you give them (written, oral)? What

questions will you ask? • How will you monitor pupil understanding during different stages of the lesson?

A good lesson plan should be clear and logical, and make the lesson reconstructable (i.e. someone else should be able to teach it following your lesson plan). You do not need to write a word-for-word script, but you need more than brief notes that only you understand.

When teaching the lesson, you may wish to have a simpler working document for yourself, which shows major stages, concept questions, types of interaction, timing, etc. Some teachers like to use a series of cards that carry instructions and contain the main points of a particular stage so that they can easily refer to them during the lesson.

Show how you will convey meaning and check understanding. Write concept questions on your lesson plan, with the answers you expect. Remember that you may also need to ask questions about style, register, connotation, etc. All this will demonstrate that you have analysed the language you are teaching. On the lesson plan, show the form clearly.

Where you anticipate pronunciation problems, show awareness of sounds, stress and intonation. On the lesson plan, give the phonetic transcription of problematic words or chunks of language and mark stress and intonation patterns. When teaching vocabulary,

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mark word stress on lexical items. These will make clear why you are doing something at a particular point in your

lesson. They will also help your observer, tutor, inspector or reader to assess the effectiveness of any part of the lesson and help you to clarify the distinction between aims and activities.

In the list below, the left-hand column contains subsidiary aims which were written by various teachers, but which may deserve closer scrutiny. Analyse these aims and write your own comments in the right-hand column.

Aims Your Comments To develop the listening skill

To practise the skill of listening for detailed information.

To practise gist listening. To practise reading for understanding.

To practise skimming a long written text.

To practise scanning for specific information

Showing the type of interaction for each stage and activity (e.g. T - S, S - S, in groups, in pairs, etc.), will help you to assess if there is sufficient variety of focus in the lesson.

Show the approximate amount of time you expect to spend on each stage or activity in the lesson. Be realistic about this. A lot will depend on your experience and judgement. Sometimes the timing can go wrong, so don’t be afraid of being flexible in the lesson.

Timing The time you give to particular stages or activities is often a reflection of what you

perceive to be important in the lesson, so you will need to make appropriate decisions about timing. Remember to allow for thinking time and keep in mind that the pupils’ concentration span on any activity is only about 20 - 30 minutes.

Giving an approximate timing can also help you to limit your aims, and it can help you to learn from experience how long some kinds of activities can take. If you have ‘timing problems’ with lessons, this may be due to several causes:

• poor understanding of aims • confusion over what the main aims and subsidiary aims are • unanticipated problems due to insufficient language analysis • different learning rates among pupils • the pupils’ unfamiliarity with the concepts used • poor language grading • insufficient or confusing instructions • slow pace of the lesson, etc.

One possible solution to timing problems is to build flexible slots into the lesson

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plan, which can be used or dropped as necessary. Include brief but clear class management instructions, e.g. for organising pair work,

group work, for the use of the textbook, etc.

Board work Plan board work before the lesson so that it is clearly organised and legible. Show on

your lesson plan how you will make use of the board during the lesson. Board work will include titles, rules, diagrams, example sentences, phonological features, i.e. anything that the pupils will write down as a record of the lesson.

Remember to go round the classroom and check whether the pupils are copying down accurately. Alternatively, a well designed handout (e.g. a grammar reference handout) can be given to save time in the lesson. Board work can also be prepared before the lesson on OHP transparencies.

Skills work Show how you will prepare and interest the pupils in these activities. For instance,

say what questions you prepared to elicit contributions. Include pre-set questions for reading or listening tasks and their expected answers. For listening activities, indicate the number of times you intend to play the tape.

Homework Make sure the homework task you set is meant to consolidate what has been

covered in the lesson and to check if learning has taken place.

To sum up the features of good lesson plan, this should have:

• clearly specified aims • evidence of language analysis • logical staging of the lesson • clear and easy to read procedure.

The stages of the lesson should be clearly indicated on the plan. Being able to refer to stages numerically makes the plan easier to read (e.g. 1.a, 3.b, etc.). The ending and beginning of stages should also be made clear to the pupils during the lesson.

A final check of the lesson plan

Having done all the above, spend some time thinking:

• Is there sufficient variety? Look at the activities, focus, pace and interaction patterns. • Could the pupils be more involved at each stage? • What are the pupils’ asked to contribute at each stage? What are the pupils required

to do? • What is your role at each stage (corrector, monitor, resource, participant)?

Layout of lesson plans The layout style you adopt for the “Procedure” part of the lesson plan is a question of

individual taste. Here are some tips: Give a heading to each stage. This will help you to plan logically staged lessons and

make it clear how the stages of the lesson develop, e.g.:

• presenting new language

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• getting across meaning • highlighting form and pronunciation • controlled practice • less controlled practice • freer practice / personalisation / creative stage

The heading also helps to ensure that important stages of the lesson are not left out and that appropriate materials are prepared for the practice stages.

Your lesson plan layout can be linear or tabular (arranged in the form of a table). Linear plans are written as any normal text would be, with headings and sub-headings.

If you choose to use a tabular layout, here are two versions of what it may look like:

Aims

Time

Interaction

Patterns

Aids

Teacher activity

Pupil

Activity

And the second one:

Step/Stage

Time

Tasks (teacher)

Tasks

(pupils)

Inter

action

Aims

(purpose) 1 5–10

mins Opening: introduction to the topic sport. T activates schema for sport. T asks Ss to help her write down as many different kinds of sport on the board within 3 minutes. T asks Ss to rank their favourite sports in order of importance

Listen Ss call out the answer to the question as the T writes the answers on the board.

T writes the answers.

T Ss

Arouse interest. Activate schema for sport.

(from Farrell, 36)

The advantage of the tabular layout is that you have to think about what needs to be written in each of the columns for each stage of the lesson. It is also easy to see if the lesson is too teacher-centred. However, some people may find this layout difficult to follow.

Compromise layouts can also work quite well. Here is one format:

Time

Teacher activity

Pupil activity

Notes / equipment

needed 0 – 5 min Class enter and settle Coats and bags put

away

5 – 10 min

Homework discussed / recap of work so far / task set / new work explained

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10 – 25 min

Teacher supports groups / individuals

Pupils work in groups to carry out the task

Evaluation: Were objectives achieved? What went well? What needs to be addressed next time? How are individuals responding?

(from Capel, Leask and Turner, 2009: 84) Here is a second one:

Stage

Procedure

Aim

Practice 10 – 20 minutes Pair work

1. Each pupil writes down three ways in which s/he thinks they are different from their partners. S/he does not show the partner what s/he has written.

2. Both pupils tell each other about the differences and talk about where they were right or wrong, then they talk about the similarities.

• To give pupils written and spoken practice in expressing their opinions, in agreeing and disagreeing.

• To encourage pupils to get to know someone better.

(from Klippel F., Keep Talking, CUP, 1991)

This layout has several advantages. The name of the stage, the time and type of interaction all fit into the Stage column, and there is plenty of space left for detail in the Procedure column. Also, there is space in the Aim column to indicate the aim of particular stages and activities in the lesson. The lesson plan is also easy to follow for your tutor, reader, observer or inspector.

Implementing the lesson plan

Implementing the lesson plan is the most important and the most difficult phase of the planning cycle as the reality of the class often takes over. Unplanned events may occur which may hinder you from following the plan. After having spent so much time to produce the lesson plan, you will feel inclined to follow it closely, for fear of failing to achieve any of your stated aims. However, you should feel free to diverge from it when you have to deal with any unanticipated events or difficulties that you may encounter. It is often the case that you need to adjust or even change the original plan when the lesson is not going well. This will show your willingness to respond to the classroom situation as it develops, and you will be given credit for doing this.

Think first!

What reasons may teachers have to deviate from their lesson plans?

It is not a good idea to stick to your lesson plan, regardless of what happens in the classroom. Remember that the original plan was designed with specific intentions in mind and based on your diagnosis of the learning needs of the pupils. However, you may need to

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make adjustments to the lesson at the implementation stage. Thomas Farrell (in Richards and Renandya, 2002: 34) suggests there are two broad reasons for adjustments at the implementation stage: (a) the lesson is going badly and the plan may not be likely to produce the desired outcomes, and (b) something unexpected happens during an early part of the lesson that necessitates improvisation (for instance interruptions due to loud noises, visits, etc.).

• Sometimes teachers respond to issues raised by the pupils that they perceive to be relevant for the other pupils;

• They may decide to discuss some unplanned event because they appreciate it to be timely for the class;

• They may change the procedure as a means of promoting the progress of the lesson; • They may depart from the original plan when they understand they haven’t

accommodated the pupils’ learning styles; • They may eliminate some steps in the lesson plans in order to promote pupil

involvement, especially if the pupils are not responding; • They may change the lesson plan to encourage quiet pupils to participate more and to

keep the more active students from dominating the class time. If the lesson is going badly or not as planned, and immediate adjustments or

improvisations are necessary, a student teacher may not be able to either recognise there is a problem, diagnose it, or think out the necessary adjustments quickly. This kind of knowledge is built up with experience.

However, never be afraid to go back and clarify, reintroduce, check concepts again, or stop the class and repeat your instructions. As a general rule: prepare thoroughly, but in class, teach the learners, not the plan. This means that you should be prepared to respond to the learners and adapt what you have planned as you go, even to the extent of throwing the plan away if appropriate. The execution of a lesson involves a whole series of decisions that you are called to make as the lesson progresses. You need to show sensitivity to pupils and their difficulties and an ability to respond appropriately.

A carefully thought out plan enables you to think logically through the content of the lesson before the lesson and prepare material and aids. It then informs your teaching in class – whether you follow it completely or not. However, a teacher who is mainly concerned with following a lesson plan to the letter is unlikely to be responding to what is actually happening in class. On the other hand, if you do not follow your lesson plan, be prepared to explain afterwards why you decided to diverge from it. Do not be afraid to show flexibility, confidence and independence.

When implementing the lesson plan, try to monitor two important issues: variety and pace. Variety of delivery and variety of activities will keep your pupils interested. Variety is ensured not only by the activities themselves but also by changes in their tempo (from fast to slow). The patterns of interaction also provide variety: individual tasks, pair work, group work, whole class interaction. The level of difficulty of the activities (from easy to more demanding) also contributes to variety and pupil involvement. Penny Ur (1996) suggests that the harder activities should be placed earlier in the lesson and the quieter before the lively ones.

Pace is linked to the speed at which the activities progress, and lesson timing. In order for you to develop a sense of pace, Brown (1994) suggests a few guidelines:

1. Activities should not be too long or too short; 2. Various techniques for delivering the activities should “flow” together; 3. There should be clear transitions between each activity.

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Avoid racing through different activities just because they have been written in the lesson plan and always remember that you work for the benefit of the pupils.

Evaluating the plan Although experienced teachers already have a sense of what goes on well and what

does not while they are teaching, after having implemented the lesson, everyone must evaluate the success or the failure of a lesson. Ur (1996) says that it is important to think after teaching a lesson and ask “whether it was a good one or not, and why” (p. 219). This form of reflection is crucial for self-development. Even if “success” and “failure” are relative terms, without evaluation the teacher has no way of assessing the success of the students or the adjustments that need to be made. Evaluation is thus important as it provides the opportunity to reflect on what has gone on in the lesson regarding the aims of the lesson, the success of the tasks, the appropriateness of the materials and, consequently, what changes need to be made in future lessons.

The main criterion of evaluation (Ur, 1996: 220) is pupil learning. Even though it is difficult to judge how much learning has taken place, we can still make a good guess based on our knowledge of the class, the type of activities the class was engaged in or on some informal test activities that provide feedback on learning. Ur also offers (ibidem) a few criteria for evaluating lesson effectiveness: 1. The class seemed to be learning the material well; 2. The learners were engaging with the foreign language throughout; 3. The learners were attentive all the time; 4. The learners enjoyed the lesson and were motivated; 5. The learners were active all throughout.

A few questions may also be helpful for you to reflect on after conducting a lesson Farell, 35):

• What do you think the pupils actually learned? • What tasks were most successful? Least successful? Why? • Did you finish the lesson on time? • What changes (if any) will you make in your teaching and why (not)?

Another source of feedback on the lesson success is the pupils themselves. You can ask them questions at the end of the class, avoiding judgemental questions such as “Did you enjoy the lesson” and telling them that you need assistance with future lesson planning. Such questions can be:

• What do you think today’s lesson was about? • What part was easy? • What part was difficult? • What changes would you suggest the teacher make?

To conclude, carefully thought-out lesson plans are likely to result in more efficient use of instructional time and more successful teaching and learning opportunities. Remember also that teachers make choices before, during and after each lesson.

Conclusions Planning lessons is an operation that needs to take place before teaching can be

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effective, and it is entirely the teacher’s responsibility. However, as teachers have different styles of teaching, their style of planning will also be different. You must always allow yourself flexibility to plan your own way, keeping in mind the yearly, term and unit plans. Also, allow yourself the flexibility of diverging from the lesson plan in response to the actuality of the classroom, in order to maximise teaching and learning opportunities. And yet, clearly thought-out lesson plans will maintain the attention of the students and increase the likelihood that they will be interested in the lesson. A clear plan will also maximise time and minimise confusion of what is expected of the students, thus making classroom management easier (Farrell, idem, 37).

Here are some of the principles that a teacher should follow in planning:

• Take your pupils from dependence to independence. • Build in your lesson plan, backward and forward links (revision, consolidation, skills

work, presentation, practice, etc.) • Formulate aims clearly. • Be realistic: do not attempt to cover more than you can in the time you have. Limit your

aims. • Provide balance of input, skills work, controlled / freer / free practice activities. • Provide variety of pace, focus, activity, intensity, interaction patterns. • Ensure logical progression in the staging of activities. • Make the plan layout clear and easily accessible. • Provide enough detail to make the lesson reconstructable • Include in the lesson ways of checking that your pupils have understood or can produce

something of what you have introduced or practised.

Further Reading

Capel, Susan, Leask, Marilyn and Turner, Tony, 2009, Learning to Teach in the Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience, Routledge

Brown H. D., 1994. Teaching by Principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents

Harmer, J., 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.

Cambridge: CUP. Scrivener, J. 1994. Learning Teaching. Heinemann. Ur, Penny. 1996. A course in language teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge: CUP.

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Catedra de Limba şi literatura engleză EFL Methodology for English students

DEVELOPING LISTENING COMPREHENSION SKILLS

Without being taught to listen, people may be able to express themselves orally. However, they will never be able to communicate successfully if they are unable to understand what is said to them. We cannot develop speaking skills unless we develop listening skills. Nevertheless, for many years, listening skills did not receive priority in language teaching. Teaching methods emphasized productive skills, and the relationship between receptive and productive skills was poorly understood. A recent change of emphasis in the way listening is viewed has come from a realisation that speaking is not a separate skill in itself; but part of a broader skill - that of participating in oral/aural interaction - that is, in speaking and listening. Even extended speaking activities like joke telling, recounting an incident, or giving a lecture, usually require the active participation of listeners. Some applied linguists go so far as to argue that listening comprehension is at the core of language acquisition and therefore demands a much greater prominence in language teaching.

Pupils need a higher degree of aural (i.e. receptive) ability than of oral (i.e. productive) ability. In other words, they need to listen to and understand a wider range of language spoken to them (in terms of function, topic, grammar, vocabulary, accent, style, etc.) than they need to be able to speak. This means that the teacher must ensure at least as much listening practice as speaking practice, if not more. The amount of emphasis will depend ultimately on what level of accuracy and what level of communicative sophistication the pupils are aiming at.

Moreover, listening to spoken language is also an important way of acquiring the language – structures and vocabulary.

Unit objectives: By the end of this unit you should be able to:

• identify the various sub-skills involved in the listening process • select and apply appropriate classroom activities to develop these sub-skills • set up, apply and monitor a variety of interactive classroom listening activities • offer a theoretical justification for each of these activities • integrate listening activities with the development of one or more of other skills • assess the learning outcomes of the listening activities.

Key concepts: oral and aural skills, listening styles, redundancy, intensive and

extensive listening in the classroom, pupil response to listening, methodological model for listening activities, background information, alienation

The nature of the listening process and the listening subskills

In order to develop listening comprehension, it is first necessary to understand the nature of listening. Two models of listening can be identified: the bottom-up and the top-down processing models. The bottom-up processing holds that listening is a linear, data-driven process. Comprehension occurs to the extent that the listener is successful in decoding the spoken text word by word. The top-down model of listening, by contrast, involves the listener in actively constructing meaning based on expectations, inferences, intentions, and other relevant prior knowledge. The language data serve as cues to activate this top-down process. Both processing skills are important as they both play important, but different roles in listening.

Listening is vital in the language classroom because it provides input for the learner. Without understanding input at the right level, any learning simply cannot begin. Listening is thus fundamental to speaking. What sort of skills do your pupils need to develop, and how can

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you help them to do this? We need to look first at what the listening process consists of (listening subskills):

• Sound discrimination and recognition • Identifying different intonation patterns • Recognising words and understanding their information content • Identifying grammatical grouping of words • Understanding redundancy • Recognising non-linguistic cues such as gestures • Using background knowledge to predict and confirm the meaning.

To these subskills we may add prediction, selective listening, listening for different purposes, and inferencing.

Real-life listening and classroom listening If you want to prepare your pupils for real-life listening, you need to be aware of the

differences between real-life listening and classroom listening. Classroom listening is usually controlled and contrived, that is, listening situations are set up in advance, well prepared, and frequently scripted. Furthermore, the reason for listening is often a linguistic one. The material listened to may be read aloud from a written text, and as such it is likely to consist of full, grammmatically accurate sentences, clearly articulated and delivered at a deliberately slow pace.

By way of contrast, real-life listening situations often involve informal and spontaneous speech that has different vocabulary, grammar and even different phonology. For instance, there will be different phonological features in a chat and a supermarket staff announcement. A chat will generally go fast, it will make use of more contractions and there may also be a lot of fall - rise intonation. A supermarket staff announcement is generally issued in a monotone. The style of texts can vary from very formal, to formal, casual or intimate, with no hard and fast dividing lines between the styles.

If you wish to make your classroom listening tasks authentic, you need to consider which of the features of real-life listening you can realistically bring into the classroom. In real life, the language we listen to is quick, informal and improvised, with the speakers putting it together as they go along. Speakers and listeners often know one another and can anticipate what they are likely to talk about. Real-world, informal and spontaneous speech has the following features:

• A conversation is usually broken into short chunks as people take short turns to speak, usually of a few seconds each.

• The pronunciation of words is often slurred, and different from the phonological representation given in a dictionary.

• The vocabulary is often colloquial (e.g. guy for man, kid for child, etc.)

• Informal speech tends to be ungrammatical: utterances do not usually divide neatly into sentences; a grammatical structure may change in mid-utterance; unfinished clauses are common.

• There will be bits of the discourse that are unintelligible to the hearer, perceived by the latter as being noise. This may be because the words are not said clearly, or not known to the hearer, or because the hearer is not attending. We usually comprehend less than 100 per cent of what is said to us, making up for the deficit by guessing the missing items or simply ignoring them and gathering what we can from the rest.

• Unlike the written text, spoken discourse cannot be retrieved during normal interaction. The speed of natural speech and the fact that one cannot ask the speaker to repeat more than once means that listening input has to be processed very quickly. Fortunately,

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redundancy in natural speech allows the listener some processing time. The speaker is normally redundant, that is, says a good deal more than is strictly

necessary for the conveying of the message. Redundancy includes repetition, paraphrase, reformulation, glossing with utterances in parenthesis, self-correction. Speakers always find themselves correcting or iumproving what they have already said. This kind of redundancy is necessary to help understanding on the part of the listener. Effective listeners therefore identify these elements of redundancy and are able to guess meanings with the help of compensation devices.

To some extent redundancy compensates for the gaps created by the ‘noise’. Imagine someone asking you: “What did you do yesterday?” The question meaning is expressed by the word what, by the grammar (inversion and the auxiliary verb), and by the phonology (high start on What, fall - rise intonation on do). There is an abundance of information so that, if we happen to miss one of the items, we will still have four more chances at interpreting the utterance correctly.

• The speaker normally uses time-creating devices. These are used to gain time for the speaker so that he can formulate what to say next in spontaneous speech. One typical example of these devices in the use of pause fillers (e.g. I mean, well, um, urh, er, eh) which help the speaker to solicit more time to plan and in turn to furnish the listener with more processing time.

• The pressure of time in real-life communication also renders it necessary for the speaker to use facilitation devices to ease speech production. Effective listeners need to identify and be familiar with these facilitation devices: fragments of utterances which are reductions of complete ‘underlying’ or ‘understood’ constructions. Many constructions are less than complete clauses. Ellipses are very common (e.g. Yes, I did; Me, too; So am I, and so on).

The use of fixed and conventional phrases is another device to facilitate speech production. Fluency in speech is related to formulaic language use, which includes two main kinds: memorized sequences and lexical sentence stems. Stock phrases such as I see what you mean, I’m sure you’re right but, you know, I mean, kind of, are just some of the memorized chnks of discourse. The use of these ready-made phrases simplifies the speaker’s task, thereby increasing speed and fluency. Memorized and routine utterances are building blocks of fluent spoken discourse. In fact, such phrases as you know, I mean, well may serve as pause fillers as well. These phrases will normally give the impression of fluency; they serve the function of filling unwanted pauses.

• The discourse will not be repeated exactly; normally it is heard only once. This may be compensated for by redundancy, and by the hearer’s possibility of requesting repetition or explanation.

To these language features we may add a few characteristics of the real-life context: • Real-life listeners know what to expect. The listener almost always knows in advance

something about what is going to be said, about who is speaking or about the basic topic. Linked to this is the purpose a listener normally has (e.g. to find out something). A listener always expects to hear something relevant to this purpose.

• Looking as well as listening. Only a very small proportion of listening is done ‘blind’ (e.g. listening to the radio or telephone). Normally, a listener has something to look at that is linked to what is being said; usually the speaker him-/herself, but often other visual stimuli as well (e.g. a map, scene, or object, or the environment in general).

• In real-life, the speaker expects listener feedback. The listener is usually responding at intervals as the interaction is going on. It is relatively rare for us to listen to extended speech and respond only at the end. The responses are normally related to the listening purpose, and are only occasionally a simple demonstration of comprehension.

The speaker usually directs the speech at the listener, takes the listener’s character and

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intentions into account when speaking, and often responds directly to his/her reactions, whether verbal or non-verbal, by changing or adapting the discourse.

Spoken language is not written language spoken aloud. Learners need to be aware of the features which lack in the written texts to which they are conventioanally accustomed. It is only when learners are aware of the unique charactersitics of authentic listening input that can they be equipped with skills to handle real-life communication.

Learners who are used to reading the written form of the language need to be alerted to the features of real-life listening so that they do not expect to hear uninterrupted, perfect flow of speech. Knowing what to expect is necessary if they are to be effective listeners.

Types of listening There are many types of listening, which can be classified according to a number of

variables, including purpose for listening, the role of the listener, the focus, and the type of text being listened to. These variables are mixed in different configurations, each of which will require a particular strategy on the part of the listener.

Listening purpose Listening purpose is an important variable. Listening to a broadcast to get a general

idea of the news of the day involves different processes and strategies from listening to the same broadcast for specific information. Thus, there are two ways in which we listen: casual and focused listening.

Sometimes we listen with no particular purpose in mind, and often without much concentration. Examples of casual listening are listening to the radio while doing housework or chatting to a friend. Usually we do not listen very closely, unless we hear something that particularly interests us.

At other times we listen for a particular purpose, to find out information we need to know. Examples of focussed listening are listening to a piece of important news on the radio or listening to someone explaining how to operate a machine. In these situations, we listen much more closely; but we do not listen to everything we hear with equal concentration – we listen for the most important points or for particular information. Usually, we know beforehand what we are listening for and this helps us to listen.

Role of the listener The way we listen changes according to what we are listening to, who we are listening

to, where we are, etc. Another way of characterising listening is in terms of whether the listener is also

required to take part in the interaction. This is known as reciprocal/interactive listening. For instance, when listening to a monologue, either live or through the media, the listening is nonreciprocal, but in a conversation the listening is reciprocal.

a) Interactive/reciprocal and non-interactive/non-reciprocal listening. Reciprocal listening is, typically, listening in conversations, where the listener is also a speaker. Non-reciprocal listening is the kind of listening where the listener has no possibility of contributing.

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b) Transactional and interactional listening. Transactional listening takes place when we need to know what our interlocutor is talking about because we have to act upon it somehow. A transactional discourse has a purpose – to solicit goods or services or a favour. Buying a pair of shoes in a shoe shop, ordering food in a restaurant, inviting someone to come to a party, are all examples of transactional discourse. Transactional listening requires attentiveness and selectiveness: we have to attend carefully in order to carry out (or refuse to carry out) what our interlocutor requires. For instance, a waiter has to listen and note the food and drink required, and so on. Interactional listening has to do with building and maintaining social relations. It covers all those conversations where we tell each other what we did yesterday and what we are going to do tomorrow. It also covers those short interchanges with strangers or distant acquaintances where we swap platitudes about the weather, comments about sport, etc. Whereas in transactional listening we need to listen attentively and selectively, in interactional listening we do not need to do so. However, we may decide to do so when an interactional conversation takes on a transactional flavour.

c) Submissive and assertive listening. In submissive listening the listener submits her/himself to the authority of the speaker. The aim of the listener is to find out what the speaker means, what his/her opinion is, or to apprehend his/her vision of things. We might listen to a film or play, to a lecture or a sermon in this way. Assertive listening is typically non-reciprocal and is to do with listening to a text for what it can give us. We may not care about the speaker, his/her point of view or style. All we want to do is get out some facts which are of use to us. We might listen to a loudspeaker announcement in this way, or to the weather forecast.

Classroom listening activities The traditional aims for listening lessons were the presentation or practice of

grammatical structures and vocabulary. Even now the principal rationale behind the selection of listening material in textbooks seems to be either a grammatical or a lexical one. However, it is often necessary to create lessons or lesson sequences that specifically address the listening comprehension problems your pupils have. The following could be aims for listening activities:

• to increase the pupils’ awareness of how listening with a purpose can make listening more effective

• to increase the pupils’ awareness of different styles • to present various aspects of culture enabling the pupils to make useful predictions • to present strategies for dealing with individual unfamiliar words

or, more specifically:

Arrange the following listening situations along the continuum reciprocal – non-reciprocal: instructions, traditional lectures, conversation, sermons, guided tours, loudspeaker announcements.

reciprocal/interactive non-reciprocal/non-interactive

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• to increase the pupils’ awareness of the extent and frequency of contractions/short forms in normal, rapid speech.

• to introduce and provide practice in common collocations • to provide practice in various grammar structures, focussing attention on their meaning • to provide exposure to a variety of dialects, etc.

Some of these aims may still remind you of the traditional use of listening activities to

present or practise language items. The big difference is that the texts used now are mostly authentic.

Think first! Listening to spontaneous speech in the classroom Most listening texts you use in the classroom should be based on either genuinely

improvised, spontaneous speech, or on a fair imitation of it. There are many authentic instances of listening in the classroom which present themselves in the normal run of things. Giving instructions, checking registers, answering questions, encouraging pupils, correcting, explaining, answering questions, solving students’ problems, all provide authentic classroom listening. Other authentic listening activities in class which do not necessarily occur normally, but which can easily be made to occur are, among others, student presentations and pre-lesson chit-chat. All these texts have the advantages of speaker visibility (your pupils will see you or another person talking to them) and of being a kind of direct interaction, which the pupils may interrupt.

On the other hand, a written text that is read aloud as a basis for classroom listening activity is unlikely to incorporate the characteristics of informal speech and will provide your pupils with no practice in understanding spoken discourse. You should improvise at least some of the listening texts yourself in the classroom. Video also makes a positive contribution to the effectiveness of listening practice, as it supplies the aspect of speaker visibility and the general visual environment of the text.

When using spontaneous speech, encourage your pupils to develop the ability to extract the information they need from a single hearing. Help them by using texts that are redundant enough to provide this information more than once. Whenever possible, they should be able to stop you to request a repeat or an explanation.

However, even if the pupils can do the task after one listening, you may wish to let them

How authentic does the following conversation seem to be? What features of authenticity does it show?

“A: Where are you going?” “B: I’m going home.” “A: Are you walking or going by bus?” “B: I’m walking. I’m not going by bus.” “A: What are your plans for the weekend?” “B: I’m going to give a party”. “A: See you tomorrow.” “B: See you.” incomplete sentences repetition of certain structures contractions hesitations and fillers changes of topic redundancy ungrammatical utterances

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hear the text again, for the sake of further exposure and practice and better chances of successful performance.

There are many thoroughly authentic instances of listening to spontaneous speech in the classroom which present themselves in the normal run of things. The following procedures provide, in themselves, authentic listening: instructions, checking registers, answering questions, encouraging students, correcting, explaining, checking, solving students’ problems.

Authentic listening activities in class which do not necessarily occur normally, but which can easily be made to occur are, among others, student presentations and pre-lesson chit-chat.

Intensive and extensive listening According to focus, listening activities can be classified as intensive or extensive.

Intensive listening is done either for detailed comprehension of the meaning of a text or for language. During the activities which focus on the detailed comprehension of meaning the pupils are reinforcing a structure or practising a grammar point that is linked to the rest of the lesson. This can be done through:

• Comprehension questions: (i) factual, where the answer is clearly stated somewhere in the passage. (ii) inferential, where the pupils have to make some sort of connection themselves, such as a connection between two parts of the passage or between something in the passage and the pupils’ knowledge of the outside world. (iii) personal, where the question is related to the pupils’ own experience or opinion.

• Summary questions. The pupils listen to a passage and then summarise what they have heard. They may take notes as they listen. The summary can be written up in the form of a letter or a newspaper report.

• Logical problems can be used to encourage very careful intensive listening.

Intensive listening for language provides detailed work on language once the pupils can understand what they are listening to. This work is effective if the linguistic exercises are related to each other and to the listening passage.

In extensive listening the pupils are primarily concerned with following a story or finding something out from the passage they are listening to. You should prepare the pupils for the listening by telling them something about the topic of the listening text or by giving them key words.

To a large extent, however, the division between intensive and extensive listening is somewhat artificial. It is easy to use the same listening text for both extensive listening and more detailed work.

Listening comprehension activities classified according to learner response

Listening activities can be classified according to how the pupils respond to the listening material. Responses give the pupils an immediate motivation, structure the listening and make it meaningful.

Can you think of any advantages of teacher spontaneous speech over recorded speech?

Do you feel confident when using spontaneous speech?

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Think first! No overt responses The pupils may not have to do anything in response to the listening text, when they are

engaged in such activities as:

• Stories. You tell a joke or real-life anecdote, retell a well-known story, read a story from a book; or play a recording of a story. If the story is well chosen, your pupils are likely to be motivated to attend and understand in order to enjoy it.

• Songs. You sing a song yourself, or play a recording of one. If no response is required the pupils may simply enjoy the music without understanding the words.

• Entertainment: films, theatre, and video. As with stories, if the content is really entertaining (interesting, stimulating, humorous, and dramatic) your pupils will be motivated to make the effort to understand without the need for any further task.

Even if the pupils are not asked to give a response during such listening activities, you can still watch their facial expression and body language to see if they are following or not.

Short responses The class may be expected to give short responses when they are engaged in activities

like the following:

• Obeying instructions. The pupils perform actions, or draw shapes or pictures, in response to your instructions.

• Ticking off items. You provide a list, a text or a picture; the pupils mark or tick off words as they hear them within a spoken description, story or simple list of items.

• True / false. The listening passage consists of a number of statements, some of which are true and some false. The pupils write ticks or crosses to indicate whether the statements are right or wrong; or make brief responses (‘True!’ or ‘False!’); or they may stay silent if the statements are right and say ‘No!’ if they are wrong.

• Detecting mistakes. You tell a story or describe something the class knows, but with a number of deliberate mistakes or inconsistencies. The pupils raise their hands or call out when they hear something wrong.

• Cloze. The listening text has occasional, widely spaced brief gaps, represented by silence or some kind of buzz. The pupils write down what they think might be the missing word. If you speak the text yourself, then you can more easily adapt the pace of your speech to the speed of your pupils’ responses.

• Guessing definitions. You provide brief oral definitions of a person, place, thing, action, etc. and the pupils write down what they think it is.

• Skim and scan listening. A listening text is given, in which the pupils are asked to identify some general topic or information (skimming), or certain limited information (scanning) and note the answer(s). Written questions inviting brief answers may be provided in advance or a grid with certain entries missing or a picture or diagram to be altered or completed.

Longer responses When you organise such activities as the following, you will expect longer responses:

• Answering questions. One or more questions demanding fairly full responses are given in advance, to which the listening text provides the answer(s). Because of the relative

How can you know whether your pupils are following or not, when they are not supposed to give any response?

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length of the answers demanded, they are most conveniently given in writing. • Note-taking. The pupils take brief notes from a short lecture or talk. • Paraphrasing and translating. The pupils rewrite the listening text in different words,

either in English (paraphrase) or in Romanian (translation). • Summarising. The pupils write a brief summary of the content of the listening passage. • Long gap-filling. A long gap is left, at the beginning, middle or end of a text; the pupils

guess and write down, or say, what they think might be missing.

Extended responses In such activities, the listening is only a ‘jump-off point’ for extended reading, writing or

speaking (these are ‘combined skills’ activities).

• Problem solving. A problem is described orally; the pupils discuss how to deal with it, and/or write down a suggested solution.

• Interpretation. An extract from a piece of dialogue or monologue is provided with no previous information; the pupils try to guess from the words, kinds of voices, tone and other evidence what is going on. At a more sophisticated level, a piece of literature that is suitable for reading aloud (some poetry, for example) can be discussed and analysed.

A number of procedures can be used for encouraging response to a listening piece: 1. Ask pupils to interrupt/stop the tape and ask for clarification where necessary.

Teach them appropriate language for doing so. 2. Give pupils a set of comments (What rubbish! That's interesting. I didn’t know that.

etc.) Ask them to stop the tape and make the comments in appropriate places. 3. With dialogue material, stop the tape after each line and ask pupils to say what

they think the other person is going to say. 4. Ask pupils to fill in charts, forms, etc. where appropriate. 5. Ask pupils to take notes, especially from lectures, news, current affairs, etc. 6. Provide pupils with the 'task' that would be carried out if they were listening

outside the classroom. For example, after listening to recorded messages on an answering machine, pupils note down the relevant information to pass on to their classmates.

Guidelines for designing effective listening tasks Keep in mind that nothing works all the time, for everybody, in every situation. If an

activity is useful, add it to your repertoire. If it is not, abandon or adjust it. Here are a few basic points to remember:

• Warm up before each activity, by introducing the topic and relating it where possible to your pupils’ own lives and interests.

• Give clear instructions and then check that the pupils have understood them. It is not sufficient to ask if they understand. Those who do not may remain silent for fear of exposing their ignorance. Ask one of the weaker pupils to tell you what they are going to do.

• When using a text, give the title and ask the pupils to predict the kind of language they are going to hear. Write any key vocabulary that they suggest on the board.

• Give them something to listen for, so that they have a purpose in listening. Tell them you want to know when the incident occurred, where, or what person, animal or object was

Which of the six procedures above can be adapted for reading, too?

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mentioned. Give your pupils in advance some idea about the kind of text that they are going to

hear. The mere instruction ‘Listen to the passage…’ is less useful than something like: ‘You are going to hear a husband and wife discussing their plans for the summer….’ The latter instruction activates their previous knowledge and enables them to use it to build anticipations that will help them understand the text.

Provide a listening purpose by setting a task. Thus, rather than say simply: ‘Listen and understand….’ give a specific instruction such as: ‘Listen and find out where the family are going for their summer holidays. Mark the places on your map.’ The definition of a purpose enables the pupils to listen selectively for significant information.

(After Parrott, M., 1993, Tasks for Language Teachers, CUP)

The task you set for your pupils will usually involve intermittent responses during the listening. You should encourage the pupils to respond to the information they are looking for as they hear it, not to wait to the end. The fact that the pupils are active during the listening rather than waiting to the end keeps them busy and helps to prevent boredom.

Although they are the most naturally occurring responses, verbal responses are impractical in the listening classroom. Here the answers will have to be in the form of physical movements or written responses which can be checked later.

Providing the pupils with some idea of what they are going to hear and what they are asked to do with it helps them to succeed in the task, and it raises their motivation and interest. This is often provided by a visual focus: marking a picture, diagram, or map or even a written text.

If there is no pre-set task, you must make sure that the text itself is stimulating enough, and of an appropriate level. Occasionally, for the sake of the fun and challenge, or to encourage your pupils to use real-world knowledge to help interpretation, you may wish to ask them to find out what the passage is about without any previous hint. There are also listening activities, such as listening to stories or watching exciting films, which need no clear task beyond the comprehension itself.

One real problem may be that materials writers often overload the task: too many responses are demanded of the pupils, information is coming too fast, there is not enough redundancy and there is not enough time to respond during the listening. The result is pupil frustration and irritation, even if the listening text is repeated.

Look at the following descriptions and tick the examples of purposeful listening:

Pupils listen to someone giving directions and trace the route on a map. Pupils listen to a weather forecast and decide where they will spend

the weekend if they want to have good weather. Pupils look at photographs of the teacher’s family and, while the

teacher talks about the people, they have to identify them by name. Before listening to a description of the town in which they are

studying, pupils make a list of points they would expect to be made. As they listen to the description they tick the points which are, in fact, mentioned. Pupils listen to a story and subsequently answer questions about the

events.

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Procedures for the systematic development of listening comprehension If you follow a systematic approach to teaching listening skills, then you might want to

include phonology teaching procedures in your listening lessons. You could go beyond the phonological level and provide lexis and discourse recognition tasks, too.

• Developing recognition and discrimination of phonological features 1. Model, drill, show on board phonemes, consonant clusters at word boundaries,

weak forms, main stress, intonation 2. Pupils show recognition (by raising: a left/right hand; a red/blue rod; a card with ‘1’

or a card with ‘2’ written on it; etc. ) of: • word boundary phenomena (Did you hear /p/ or /b/?) • minimal pairs • stress recognition (Which word was stressed ‘flower’ or ‘red’?) • intonation recognition (Did the intonation on the stressed syllable go or ?)

3. Pupils listen and mark stress on a transcript. 4. Pupils listen and mark pause, change in pitch, etc. by drawing a line.

• Skim listening Skim listening (or gist listening) is listening to get an overall idea of what is going on. This is not to be confused with a ‘first listening’ procedure, where you allows pupils to listen to a tape once through to get a general idea, before going on to more detailed comprehension questions. The point of this is simply to help learners over the difficulties of alienation from the tape recorder. The most obvious way of doing this is to expose pupils to different non-interactive listening pieces and to point out, by comparison, what sort of overall message is going on.

• Building confidence with listening pieces and texts 1. If you are planning to make extensive use of a tape recorder or video recorder for

Look at the following list of personal factors and indicate which is characteristic of effective and which of ineffective listening. Write either E (for effective) or I (for ineffective) in the space provided.

The pupil tries to understand everything tries to listen word by word tries to activate general knowledge of the topic to help him

understand the discourse guesses in order to help him understand when he misses

information ‘thinks ahead’ generally while listening (guesses how the discourse

will develop/what is going to be talked about) uses his knowledge of the language to narrow down the range of

possibilities with regards to what the next key word or phrase may be varies his attention during the listening process, concentrating on

particular words which are stressed, and on stretches of speech which are pitched relatively high in the voice range.

After Parrott, M. 1993, Tasks for Language Teachers, CUP

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listening, then you can help them to feel confident by using the equipment in the first instance to play music or to show film with no dialogue.

2. Use a short extract at first, building up to longer pieces. 3. Confidence can be built up by providing very easy tasks initially, moving on to

more difficult ones. 4. Pupils can increase their confidence in reading by underlining everything they

understand (this encourages a positive attitude, focuses attention on meaning rather than on difficulties, and provides a vocabulary avoidance strategy).

A basic methodological model for the teaching of listening comprehension From the late 1960s, practitioners recognized the importance of listening and began to

set aside time for practising the skill. A relatively standard format for listening developed at this time:

• Pre-listening. Pre-teaching of all important new vocabulary in the passage.

• Listening. Extensive listening (followed by general questions establishing context). Intensive listening (Followed by detailed comprehension questions)

• Post-listening. Analysis of the language in the text (e.g. Why did the speaker use the present perfect?) Listen and repeat: teacher pauses the tape, learners repeat words.

Over the past several decades, teachers have modified this procedure considerably. Now you can work with a model which has five basic stages:

1. Lead-in/pre-listening: • Setting the context and creating motivation. Pre-teaching of vocabulary has now largely

been discontinued. In real life, learners cannot expect unknown words to be explained in advance; instead they have to learn to cope with situations where part of what is heard will not be familiar. It may still be necessary to present three or four critical words at the beginning of the listening lesson, but these must be absolutely indispensable key words without which any understanding of the text would be impossible. Although some kind of pre-listening activity is now usual, involving brainstorming vocabulary, reviewing areas of grammar, or discussing the topic of the listening text, one should set two simple aims for the lead-in/pre-listening activity:

• To provide sufficient context to match what would be available in real life;

• To create motivation (perhaps by asking learners to speculate on what they will hear); Prepare the class or have the pupils to prepare themselves for the task and get familiar with the topic of the listening activity. One of the major reasons for this is to create expectations and arouse their interest in the subject matter of the text.

2. Directing comprehension task: Make sure that your pupils know what they are going to do (to answer questions, fill in a chart, complete a message or try and re-tell what they heard). Explain and direct the pupils’ purpose for listening.

3. Listening for the task. Speak or play the record while the pupils listen to the text to perform the task you have set.

• Extensive listening. Most teachers make use of the extensive/intensive distinction. On a similar principle, listening tasks and international examinations usually specify that the recording is to be played twice. This is unnatural because in real life one gets only one hearing. However, the whole situation of listening to a cassette in a language classroom is artificial. Furthermore, listening to a strange voice speaking in a foreign language demands a process of adjusting (to the pitch, speed, and quality of the voice). An initial period of

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extensive listening allows for this.

• Preset task/preset questions. There have been changes in the way that comprehension is checked, too. We recognise that learners listen in an unfocused way if questions are not set until after the passage has been heard. Unsure of what they will be asked, they cannot judge the level of detail that will be required of them. By presetting comprehension questions, we can ensure that learners listen with a clear purpose, and that their answers are not dependent on memory.

• Intensive listening. More effective than traditional comprehension questions is the current practice of providing a task where learners do something with the information they have extracted from the text. Tasks can involve labeling (e.g. buildings on a map), for filling (e.g. a hotel registration form), and completing a grid. Another benefit of tasks is that they demand individual responses. Each learner can make choices and makes something of what s/he hears.

4. Directing feedback. • Checking answers. When the pupils have performed the task, help them to see if they

have completed the task successfully and find out how well they have done. This may follow a stage in which pupils check their answers with each other first.

5. Post-listening: directing text-related task.

• Examining functional language. Organise follow-up tasks related to the text. For instance, ask them to do more analytical work. Thus if the first task involved getting the general picture, return to the text for such a task as inferring attitude or deducing meaning.

• Inferring vocabulary meaning. Also as part of post-listening, you can ask learners to infer the meaning of new words from the contexts in which they appear – just as they do in reading. However, if the pupils perform unsuccessfully in their first comprehension task, redirect them to the same task to try again.

Choosing listening materials for the classroom Your choice of listening materials can be affected by considerations which have to do

with presenting and practising grammar or vocabulary items. Apart from that, it is also possible to select texts and listening material on skills development basis. In this situation, you will consider the skills that the pupils will use outside the classroom and not the areas of phonology, grammar or vocabulary that are creating difficulties. Apart from these, several other factors need to be taken into account, like text type, style and register and listening style.

An effective listening lesson will be characterised by the following features (Nunan, 241):

• The materials should be based on a wide range of authentic texts, including both monologues and dialogues.

• Schema-building tasks should precede the listening • Strategies for effective listening should be incorporated into the materials • Learners should be given opportunities to progressively structure their listening by

listening to a text several times and by working through increasingly challenging listening tasks.

• Learns should know what they are listening for and why. • The task should include opportunities for learners to play an active role in their own

learning. • Content should be personalised.

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Using authentic listening texts If we use authentic texts, the pupils will be unable to identify most of the words they

hear. In real-life situations, on the other hand, understanding of what is said may be less than perfect. Consequently, we need to help our pupils to adopt coping strategies:

• Identify the words in a few fragmented sections of the text. • Make inferences linking the parts of the text about which they feel most confident • Check those inferences against what comes next.

This kind of strategy is not confined to low-level learners. We need to encourage learners to listen and write down the words they understand; to form and discuss inferences; to listen again and revise their inferences; then to check them against what the speaker says next. In doing this, they get practice in the kind of listening they are likely to do in real life and we also make them realise that guessing is not a sign of failure, but something that most people resort to when listening to a foreign language.

Problems with classroom listening Think First!

Trying to understand the spoken word through a similar medium presents particular difficulties. Besides the obvious difficulty presented by divorcing the spoken word from its normal visual circumstances, pupils may be alienated by the quality of the recording and their inability to have any control over what they are listening to and, in particular, over the rate at which it is delivered. Listening to a voice coming from a machine is neither easy nor common. Most pupils listen to the radio or other kinds of recordings materials mainly for music. The only parallels with life outside the classroom are listening to announcements in airports, stations or supermarkets, or listening to commentaries in museums and on tourist buses. Moreover, the topic can be strange or unknown, and the pupils may feel all this is offensive on their normal capacities.

The classroom may have a strange effect on some pupils’ normal capacities. Under normal circumstances, we always listen or read for a reason: enjoyment, curiosity, interest; or the need for a train time, an address, etc. There is always a purpose to our listening. This reason helps us to set up expectations about the content of the message and helps us to interpret it or to decode it. Similarly, under normal circumstances, we tend to ‘get our bearings’ before listening. We do this in a number of ways: we may hear the title of a programme on the radio; at the beginning of a conversation we may ask a couple of questions to our interlocutor to check that we are both talking about the same thing; we may summon our existing knowledge (schemata) about the subject to the fore of our minds; we may look at the object our companion is pointing to, and so on. Finally, under normal circumstances, we may choose to listen in different ways: we may decide, for instance, not to listen to a loudspeaker announcement which is intended for someone else.

The pupils in the classroom, however, have these normal mechanisms suspended. To most pupils, the purpose of listening in the classroom is an instructional one. This is one reason why pupils can normally listen to your instructions with less difficulty than when they are given a listening activity. Additionally, the classroom provides distractions which may hinder normal attention and also creates tensions, like being asked questions in front of others.

The pupils’ ability to listen extensively is determined, to a great extent, by their awareness or knowledge of the topic. If they know what they are going to listen to, they have

Can you name some of the reasons why your pupils may not understand a spoken text? What aspects of listening to English are particularly difficult for your pupils to cope with?

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expectations that they expect to be fulfilled, and they make predictions about what the speaker(s) will say. These expectations and predictions channel their attention to specific parts of the utterance. By knowing what to expect, and what they are listening for, they can more easily ‘home in’ on what needs most attention or concentration. However, the pupils may not have enough background information. They need a network of general background information to help them comprehend the things they hear. Even extremely competent language users can have difficulty in listening when they are unable to use or to perceive the background information.

Background information is an important factor in the expecting, predicting, recognising and inferring chain of skills. This information can be in the shape of the general situation (e.g. where the listening takes place), or the way speakers look (e.g. how they are dressed, or the expressions on their faces), or the scenario that is called up as the monologue or conversation gets under way. We refer to our experience to get ready and interpret what we hear correctly.

Lack of linguistic knowledge will also hinder the pupils’ attempts at understanding what they listen to. They may have difficulty understanding non-standard variants or they may be unfamiliar with many of the words in what they are listening to. In such situations they will give up trying to understand the text. If their grasp of grammar is shaky then they will misinterpret the message of the text.

Anything we listen to is overflowing with information, and competent listeners are given a large number of chances to decode the message of a text. Competent language users are familiar with the patterns of sounds, stress, intonation, spelling, lexis, grammar, discourse and style are able to eliminate unlikely alternatives spontaneously and unconsciously at every tiny step of the unfolding of the discourse. Exploiting redundancy means that when we are listening and we miss a word or a grammar marker, such as past-tense morpheme, we can usually guess what that word or marker was by hearing to the rest of the utterance. In other words, it is knowledge of patterns that makes the task of listening easier. The expectations of which sounds follow which, which words commonly go together, how words combine syntactically, along with background knowledge, reduce the amount of sounds, sound-groups, letters and words they actually need to hear.

A good knowledge of how English discourse works helps the pupils to predict what they are about to listen to and to make correct inferences about what they have just heard - to make backwards and forwards connections to other parts of the discourse they are engaged in. This enables them to build a picture of the meaning of the discourse and of the relationships within it.

The pupils’ lack of familiarity with the linguistic patterns of English reduces both their predictive and their guessing ability. Also, if your pupils’ level of language is not good enough, they cannot understand fast, natural speech. They will often ask you to slow down and speak clearly (by which they mean pronounce each word the way it would sound in isolation). If you do so, you will help them to learn to cope with everyday informal speech. Your pupils should be exposed to as much spontaneous informal talk as they can successfully understand.

Why does the presence of individual unfamiliar words hinder the understanding of a spoken text?

Can you understand what this speaker, with a slight speech defect, is saying: “Top talking, tand till and tay there until I tell you to move.” Why (not)?

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The pupils may find it difficult to keep up with the listening task. They may feel overloaded with incoming information. The solution is not so much to slow down the discourse but rather to encourage them to stop trying to understand everything, learn to pick out what is essential and allow themselves to ignore the rest.

The pupils may often need to hear things more than once. There may also be good pedagogical reasons for exposing them to texts more than once. In real life, however, they will have to cope with ‘one-off’ listening. You can try to use texts that include ‘redundant’ passages and within which the essential information is presented more than once and not too intensively. You can also give them the opportunity to request clarification or repetition during the listening.

The pupils will get tired. This is one reason why listening passages should not be very long, and why you should break them into short ‘chunks’ through pause, listener response or change of speaker.

Teaching or testing listening? We have little option but to use some kind of checking procedure to assess the extent of

understanding that has been achieved. We tend to judge successful listening simply in terms of correct answers to comprehension questions and tasks. We focus on the product of listening when we should be interested in the process – what is going on in the heads of the learners. On this view, the main aim of a listening activity is diagnostic: identifying listening problems and putting them right.

Summary Listening is seen as a complementary skill to speaking in communication. Pupils may

find listening difficult because some teachers consider it a passive skill, which does not need teaching. However, as listening is a medium over which the pupils have no control, it should be taught along with speaking. The pupils should be exposed to as many different types of listening as possible, as the objective of listening comprehension practice in the classroom is that pupils should learn to function successfully in real-life listening situations.

Further reading

Field, John. “The Changing Face of Listening” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A. 2002, Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP. Harmer, Jeremy, 1991, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman Hubbard Peter et al., 1983, A Training Course for TEFL, OUP Lam, Wendy Y.K., “Raising Students’ Awareness of the Features of Real-World Listening Input” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP. Nunan, David. “Listening in Language Learning” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A. 2002, Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP. Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP. Ur, Penny, 1996, A Course in Language Teaching. Practice and Theory, CUP

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Catedra de Limba şi literatura engleză EFL Methodology for English students, year II

DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS Literate people have a number of different language abilities: speaking, listening,

writing and reading. Speaking and writing involve language production and are therefore often referred to as productive skills. Listening and reading involve receiving messages and are often referred to as receptive skills.

The four major language skills are summarised in the following chart:

However, this is a very general picture of language skills. Very often language users employ a combination of skills at the same time. In conversation, for instance, speaking and listening happen simultaneously. People may also read and write at the same time, they may make notes or write something based on what they are reading.

From a pedagogic perspective, it does not mean that skills should be treated separately, either. Very often one skill cannot be performed without another. Moreover, competent users need a number of sub-skills for processing the language that they use and are faced with. As in most of the cases, a certain language experience involves the use of different skills; classroom teaching will have to reflect this. Even when our activities focus on one particular skill, the focus can later shift to one or more of the other skills. The principle of integrating skills – where focus on one skill leads to practice in another – should constantly be followed, and although there are activities where individual skills may be treated individually the principle of integration should be borne in mind.

Key Concepts: communication, accuracy vs. fluency, controlled practice, less controlled practice, freer practice.

By the end of this lecture you should:

• have a clear idea of the nature of the speaking skill • be aware of the problems encountered by your pupils when developing their speaking

skill in English • know the meaning of the term ‘communicative competence’ • be aware of the ‘accuracy vs. fluency’ debate. • know about a wide range of classroom activities to develop accuracy and fluency • have explored several options in the identification and correction of mistakes in both

accuracy and fluency activities.

The speaking skill in communication A great deal of what English teachers do in their classes can be considered

communicative, and their general objective is to develop their pupils’ communicative competence. In fact many teachers would probably say that they follow the Communicative Approach. They might however find it difficult to say precisely what they mean by this, or to define communication, as definitions can vary.

MEDIUM

SPEECH

WRITTEN WORD

S K I L L

RECEPTIVE Listening comprehension Reading comprehension

PRODUCTIVE Speaking Writing

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Building on Hyme’s theory, Canale and Swain (1980) propose that communicative competence includes grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence, which reflect the use of the linguistic system and the functional aspects of communication, respectively.

Linguistic competence is the ability to manipulate the system of the language.

Sociolinguistic competence is the awareness and ability to adapt all use of language to a communicative context. In combination, these two competences can be said to form communicative competence. Two other competences, strategic competence and discourse competence, are also involved. Why and when do we speak?

In considering the role of speaking as it relates to communication, and the relevance of speaking to language teaching, we have to answer a few questions: a) why and when we speak, b) what the speaking skill involves, and c) what factors influence speaking.

A large percentage of the language learners study English in order to develop proficiency in speaking. The ability to speak a foreign language well is a very complex task if we try to understand the nature of what appears to be involved. To begin with, speaking is used for many purposes, and each purpose involves different skills.

We speak in order to:

• get information about things or people • explain, instruct, direct • get something done • express judgement, opinions, feelings • promote warmth, friendship, etc • relate events, anecdotes, • give descriptions, etc.

Can you think of other reasons for speaking? List them in the space provided below.

When we use casual conversation, for example, our purposes may be to make social contact with people, to establish rapport, or to engage in chitchat. When we engage in discussion with someone, on the other hand, the purpose may be to seek or express opinions, to persuade someone about something, or to clarify information. In some situations, we use speaking to give instructions of how to get things done. We may use speaking to describe things, to complain about people’s behaviour, to make polite requests, or to entertain people with jokes and anecdotes. Each of these purposes (functions) for speaking implies knowledge of the rules that account for how spoken language reflects the context or situation in which speech occurs, the participants involved and their specific roles and relationships, and the kind of activity that speakers are involved in. Thus, the factors which influence the speaker’s language choices are: a) the interlocutors (speaker and listener); b)

sociolinguistic competence

strategic competence

communicative competence

linguistic competence

discourse competence

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the code (shared language of the interlocutors); c) the message topic and the message form, the setting / situation, the function of each utterance as it relates to what has been said before, to what each interlocutor assumes the other already knows, to the intended message of the speaker. The interlocutors’ attitudes towards each other are also important.

Language macrofunctions The functions of spoken language are interactional and transactional. Remember that

the primary intention of the former is to maintain social relationships, whereas that of the latter is to convey information and ideas. In fact, much of our daily communication remains interactional. Being able to interact in a language is essential and what we can do with language is endless. Roman Jakobson (Closing statements: Linguistics and Poetics, Style in language, T. A. Sebeok, New York, 1960) defined six functions of language (or communication functions), according to which an effective act of verbal communication can be described: • referential: describing a situation, object or mental state, talking about the world, the

past, etc.; • expressive (also called "emotive" or "affective"): expressing emotions, imagination,

opinions, etc., adding information about the speaker's internal state; • conative (also called “directive”): engaging the addressee directly and best illustrated

by vocatives and imperatives; influencing other people’s behaviour (e.g. request for permission, order, instructions)

• poetic: using language creatively (especially in literature and humour); focuses on "the message for its own sake"[3] and is the operative function in poetry as well as slogans.

• phatic: promoting human warmth; using language for the sake of interaction. The Phatic Function can be observed in greetings and casual discussions of the weather, particularly with strangers.

• metalinguistic (also called ‘metalingual” or “reflexive): using language (what Jakobson calls "code") to discuss or describe itself; talking about the language one is using (e.g. ‘John’ is the subject of the sentence).

Each macro-function can be sub-divided into the functions we can identify in our everyday interactions with people. The directive, descriptive, expressive and phatic macro-functions and their many sub-divisions, are the most likely to be relevant to the average general English pupil.

What does communication involve?

Communicating involves two types of activity that take place almost simultaneously: planning and execution. It is a combination of linguistic and cognitive sub-skills, social and cultural awareness, and confidence.

Linguistic sub-skills The speakers have the ability to discriminate and manipulate sounds and sound

sequences in order to produce fluent, intelligible speech and to use accurate and meaningful stress and intonation. They also have the ability to make linguistic choices at the level of vocabulary and grammar, and at the level of style and register, to form natural and meaningful sentences, appropriate to one’s communicative purpose in a given situation.

The linguistic sub-skill involves the language competence, which is an umbrella concept that includes increasing expertise in morphology, syntax, vocabulary and mechanics (basic sounds, syllables, pronunciation of words, intonation and stress). In order to convey meaning, EFL learners must have the knowledge of words and sentences: they must understand how words are segmented into various sounds, and how sentences are stressed in particular ways. Thus, grammatical competence enables speakers to use and understand English-language structures accurately and unhesitatingly, which contributes to their fluency.

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In addition to grammatical competence, EFL learners must develop discourse competence, which is concerned with intersentential relationships. In discourse, whether formal or informal, the rules of coherence and cohesion apply, which aid in holding the communication together in a meaningful way. One needs an ability to perceive and process stretches of discourse, and to formulate representations of meaning from referents in both previous sentences and following sentences. Therefore, effective speakers should acquire a large repertoire of structures and discourse markers to express ideas, show relationships of time, and indicate cause, contrast, and emphasis. With these, learners can manage turn taking.

Cognitive sub-skills The cognitive sub-skills involve formulating language in the mind as a representation

of the intended meaning. This involves planning on three levels: discourse, utterance and constituents.

Discourse takes account of the kind of communication the speaker is participating in (e.g. joke telling; conversation; giving instructions, etc.), the situational and linguistic context, the features of conversation and the cohesion of the utterances. Efficient speakers make linguistic choices (grammatical, lexical, and phonological) appropriate to context, follow the conventions of spoken discourse and adopt a suitable communication strategy. They know how to check whether the listener is interpreting the message correctly and, if necessary, can do repairing.

The meaning of the planned utterances, is considered in terms of what function they will have (e.g. requesting, checking, advising, etc.), the topic of the overall communication (e.g. politics, bringing up children, etc.), what information can be taken as known and what needs to be considered as new and how the message will be conveyed stylistically (e.g. straight, ironical, understated, etc.)

Speakers also need to make choices referring to specific constituents: linguistic items (lexical units, structures, stress, intonation), and to organising these in the right order.

For native speakers planning and execution is generally a spontaneous process, though speech errors, repetitions, hesitations, and false starts indicate that people often start speaking before a constituent is completely planned.

Social and cultural awareness Knowledge of language alone does not adequately prepare learners for effective and

appropriate use of the target language. Learners must have competence which involves knowing what is expected socially and culturally by users of the target language; learners must acquire the rules and norms governing the appropriate timing and realization of speech acts. Understanding the sociolinguistic side of language helps learners know what comments are appropriate, how to ask questions during interaction, and how to respond nonverbally according to the purpose of talk.

Effective speakers are aware of social rules, show sensitivity to rules of behaviour (e.g. turn-taking and giving attention signals) when participating in conversations, and can select an appropriate style and register for a given situation, purpose, and listener. They are aware of the value system of their interlocutors and show the ability to accompany speech with appropriate meaningful non-verbal communication such as facial expressions. They are also aware of intonation and politeness formulae in promoting good relationships.

Strategic skills/competence is perhaps the most important of all communicative competence elements. They refer to the ability to compensate for imperfect knowledge of linguistic, sociolinguistic and discourse rules. As far as speaking is concerned, strategic competence refers to the ability to know when and how to take the floor, how to keep a conversation going, hoe to terminate the conversation, and how to clear up communication breakdown as well as comprehension problems.

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Nonlinguistic communication Diversity in interaction involves not only verbal communication, but also non-linguistic

elements such as gestures and body language/posture and facial expression which accompany speech.

What do you understand by confidence as a linguistic sub-skill?

Developing communicative competence in the classroom The interactive behaviour of EFL learners is influenced by a number of factors. Factors affecting oral communication Age or maturational constraints Age is one of the most important determinant factors of success or failure in foreign

language learning. Krashen, Long and Scarcella (1982) argue that acquirers who begin learning a foreign language in early childhood through natural exposure achieve higher proficiency than those beginning as adults. The adult’s progress seems to level off at a certain stage, a phenomenon which is called “fossilisation” – the permanent cessation of language development. This shows that the aging process itself may affect or limit adult learners’ ability to pronounce the foreign language fluently with native like pronunciation. Adult learners do not seem to have the same language-specific endowment or propensity as children for acquiring fluency and naturalness in spoken language.

Aural medium Listening plays an extremely important role in the development of speaking abilities.

Speaking feeds on listening, which precedes it. Usually, one person speaks, and the other responds through attending by means of the listening process. In fact, during interaction, every speaker plays a double role – both as listener and as a speaker. If one cannot understand what is said, one is certainly unable to respond. So, speaking is closely related to or interwoven with listening, which is the basic mechanism through which the rules of language are internalised. The fleetingness of speech, together with the features of spoken English – loosely organised syntax, incomplete forms, false starts, and the use of fillers – undoubtedly hinders EFL learners’ comprehension and affects the development of their speaking abilities.

Sociocultural factors From a pragmatic perspective, language is a form of social action because linguistic

communication occurs in the context of structured interpersonal exchange, and meaning is thus socially regulated. In other words, shared values and beliefs create the traditions and social structures that bind a community together and are expressed in their language. Thus, to speak a language one must know how the language is used in a social context. Each language has its own rules of usage as to when, how, and to what degree a speaker may impose a given verbal behaviour on his or her conversational partner. Because of the influence or interference of their own cultural norms, it is hard for non-native speakers to choose the forms appropriate to certain situations (e.g. paying compliments).

In addition, oral communication involves a powerful nonverbal communication system, which sometimes contradicts the message provided through the verbal listening channel. Because of the lack of familiarity with the nonverbal communication system of the

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target language, EFL learners don not know how to pick up nonverbal cues. As a result, ignorance of the nonverbal message often leads to misunderstanding (e.g. “Let’s get together for lunch sometime” said with an indifferent facial expression).

Affective factors The affective factors related to foreign language learning are emotions, self-esteem,

empathy, anxiety, attitude, and motivation. Foreign language learning is a complex task that is susceptible to human anxiety, which is associated with feelings of uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt, and apprehension. Speaking a foreign language is public, especially in front of native speakers, is often anxiety-provoking. The sensitivity of learners to making mistakes, or fear of “losing face” is the explanation for their inability to speak English without hesitation.

Oral practice activities Since most EFL learners in Romania learn English in their own culture, practice is

available mainly in the classroom. So, a key factor in the learners’ development is the opportunity to speak in the language-promoting interaction. English teachers must arouse in the learners a willingness and need or reason to speak. Many people outside the world of FL teaching have the impression that running a discussion class is something anyone can do – you don’t need any training or experience, you just go in and talk! The truth is that very often students have no interest in the subject, no relevant knowledge or experience, no motivation, no desire or perceived need to speak about it or they even experience slight panic as they do not have time to think. As a result of all these, they have nothing to say.

A possible way of stimulating learners to talk is to provide them with extensive exposure to authentic language through audiovisual stimuli and with opportunities to use the language. Teachers should also integrate strategy instruction into interactivities, providing information about communicative strategies to raise learners’ awareness about their own learning styles so that they can tailor their strategies to the requirements of the learning tasks.

Features of speaking activities In designing activities, teachers should consider all the skills conjointly as they

interact with each other in natural behaviour, for in real life as in the classroom, most tasks should be manipulative, meaningful, and communicative, involving learners in using English for a variety of communicative purposes. Specifically, speaking activities should:

1. be based on authentic or naturalistic source materials; 2. enable learners to manipulate and practise specific features of language; 3. allow learners to rehearse, in class, communicative skills they need in the real

world; 4. activate psycholinguistic processes of learning. Consequently, when organising a speaking activity, we need to bear in mind

questions like:

• Is the activity promoting real communication? How natural can communication be in the classroom?

• What aspects of non-linguistic communication are my pupils showing: facial expression, gesture, tone of voice?

• What different registers of language can be practised in this activity? What range of styles and registers do they need?

• Do my pupils need to learn to communicate to the same degree of complexity and subtlety?

• To what extent does effective communication depend on linguistic accuracy?

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and also

• Is the subject relevant and interesting? • Do the students know anything about the topic or are they provided with information to

give substance to the topic? • Do they feel motivated to talk about the topic? • Do they feel that they really want to say something?

There may be no certain answers to these questions. However, they develop an awareness and an understanding of the issues which currently circulate in language teaching.

Types of input for speaking activities Based on the criteria above and on the answers to the above questions, the following

types of input appear to be particularly relevant to eliciting spoken-language production: aural, visual, material and culture awareness (Kang, 209-10).

Aural oral activities Aural materials such as news reports on the radio have to be fine-tuned to a level

accessible to particular groups of learners. These materials can be used in some productive activities as background or as input for interaction. The pupils are directed to listen to taped dialogues or short passages and afterwards to act them out in different ways.

Visual oral activities Because of the lack of opportunity in foreign language settings to interact with native

speakers, the need for exposure to many kinds of scenes, situations, and accents as well as voices is critical. This need may be met by audiovisual materials such as films, videotapes and soap operas. They can provide a) the motivation achieved by basing lessons on attractive and informative content material; b) the exposure to a varied range of authentic speech (different registers, accents, intonation, rhythms, and stresses; and c) language used in the context of real situations, which adds relevance and interest to the learning process (Carrasquillo, 1994). While watching, students can observe what levels of formality are appropriate or inappropriate on given situations. Similarly, they can notice the nonverbal behaviour and types of exclamations and fill-in expressions that are used. Also, they can pay attention to how people initiate and sustain a conversational exchange and how they terminate an interactive episode. Subsequent practice of dialogues, role-playing, and dramatizations will lead to deeper learning.

Visual stimuli can be utilised in several ways as starter material for interaction to elicit opinion-expressing activities.

Likewise, nonverbal videos can be played to have students describe what they have viewed. While watching, students can focus on the content and imitate the model’s body language. In this way the students will be placed in a variety of experiences with accompanying language. Gradually, they will assimilate the verbal and nonverbal messages and communicate naturally.

Material-aided oral activities Appropriate reading materials facilitated by the teacher and structured with

comprehension questions can leaf to creative production in speech. Storytelling can be prompted with cartoon strips and sequences of pictures. Oral reports or summaries can be produced from articles in newspapers or from some textbooks. Similar material input such as hotel brochures, can be used for making reservations; menus can be used for making purchases or for ordering in a restaurant. Language input for communicative tasks can be derived from a wide range of sources. This will help learners deal with real situations that they are likely to encounter.

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Culture awareness oral activities Culture plays an instrumental role in shaping speaker’s communicative competence,

which is related to the appropriate use of language (e.g. how native speakers make an apology and what kind of form the apology takes). Appropriateness is determined by each speech community, by the shared social and cultural conventions of a particular group of speakers. Therefore, it is essential to recognize different sets of culturally determined rules in communication. Many cultural assumptions which are presupposed by the native speakers need to be drawn explicitly to the attention of speakers from other cultures. Thus, teachers can present situations in which there are cultural misunderstandings that cause people to become offended, angry, and confused. Learners can be asked to analyse and determine what went wrong and why, which will force them to think about how people in the target culture act and perceive things. This will inevitably provide a deeper insight into that culture.

Accuracy vs. fluency Speaking activities may have several aims, but usually the main aim is to provide an

opportunity for the learners to practise speaking, with more attention to improving fluency than to getting accurate sentences.

Accuracy activities are activities in which you aim for the pupils to concentrate on the language they are using. These include manipulating, practising and ‘freely’ using particular items of language (e.g. a substitution drill to practise the form of the present perfect, an elicited dialogue to practise apologising, a ‘free stage’ to practise conditional II; etc.)

Fluency activities are activities where you want the pupils to concentrate on what

they are using the language for. Language is seen as a tool to be used to fulfil whatever the pupils are engaged in doing (e.g. a pupil is explaining to a classmate how to do something).

What choices will you make when deciding for an accuracy or a fluency activity?

All these choices have implications on how the activity contributes to the pupils’ overall speaking skill in all its various dimensions.

In the course of teaching both accuracy and fluency must be worked on and developed, and must both be a part of your teaching at any level. In some activities, e.g. semi-controlled practice, it may well be difficult to separate the two. It is however difficult to work effectively on both at once. It will be helpful if you decide what the main priority is for any given activity. Both advanced classes, which are already relatively fluent, and early levels classes may need emphasis on accuracy work. Fluency activities may be graded to the abilities of the pupils, both in terms of the level and amount of language needed to complete the task and in terms of the amount of autonomy your pupils are able to cope with. What is important is to give classes of all levels opportunities to use language creatively and for their own purposes.

There are times in class when a focus on accuracy (and greater use of instant correction) is appropriate. There are other times when the focus is on fluency. At these times instant correction is less appropriate and could interfere with the aims of the activity. The teacher needs to be clear about whether her main aim is accuracy or fluency, and adapt her role in class appropriately.

Accuracy Fluency

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If the main aim is to get the students to speak, one way to help would be for teachers to reduce their own contributions. The less teachers speak, the more space it will allow the learners. It could be useful to aim to say nothing while an activity is underway, and save any contribution for before or after.

Similarly, getting out of the way might be a help. If the teacher stays at the front of the class, visible and clearly keeping an eye over everything, that might put students off talking. Watching unobtrusively but with interest form a back corner may be a good idea. The more involved the teacher is, the more she will end up doing the communication rather than the students. There are times when the teacher can be most helpful by forcing students to face problems themselves.

Whether an activity is accuracy or fluency-biased may not depend on the activity itself, but on the way in which you set it up: are the pupils told to use particular language or are they free to use any language at their disposal? Similarly, the kind of feedback you give may determine whether the pupils see the activities in terms of accuracy or fluency.

Types of speaking activities The activities primarily designed for oral practice are grouped according to the

degree of control exerted by the teacher over the pupils’ language choice. They show a gradual move from very controlled to ‘freer’. Many of the activities are flexible in this respect, i.e. you may choose to exercise more or less control according to their aims and the pupils’ needs. Teachers generally follow the traditional model of language teaching, which attempts to realise the principles of staging learning. This model is:

• presentation (including controlled oral practice) • less controlled oral practice (also called ‘guided creativity’ or ‘semi-controlled oral practice’) • freer stage. In this stage the focus may still be on the language being practised. You will select activities that are likely to produce the language that has recently been presented and practised. In fluency activities, this is not the case.

Practice can be graded from very controlled to semi-controlled to freer practice. This progression gives the pupils the chance to see when and how they need to use the target items in real life and to become more independent language users. Some activities will be accuracy based, i.e. aimed at the correct production of specific language, but as we move along the continuum from controlled to free, there are increasing opportunities for the pupils to practise and develop fluency. This will occur whenever they are more interested in the content of what they are saying than in the forms they use, when they are engrossed in an activity and concentrating on carrying out a task.

Generally speaking, the speaking practice activities that you organise will offer your pupils the chance to both practise specific language items and develop the speaking skill itself, which will be useful to them in communication.

If for example, your pupils are involved in an activity where they choose an appropriate apology for a variety of situations, they will be practising both specific apologetic formulae and will be making linguistic choices appropriate to context. In other words, you aim at either accuracy or fluency or at some point along the continuum that connects them.

Thus a basic procedure for a communicative speaking activity might be: 1. Teacher introduces and sets up activity (teacher centre-stage). 2. Students do activity (teacher out of sight, uninvolved) 3. Teacher gives and gets feedback, does follow-on work, etc. (teacher centre-stage

again). A. Controlled practice activities

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The aim of controlled oral practice activities is to provide practice in manipulating and discriminating sounds, stress, intonation, formal components (e.g. word order) and in reinforcing and discriminating meaning. Controlled oral practice is essential. ‘Controlled’ refers to the control and limitation on the range of language choice open to the pupils while practising, and not to the degree of authority you impose on the class. It promotes fluidity with sounds and sound sequences, with rhythm and intonation. It can also promote fluidity with stock phrases (e.g. “How do you do?”, “Do you mind if I...”).

Controlled oral practice activities allow the pupils to experiment with a language structure within a limited range of choice. At the same time, they give the teacher the chance to provide correction on grammar and phonology.

Though many controlled practice activities are usually done with the teacher as focus, most can be extended into pairs practice to increase the amount of practice each individual pupil gets. It may be necessary to demonstrate the activity in open pairs (i.e. across the class) before letting pupils practise in closed pairs. This is particularly true of information gap activities.

a) Repetition practice. A variety of drills may be employed at the controlled practice

stage of a lesson, usually starting with choral and individual repetition practice and then extending into substitution drills, often followed by a question and answer drill. Repetition and substitution practice is based on the model provided by the teacher. The pupils repeat in chorus or individually the model given. In the substitution drills, you also provide the new word.

What procedure would you use for a question and answer drill? Compare your answer with the one suggested at the end of the unit.

b) Action chain/ Chain drill. One way of ensuring a lot of question practice is to do

the drill as an ‘action chain’ or ‘chain drill’. Pupils sit in a circle and P1 asks P2, P2 asks P3, and so on. It is essential to set this up clearly, and it helps to keep all the prompt or picture cards moving in the same direction.

c) Mingling activity. Another way of maximising practice is to extend the drill into a

mingling activity, where pupils walk around the class asking their questions to as many other pupils as possible. This can also be a question and answer drill in which the pupils may respond to written or picture prompts or, depending on the nature of the questions, may be giving genuine (‘communicative’) answers based on their own experience.

d) The ‘Information Gap’ technique can be applied to question and answer

practice. If you ask the pupils to give answers based on their own experience (e.g. about their likes or dislikes) there is a natural ‘information gap’ as the questioner probably does not know the answer. For other types of material the ‘information’ gap may be supplied by the teacher.

Example Pupils A and B have the same account of the life of Jim Walter, but each account has

different pieces of information blanked out. The target structures are Past Tense Simple and wh- question forms. The level of study is elementary.

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Pupil A Pupil B

15th May 19…, Jim Walter 15th May 1970, Jim Walter

was born in …, Great Britain. was born in Brighton, ….

1977: He started school 19…: He started school.

1999: He married Ella Burns. 1999: He married………, etc.

Pupils A has to ask: Pupil B has to ask: What year was Jim Walter born? When did he start school?

Where was he born?, etc. Who did he marry in 1999?, etc.

Existing materials can be easily adapted to make information gap material, by typing out the material with gaps included.

e) Imposed dialogues. At a low level, an imposed dialogue may be used as a way

of giving very controlled practice. Here is a basic procedure for such a dialogue:

a) Establish situation and characters, then use listening drill; b) Organise repetition drill sequence to establish: first line, second line, first +

second lines together, third line, first + second + third lines together, etc., up to maximum six – seven lines. The idea is for the pupils to learn the dialogue by drilling it, so that they are able to say it to each other in pairs by the end.

Example The aim of the activity is to practise Could I have…, How much? and food vocabulary

(countables and uncountables).

Customer:

Shopkeeper:

Customer:

Shopkeeper:

Customer:

Shopkeeper:

Customer:

Good morning.

Good morning.

Could I have five apples please?

Certainly, sir.

How much are they?

10p each, sir. 50 pence please.

Thank you.

Once the dialogue is established, give each ‘customer’ three other items to buy and each ‘shopkeeper’ three other prices.

How much drilling is advisable and when depends on the level of your pupils and the nature of the language item (easy vs. difficult). In drilling, the language choice is kept to a minimum through the linguistic and situational limits set up by you. In this way the practice of a particular rule can be focussed on. In controlled activities the primary aim is fluidity, i.e. the rapid and accurate production of patterns or sentences. Within the limitations on choice, some creativity and real communication are, however, possible.

Mechanical, meaningful and communicative drills Many drills provide merely mechanical practice of form, but this is not true of all drills.

A drill is mechanical when the sentence(s) being practised have no context and the prompts that generate the manipulations of form are provided at random either by the teacher or the material (as in repetition, substitution and transformation drills). Such practice is useful in promoting language fluidity.

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Meaningful drills provide both context, and the mechanical manipulation necessary for accurate fluidity. Although designed for paired practice, they are not truly communicative

Why cannot meaningful drills be considered communicative?

Communicative drills, combine the mechanical practice and context principles, but also add the ‘information gap’ principle.

Meaningful and communicative drills and imposed dialogues can promote reinforcement of meaning.

Personalisation of controlled practice activities Even at the controlled stage of the lesson, you may allow your pupils some

opportunity to experiment with the language more freely and creatively. You may ask them, for instance, to add their own examples at any stage in the controlled practice.

It is also common practice to include a ‘personalisation’ stage towards the end of the initial presentation stage, where the pupils relate the language they are learning to their own lives and experience. For instance, if they have been working on “there is / there are” in the context of rooms and furniture, they may at this stage describe their own rooms. Or; if the structure is “used to do” they can talk about their childhood, education, former habits, etc. Some structures, however, may be difficult to personalise. At the personalisation stage the activity is usually quite short so as not to demand too much of the pupils.

Correction in controlled practice activities

As an alternative to you always giving the corrected model, other pupils in the class can be called upon to give the correct version as a model. However, correction during this stage has to be mediated through you.

What advice would you give your friend about how to organise correction during the language presentation stage of the lesson?

Controlled practice and communicative language teaching Drills are lively and snappy if done with vitality, technical precision, and humour. They

are good for varying pace and practising quick pronunciation or form. Pupils like drills because they are ‘safe’, i.e. they have little chance of making mistakes. Drills, however, can be predictable, mechanical and unnatural.

The preoccupation with communicative teaching has made some teachers believe that the communicative activities equip the pupils with the chosen language item(s), which can be internalised more efficiently in communicative activities. This assumption has led to a rejection of controlled practice activities. However, the pupils need opportunities for controlled practice, followed up with further semi-controlled practice in later lessons.

B. Less controlled practice activities The aim of less controlled practice activities is to offer either more pronunciation

practice or more practice of recently learned language. They provide context to reinforce the

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meaning of recently learned language or in making linguistic choices. Thus the pupils may become more linguistically independent.

Though some part of these activities will be teacher-centred (e.g. setting it up, drilling for intonation, etc.) pair work is likely to play a great part in this stage of the lesson.

Correction in less controlled practice activities

Correction will still be necessary for target items, but your pupils may now be able to correct each other to a large extent. You will still be needed for some correction (e.g. intonation, pronunciation of lexical items not included in the controlled stages) and as a resource for the language needed by individual pupils or groups.

Adapting controlled practice activities for less controlled practice

A number of activities used for controlled practice may be adapted for less controlled practice. For example, an information gap may be based on a jigsaw reading. Thus it will provide pupils with the opportunity to use target items in new contexts.

Similarly, dialogues may be handled in a less controlled way. Instead of using an imposed dialogue, you may use a) a cued dialogue, b) a completion dialogue or c) an elicited dialogue. These activities can be used to revise and consolidate structures, vocabulary, or functional exponents, to give pupils an opportunity to practise making linguistic choices, to help them assimilate new language into their existing ‘pool’ or to develop their use of rhythm and intonation.

Examples a) Cued dialogues will be acted out.

Pupil A Pupil B

You meet B in the street You meet A in the street

Greet B Greet A

Ask B where he is going Say you are going for a walk

Suggest somewhere to go together Reject A’s suggestion. Make a different suggestion.

Accept B’s suggestion Express pleasure

(after W. Littlewood Communicative Language Teaching, CUP)

b) In a completion dialogue activity, half the pupils get one part of the dialogue, the other half get the other part. In pairs or groups the pupils work out possible responses. Then they re-form in new pairs so that the two roles interlock, and they read out the utterances they have devised. The original prompt dialogues are set aside during this interlock session. The ensuing dialogue is usually coherent and the pupils intrigued by their own ingenuity.

Pupil A Pupil B

Two sisters – one has just arrived home

and looks ill.

Two sisters - one has just arrived home

and looks ill.

Jenny: You look awful Sue! Sue: …………………………………. Jenny: What on earth’s the matter? Sue: ………………………………… Jenny: Have you eaten anything unusual?

Jenny: …………………………………..! Sue: I feel awful. Jenny: …………………………………? Sue: I’ve got a dreadful stomach-ache. Jenny: ………………………………….?

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Sue: …………………………………. Jenny: That’s probably what caused it. You should go and lie down. Sue: …………………………………

Sue: No, nothing special, only that Chinese meal last night. Jenny: …………………………………… Sue: Yes, I think you’re right, I will.

c) An elicited dialogue is usually based on blackboard drawings, pictures, or

mime. The length of the dialogue will depend on the pupils’ level. Be prepared to allow for slight variations in each line if your pupils offer appropriate alternatives during the eliciting phase.

Set scene and characters, pre-teach essential vocabulary, then give first prompt (e.g. mime, picture or drawing) and ask What does he say? Select one of the pupils’ offers, elicit any necessary correction, have it repeated, and then standardise it yourself for pronunciation, rhythm and intonation. Give the pupils individual practice and correction. Move on and give prompt for second line, asking And what does she say? Elicit, correct, standardise, and practise. Now there are two lines, so give the pupils open pair practice. Elicit third line, following the same procedure, leading again to open pair practice of all three lines. Elicit fourth, fifth lines, etc. and use the same procedure, until the entire dialogue has been elicited and practised. Finally, the pupils go into closed pairs to practise the dialogue and finish by acting it out in front of the class.

A: Good afternoon. I’d like a double room please.

B: Yes sir. Would you like a bath and colour television?

A: Yes, please.

B: Would you like breakfast in your room tomorrow morning?

A: No, thank you. How much is it going to cost?

B: Er ... £50 sir.

A: etc. Example Use a drawing or a picture as a prompt: man and woman at hotel counter. Say :‘This

is Mr. O’Connor. Where is he? And who’s this?’ Point to the pupils and gesture two fingers. Ask: What does Mr. O’Connor say to hotel receptionist? Possible elicitations from pupils:

a. Hello, I can find here a room for two persons? b. Excuse me, have you in this hotel a double room? c. Good evening I want a room for two people.

Choose one elicitation and mould it by prompts or gestures until it is linguistically and sociolinguistically correct. This is then used as the model and it is drilled. The other lines are prompted and elicited in a similar way.

Narrative building Elicited narratives can be used to revise and consolidate structures or vocabulary.

They give the pupils an opportunity to practise making choices, to practise continuous speaking, or to help them assimilate new language into their existing pool of language. There are two types of elicited narratives: i) blackboard drawings, pictures, or sounds, and ii) mime stories.

i) Blackboard drawings, pictures, or sounds. Select or draw a series of pictures and find a story or monologue to fit, containing natural use of structure or

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vocabulary. Set scene, characters, time and context. Pre-teach necessary vocabulary. Display first picture on blackboard, prompt, select elicitations, standardise, practise, recap, and move on. Display second picture on blackboard and repeat the same procedure. Be careful that link-words are practised too. Finally recap whole story ensuring linking of sentences.

To exploit group work: a) mix up pictures and ask the pupils to sort them out themselves; b) leave out the key picture and ask the pupils to supply the missing element; c) give the pupils random flash cards which they have to sequence; d) give a written story or joke chopped up and ask them to reconstruct it.

ii) Mime stories. Develop a set of clear instruction gestures. Use a mimeable story containing natural use of structure or vocabulary. Establish instructions and check if the pupils have understood. Pre-teach vocabulary if necessary. Set scene, characters and time context clearly. Mime each stage clearly - elicit, select, standardise, practise, recap, move on to next mime. Follow the same procedure. Make sure sentences are linked naturally. Recap whole story, ensuring sentence linking where necessary and involving as many pupils as possible.

What activities would you use as follow-up for narratives?

Even less controlled narrative building Pupils need practice in other aspects of monologues, and in particular in discourse

linking and in different discourse types, e.g. joke telling, explanations, instructions, directions, relating events, or telling anecdotes.

Narrative building of this type is a pre-communicative activity. It helps the pupils to cope with problems of tackling monologues, but it is not a natural or authentic activity, as we seldom tell stories or relate events from pictures.

Think of a situation where the pupils may recount an event naturally, e.g. going to a police station to report something, reporting something to a newspaperman, or giving reasons for being late for school. Feed in narrative devices, such as “You’ll never guess what happened next!” or “Do you know what happened next?” plus responses: “No, what?” or “Really?” Leave the story open-ended for the pupils to carry on in groups or for homework.

What advice would you give a friend who is going to use a narrative in the lesson?

Games

Language games are an ideal activity for providing semi-controlled practice, as the nature of the game tends to restrict the actual language used. Some games are so limited in the language they require that they can be used for controlled practice e.g. “Spot the invisible fly”, where you choose the location of the fly and the pupils guess, asking “Is it on my nose / in your bag / under the table?” etc. The winning pupil chooses the next location.

Most games, however, allow for some choice in the language used. Playing the game may lead naturally to the use of language items the pupils have not come across in other classroom activities, but which may be useful to them in other circumstances. These

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phrases may be pre-taught, or taught as they crop up in the game. (Pupils often, for example, want to know the verb to cheat or the phrase “It’s your turn”, etc.)

Depending on the way you set up the activity, some games may be adapted to provide freer practice.

Example “Alibi” Two pupils are accused of a crime that took place within a fixed period of several

hours the day before. They go out of the room and plot their joint alibi, while the ‘police’ who remain in the classroom prepare questions to ask them. The suspects are then questioned one at a time and the police try to break their alibi. If you prompt, help or correct in the preparation stage, the activity is semi-controlled. If, however, the class are left to their own devices, the game allows for freer practice, as they can ask any questions they want.

C Freer practice. Speaking for fluency We have looked at speaking mainly as a way of providing practice in producing

specific language items. We also need to consider how speaking practice in class can help prepare the pupils for communicating naturally in real life.

One may speak fluently and easily and yet not necessarily be able to communicate effectively in all situations. It is important therefore to choose the activities very carefully so that you give your pupils sufficient practice in the kinds of conversations they will need to take part in real life.

Many kinds of speaking activities involve patterns your pupils will need outside the classroom. You will need to make the selection and ensure the balance. Such patterns are in operation in both monologues and dialogues. So it will be helpful for you to highlight these patterns, possibly via a listening text. Also, you will need to highlight the reactions of the listener (noises, questions, etc.) For instance, you need to teach the language used to give helpful feedback to someone telling a story. At low levels the reactions taught might be simply “Mm” (with appropriate intonation) or “Really”, while at higher levels a greater range could be included.

Examples Tell a story and pause at intervals to encourage your pupils to respond appropriately.

Another option is to give them possible reactions accompanying the script of story: the pupils in groups will decide which reactions can fit where. Offer such reactions as: “Ah”, “Oh, I see”, “Hum!” “Typical!”, “Really!”, “What happened?”, “Good idea”, “Oh!”, “Very wise”, “Yes, of course”, “What?”, “No, of course not”, “I know what you mean!”, “How awful / terrible / dreadful!”, “Oh dear, I see!”, etc.

For freer practice, your pupils can tell their own stories (prepared as homework) and others respond or encourage them.

The aims of the freer activities can be to increase the pupils’ ability to deal with the unpredictable, to give them maximum opportunity for self-expression, for the exploitation of their language resources and for the practice of their communicative skills. They encourage pupils’ independence and risk-taking rather than risk-avoiding strategies. They give them more practice in making linguistically and socially appropriate choices. Your role in such activities is of advisor, facilitator, monitor, or guide.

At the ‘freer stage’, the pupils’ choice of language is not directly prompted by you. The activities are likely to lead naturally to the production of the target language. However, some teachers like to preface the activity with instructions like “Try to use the language we have been practising” or “Try to use the Past Perfect”, etc. In general, the success or otherwise of a free practice activity depends on how far the pupils ‘get into’ the activity, and this basically depends on a few factors.

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What are, in your opinion, the factors that will determine the success of a freer practice activity?

While many of the more controlled practice activities can be adapted for freer practice, certain activities are particularly suited to this stage of the lesson.

a) Information gaps. If, for example, you are working on reported speech, you

might base your work on a ‘jigsaw’ reading or listening. The pupils, in groups, could listen to a number of ‘candidates’ (no more than three) being interviewed for the same job and would then re-group to choose the successful applicant. At this stage it would be natural for them to use reported speech to pool their information. Similarly, the groups could read statements made by witnesses of an accident (or suspects for a crime, etc.) and after re-grouping they would decide who was responsible.

b) Problem solving. Information-gap activities involve the pupils in making a

decision. Thus their ‘free speaking’ has a definite aim, and they have a task to complete. This motivating principle can also be exploited in specific problem-solving activities.

Examples i) Tell the class “There’s a dead man in the middle of a road with a pack on his back”. The class must find out what happened from you, but you can only answer “Yes” or “No”. Thus the class will get a lot of practice in asking past simple questions. [Answer: his parachute didn’t open]. ii) Survival problems. From a list of 20 items, the pupils choose six which would help ensure their survival on a desert island or on the moon. If treated as hypothetical questions, these will lead naturally to practising the Conditional II. If on the other hand, the pupils are on a sinking ship, the Conditional I or will for spontaneous decisions is more likely to occur.

c) Games. Though most games, by their very nature, imply some measure of

control, they may well allow the pupils a wide choice of language and may be very appropriate as free stage activities. ‘Alibi’ for example can easily be set up as a freer practice of past tenses.

d) Discussions. A discussion will offer your pupils free practice in the language of

agreeing or disagreeing, but discussion topics can be chosen to lead naturally to a variety of other language areas. Thus a discussion of the future of the world ecological problems is likely to involve future tenses, and Conditionals I and II. A discussion of the merits and importance of past discoveries and inventions will lead to the use of the Conditional III.

These examples are more suitable for higher level pupils. For lower levels discussion topics need to be carefully chosen to ensure that the pupils have sufficient language at their disposal to express their views. Discussion is possible however with quite early levels if the topic is geared to pupils’ personal knowledge and the vocabulary required is not too complex. Discussions on different cultural customs, celebrations and common superstitions can prove fruitful at quite early levels.

Some discussions may involve an element of role-play. The classic example is the ‘balloon debate’ where the members of the class represent famous people (or jobs / professions) trapped in a balloon (or rocket or nuclear shelter) where resources will only allow one to survive, so each must justify their own existence and talk the class round to choosing them.

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e) Drama. Drama is an excellent way to get students using the language. It essentially involves using the imagination to make oneself into another character, or the classroom into a different place. It can be a starting point for exciting listening and speaking work and it can be utilized as a tool to provide practice in specific grammatical, lexical, functional or phonological areas.

By bringing the outside world into the classroom in this way we provide a lot of useful practice (in cafes, shops, banks, business, streets, parties, etc.) that would otherwise be impossible. There can also be a freeing from the constraints of culture and expected behaviour; this can be personally and linguistically very liberating.

Success or failure of drama activities depends crucially on the perceived attitude of the teacher and of the other students; without a certain degree of trust, acceptance and respect the chances for useful work are greatly diminished.

What is the difference between a role-play and a simulation?

Six types of drama activity are commonly found in ELT classrooms:

• Role-play. A role-play is a drama-like classroom activity in which pupils take on the role of different participants in a situation and act it out. For instance, they may play a waiter or shop assistant and they may be involved in developing an actual character or attitude. Students may act out scenes using their own ideas or from ideas and information on role-cards.

• Simulation. A simulation is a large-scale role-play. As with role-plays, the pupils may or may not be required to take on a new persona. These classroom activities reproduce or simulate real situations in which the pupils have various tasks or problems to solve. This often involves group discussion and some dramatisation. They can extend over a period of several days and may also incorporate reading, listening and writing skills as well as speaking. Role-cards are normally used and there is often background information as well. The intention is to create a much more complete, complex, ‘world’ (a business company, television studio, government body, etc.).

Both role-plays and simulations may be chosen to promote the use of particular language points, of differences in style and register.

• Acting play scripts. Short written sketches or scenes are acted by the students. • Prepared improvised drama. Students in small groups invent and rehearse a short scene or story and then perform for the others.

Setting up the activity carefully is crucial to the success of any freer activity. In role-play and discussions it is unlikely that all stages would be accomplished in one lesson. Here are some tips:

1. Input: give input, informational or linguistic, checking use and understanding 2. Materials: choose them carefully to ensure relevance, interest, and motivation 3. Instructions: make them clear and simple. 4. Roles: give appropriate roles to the pupils, taking care not to give dominant

roles to either quiet or dominant pupils 5. Preparation time: allow your pupils the time to think, prepare, formulate

language and ideas (in groups or individually, in class or at home) 6. Class management: plan the use of props and the seating. Your role will be in

the background (monitoring, advising or participating as a peer)

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7. Learner’s language: make notes of mistakes, and use them as a basis of future remedial work.

8. Feedback: organise remedial work, use written consolidation, a summary of topic points, and a summary of language points.

What kinds of questions do you need to ask yourself when using discussions, role-plays and simulations?

Feedback on fluency-developing activities The aim at this stage is for the pupils to produce language naturally and fluently.

Once the activity is under way you will intervene as little as possible, generally only if communication breaks down entirely. Feedback on language performance will be given after the activity has been completed and is based on your notes, made while monitoring. Unobtrusive correction or help with language may sometimes be supplied during the activity, perhaps by passing the pupil concerned a note.

Is correction of mistakes in structure or functional exponents an appropriate follow-up to a fluency activity? This is a question that you will decide in relation to the needs of your pupils, but a few points are worth considering here:

1. pupils may expect this type of feedback 2. the focus has been on communication, so mistakes may not have interfered

with the pupils’ successful completion of the task and may therefore be irrelevant 3. feedback can be given on how successful communication was 4. where the pupils have struggled to communicate, some help or repair work will

be needed. This could be given in a later lesson rather than as instant feedback. Here are some ideas for correction work after a fluency activity:

• the teacher writes up a number of sentences used during the activity and discusses them with the students.

• the teacher writes a number of sentences on the board. She gives pens/ chalks to the students and encourages them to make corrections.

• the teacher invents and writes out a story that includes a number of errors she overheard during the activity. She hands out the story the next day and the students, in pairs or groups or as a whole class attempt to find the errors and correct them.

• the teacher writes out two lists headed ‘A’ and ‘B’. On each list she writes the same ten sentences from the activity. On one list she writes the sentence with an error; on the other list she writes the corrected version. Thus the correct version of sentence 3 might be on either list ‘A’ or ‘B’ and the other list has an error. The teacher divides the students into two groups, ‘A’ and ‘B’, and hands out the appropriate list to each group. The groups discuss their own list (without sight of the other list) and try to decide if their version of each sentence is correct or not. If it is wrong they correct it. When they have discussed all the sentences, the groups can then compare the two sheets.

Summary Here is a simple framework for integrating practice in communication, offered by

William Littlewood in Communicative Language Teaching:

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Structural activities (1) Pre-communicative activities Quasi-communicative activities (2) Functional communication activities (3) Communicative activities Social interaction activities (4)

(after William Littlewood, Communicative Language Teaching) Your pupils will need preparation for communication. The activities geared to the

easy manipulation of structures (e.g. substitution drills) and the practice activities which do not necessarily involve real communication (e.g. info gaps activities) are ‘bridging’ activities. The pupils will then be ready to practice in communicative activities (functional communication activities and social interaction activities.)

In functional communication activities the pupils are using language for the purpose of carrying out a task (e.g. solving a problem, reaching a consensus, etc). This type of communication practice will be complemented by social interaction activities where the pupils simulate the kind of conversations situations they may be involved in outside the class and may need to choose appropriate styles, intonation patterns, etc. Role-plays and simulations are examples of this category.

Littlewood points out that there is no clear dividing line between these different categories; they represent differences of emphasis rather than distinct divisions. Also, at any level all four types of activity may be employed but graded in scope and difficulty to the needs and abilities of the pupils.

Further Reading

Canale, M., and Swain, M. 1980. “Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing”. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1 – 47.

Carrasquillo, A. L. 1994. Teaching English as a second language. A resource guide. New York: Garland Publishing.

Harmer J., 2001, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman

Krashen, S. D., R. Scarcella, and M. Long (Eds.) 1982.Child – adult differences in second language acquisition. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Littlewood W. 1981, Communicative Language Teaching, CUP

Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Shumin, Kang. “Factors to consider: Developing Adult EFL Students’ Speaking Abilities” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

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Catedra de Limba şi Literatura engleză EFL Methodology year II English majors

DEVELOPING READING SKILLS In many foreign language teaching situations, reading receives a special focus.

There are several reasons for this. First, many foreign language students often have reading as one of their most important goals. They want to be able to read for information and pleasure, for their career, and for study purposes. Second, written texts serve various pedagogical purposes. Extensive exposure to comprehensible written texts can enhance the process of language acquisition. Good writing texts also provide good models for writing, and provide opportunities to introduce new topics, to stimulate discussion, and to study language.

Generally speaking, we read for two main reasons: pleasure and the need for information. We read because we want to get something from the text – a message – facts, enjoyment, ideas, or feelings. For our pupils, reading in English is also a means of improving language itself. Some of the language read will stick in their mind as part of the process of language acquisition. Reading also provides models for writing, opportunities to practise and develop the reading skill, and to gain cultural insights and understanding. Reading is also essential in the teaching of literature.

In discussing reading, we will consider the text, one’s reasons for reading, reading styles, and what the reader brings to the process of reading.

The aim of this unit is to help you build awareness and understanding of current theories of reading and an ability to translate these theories into practical applications for the classroom.

By the end of the lecture, you will be able to:

• use recent information about reading that relates to classroom instruction • set up a variety of classroom reading tasks • integrate reading activities with the development of one or more other skills • identify the various sub-skills involved in the reading process • select and apply appropriate classroom activities to develop the reading

sub-skills • apply in your classroom ideas, suggestions, examples of reading techniques

that are consistent with theoretical principles • assess reading techniques, comparing and contrasting them with other

activities that have been found to be successful, practical and relevant. Key Concepts: text authenticity, cohesion, coherence, intensive reading,

extensive reading, skim reading, scan reading, top-down processes, bottom-up processes, reader response.

1. Difficulties Related to Reading in a Foreign Language Here are a few dilemmas concerning the development of the reading ability

formulated by Grabe (278 – 283): 1. How can any reading approach be relevant to all different contexts? Foreign

language contexts are more complex than L1 ones: they include all the contexts for L1 instruction and add the foreign language dimension.

2. Learning theories, whether sociohistorical or cognitive should be given careful attention, as should affective and motivation theories.

3. Formal aspects of language and genre structure contribute to readers’

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developing comprehension and inferencing abilities. Awareness of text structure is a critical aspect of reading comprehension. And learners who are aware of text structure have better comprehension abilities.

4. A large vocabulary is critical, not only for reading, but for all L2 language skills, for academic abilities and for background knowledge. Students in L1 academic contexts learn an average of 40,000 words by the end of secondary school, and learn approximately 3,000 new words each year in school. How will an L2 student develop such a large vocabulary and compete with average L1 academic students? Moreover, most academic vocabulary is learned incidentally through reading and discussion about reading material. This further complicates the L2 reading task since there are fewer opportunities for incidental contexts. In L2 contexts, the best way to develop such a large vocabulary is to read extensively. Reading fluency requires that a reader know at least 95% of the words encountered in a text for minimal comprehension, and these words need to be recognised automatically with minimal conscious effort. But that sort of vocabulary knowledge requires knowledge of 12,000 – 20,000 different words. Students will only develop such a large automatically recognised vocabulary from consistent, extensive reading. Fluency is closely tied to a large reading vocabulary and extensive reading.

5. In both L1 and L2 reading instruction situations, the social context of the students’ home environment strongly influences reading development; in particular social class differences do appear to have an indirect effect on reading development. The most basic response to this is to encourage students to read extensively.

6. We learn to read by reading a lot, yet reading a lot is not the emphasis of most instruction in L2 contexts. Both teachers and students feel that there are ‘more important things to do’ in EFL contexts.

7. Although it is important that L2 students increase reading fluency, develop their vocabulary and engage in extensive reading, these issues are not sufficient for reading comprehension. A critical component for comprehension is the ability to use appropriate reading strategies and to know when to use them and in what combinations, depending on different reading purposes and tasks.

2. The Text There is a variety of text types. These can be grouped into categories, known as

genres, such as:

• functional or immediate reference information texts • enjoyment and correspondence • literary texts • journalistic literature and topical information texts • leisurely and incidental information texts • professional, specialised or technical texts

• miscellaneous, etc.

Could you group the following texts according to the genres mentioned above? Use the table provided below.

personal letter, literary studies, magazine articles, reports, editorials, recipes, car repair manual, operating instructions, brochures, cartoons in newspaper, picture captions, textbooks, novels, tales, essays, diaries, biographies, rhymes, postcards, notes, telegrammes,

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stop press, advertisements, headlines, television listings, comic strips, cartoons, guidebooks; dictionaries, catalogues, telephone directories, directions, puzzles, timetables, maps, legends (of maps, pictures), posters, signs (e.g. road signs), business letters.

Genre Text Types

Functional or immediate reference information texts

Literary texts Professional, specialised or technical texts

Enjoyment and correspondence Leisurely or incidental information texts

Journalistic literature and topical information texts

Miscellaneous

Although you should encourage your pupils to read and get familiar with as many different types of texts as possible, not all of them can be used in any classroom. Your decisions about what texts to use will depend on who your pupils are and what they need reading for. A balance has to be struck between the types of reading texts and the pupils’ capabilities and interests.

2.1 Authenticity of Text and Task There has been a lot of discussion about the texts that are suitable in the

classroom. The greatest controversy has centred on the authenticity of texts. Authentic texts are written by and for fluent native speakers, while inauthentic texts are specially designed for learners. In a really authentic text, nothing of the original is changed, either in terms of structure and vocabulary or presentation and layout. Recent textbook materials try to preserve as many of the initial features of an authentic text as possible so that the pupils can anticipate meaning by using non-linguistic clues.

Some teachers believe authentic texts cannot be used with beginner pupils. Actually, there is some authentic material that even beginners can understand to some degree, such as menus, timetables, signs, and simple instructions. Getting your pupils accustomed to reading authentic texts from the beginning does not necessarily mean a more difficult task for them. However, the use of authentic texts with beginner pupils may be frustrating and that is why more accessible, simplified texts are often used instead.

Simplifying a text may mean either replacing difficult words or structures by those already familiar to the pupils, rewriting it in order to make its organisation more explicit, or giving a simplified version of the contents.

The difficulty of a reading activity depends as much on the text itself as on the task set for the pupils. That is why, your selection of the activity is as important as the selection of the text.

The reading tasks must be realistic in terms of both language use and pupils’ abilities. They should also be flexible and varied. Some may consist in questions of various types. Other texts may lend themselves to non-linguistic activities (e.g. tracing a route on a map, or matching drawings and paragraphs). Anyway, you should encourage your pupils to use different reading strategies (e.g. ‘Now skim this text quickly and get the main idea’; ‘You’ll have to study this text carefully to look for…’). However, it is also important to remember that many texts are to be read for pleasure and that some activities might spoil this pleasure.

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Here is a short paragraph made up of well-formed, temporally accurate and meaningful sentences. Do you think this text is authentic? Why (not)?

I don’t know what to do for my holiday. It will start at the

beginning of October. I saved enough money for a really nice trip. Last year I went to the Black Sea coast. It will be too late to go to the mountains. I worked hard all year. I really need a break.

2.2 Text Structure A text is not a random collection of sentences. A text that communicates

successfully has unity: the sentences and paragraphs that make it up are related in a meaningful way to each other. In order to comprehend the message of the text, the pupils have to be aware of these relationships and of certain features of text structure.

• Cohesion Cohesion refers to the way a text holds together by particular linguistic means.

These include pro-forms (e.g. pronouns, a few verbs like have, will, do) connectors, reference, substitution, ellipsis and vocabulary. It is essential for the pupils to understand how a text is made up, the web of relationships that is built among the ideas. If the pupils fail to understand this, they may also fail to understand the structure, the communicative value of the text, and its function.

In the classroom, questions involving cohesion can serve as a comprehension-checking device, for they enable you to see if the correct interpretation has been made.

Could you identify some of the cohesion markers in the following extract from Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods?

“Consider this: Half of all the offices and malls standing in

America today have been built since 1980. Half of them. Eighty percent of all the housing stock in the country dates from 1945. Of all the motel rooms in America, 230,000 have been built in the last fifteen years. Just up the road from Gatlinburg is the town of Pigeon Forge, which twenty years ago was a sleepy hamlet – nay, which aspired to be a sleepy hamlet – famous only as the hometown of Dolly Parton. Then the estimable Ms. Parton built an amusement park called Dollywood. Now Pigeon Forge has 200 outlet shops stretched along three miles of highway. It is bigger and uglier than Gatlinburg and has better parking, and so of course gets more visitors.”

• Connectors: • Reference: • Ellipsis: • Vocabulary:

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• Coherence Coherence refers to the way in which sentences and groups of sentences in a text

make sense in relationship to each other. Sometimes the writer indicates the relationship between sentences by the use of connectors, such as: but, moreover, and yet, in contrast, etc. Some other times the pupils will have to infer the writer’s purpose and the relationship between the sentences.

Some texts achieve coherence through other means, too. In telling a story, for example, or giving a report, the writer usually proceeds by telling what happened next. In descriptive passages, coherence may be achieved by the writer describing different aspects of the same object, person or scene.

The sentences below are both cohesive, but one has a problem of coherence. Which is incoherent? How can you explain the problem?

a. Yesterday I got up late and had to leave in a hurry. b. Yesterday I got up late and it will have to fly away.

• Sequences The sequence of sentences and paragraphs indicates relationships between ideas

and information. For instance, “They were watching television when we got home” suggests that ‘we got home’ is more important than ‘they were watching television’. “When we got home they were watching television” suggests that ‘they were watching television is more important’.

• Grammar Grammar also has a text function. If someone says “I was driving very fast. I had

overslept, you see”, we probably understand that ‘I had overslept’ is an explanation for ‘I was driving very fast’. This is partly because of the sequence, partly because of ‘you see’, but also because we expect the past perfect to be used to provide explanations.

3. Reading Styles A crucial factor in reading is purpose. This determines the way we read. In real life

we may want to glance quickly through a sports article to see who won, or to go quickly through a telephone directory to find someone’s telephone number. On the other hand, a legal document requires much closer attention, perhaps several readings, because we need to grasp the information in detail. We read different texts with different purposes and at different speeds. In some cases we read silently while in others aloud.

• Reading aloud and silent reading Reading is normally a silent activity and it should be encouraged as such in the

classroom. You can sometimes read aloud fragments, especially for beginners, but the pupils should be asked to read aloud as rarely as possible. Reading aloud may have some value as a means of testing pronunciation, but it does not help comprehension. Also, excessive practice in reading aloud tends to prevent the pupils from developing efficient silent reading strategies. Moreover, reading aloud is a highly specialised skill and very few pupils will need this.

Other kinds of reading found in the classroom include silent reading and following the text in the book while the teacher or individual pupils read aloud. Silent reading should be encouraged in most cases, though you may sometimes need to read parts of a text aloud.

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• Extensive reading Extensive reading consists of reading (longer) texts, usually for one’s own

pleasure. It involves rapid reading of large quantities of material or longer readings (e.g. whole books) for general understanding, with the focus generally on the meaning of what is being read than on the language. The emphasis is thus on the information content of the text. Extensive reading is a fluency activity involving global understanding, in which the pupils do not check every unknown word or structure.

There is one major condition for the success of an extensive reading activity: the text must be enjoyable. The main criteria for choosing extensive reading materials are length, appeal, variety and easiness.

The length of the text must not be intimidating. Beginners, especially, need short texts that they can finish quickly, to avoid boredom or discouragement. The texts must be appealing: they must look attractive, be well-printed (bigger print for elementary pupils) and have (coloured) illustrations.

There must be a variety of texts to suit the pupils’ needs in terms of content, language and intellectual development. The level of the extensive reading material must be easier than that of the textbook used in the classroom. Otherwise, the pupils will not read for pleasure or fluently.

An extensive reading programme is a supplementary class library scheme, attached to an English course, in which pupils are given the time, encouragement, and materials to read pleasurably, at their own level, as many books as they can, without the pressure of testing or marks. Thus, the pupils are competing only against themselves, and it is up to the teacher to provide the motivation and monitoring to ensure that the maximum number of books is being read in the time available. The watchwords are quantity and variety, rather than quality, so that books are selected for their attractiveness and relevance to pupils’ lives, rather than for literary merit.

The following characteristics are among the most important:

• Students read large amounts of material • Students usually choose what they want to read • Reading materials vary in terms of topic and genre • The material students read is within their level of comprehension • Students usually take part in post-reading activities • Teachers read with their students, thus modelling enthusiasm for reading • Teachers and students keep track of student progress An extensive reading programme can be the most effective way of improving both

vocabulary and reading skills in general. The more reading your pupils will do, the more skilful they become at reading as there is compelling evidence that extensive reading can have a significant impact on learners’ language development. Not only can extensive reading improve reading ability, it can also enhance learners’ overall language proficiency (e.g. spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and writing). In addition, extensive reading, with its emphasis on encouraging learners to read large amounts of meaningful language, is in line with current principles for foreign language pedagogy. Experts now agree that some of the most important principles include providing a rich linguistic environment, respecting and capitalising on learners’ contribution to the learning process, and giving more emphasis to fluency than to accuracy.

Which kinds of texts are suitable for intensive reading, which for extensive reading and which for either strategy?

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The only way to become a good reader is by reading. If the average educated native speaker can recognise about 50,000 words of the mother tongue in print, this is not an objective that the foreign English student can reach without a great deal of reading.

Extensive reading is seen as having many advantages:

• enhanced language learning in such areas as spelling, vocabulary grammar, and text structure

• increased knowledge of the world • improved reading and writing skills • greater enjoyment of reading • more positive attitude toward reading • higher possibility of developing a reading habit.

The effectiveness of extensive reading may be enhanced by such means as students engaging in activities in which they talk and write about what they have read and will read. This talking and writing can help make the reading more comprehensible and may provide a means for students to ‘infect’ each other with the joy of reading. Talking and writing also push students to move from the receptive language competence needed for reading to the more demanding productive competence required for speaking and writing.

Extensive reading differs from intensive reading.

• Intensive reading Intensive reading is reading (relatively) short texts to extract specific information.

For instance, we read poetry or legal documents intensively, focusing on the words used. In the classroom, intensive reading is usually an accuracy activity. Students

normally work with short texts with close guidance from the teacher. The aim of intensive reading is to help students obtain detailed meaning from the text, to develop reading skills – such as identifying main ideas and recognizing text connectors – and to enhance vocabulary and grammar knowledge. It is a way of focusing the pupils’ attention on language rather than content. This kind of reading can contribute immensely to improve the pupils’ language competence. However, intensive reading does not always contribute to the development of reading skills.

Intensive and extensive reading should not be seen as being in opposition, as both serve different but complementary purposes.

• Skimming and scanning Skimming and scanning are necessary for fast and efficient reading. Skimming involves reading for an overall understanding of the text. The reader is

quickly running one’s eyes through a text to get its essence, its general idea or gist. Reading a few sentences, recognising a few words and expressions, a few main point(s) and the function(s) may be enough. However, skimming involves some interpretation. For instance, a reader may skim the review of a book to see if the reviewer thinks it is good or bad.

Practice in skimming will show your pupils how much they can find out simply by looking at the prominent elements of a text, by catching a few words or by reading fragments. To train your pupils in skimming, you can remove a few sentences from a text, or even whole paragraphs – making sure those parts contain only supporting details – and ask our pupils to supply the missing parts.

Scanning is quickly going through a text to find particular information. Readers

look quickly through the text to find words that answer their specific questions. For example, we may scan the TV times in search of a certain film, to see on what channel it is on and when it is scheduled.

Scanning is a visual skill more than an interpretive one. When you practice scanning in the classroom, make sure that you give your pupils clear instructions as to

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what they need to find out. For example, if you ask them to scan advertisements for ideas on where to spend a holiday, they would need to find out about accommodation, prices, meals, contact names and addresses, etc.

Pupils will need practice in both skimming and scanning, as it is usual to make use

of both when reading a text.

Each of the following descriptions refers to one kind of reading. Write down the name of the kind of reading in the space provided:

a) You read a poem and enjoy paying close attention to the

poet’s use of language. You do …………………… reading. b) You need bibliography for a research assignment and

you look quickly through the books and articles that you find in the library to see whether they contain information you need. You do …………………… reading.

c) You are on holiday and you read an adventure story. There is no pressure on you to finish the book quickly. You do …………………… reading.

d) While waiting for an appointment with your dentist, you pick up a magazine and discover an article that interests you. You do not have time to read the article in detail but you try to extract as much information from it as you can. You do ………………... reading.

(after M. Parrott)

Intensive, extensive, scan and skim reading do not exclude one another. We often skim through a text to see what it is about before deciding whether it is worth scanning for specific information. In real life, our reading purposes constantly vary and we need various approaches to cope with our needs. That is why your pupils need practice in different ways of reading. Their choice of reading style will depend on the nature of the text and the purpose they have in reading it.

It is important to give your pupils practice in different reading styles. This is achieved not by telling them to skim, scan or read intensively but by setting tasks that encourage these styles. It is the task which provides the pupils with a purpose and enables them to practice and develop a style. Classroom activities should ensure practice in all reading styles so that your pupils do not use the same strategy for all texts.

4. The Aims of a Reading Programme In early reading instruction, the learners need to develop letter – sound

correspondences. As readers process texts relatively completely – read most words on a page – it means that learners should have many opportunities to encounter words, to read predictable texts, and to reread texts to develop word-recognition skills. The need to build a large vocabulary is developed by reading to learners, by having learners read extensively, and by focusing attention on key vocabulary. Fluency in reading rate is established by having learners read extensively and by practice with a combination of timed reading, paced reading, and rapid recognition exercises, and rereading techniques.

Reading for comprehension is the primary purpose for reading; raising learner awareness of the main ideas in a text and exploring the organisation of a text are essential for good comprehension. As a consequence, the use of graphic representations to highlight text organisation and to indicate the ordering of content information is an important resource for comprehension instruction. Teachers need to model reading skills and strategies overtly, facilitate student performance of these abilities in comprehending texts, and provide students with many opportunities for practice.

Do pupils read in the classroom for the same reasons as people do in the real

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world? Away from the classroom, we may read

• to obtain information for some purpose or because we are curious about some topic

• to obtain instructions on how to perform some task for our work or daily life • to keep in touch with our friends by correspondence • to know where and when something will take place or what is available • to know what is happening or has happened (as reported in newspapers,

magazines, reports) • for enjoyment or excitement.

Before you continue reading, try to answer these questions: Do any of the reasons above match your classroom reading

aims? Do your pupils need to do all these things in English?

In some reading classes, the only function the pupils can see seems to be “English has to be learnt” or reading techniques have to be learnt. In such cases, the pupils’ motivation is low. If your pupils see no other purpose in reading other than that you make them do it, then reading lessons will be unsuccessful.

Some classes can focus primarily on the development of reading skills, while

others can include reading skills as part of integrative practice. Classroom reading activities are suggested by:

• The needs, interests and abilities of the pupils. You will need to emphasise the kind of activities your pupils will encounter in English. You must ask your pupils and yourselves what kinds of texts they read in Romanian and if the strategies and skills that they already possess in Romanian can be transferred to English reading tasks.

• The aims of the particular lesson. The reading activities should be harmonised with the aims and the other work that is practised during the lesson.

• The purpose for reading a certain text. Class activities should help your pupils to become active decision makers and risk takers. They should become independent readers who set their own goals and strategies for reading.

• The specific characteristics of the reading text. You often have to determine what kind of reading the text invites and develop activities and contexts that parallel the most realistic and appropriate approaches to a given text.

• Individual pupil needs. Individual pupils may require explicit instruction in different aspects of reading: skimming, scanning, understanding organisational clues, accessing prior knowledge, making hypotheses, etc.

Before reading on, make a list of the reading objectives you have set for your pupils so far. Then compare them with the objectives discussed below and think which of these you could use in the future.

First you must decide what your pupils need to get out of their reading, select motivating texts and set clear tasks. Sometimes the pupils have no particular interest in reading a text because the text is not motivating. Moreover, if the task is not very clear, it

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may distract the pupils’ attention from the text or spoil their enjoyment. Your purpose in teaching reading is to train your pupils to read fluently, without

help, and for their own enjoyment. Your role is to facilitate this process by selecting texts suited to your pupils’ goals and interests and practising appropriate techniques. Your aims for the reading classes should include the promotion of the sub-skills of:

1. reading texts with comprehension 2. using various reading styles 3. learning (both content and language) through reading 4. reading critically Your aims will vary with the pupils’ age, interests, skills and knowledge, and the

time allotted to reading in your syllabus. Your pupils should be able to identify the purpose and the function of a text, its

main topic and the way the topic is developed through different paragraphs. In spite of the language problems that may arise from time to time, they should also be able to interpret individual sentences, using techniques for dealing with unfamiliar vocabulary. Remember, however, that not all texts need to be read for full comprehension.

Your pupils should be able to skim, scan, and read intensively and extensively, according to their purpose. In order to develop flexible individual reading styles, you should provide practice in a variety of text types. Many recent textbooks offer such a variety of text types and further variety can be provided by using supplementary materials.

A common reason for reading in the classroom is to learn English. A reading text is often used as a vehicle for presenting and practising grammatical structures and lexical items. This is perfectly acceptable as long as both you and the pupils are aware that it is not a reading lesson. Texts for this type of activity tend to be selected because they provide lots of examples of a particular structure. The problem is that texts are often artificially created round a structure, resulting in unnatural language.

While reading, your pupils will meet a great deal of new language and new content. The pupils should be able to pick out the relevant information, evaluate arguments and evidence, and distinguish between main points and details.

Lessons should address specifically the problems your pupils have. The following could reasonably be lesson aims for reading lessons:

• to increase pupils’ awareness of how a clear purpose can make reading more effective

• to present strategies for dealing with individual unfamiliar words • to increase pupils’ awareness of different reading styles • to provide practice in intensive reading or in scan reading • to present various aspects of British culture enabling them to make useful

predictions. The areas of language knowledge which have an effect on pupils’ ability to read

effectively are usually addressed in separate lessons. The following could well be such lesson aims:

• to introduce and provide practice in collocations (e.g. nice and easy, out and about, peace and quiet).

• to provide practice in ‘mixed conditionals’ focusing attention on the meaning of each clause.

• to present contrast conjunctions (e.g. though, however, although) • to present a way of dealing with unfamiliar words by breaking them down into

parts • to provide practice in recognising foregrounded information by looking at clause

orders in sentences

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If you prefer you can state your aims in a more learner-centred way:

• to help the pupils increase their understanding of how they can make correct inferences using background knowledge

• to help pupils use their extensive background knowledge to make correct inferences, etc.

• to enable them to consolidate their understanding of the function of conjunctions (e.g. however, although, though) and of their place in the sentence.

5. Reader and Text: an Interactive Relation Traditionally, reading was seen as a ‘passive’ skill and the reader as the ‘recipient’

of information; the text was seen as an object. This viewpoint has been replaced by a ‘text as process’ one, by acknowledging the close interaction between the reader and the text.

Reading is now seen as a complex information-processing skill. Recent approaches to reading emphasise the interactive relation of reader and text in which meaning is created. In pedagogic terms, reading means reading and understanding. Reading is seen as an active, purposeful process, related to problem solving. It constantly involves the reader in guessing, hypothesising, predicting, checking and asking oneself questions. The reader is an active participant in the reading process, co-ordinating a number of sub-skills and strategies to facilitate comprehension.

5.1. Sub-Skills Involved in Reading Due to its complexity, reading is often analysed into a set of component sub-skills

(both lower and higher level), and knowledge areas:

• Recognition • Knowledge of the language • Knowledge of formal text structure • Content and background knowledge • Cognitive processing • Metacognitive knowledge and skills monitoring The lower sub-skills involve rapid, precise and unconscious processing, such as

allowing readers to recognise words and grammatical forms rapidly and automatically. The higher skills enable them to comprehend, synthesise, interpret, and evaluate the text.

• Recognition sub-skills These consist of the abilities of recognising the sounds and the script of a

language, deducing the meaning and use of unfamiliar words, understanding information both explicitly stated and implicit.

Your pupils must be able to recognise the English script, the combinations of letters in the spelling of words, and able to recognise words. They should not waste time working out each word or group of words, even if they may not know all of the words in the text they are reading.

• Knowledge of the language This means understanding conceptual meaning, the relations within the sentence,

the communicative function of sentences, the relations between the parts of a text, and cohesion devices.

Your pupils will need strategies for dealing with unknown words. Reaching for the dictionary is not always a good idea. Explain to your pupils they will meet three kinds of

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unknown words: key words, words which can be ignored and words that can be guessed. The words that are not significant for a general understanding of the text can be

ignored. Key words, however, need to be understood; you either pre-teach them, or recommend the use of a dictionary. In the third category there are words whose meanings can be inferred from the context, and your pupils should be given practice in doing this. They can be convinced of the value of guessing from context if you provide simple texts in which nonsense words are used. Consider the following sentences:

a. When their car broke down, the whole family had to strack home – a

distance of two hundred metres in the rain. b. After their walk the children were so zlopped that they needed a hot bath

and then they went straight to plenk. c. The following gart they woke up feeling all right.

Can you guess what English words the above nonsensical words replaced?

It is quite easy to guess the meanings of the nonsense words in these sentences,

and for general understanding it does not really matter whether gart is “morning” or “day”. Discovering the meaning of unfamiliar items making use of contextual clues (syntactic, logical and cultural) is called inferring. When you use a new text, you do not always need to explain the difficult words and structures beforehand. You can encourage your pupils to guess the meaning of unknown items, based on word-formation or context. Efficient readers generally read in groups of words, without looking at everything in a given piece of writing, and going for the overall meaning of a text.

• Knowledge of text structure This involves knowledge of how a text is organised, of the rhetorical structures and

conventions, of specific logical patterns. Your pupils must know the language of the text they are reading: the content

words and what they mean, though perhaps not all of them. Also, they must know the syntax and the effect of structural words, of word form, and of word order. A competent reader of English is aware that a sentence like “She shouldn’t have been there at that time” cannot stand alone and must refer to a situation already mentioned in an earlier part of the text. The identity of ‘she’ must already be known and the place and time signaled by ‘there’ and ‘at that time’ must have been specified already. Exercises in which pupils are asked to search for and underline or circle cohesive pairs in a text are recommended.

It is also important to train your pupils to look first at the basic sentence pattern (subject + verb) and then at the other elements and their contribution to sentence meaning. To practise this, you can ask them to divide passages into sense groups and analyse the important elements.

Another important ability is that of recognising and interpreting discourse markers, such as then, next, after this, which show the sequence in which events occur. Other markers, such as for example, all in all, as already noted, indicate that the writer is exemplifying, summing up or referring to a point made previously. However and moreover, signal that the writer is making an adjustment to a previous statement or adding further evidence. You need to teach your pupils to recognise the various devices used to link sentences and ideas. You may offer them exercises in recognising the function of connectors, finding equivalents, completing texts with the missing link-words, transforming disconnected sentences into text by joining sentences and adding connectors.

Understanding the meaning of individual sentences is important, but insufficient. Your pupils should be able to recognise the purpose of the text as a whole, to see how it is

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organised, and to understand the relationship between sentences. They should be able to follow the writer and see how the sentences and the paragraphs are related to each other, and make sense of the text.

• Content and background knowledge This involves prior knowledge of content, background or culture. All readers bring

their ‘knowledge of the world’ to a text: life experience, familiarity with a particular topic and with different text types, but also knowledge of a particular culture or way of life.

Whether knowledge of the world will help your pupils to understand the text will depend on the nature of the text and their knowledge. The cultural background of your pupils, if different from that of the writer, may cause additional difficulties in understanding a text. If you want your pupils to be able to read a text effectively, you have to provide such knowledge or enable them to access it in some way before the reading. However, you do not need to prepare your pupils for everything that they will encounter in the text. Very often reading also means learning.

Look at this short newspaper note from The Observer, 25 March, 2001.

Blair rejects Marbles plea Tony Blair yesterday rejected long-standing demands by

Greece for the return of the sculptures removed from the Parthenon 200 years ago. In an interview with the Athens daily ‘To Vima’ he said the Elgin Marbles ‘belong to the British Museum … which does not intend to return any part of the collection to its country of origin’. Greece had hoped to have the pieces returned by 2004, when it will host the Olympics.

What kind of knowledge is necessary to understand this?

You also need to encourage higher level interpretation sub-skills, as reading

involves the formulation of constant guesses or predictions that are either rejected or confirmed later. The reading activities should cultivate the pupils’ ability to recognise the purpose of the text as a whole, text organisation, and to think ahead, hypothesise and predict text development.

• Cognitive processing sub-skills This involves hypothesising, the drawing of inferences, and the resolution of

ambiguities and uncertainties; prediction, evaluation of information, and synthesis. Predicting is guessing based on grammatical, structural, logical and cultural clues.

Predictions are crucial in anticipation and skimming. You can train your pupils in predicting by giving them unfinished passages to complete or by stopping after each sentence and asking them to say what is likely to come next (e.g. ‘What do you think will happen next?’, ‘What do you think the next words will be?’ or ‘What do you think the next sentence will be about?’) To help them, you can give three possible continuations and ask them to choose the one they think is most likely to follow. Another idea is to remove all punctuation from a text and ask the pupils to put it back.

Try your hand at devising prediction questions related to a paragraph in a textbook material. Ask one question after the title and then one question per clause, if possible. Ask as many questions as you can. Here is a short text:

The Statue of Liberty In the water around New York City is a very small island called

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Liberty Island. On Liberty Island there is a very special statue called the Statue of Liberty. It is one of the most famous sights in the world.

(fragment from Folse, Keith, 1993, Intermediate Reading Practices, Ann Arbor, p. 164)

Anticipating is inherent in the process of reading, which is a permanent ‘dialogue’

between the reader and the text. The readers usually start reading a text prepared to find answers to their expectations. These expectations are as important as what they actually draw from the text.

To give your pupils an incentive for reading, before starting reading a text, you can ask them to look for answers to specific questions. You can also make them ask questions themselves. You can use key words, the title, and the accompanying pictures to talk about various ways in which the text may develop, e.g. ‘Look at the pictures and guess what the text is about’.

• Metacognitive knowledge and skills monitoring This is knowledge about cognition and language, recognising text structure and

organisation, using a dictionary, taking notes, and so on. Skills monitoring involves previewing, recognising problems with information presented in the text, adjusting strategies.

Previewing involves the use of the table of contents, the appendix, the preface, and the headings in order to find the information needed. It is used in skimming, scanning and as a study skill.

Pupils need to be made aware that there is not just one way of reading as they do

not always recognise this. Their instincts are to read every reading text thoroughly and try to understand every word. This will not improve their reading ability, because this is not the way people read in real life.

Your first task is to persuade your pupils that there are different ways of reading

for different purposes and that they need to practise different reading techniques.

What type of processing, lower or higher level, is involved in the following reading tasks:

1. Choose the most suitable heading from the list A - I for

each part 1 - 7 of the text. 2. What does it in line 12 refer to? 3. Seven sentences have been removed from the article.

Choose from the sentences (A - H) the one which fits each gap. 4. Read the text and take down notes under the following

headings…. 5. Choose from the list (A - H) the sentence that best

summarises each part (1 - 6) of the article. 6. Choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits

best according to the text: What was the dance like? A formal C informal B boring D confusing

1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

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5.2 Models of Reading: Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processes “Mircea is a conscientious student. When he is told he will be tested (…),

he looks up every unknown word in the dictionary in an effort to fix the information in his memory. Despite his extended preparations, he doesn’t do well on the test, though he says he spent hours preparing. Lia, on the other hand, excels on the exam, but she has approached the text in a very different way. Before she reads the chapter, she skims through it, looking at subheadings and graphics so as to give herself a general idea of what the text will be about. As she reads, she connects the material in the chapter to what she already knows. She frequently asks herself questions about the text, looking back or ahead to link one part of the text to another. When she is puzzled by the content, she searches for clues in the context, tries to paraphrase, or considers what she knows about the text structure. In short, Lia is reading like an expert, while Mircea is relying on just one technique. The difference between the two is in their use of reading strategies.” (Joy Janzen, 287)

Reading strategies are “plans for solving problems encountered in constructing meaning (Duffy, 1993, p. 232). They range from bottom-up vocabulary strategies, such as looking up an unknown word in the dictionary, to more comprehensive actions, such as connecting what is being read to the reader’s background knowledge. Research has demonstrated that strategy use is different in more proficient and less proficient readers. More proficient readers use different types of strategies, and they use them in different ways.

The top-down model recommends that readers should start with the global understanding and move towards details rather than the other way round. This means that you need to offer your pupils relatively little practice in intensive reading and a lot of practice in anticipating the content of texts, guessing, increasing reading speed, and practice in skimming.

Thus, when constructing or using comprehension exercises on a given text, it is preferable to start with the overall meaning of a text, its function(s) and aim rather than working on specific details or vocabulary. The activities that help the pupils in gaining or accessing background knowledge also facilitate top-down processing. Among these there are pre-reading discussions, reading within a topic area, extensive reading, and sustained silent reading. All these involve the pupils in reading large amounts of text for general comprehension.

• Procedures for developing top down reading skills If you want to apply a top-down reading approach, you can choose from among

several procedures: present typical text patterns (e.g. a typical essay paragraph pattern is “Topic - Restriction – Illustration”; a typical advertisement pattern is “Problem – Solution – Evaluation”) while pupils read topic sentence or introduction, help them to predict what might come next ask pupils to use white correction fluid to cancel unfamiliar words - this may help them to work out the approximate meaning from context. help pupils to predict next utterance, word or phrase by referring them to discourse markers: not only... helps predict but also.., and another thing helps predict additional information, opinions, etc. or referring them to grammar markers: e.g. ‘When I got home I discovered...’ helps predict the past perfect.

However, the importance of lower-level processes should not be underestimated, as fluency of reading is especially important. Less proficient readers often have difficulty in recognising the English words rapidly and accurately and spend their time attending to the graphic form. Knowledge of syntax and vocabulary is also critical.

It seems that below a certain language proficiency threshold in English, it is

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unrealistic to expect your pupils to be able to transfer and use effectively the reading comprehension processes they use in Romanian. Language plays a critical role in reading abilities, and reading is fundamentally a balanced language and thinking process.

• Procedures for developing bottom-up reading skills These procedures fall into two main categories: a) helping pupils to cope with

unfamiliar vocabulary and b) helping them develop text analysis skills.

a) developing vocabulary decoding skills teach suffixes and prefixes and ask your pupils to work out the meanings of unfamiliar words with such suffixes and prefixes help your pupils recognise words ‘families’ by getting them to complete word grids:

noun adjective verb description descriptive describe suggestive persuade

present compound words and ways of guessing their meanings from components (e.g. bus ride, hairband, lipstick, etc.)

b) developing recognition of text features present grammatical ‘reference’ words and show how they refer backwards and forwards to other words and phrases in the text (e.g. personal pronouns, demonstratives) do the same with typical lexical reference words. for example, you can put a circle around a lexical reference word and show, with an arrow, what it refers to present linking words (e.g. if, so, because, though, etc.) ask your pupils to put together a text whose paragraphs have been scrambled, discussing why they have made their decisions. You should engage your pupils in activities that combine top-down and bottom-up

strategies in reading. In practice this means discussing the topic of a text before asking your pupils to read it, arousing expectations, and eliciting connections between references in the text and situations known to the pupils.

Fluency in reading requires skill in both top-down and bottom-up processing.

Fluent readers employ lower and higher level reading sub-skills simultaneously. They possess a large receptive vocabulary and knowledge of syntactic and rhetorical structure. They interact with the text to create meaning. They approach it with prior knowledge (of what the text is, of what they expect it to mean, of how it is to be read) and cognitive skills, combined in developing predictions about its content and development. While reading, fluent readers may re-read fragments of the text rapidly to confirm or reject these predictions. If the predictions are confirmed, they continue reading with an increasing store of information on the topic. If the predictions are not confirmed, the readers return and re-read more carefully.

6. Reader Response To make your pupils active in the reading process, you will have to ask for a

response from them. Their response can be either linguistic or non-linguistic.

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• Linguistic responses Linguistic responses can come in the form of answers to comprehension

questions. These can take a variety of forms: yes/no, true or false, multiple choice, grids or charts to be completed, and open-ended questions. Answering comprehension questions orally round the class is a very common technique used for developing reading comprehension. A variety of different question forms will enable your pupils to use their different skills in appropriate ways.

An alternative way of using questions is to ask the pupils to think up and ask the questions themselves. Their questions will show their current understanding of the text, their current perception of what is difficult and important in it. This understanding will change and develop as they continue reading.

Asking questions may be not always a very successful activity for large classes. As (usually) only one pupil answers a question, the rest of the class does not need to pay attention. Thus, it may be difficult for you to see whether your pupils have really understood a text. To maximize the pupils’ participation, you can divide the class into groups and give each group a different fragment to read. In their groups the pupils discuss their interpretations and then compose the questions they want another group to answer. The questions do not need to have only one answer. When they have completed their discussion and agreed on the questions, the pupils pass the fragment and their questions to another group to answer. Thus they try out possible solutions to the problems they identify in the text. They can call you in when they need you. Such an activity requires repeated readings of the text and stresses the process of understanding. Also, listening, speaking, and writing are naturally integrated in such class interaction.

• Non-linguistic responses Many activities that do not involve verbal responses can also prove your pupils’

understanding of the text: comparing text and image by matching passages of the text and diagrams; rendering the information into the form of a diagram; performing an action, finding a solution, making a decision using the information from the text.

What other things can your pupils do with the information from a text to prove their understanding of it?

• •

• Procedures for encouraging response to a reading text 1. Give your pupils a set of comments (What rubbish! That's interesting, I didn’t

know that, etc.). The pupils have to write the comments in the margin while they are reading.

2. Give them a set of headings which they must apply to appropriate paragraphs. 3. Give them a set of sentences which they must fit into the text at appropriate

places. 4. Ask them to invent their own paragraph headings and their own sentences for

insertion. 5. Get them to role-play author and reader: give the ‘reader’ a set of questions;

the ‘author’ has to re-read the text and try to reply. (e.g. When you wrote... ..., did you mean… or… ?)

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7. Reading in English vs. Reading in Romanian There are both similarities and differences between reading in a foreign language

and reading in the mother tongue. The differences concern the acquisition of the respective foreign language, the training background, language processing and social context. For instance, most foreign pupils who study English, begin reading in English with different knowledge from native readers. Before they begin reading in school, English children already have a large vocabulary store (5,000 to 7,000 words) and a good intuitive sense of the grammar. The typical Romanian children who learn to read in English have not yet learnt a lot of vocabulary, nor have they acquired a complete sense of the grammar of English1

• Letter-sound correspondences for beginning reading and the transfer of a few correspondences from Romanian to English

. However, a number of useful sub-skills which can be transferred from L1 to L2 reading:

• Word recognition and the processing of words in a text • Recognition of vocabulary • Reading rates for processing • Graphic representations for comprehension instruction • Value of extensive reading The differences between the L1 and L2 and between L1 and L2 reading instruction

explain why the pupils encounter many difficulties caused by language processing differences. Transfer effects, as in the case of ‘false friends’ (e.g. library, terrible, sensible, etc) can influence vocabulary recognition. Orthographic differences, unfamiliar syntactic structures, word order, and other structural differences between English and Romanian mislead your pupils, particularly beginners. The pupils’ incomplete knowledge of the language may cause serious difficulty with some texts. In fact, a fundamental difference between the native readers and the foreign readers is that the former use the language to help them read, whereas the latter use reading to learn the language.

What are, in your opinion, the advantages of your pupils over the native readers of English as far as learning reading is concerned?

Research on foreign language reading has provided a number of insights for reading development and instruction, which make reading in L2 different from reading in L1:

• The importance of discourse structure and graphic representations • The importance of vocabulary in language learning • The need for language awareness and attending to language and genre

form • The existence of a foreign language threshold in reading • The importance of metacognitive awareness and strategy learning • The need for extensive reading • The benefits of integrating reading and writing • The importance of Content-Based Instruction (CLIL)

1 See also section ‘Difficulties Related to Reading in a Foreign Language’.

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8. The Three-Phase Approach to Reading Activities R. White suggests three stages and a general procedure for a reading lesson: he

recommends the use of pre-, while- and post-reading activities. The procedure relies on the pupils’ knowledge of language and knowledge of the world and uses this as a basis for involvement, motivation, and progress. It also leads to the integration of language skills.

Pre-reading activities are meant to introduce and arouse interest in the topic, to motivate the pupils by giving them a reason for reading and to provide some language preparation for the text. In real life, we usually have a purpose in reading: something we want to find out, to check or clarify. We also have a purpose in reading when we read stories for pleasure: we want to find out how the story develops, ‘what happens next’. Moreover, we always have some idea of what we are going to read about and as we read we address the writer questions in our mind. Based on these, we may be able to make a number of predictions or guesses. Headlines, chapter headings or book titles often make us think about the text before we begin to read.

In the classroom, it is important to give the pupils some reason for reading or problems they want to find the answer to. These may consist in questions for them to think about as they read. (The answers will be discussed afterwards.) These questions are called guiding / signpost questions: e.g. “What would you like to know about…? Write down at least five questions, which you hope the text will answer” or “You are going to read a text about…. Here are some words and phrases from the text. Can you guess how they are used in the text?”

Another type of pre-reading activity may be true / false questions: the pupils are given sentences that refer to the text, and they guess whether they are true or false. Alternatively, they are given a summary of the text with gaps; their task is to guess what words should go in the gaps. They may also be given the topic of the text and may be asked to write a list of things they know and things they do not know about the topic. If the text puts forward an opinion, the pupils discuss the topic beforehand and give their own point of view.

Although you are not supposed to teach every word or structure in the text that you think your pupils are not familiar with, you should ensure that your pupils would be able to do the text tasks without being hindered by language difficulties. On the other hand, language preparation can be carried out by the pupils themselves.

The use of visuals, such as photographs, maps, diagrams, the drawing up of lists, and the setting or answering of questions (oral or written) may all be part of pre-reading.

While-reading activities usually start from a general understanding of the text, and

then move to smaller units: paragraphs, sentences and words. The larger units provide a context for the smaller ones. The activities aim at helping the pupils understand the writer’s purpose, text structure and content.

The traditional comprehension questions, placed either at the end, at the beginning or inserted at various points within the text, are a typical example of a while-reading activity. Completing diagrams or maps, making lists, taking notes are other types of while-reading work.

Post-reading activities enable the pupils to consolidate and reflect upon their reading and to relate it to their own knowledge, interests, or views. Post-reading activities may deal with reactions to the text and to the while-reading work. The pupils may be asked to say whether they liked the text and the activities or not, or whether they found them useful or not. Other post-reading activities are:

• writing an outline of a paragraph or longer text; • drawing a list of main ideas from the text and then working individually or in

pairs to locate supporting details; • matching, in pair or group work, a column with main ideas from a passage with

a column of details;

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• underlining generalisations and supporting details or creating topic sentences for portions of the text;

• determining the function of each sentence in a paragraph or longer text (stating a generalization, supporting it, catching and holding the reader’s attention, etc.);

• choosing a main idea (or best title) for a passage from among several choices, or creating one on their own;

• doing a jigsaw reading in which the pupils are given different parts of a text, and working together to create a logical sequence. Each pupil is given a sentence or a passage from a text and they have to look for significant details that will give them clues to the development of the whole text. Using these text indicators (referring either back to something mentioned before or announcing something to come), each pupil has to interact with the others until they find out where their passage belongs in the text;

• role-play a story; • design a poster to advertise the text/the book; • read interesting/exciting/well-written parts aloud; • copy interesting words and useful expressions into a notebook; • write a letter to the author • share views about the text / the book with a small group of classmates. Exploring the relationship of ideas in a text can be carried out at almost any

proficiency level. Beginners can develop semantic maps that are entirely schematic, containing basic words or no writing, with pictures. Here is an example of such a semantic map, drawn around the concept of house:

Tasks addressed to more advanced pupils are more sophisticated. They are

usually based on complex thinking and engage the pupils with the language in different ways. Both texts and tasks approximate more closely to the kind of texts and tasks that the pupils tackle in Romanian. The tasks involve longer, multi-stage, integrative activities, entailing extended speaking, listening and writing. Some pieces of writing demand a personal response such as interpretation, application to other contexts, criticism or evaluation.

HOUSE

paper grass tree

garden play work desk

eat chair

vegetable

flower

bed table

wall kitchen

roof room bathroom

chimney

door bedroom

sitting-room

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In which of the three phases, pre-reading, while-reading or post-reading, would you use the following activities:

1. Do-it-yourself questions: the pupils compose and answer

their own questions. ……………………………… 2. Responding: the text is a letter or a provocative article; the

pupils discuss how they would respond, or write an answer. ……………………………… 3. Signpost questions: a general question is given before

reading, asking the pupils to find out information central to the understanding of the text.

……………………………… 4. Continue: if the text is a story; the pupils are asked to

suggest what might happen next. ……………………………… 5. Provide a title: the pupils suggest a title or an alternative

title. ……………………………… 6. Summarise: the pupils summarise the content in a sentence

or two (in English or Romanian). …………………………………. 7. Preface: if the text is a story; the pupils are asked to

suggest what might have happened before. ……………………………… 8. Mistakes in the text: the text has, towards the end,

occasional mistakes (such as wrong words or omissions). The pupils are told in advance how many mistakes to look for.

……………………………… 9. Comparison: there are two texts on a similar topic; the

pupils note points of similarity or difference of content. ……………………………… 10. Gapped text: towards the end of the text, 4-5 gaps are left

that can only be filled in if the text has been understood. ……………………………… 11. Re-presentation of content: the text gives information or

tells a story; the pupils re-present its content through a drawing that illustrates the text, colouring, marking a map, lists of events or items described in the text, a diagram – grid or flowchart – indicating relationships between items, characters or events.

……………………………… (after Penny Ur, 1996, A Course in Language Teaching, Practice and Theory,

CUP)

The three-phase approach should not be carried out mechanically on every occasion. Sometimes you may wish to get your pupils to work on the text directly. At other times post-reading activities may not be suitable.

Summary As a foreign language skill, reading is very important; in fact, one may argue that it

is the most important, especially for those pupils who may never actually have to speak English. However, in the regular classroom reading should not be separated from the other

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skills, since in real life there are few cases when reading is not linked to these. The unit offers a classification of reading texts and refers to the importance of

some text characteristics for efficient reading. A number of reading styles are described, while the idea that the purpose of reading determines the reading style chosen is underlined. Formulations of aims for reading activities and types of reading activities that cultivate various reading sub-skills are also suggested.

Further Reading

Grabe, William. 2002. “Dilemmas for the Development of Second Language Reading Abilities” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. pp. 276 – 286. Cambridge: CUP.

Grellet, Françoise, 1981, Developing Reading Skills, CUP Janzen, Joy. “Teaching Strategic Reading” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. pp. 287 – 294. Cambridge: CUP. Nuttall, Christine, 1982, Teaching Reading Skills in Foreign Language, Heinemann Renandya, W.A. and Jacobs, G.M. “Extensive Reading: Why Aren’t We All Doing It?” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A. 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. pp. 295 – 302. Cambridge: CUP. Richards, Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP. Silberstein, Sandra. 1993, Techniques and Resources in Teaching Reading, OUP

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Catedra de Limba şi Literatura engleză EFL Methodology year II English majors

DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS The traditional ordering of the four skills – speaking, listening, reading, writing –

reflects both a general belief about the natural order of skill acquisition and one about instructional priorities. Of the four skills, writing seems to be the odd one out. All children learn to understand and speak their mother tongue, and school ensures that most people grow up able to read. If we think only of the pupils’ long-term needs, writing is probably the least important of the four skills. Only a few might be expected to need any extensive writing in either Romanian or English.

There is no doubt that writing is the most difficult skill for L2 learners and that only a few succeed in mastering it. The difficulty lies not only in generating and organizing ideas, but also in translating these ideas into readable text. However, through the mastery of writing, an individual comes to be fully effective in intellectual organization and in the expression of ideas and arguments. Actually, the pupils’ need for writing is most likely to be for study purposes and also as an examination skill. At the purely practical level, good, clear writing leads to school success.

The skills involved in writing are highly complex. Learners need to pay attention to higher level skills of planning and organizing as well as lower level skills of spelling, punctuation, word choice, and so on. The difficulty becomes even more pronounced if their language proficiency is weak. Teaching writing involves guiding in analysing and developing thinking, in shaping and organising it into central and subordinate ideas, in developing a line of thought and carrying it to the reader. At elementary and intermediate level, writing helps pupils to think and to learn. Writing new words and structures helps pupils to remember them, as writing is done more slowly and carefully than speaking. That is why written practice helps the pupils to focus their attention on what they are learning.

Many English teachers feel that the development of writing skills represents an unrealistic goal for their pupils as most of them are still struggling to acquire this skill in Romanian. Writing, in general, is a difficult skill to master, requiring long practice. Writing in English will create even bigger problems. And yet, in the English classroom, a writing exercise may help to reinforce oral work, to confirm understanding of a reading text, to demonstrate awareness of English, as well as to provide a welcome change of pace in a lesson.

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• set up, apply and monitor a variety of interactive classroom writing tasks • offer a theoretical justification for each of these tasks • integrate writing activities with the development of one or more of other skills • identify the various sub-skills involved in the writing process • select and apply appropriate classroom activities to develop these sub-skills • assess the learning outcomes of specific writing activities.

Key Concepts: genre, writing sub-skills, cohesion, coherence, text-based approach, process approach, communicative approach, audience, form and content, peer correction, self-correction

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1 Developing Writing Competence: Writing Sub-Skills Writing refers to several sub-skills: putting words on paper, making sentences and

linking them in paragraphs, writing a poem, developing an essay, and many others. Nunan (1989) notes that writing involves:

• mastering the mechanics of letter formation • mastering and obeying conventions of spelling and punctuation • using the grammatical system to convey one’s intended meaning • organising content at the level of the paragraph and the complete text to reflect

new/given information and topic/comment structures • polishing and revising one’s initial efforts • selecting an appropriate style for one’s audience. The first three of these are sentence-level skills; spelling, punctuation and

grammatical accuracy all receive regular attention from teachers. However, sometimes it appears that these are the only things considered worthy of attention. The pupils’ failure to produce good creative writing suggests that paying attention to just these three aspects of the writing process is not enough.

The last three items are text and discourse-level skills and usually do not receive much attention. When they do, it is often in the form of red-pen comments on returned essays, such as “badly organised” or “essay lacks shape”. Section 7.4 considers the effects of this kind of feedback.

Sometimes pupils lose their meaning in the process of writing because they have a

simplistic view of their task, or they see their writing as definitive from the beginning, except for minor alterations of form. The ideas themselves should be seen as the most important aspect of the writing. On the other hand, pupils need to pay attention to formal aspects: handwriting, spelling, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary, etc.

Writing is difficult as it involves the development and co-ordination of cognitive and conceptual sub-skills, including:

Knowledge of the language system Pupils should have knowledge of those aspects of the language system (vocabulary,

grammar) necessary for the completion of the task. They should also be able to organize texts appropriately in order to do particular jobs.

Knowledge of the genre Teaching writing means teaching pupils to recognize the genre in which they are

writing, and the grammatical and lexical choices that need to be made in order to match the text to the writing purpose. This includes knowledge of:

a) content: knowledge of the concepts involved in the subject area; b) context: knowledge of the context in which the text will be read, including the

reader’s expectations. For instance, learners need to realize the importance of framing the beginning of a

text rather than jump in and so become increasingly aware of the reader’s needs. They also have to learn that for both descriptive and persuasive texts, it is necessary to view the task from a perspective other than their own. In the descriptive task, they have to consider and recognize features that would help someone visualize an object without seeing it. In the persuasive text, they have to realize the need to anticipate an argument and generalize reasons that support their stand.

Knowledge of the writing process Pupils also need knowledge of the effective way of preparing for a writing task:

planning, drafting, reviewing, editing, etc.

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Writing requires more correctness of expression and higher standards of language than speech. Luckily, the slow and reflective nature of the process of writing enables the writer to devote more time and attention to formal aspects during the process of writing.

2 Writing to Learn and Learning to Write Writing to learn Writing is widely used in the English classes as a means of engaging the pupils with

other language skills. The pupils note down new vocabulary, copy out grammar rules, write out answers to reading or listening comprehension questions, do written tests. In these activities, writing is mainly a means of getting the pupils to practise a particular language point, or as a convenient method of testing it.

Which of the following kinds of text do you think your pupils would need in Romanian and which in English?

advertisement, essay, filling in a form, letter to the manager, letter to

a newspaper, letter to mother/father, note about a telephone message, newspaper article, poem, pop song lyric, postcard, report, shopping list, story, Ph.D. thesis.

Learning to write Other activities have as main objective writing itself. These practise written forms

either at the level of word or sentence or at the level of content and organization. The pupils have to express themselves using their own words. They have to state a purpose for writing, and often to specify a readership. Examples of such activities include narrating a story, writing a letter or a report.

Some activities combine purposeful and original writing with the learning or practice of some other skill or content. For example, a written response to the reading of a text will combine writing with reading. A task which provides little or no practice for the pupils to extend their knowledge of appropriate content or context or to raise their awareness about the writing process is not really a writing task but a general learning task using writing.

Writing in Romanian and Writing in English You may have already noticed thst pupils progress in language complexity much

faster in English than in Romanian. They understand easily that some of the structural differences observed between speech and writing in Romanian are similar in English, and consequently attempt the same kind of language adjustments when they write in English. They realise quickly that the manner in which sentences grow in complexity is similar in Romanian and English: simple sentences are joined first through coordination, then subordination, and finally clause reduction.

However, there are some features of written language that may cause major problems to your pupils as they may differ from those of Romanian. These operate above the level of the sentence: layout and physical organization on the page, text organization determined by the social function the text fulfils, relationships between clauses and clause complexes. That is why your pupils may benefit from an explicit understanding of how these work.

For the Romanian student of English, many writing conventions will remain a mystery unless teachers are able to bring the forms and patterns of language use to conscious awareness. However, many English tests will evaluate their control of text organisation, sentence structure, etc. By providing learners with the language to talk about texts, they can better understand how to make a piece of writing more effective and appropriate to the

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communicative purpose. This also helps them increase their writing skills and become more efective during peer editing and revision.

In writing English, which appears to create more difficulties to you, cohesion or coherence?

3 Approaches to Writing There are two main ways of approaching writing: focusing on the product or on the

writer. These perspectives have determined major approaches on the teaching of writing. The focus on the product gave birth to the traditional text-based approach. The

teachers using this perspective often present model texts, usually given in textbooks, for the pupils to imitate or adapt. They believe their role is to cultivate conformity to models, and accuracy rather than fluency. They see mistakes as something they have to correct and eliminate. In this approach, the pupils write variations first on sentences, then on paragraphs, then on very controlled compositions, and finally, at an advanced level, they work on free composition.

Examine one of the textbooks in use. a) What writing activities suggested in these textbooks give the

pupils the opportunity to be creative and original? b) Find examples of activities which begin with an example text

or samples of language that the pupils have to imitate or incorporate into their own writing.

3.1 The Process Approach Traditionally, the teacher has been more concerned with the finished product than

with the way it has been created. The text-based approach is based on the notion that pupils need to produce accurate pieces of writing. Over the past few years, however, interest has swung from the product of writing to the actual writing process itself. It has become apparent that if the teacher’s first concern is that an essay or story should be grammatically correct, then this will be reflected in pupil attitude and behaviour. Firstly, pupils will regard essay writing not as opportunity to express their views on a variety of topics, but as a long grammatical exercise. What they actually write about will be a minor consideration. Secondly, pupils will play safe. They will choose simple things to say to avoid the risk of error. The result will be reasonably correct essays that say nothing.

However, the whole purpose of creative writing is to say something worth paying attention to. While not totally rejecting this earlier system, the current trend is to place emphasis on the process of writing and the writer. This approach lays stress on the activities which move the pupil from the generation of ideas and collection of data to the production and ‘publication’ of the text. It emphasises the writing process over the product, with recognition of the recursiveness of the process and the encouragement of exploration of topics through writing.

The writing process may be broadly seen as comprising four main stages: planning, drafting, revising and editing. The stages are neither sequential nor orderly, as many writers employ a recursive, non-linear approach, as writing a draft may be interrupted by more planning, and revision may lead to reformulation, with a great deal of recycling to earlier stages.

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PROCESS ACTIVATED PROCESS TERMINATED

Fig. 1 The Writing Process (Seow A, p. 315

Process writing as a classroom activity incorporates the four basic writing stages – planning, drafting (writing), revising (redrafting) and editing – and three other stages externally imposed on students by the teacher: responding (sharing), evaluating and post-writing. Process writing is highly structured as it necessitates the orderly teaching of process skills.

It is now recognised that pupils not only need help throughout the writing process, but that creative writing in the classroom is a shared activity. This kind of thinking has resulted in much more attention being paid to the pre-writing stage.

Planning Planning (pre-writing) encourages students to write. It stimulates thoughts for getting

started. It moves students toward generating tentative ideas and gathering information for writing. The following activities provide the learning experiences for students at this stage:

• Group brainstorming. • Clustering. Students form words related to a stimulus supplied by the teacher. The

words are circled and then linked by lines to show clusters. The visual character of the activity stimulates the flow of associations.

• Rapid free writing. Within a limited time of 1 or 2 minutes, individual students freely and quickly write down single words and phrases about a topic. Rapid freewriting is done when group brainstorming is not possible or because of the personal nature of a certain topic.

• Wh-questions. Students generate who, why, what, where, when and how questions about a topic. or such questions can be asked of answers to the first string of wh-questions, and so on. This can go on indefinitely.

Drafting Once sufficient ideas are gathered at the planning stage, the first attempt at writing –

drafting – may proceed quickly. At this stage, the writers are focused on the fluency of writing and are not preoccupied with grammatical accuracy or the neatness of the draft. One dimension of good writing is the writer’s ability to visualise an audience. Although writing in the classroom is almost always for the teacher, the students may also be encouraged to write for different audiences (their peers, other classmates, pen-friends, or family members). A sense of audience will dictate a certain style to be used.

Students should also have in mind a central idea that they want to communicate to the audience in order to give direction to their writing.

Depending on the genre of writing (narrative, expository or argumentative), an introduction to the subject of writing may be a startling statement to arrest the reader’s attention, a short summary of the rest of the writing, and apt quotation, a provocative question, a general statement, an analogy, a statement of purpose, and so on. Such a strategy may provide the lead at the drafting stage.

Planning Drafting

Editing Revising

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Responding Responding to student writing by the teacher (or by peers) has a central role to play in

the successful implementation of process writing. Responding intervenes between drafting and revising. It is the teacher’s quick initial reaction to students’ drafts. Response can be oral or in writing, after the students have produced the first draft and just before they proceed to revise.

The failure of many writing activities in schools may be ascribed to the fact that responding is done in the final stage when the teacher simultaneously responds and evaluates, and even edits students’ finished texts, thus giving students the impression that nothing more needs to be done.

Text-specific responses in the form of helpful suggestions and questions will hale students rediscover meanings and facilitate the revision of initial drafts. Such responses can be provided in the margin, between sentence lines or at the end of students’ texts. Peer responding can be effectively carried out by having students respond to each other’s texts in small groups or in pairs, with the aid of a checklist.

Responding checklist

• What is the greatest strength of this composition/essay, etc? • What is its greatest weakness? • What is the central idea? • Which are the ideas that need more elaboration? • Where should more details or examples be added? Why? • What are some of the questions that the writer has not answered? • At which point does this composition fail to hold the reader’s interest? Why? • Where is the organisation confusing? • Where is the writing unclear or vague?

(after Seow A., 318)

Revising Comments and discussion may follow after a second draft is attempted, and so on.

The pupils need to be assured that the final product is not the only thing to be judged. Praise for the first draft, and praise, advice and suggestions throughout the writing process are very important.

If you accept that for teaching purposes at least, the process of writing is more significant than the final product, then it follows that pupils need to be given enough time to produce their essay. If it is a race against time, then few of the above procedures can be applied.

Much of the teaching of writing comes at the first draft stage. Very little can be taught after the final version has been submitted. That is why you need to sit with your pupils and discuss the first drafts, be appreciative of good ideas, and make suggestions for general improvements in structure.

When students revise, they review their texts on the basis of the feedback given in the responding stage. They re-examine what was written to see how effectively they have communicated their meaning to the reader. Revising is not merely checking for language errors (i.e. editing). It is done to improve global content and the organisation of ideas so that the writer’s intent is made clearer to the reader.

Revising can be done in pairs, with the students reading aloud each other’s drafts before they revise. As students listen intently to their own writing, they are brought to a more conscious level of rethinking and re-seeing what they have written.

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Editing At this stage, students are engaged in tidying up their texts as they prepare the final

draft foe evaluation by the teacher. They edit their own or their peer’s work for grammar, spelling, punctuation, diction, sentence structure and accuracy of supportive textual material such as quotations, examples and the like. Formal editing is deferred till this phase in order that its application not disrupt the free flow of ideas during the drafting and revising stages. A simple checklist might be issued to student to alert them to some of the common surface errors found in students’ writing. For instance:

• Have you used your verbs in the correct tense? • Are the verb forms correct? • Have you checked for subject – verb agreement? • Have you used the correct prepositions? • Have you left out the articles where they are required? • Have you used all your pronouns correctly? • Is your choice of adjectives and adverbs appropriate? • Have you written in complete sentences?

(After Seow, A., p. 318 – 319)

The students are, however, not always expected to know where and how to correct every error, but editing to the best of their ability should be done as a matter of course, prior to submitting their work for evaluation each time. Editing within process writing is meaningful because students can see the connection between such an exercise and their own writing in that correction is not done for its own sake but as part of the process of making communication as clear and unambiguous as possible to an audience.

Evaluating Very often teachers compress responding, editing and evaluating into one. This

deprives students of the vital link between drafting and revision (that is, responding) which often makes a big difference.

In evaluating student writing, the scoring may be analytical (i.e., based on specific aspects of writing ability) or holistic (i.e., based on a global interpretation of the effectiveness of that piece of writing). In order to be effective, the criteria for evaluation should be made known to students in advance. They should include the overall interpretation of the task, sense of audience, relevance, development and organisation of ideas, format or layout, grammar and structure, spelling and punctuation, range and appropriateness of vocabulary, and clarity of communication. Depending on the purpose of evaluation, a numerical score or grade may be assigned. Students may be encouraged to evaluate their own and each other’s texts once they have been properly taught how to do it. In this way, they are made more responsible for their own writing.

Post-writing Post –writing constitutes any classroom activity that the teacher and students can do

with the completed pieces of writing. This includes publishing, sharing, reading aloud, transforming texts for stage performances, or merely displaying texts on notice-boards. The post-writing stage is a platform for recognising students’ work as important and worthwhile.

Scrivener (1994) proposes at least nine stages of preparation before the final draft of a piece of creative writing is produced:

• Introduction of topic. Group discussion. Clarification of main writing task. Consideration of audience for the final text. Consideration of specific requirements – style, information, layout, etc. Consideration of likely difficulties and problems.

• Initial individual or group brainstorming,

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• Selection and rejection of ideas, • Sorting and ordering of ideas – note-making, • Focus on useful language models, • Small group or class construct of a preliminary skeleton or example text, • Individual or group preparation of draft text, • Discussion with others and with teacher, • Individual or group preparation of final draft. 3.2 Implementing Process Writing Teacher modelling Teachers should model the writing process at every stage and teach specific writing

strategies to students through meaningful classroom activities. Relating process to product It is vital that as students go through various stages of writing and elaborate various

drafts, they understand what kind of product is expected at each stage. Thus students need to be guided to set and achieve specific writing goals at every stage.

Working within institutional constraints It is possible to teach some process skills appropriate to a writing stage within a two-

period composition lesson. The teaching of the same process skill could be repeated in subsequent composition lessons. Process skills can be systematically taught each time until the entire series of such skills is developed over a period of time.

Catering to diverse student needs The teacher will need to know what the individual student knows and work from there,

implementing a flexible programme to cater to different student needs. The teacher may also decide to have students enter into different writing groups as planners, drafters, responders, revisers or editors during a writing session.

Exploiting the use of computers in process writing Many word-processing programmes are user-friendly enough for students to handle.

Their direct application to process writing, especially for the purposes of drafting, revising and editing, is rewarding for both the teacher and the students. The teacher can teach responding or editing skills via the computer hooked on to an overhead projector. The students can freely make any number of changes to their texts by deleting words or moving them around without having to retype large chunks of text all over again. Any work can be saved on the computer for revision later.

3.3 The Text-Based Approach This approach is also called the controlled-to-free approach, as depending on the

degree of freedom the pupils are allowed, the writing activities used are characterized as controlled, guided and free.

There has been much argument about whether pupils should be allowed to engage in free writing from the start, or whether they should be led gradually into it. Some argue that, if writing is about expressing one’s views, then pupils should be allowed a free rein. Others feel that strict control should be maintained until the pupils can produce error-free sentences.

There is little doubt that, unless the pupils can produce syntactically acceptable sentences, their creative writing will not be very coherent. It seems fair to assume that some kind of sentence-level guidance will be necessary for many pupils at some stage. However, you cannot suume that sentence-level skills will be automatically transferred to creative

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writing. Further guidance, in the form of models, may be needed. You may therefore wish to consider several stages in preparing pupils for free writing. Raimes (1989) proposes five types of controlled writing: controlled composition, question and answer, guided composition, parallel writing and sentence combining.

Controlled writing Controlled writing activities provide both content and form. The pupils are not asked

to create anything. You give them a passage and ask them to make alterations to it. These alterations are normally grammatical. For example, you may ask them to re-write a passage about a single child so that it becomes a passage about several children, to re-write a direct speech text in reported speech, or to re-write a present tense passage in the past simple.

Other activities include copying, gap-filling, re-ordering words, substitution (e.g. If he stayed/left/spoke they would disagree with him), correct the facts (e.g. re-write the sentences so that they match a picture), and dictation. They are typically used with beginners and the objective of this kind of activities is that pupils make as few mistakes as possible. This explains why in all these activities the pupils have to add little if anything of their own.

These activities can be made more meaningful and interesting, still remaining very controlled, if the pupils are given a chance to think what they are writing. For instance, copying is completely mechanical when they are asked to copy a string of words: a sentence that they do not understand. In this case, their attention is focused only on spelling. But copying may become more meaningful if the pupils can contribute something to the text. Part(s) of the sentence can be left out for the pupils to write themselves. The teacher may write the sentence outline on the board, (e.g. they – home – afternoon), say the whole sentence and ask the pupils to write what they heard. You can also show or draw a picture to replace part(s) of the sentence. Alternatively, you may write the sentence on the board, and ask your pupils to write a similar true sentence about themselves.

Another extremely restricting activity, gap-filling, can become more involving and challenging if the pupils are given the opportunity to choose between alternatives given in brackets.

Without real comprehension, dictation is also a mechanical activity, restricted to practising spelling. If done traditionally, you read a text once through and then dictate it phrase by phrase. Then the text is read through once again. Even done this way, dictation cannot be denied a number of advantages: it is an intensive activity which helps to develop both listening and writing, requires concentration, and can be done with large classes.

What are, in your opinion, the disadvantages of dictation?

An alternative to traditional dictation is the dictocomp (a combination of dictation and composition), which develops both listening and writing skills and focuses on meaning. The dictocomp is not exclusively controlled writing, as it requires not only careful listening and accurate spelling but also thinking. The pupils listen to a text, jot down notes and then try to reconstruct the original from notes or from given prompts. They need to understand the text, think about its content and how to reproduce it, and how to construct the sentences. The dictocomp can be used with pupils at all levels, provided the original text chosen is challenging enough.

Questions and answers A question and answer procedure continues your control over what is produced but

allows the pupils a little more freedom. The text emerges from the answers produced by the

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pupils to questions asked by you. The questions may be based on a set of notes or a picture. A picture sequence can be used to make the task a little more interesting.

picture 1: Classroom. Children studying. One boy with thought cloud above his head to show he is dreaming of playing football with his friends.

picture 2: Same boy at teacher’s desk, holding head and looking sick. picture 3: Same boy playing football with his friends on playing field picture 4: Footballers point at restaurant, suggesting cold drink picture 5: Boy with friends in restaurant having cold drinks picture 6: Teacher walks into restaurant.

You begin by asking what is happening in each picture in turn. Individual pupils suggest answers, such as “The boy is asking the teacher if he can go home because he is sick”. You write the best answer for each picture on the board. When all the questions are complete, you ask the pupils to use the six answers as the basis for their text, reminding them that the story must be told in the past tense. Before settling down to produce their texts in pairs or small groups, the class may decide together what the wording of the first sentence will be.

As confidence and skill grow, you can ask the pupils to create a story directly from a sequence of pictures, without the question - answer stage. In this activity, writing can be integrated with oral work. Class discussion establishes what is happening in each of the pictures, then pupils decide in pairs or small groups how they are going to put the story together. Each pair writes a first draft of the story then passes it to the next pair for comment and correction. Second drafts are then written, and so on. In this way, all the class are involved in the writing process.

In another version of this activity the whole class share in the writing of the same story (e.g. a fairy tale type in which the characters and plot are fairly predictable). After class discussion of standard forms and sequences of events in fairy tales, one pupil is asked to write the first sentence of a story on a piece of paper. The paper is then passed on to the next pupil who writes the second sentence, and so on. Once the class is accustomed to this kind of combined writing, several stories can be circulating at the same time. The completed stories are read out to the class by individual pupils for comments and suggestions. As a follow-up task, the pupils may be given copies of the story to check for grammatical accuracy and punctuation.

Guided writing In guided writing, you still retain a certain amount of control over the form and content

of the pupils’ writing. The pupils are given information that they must include in their writing. Sometimes you also give the first and last sentences. The information may come in the form of a picture. For example, you give a picture of a lake on a summer day with people doing various things (e.g. swimming, diving, having picnics and sunbathing). In the distance a farmer is seen with his sheep dog. The task is to write three paragraphs about the scene.

You tell the pupils to begin by saying that the picture shows a scene in the countryside. Then you ask them to say something about the weather, the colour of the sky, the sun and the shade given by the trees round the lake. They must describe the lake: is it big, small, deep, shallow, clear or dark? In the second paragraph the pupils are asked to describe the people and say what each group is doing. What does the farmer use his dog for? Finally, you tell them to end the paragraph with the words “Other people can enjoy themselves in the summer sun, but the farmer has to work.”

Parallel writing Such activities are typically used with pre-intermediate and intermediate pupils. In this

type of writing activities, content is free but form is given. You first give the pupils a piece of writing to see and then they use it as a basis for their own work. The original piece sets a model and guides them in expressing themselves. This type of activity is central to the

example

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teaching of connected discourse since it sets models from which the pupils can work. It generally addresses the paragraph level.

Parallel writing tasks come in various forms to allow for varying degrees of control by the teacher.

John is an English boy who lives in Shipton, in the north of England. Shipton is a small village on the edge of the Irish Sea, near Lanchester. The village has a church, a small shop, and a post office. There is no school in Shipton, so Peter goes to school in Lanchester. To get into Lanchester he has to catch a bus outside the post office. The bus leaves the post office each morning at eight o’clock.

Your task is to: 1. Write a similar paragraph about Rita, using these notes:

Rita – Scottish girl – Heston – small town – River Benlow – Edinburgh – supermarket –cinema – football club – small railway station – no library – train – library in Edinburgh – railway station – every two hours.

2. Write about your own village or town.

Sentence combining Sentence combining tasks are rather more mechanical than parallel writing tasks.

They provide the pupils with the materials and ask them to manipulate them. You give sets of simple sentences and ask the pupils to combine them in grammatically acceptable ways to produce complex sentences. This helps to develop their style.

Combine each of the following pairs of sentences into one complex sentence:

She overslept. She was late for school. ……………………… He was injured. He played football. ………………… They were having a picnic. It started to rain. ………………… The singer arrived. Everyone was seated. ……………………

At a higher level of organisation, pupils need practice in combining sentences to form

cohesive and coherent paragraphs. The main difficulty encountered by pupils working at paragraph level is cohesion.

Cohesion is difficult in writing because often we do not get direct feedback on our writing from our readers and we are not in a position to clarify points which have not been understood. Cohesion involves not only the ordering of sentences, but also the use of cohesive devices. Typical activities practising cohesion are sentence combining, sentence reordering, sentence insertion and noun and sentence substitution. Unfortunately, it seems that pupil performance in improving the syntactic complexity of writings tends to erode once sentence-combining practice is discontinued.

Paragraph writing has to be practised as soon as the pupils have mastered basic skills of sentence writing and need to progress beyond very controlled writing exercises to sentence combining. This transition is more easily done by offering a short text as a model or by doing oral preparation for the writing. The main problem is finding a suitable model as it is not always possible to use a text from the textbook. The model text might be limiting or misleading, especially if the pupils’ topic is somewhat different and they are in the habit of following models closely.

During oral preparation you can build an outline on the board to which the pupils contribute suggestions, and you key expressions. Later on, the pupils use this material as a basis for their writing. This technique is flexible and involving and reveals the interests and

example

example

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abilities of the class. Also, it requires no specially prepared materials. The ideas about what to write are generated by the pupils themselves.

Before asking your pupils to write an example of a particular text type, you might want to go with them through some stages. Put the stages suggested below into an appropriate order and justify your decision:

a) practising guided writing which follows prompts (e.g. pictures or

sentences that summarise paragraphs) b) doing exercises that practise characteristic features of text type

(e.g. passive voice) c) reading examples of the text type d) analysing a sample text to isolate typical features.

3.4 Free Writing Free writing tasks can be assigned after the study of the respective genre models.

You can ask pupils from intermediate to advanced to write narratives based on a picture or series of pictures. They may describe an occasion when they felt disappointed or afraid, surprised, or relieved. They may describe someone they know very well, or write descriptions of people and places, based on photographs or some information about them. They may write an answer to a (given) letter of complaint, write application letters, etc.

You can ask more advanced pupils to describe the process represented in a flowchart or any kind of diagram, write reports of books they read, reviews of books they enjoyed (and would like to recommend to other people in the class), instruction sheets for something they know how to do well (e.g. prepare some kind of food) or essays on various topics.

Essay writing Whatever kind of writing activities pupils practise in the classroom, at some stage you

will probably require them to produce an essay, and this will have to conform to an acceptable format. A sample format is given below. This format is by no means the only acceptable format for essays; many others are possible. But it may be useful as an indication to pupils that each of the parts of an essay must be clearly related to the rest, to form a coherent whole.

a) Introduction. Here they need to define the terms. If the topic of the essay is, for instance, “Urban Pollution”, they may need to show that they understand what “urban” and “pollution” mean. Also here they need to state why the topic is of interest, where their main focus on the topic will be, how many parts they will break the topic up into. This will give the number of paragraphs they will have in the body of the essay.

b) Body of essay. The introduction will tell how many paragraphs they are going to write. Thus: each paragraph refers back to the introduction. For example, “the first/second/third type of urban pollution is…” Each paragraph discusses a different aspect of the topic and provides an example to illustrate the point(s).

c) Conclusion. This is a brief final paragraph. There is no need to repeat what was said in the introduction or summarise the contents of the body paragraphs, except perhaps in a brief sentence. For example: “Thus there are a number of clear reasons why urban pollution is a serious problem”. The remainder of the conclusion looks briefly at any further implications of what has been said in the body of the essay.

3.5 The Communicative Approach The communicative approach emphasises task-oriented activities that involve the

exchange of information, with focus on fluency. Although the approach practises a good deal

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of modelling and controlled practice, a lot of attention is paid to motivation and to self-expression. It stresses purpose and audience and encourages interaction among the pupils, with less emphasis on form and accuracy. Through the activities, many of them based on information gaps, and done in pairs and groups, the pupils are exposed to a lot of written language. Listening and reading materials of a factual nature are also frequently used. Here are some popular ideas of written communicative activities:

Relaying instructions One pupil or one group of pupils elaborate instructions for the performance of a task.

They have to tell another pupil or group to perform the task by giving them written instructions.

Writing reports, advertisements, brochures The pupils write items for a school news broadcast or a school magazine. They can

join together to write a brochure about the place they live in or are studying in. They can write and design their own advertisements.

Co-operative writing The pupils may write joint stories, each pupil contributing a sentence. They may start

either at the first or the last sentence (these may be or may not be supplied). The agony column The pupils invent some problem, write letters to the ‘columnist’ and then have them

answered by other members of the class. Letters of complaint The pupils write letters of complaint about faulty goods they have purchased or bad

service they received. The ‘company representatives’ reply to these letters. Job applications The applications can be later on judged and a decision taken about who is

successful. Letter writing and journal keeping You can write a letter to the pupils in a (small) class, telling them something about

yourself and inviting them to write letters to you, which you would reply to personally. The pupils may engage in correspondence about learning, their experiences, how they feel about school, etc. The pupils use writing for genuinely communicative purposes and get individual attention from you. The disadvantages of this procedure, as Rinvolucri, the initiator admits, are firstly that some pupils get ‘too close’ to the teacher and secondly that it takes a lot of your time.

Alternatively, you can ask the pupils to keep diaries. Here they will write what they want about what interests them. They will comment on the classes, on their personal experiences, on politics or they will write stories. You can ask them to write in their journals for five minutes at the end of every class, but also when they themselves want to. Such an activity ensures frequent writing practice and all pupils have a chance to use English to reflect their own thoughts and feelings. You have the advantage of interacting with your pupils as individuals. These diaries are not primarily to be corrected, but rather to be reacted to. In this activity, content feedback is far more important than form feedback.

Journal keeping is a private and confidential, as well as highly individualized process. Consequently, assessing students’ journal entries is also a private matter between the writer and the teacher. Sometimes the teacher can respond to journal entries through conferencing. Journal entries can contribute greatly to the humanistic approach to teaching and learning, an example of which is the integration of values during the sharing sessions.

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Dialogue journals Dialogue journals are written conversations between teacher and student over a

period of time, on topics that are of special interest to them. Their goal is to “communicate in writing, to exchange ideas and information free of the concern for form and correctness so often imposed on developing writers” (Jones, 1991: 3 in Peyton & Staton, 1991).

Dialogue journals provide guidance to the learner in expressing ideas, thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Dialogue journal interaction leads to trust between learner and teacher. Dialogue journals have some ingredients that differentiate them from other forms of written communication, specifically journal entries (Peňaflorida A., 350):

• Teacher and student write to each other, taking equal turns in writing and responding. In journal keeping, there is no equal turn taking in responding

• Teacher and student share ideas and information. In journal keeping the student does not have to share her/his writing with anybody.

• Teacher and student act as equal partners in the interaction between them. In journal keeping there is a hierarchical relationship between teacher and student.

• Dialogue journal writing is applicable to some content area courses such as literature, social studies, or science. Journal keeping is usually practised in language courses only.

• In dialogue journals, teacher gives students assistance beyond what they already know how to do. In journal entries, teacher assists students on the language used on the content of what is written.

Both the dialogue journal and journal keeping provide intensive writing practice, promote learner autonomy, serve as informal means of assessment, are highly private and confidential, and are interactive in varying degrees.

Projects Projects are longer pieces of work that involve the collection of information and

reporting. The quality of the end product is important. The pupils can use tape-recorders and video cameras to record interviews with native speakers they can find, or they can consult libraries (including electronic ones) for source material.

Portfolios Applebee and Langer (1992: 30) define portfolios as a cumulative collection of the

work students have done. Some of the most popular forms are the following: 1. a traditional “writing folder” in which students keep their work 2. a bound notebook with separate sections kept for work in progress and final drafts 3. a loose-leaf notebook in which students keep their drafts and revisions 4. a combination folder and envelope where student’s writings – exercises, tests,

compositions, drafts, and so on – are kept. 5. A notebook divided into two sections: one for drafts and the other for final copies

(once called original and rewritten compositions). Learning logs Learning logs help teachers see what their students are learning, particularly in the

writing class, and in the language class as a whole. In a learning log, students write on the knowledge they have gained from studying in their writing classes, and from their own thinking. A teacher need not grade learning logs, but can assess how much a student has gained or benefited from the writing class.

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4 Purpose and Motivation The communicative approach has led us to pay more attention to the purpose of

language, to the content of the message the pupils intend to get across. But it is sometimes difficult for both teachers and pupils to think of writing as a motivating, purposeful activity, especially if the goal of the activity is grammatical accuracy. In order for the pupils’ writing to be more effective, and for reading to be more enjoyable, it is important to create other purposes for writing.

The class should approach their task in terms of two questions: to whom they are writing, and for what purpose. When the pupils have a better idea of whom their readers are and of how they can get prepared to negotiate meaning, their writing is more purposeful. For instance, instead of asking them to write a short autobiography, you could tell them they are applying for a scholarship to spend a year in Great Britain. The purpose of the pupils’ writing becomes thus more goal oriented. They will have to select the relevant qualities to speak about and present the information in such a way as to show that one could benefit from such experience and merits the scholarship over someone else.

The incorporation of an element of real communication, such as ‘publication’, is motivating for most pupils. Going public in newsletters or class magazines and/or organizing the reception of a ‘real’ response (from either a classmate, pupils in another class, pen-friends or the teacher) may determine the production of more effective writing.

What factors should you consider when setting a writing task?

Encouraging your pupils to help each other in preparing their written tasks may also provide motivation and increase their confidence. The pupils can brainstorm ideas on a topic, organise points for, neutral and against a specified argument, negotiate a line of thought, etc. Pictures such as cartoons or drawings, may be used to stimulate ideas. Written tasks can also be the result of other classroom activities such as reading, debates, role play, etc.

Your response on a pupil’s paper can also be an influential text in a writing class. Some teachers ask their pupils to keep diaries in which they record aspects of their life and address the teacher directly to ask for help or advice.

In practice most teachers and textbook writers draw on more than one approach and combine and adapt various elements to suit their classes.

5 Feedback on Writing

In your own experience of learner of English, what kinds of feedback

did you receive from your teachers? How useful did you find their feedback?

Many teachers feel a terrible temptation to take the pupils’ work, indicate all the places that need fixing, and return it to the pupils. Undoubtedly, the papers would be better if the pupils handed them in the second time. The question is whether the pupils care enough about their papers to want to put them into acceptable form and whether teachers know how to encourage them to do that.

Responding or giving feedback to student writing can be both oral and written. There are a variety of response types that an English teacher can utilize in the classroom. C.

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Tribble (1996) identifies four basic roles that teachers may assume when giving feedback: audience, evaluator, examiner and assistant.

As audience we read the text and say how we find it, and if the author’s point is clearly formulated. We respond to the pupils’ ideas, feelings, and attitudes and indicate whether or not we enjoyed reading the text. Unfortunately, we often avoid this role and assume the other three, identifying problems, commenting and grading.

However, our purpose as evaluators is to give feedback on the present strengths and weaknesses of a text, with a view to help our pupils to improve their future performance. The text is assessed on all dimensions: task fulfilment, content, organisation, vocabulary, language, and mechanics.

Each dimension is normally accompanied by descriptors, adapted to the class level and purposes and made public. One main advantage of the descriptors is that the pupils know the basis on which their work is assessed. Another is that the teacher can recognise excellence in one aspect while indicating weaknesses in others. This will help the pupils to identify the areas they have to work on. The scores are finally converted into an overall grade. If they are not too vague (e.g. “Good work”, “Well done”), evaluations can encourage the pupils and point them in the right direction for future writing. Evaluations may be accompanied by a short personal response to the message of the text. Thus the pupils get complete feedback on the impact their texts have had on the teacher.

Evaluating is pointing out strengths and weaknesses, while examining is assigning a grade. By giving a grade you indicate the degree of excellence that a task has achieved. Once a task has been graded, the pupils will give it little thought or work. You need to assess the pupils’ skills on the basis of explicit criteria. The use of analytical assessment criteria helps the pupils to understand what is expected from them and how a weak paper can be improved. Giving separate scores, one for each area, you can also help the pupils to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Weighting content and ideas twice as heavily as language or structure, for instance, will underline the importance of content.

As assistants, you tell the pupils if you find their text effective in relation to its purpose, pass advice on language, genre, structure, and subject matter. You devote time to their command of language, trying to assist them at each stage in the writing process, and encourage collaboration among them. In this role, the most significant contribution that you can make in the writing classroom is to create a community of readers. However, your assistance cannot help the pupils to improve a text if you also grade it.

As audience, evaluators, and examiners you give feedback on the pupils’ text as end product and your comments come too late to influence the piece of writing. Your feedback is usually limited to grading, commenting (superficially) and correcting errors. You give the pupils no indication of what they are to do next or what they have to work on. If their task has not been clearly specified and if they do not really know what the purpose of the writing has been, this sort of feedback can be time-consuming and demoralising for both you and the pupils.

Consider the following comments made by various pupils. Try to identify what role their English teacher assumed when giving feedback:

1. My teacher wrote at the bottom of the page that my grammar is

acceptable, but I still have some problems with the present perfect, and the definite article.

2. The teacher criticised: “the conclusion is weak. It introduces new points.”

3. She told me to change the introduction, making it more interesting for the reader.

4. The teacher located and indicated the nature of my errors. 5. The teacher made suggestions for changes.

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6. The teacher re-wrote my text, without changing its content and arguments and brought both my draft and hers to class. We all discussed and compared the text organisation, development of ideas, sense of audience and style, but my classmates were not told whose text the teacher used.

7. I got an 8 in my last assignment. 8. The teacher asked me questions. 9. The teacher emoted: “What a terrible experience!”

1. ……….. 2. ……….. 3. ……….. 4. ………..

You need strategies to give constructive comments on drafts. If feedback is done effectively, by the time the text is finished, most of the problems have been solved. Moreover, the pupils will understand the purpose of your feedback at each stage.

Writing involves content, organization, style, syntax, mechanics, grammar and spelling. When looking at any piece of writing, you often feel you have to respond to all these. However, the most important thing to consider, especially at post-beginner level, is content, followed by organization and presentation. The quality and amount of pupil writing is very sensitive to constructive teacher feedback on content, and relatively insensitive to teacher correction of form. Feedback on content, unlike feedback on grammar, can determine the improvement of writing. If you limit your feedback to pointing out and/or correcting errors, your pupils will concentrate on producing error-free writing, neglecting the interest or even the meaning of the content. The equation teaching writing = error elimination is counter-productive and may result in a waste of time and discouragement. Ideally, your pupils should be familiar with various types of feedback.

One problem is how to maintain a fair balance between form and content when assessing and giving feedback. This balance depends, to some extent on your own teaching situation, experience and opinion.

The correction of written work can be done on much the same basis as the correction of oral work. You should not always be preoccupied with accuracy. There may be times when you are concerned with accuracy and other times when your main concern is the content of the writing. Some of us, although fully aware of the importance of content and organisation, find ourselves dealing mainly with language accuracy in our feedback, conveying the implicit message that this is what matters. This happens because language mistakes are difficult to ignore, they catch the eye; they are more easily and quickly diagnosed and corrected than the ones of content and organisation. Moreover, many pupils want their language mistakes to be corrected.

In spite of all this, you should not convey the message that the language mistakes are your main concern. To avoid this to happen, you may note corrections within the body of the text, and write comments on content and organisation at the end. Feedback in the form of comments by the teacher is extremely helpful. The most important contribution you can make is that of being a careful reader, willing to respond to what pupils write in terms of clarity, coherence, and effectiveness of content.

We have distinguished between learning to write activities, meant to help the pupils learn to write and writing to learn activities, meant to help them write to learn. What essential difference will there be between the way we respond to texts that have been written with these two different purposes?

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5.1 Self-correction, self-response or critical reading This is a step torward learner autonomy. Studies have revealed that studenta are

capable of analyzing and responding to their own writing given the proper training. By allowing them to react to their own work and to practice self-feedback, the teacher is encouraging students to be self-sufficient and independent.

V. Zamel (1991) suggests four self-correction techniques that the pupils can use to correct their own work in class with a critical eye.

1. The pupils read their papers aloud to other pupils. Reading aloud will help them spot some of the mistakes. In most cases, they will naturally hesitate when a sentence does not seem to work.

2. A classmate reads the paper aloud. The new reader may pause when coming across a mistake or when a sentence is problematic.

3. The pupils take their text, cover up everything on the page except the first sentence, put their pencil point to one word at a time, and say the sentence aloud, word by word. They try to pick out the core (subject + verb) of the sentence.

4. The pupils read their last sentences first and so on, backwards through the text, sentence by sentence. This is a way of focusing attention on sentence-level accuracy and preventing the eye from leaping ahead for the content.

Another technique is to give students a few sample questions as guidelines, e.g.:]

• What I am writing about? • Is the main idea of my work clear? • Do I have details (e.g. examples and illustrations) to support my main idea?

The question of class climate, personal relationships, trust and willingness to accept criticism and help from one another remains. Because critical reading does not come naturally for many pupils, you can help them with checklists and/or questions to answer. Thus the pupils will learn what to look for in a text in order to offer useful and constructive feedback.

5.2 Peer response Correcting written work is very time-consuming, particularly if you have large classes.

One possible solution is to let the pupils correct and edit each other’s writing. Peer response shows that readership does not belong exclusively to the teacher, since in this type of response, students share their writings with each other. Students may not like this at the beginning, but with the teacher’s encouragement, they will gradually get used to the idea of communicating their ideas to each other. Elbow (1992) believes that when students write only for their teacher (which usually means for a grade), they often treat writing as an empty school exercise and attempt simply to just “get it right”, or “give teachers what they want”. When students write for their peers, they become concerned about what they say and how they say it. Students may not be as skilled as their teachers at responding to each other’s work, but they can provide an audience. Peer responding must be modelled, taught, and controlled in order for it to be a valuable activity. Controlling peer response, just like self-feedback, can be done through the use of a checklist. Here are some typical questions for peer response (Kroll, 1991: 259):

• What is the main purpose of this paper? • What have you found particularly effective in this paper? • Do you think the writer has followed through on what the paper set out to do? • Find at least three places in the essay where you can think of questions that have

not been answered by the writer. Write those questions on the margin as areas for the writer to answer in the next draft.

The teacher can train the pupils in giving and asking for specific and constructive feedback. For instance a statement like “I think that this sentence would be better if you

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added some colour words” is constructive while “Your sentences are problematic” is destructive. The pupils should be encouraged to ask for feedback on spelling, punctuation, sentence variety, style, etc. Also, they should constantly check with their group members to make sure their comments are clear. They can be taught to ask questions like:

• Is there any place in my text that is hard to follow? • Is there any point that you do not really understand? • Is there any place in which my examples, reasons, or explanations need

developing? • Is there any place where I should add more details? • Is there any place where I seem to wander from my topic? • Are there any unclear or missing transitions? Even if they cannot discern all the strengths and weaknesses of an assignment, the

pupils will detect at least some of them. The problem is whether your pupils feel comfortable correcting, or being corrected by their classmates, and whether they accept criticism (positive or negative) form each other. Their comfort will depend on the general classroom climate. The attitudes that make peer correction helpful are mutual trust; a real listening to each other; a mutual recognition that whatever is said is a subjective opinion and not necessarily the absolute, objective truth, and a general desire to communicate effectively taking into account the others’ reactions.

If peer correction works, it can be a substitute for the teacher’s first-draft reading. The pupils can work together, giving each other feedback on language, organisation and content. They then rewrite and give in the final version to you.

The following activity is intended to teach pupils how to evaluate the content clarity and effectiveness of a classmate’s composition. The order of the steps has been modified. Your task is to try to put the steps in logical order:

1. Without looking at the text, tell the author what you think s/he is

saying, or, if it is a narrative, tell the story back to the author as precisely as you can.

2. After each of you has given and received feedback, rewrite your task.

3. Then your partner(s) should give you the same type of feedback on your text.

4. Ask your partner(s) about anything which seems unclear or for constructive suggestions.

5. Read each other’s paper carefully.

5.3 Teacher Response The last to respond to a written work is the teacher. The teacher’s load is lightened

when students have done both individual and peer feedback. Conferencing, which is a one-to-one converstaion between teacher and student, is an

effective means of teacher response to student writing. It is a form of oral teacher feedback. A short conference will enable the teacher to ask the student about certain parts of the latter’s writing which are problematic. Conferences have the additional advantages that they make teachers better acquianted with their students, and they allow the teacher to uncover potential misunderstandings that the students might have about prior written feedback.

Conferencing takes place after the students have finished writing their compositions. The variations on the writing conference are many, but the basic pattern is simple:

• The student comments on the draft.

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• The teacher reads and reviews the draft. • The teacher responds to the student’s comments. • The student responds to the teacher’s response.

The purpose of this basic pattern is to help students learn to read their own drafts with increasing effectiveness. It is the responsibility of the student to write and make the first evaluation of his/her experiment in meaning. It is the responsibility of the teacher to listen to the student’s response, then to listen to the text, and finally to respond to the writer’s reading of the text. Then it is the responsibility of the student to respond to the teacher’s reponse. Below are some responses teachers should try to avoid as there is not much the writer can do with or learn from such comments (Murray, 1985: 156):

• This is no good • Wow! You can write! • Dodn’t you learn anything about writing? • This is great, just great. • This is a mess, just a mess. • I’ve never seen such a bad paper. • I don’t know what I can teach someone who writes like you (either overpraise

or criticism). On the other hand, the following comments may stimulate and encourage work (after

Murray, 1985: 156):

• Some of this works, but what do you plan to attack next? • Where do you think you get off the track? • I like the way you wove the quotes into the text. Are there other things that

could be woven in the same way? • Where do you intend to go from here? I need to find out. • And you said you had no voice. Tell me how you made this draft so different.

5.4 Strategies for the Correction of Mistakes Correction can be seen as an opportunity to make positive responses to a pupil’s

work. This is extremely difficult to do if your concern is to mark every error in red pen. Of course, ultimately a grade will have to be given to the piece of writing, but if it is based entirely on grammatical accuracy, then the whole point of the writing will have been lost.

This is not to say that mistakes in syntax or punctuation should be ignored. But it is a good idea to read a piece of writing twice: once for the content and the second time for the language. During the first reading, try to ignore grammatical errors and concentrate entirely on the content. Assign a mental grade to the content, then re-read to assess the mechanical aspects: syntax, punctuation, spelling, and the way in which the text hangs together. The final grade should reflect content, shape and grammatical accuracy.

The problem of correction of mistakes is one of potential conflict between two of the roles of the teachers: language instructors versus assistants. If we accept that language should be corrected, then the problem arises: should all language mistakes be noted? Sometimes there are so many mistakes that the page will be covered with corrections and too much correcting can be discouraging, demoralising and distracting. Over-emphasis on language mistakes can distract the pupils’ attention from content and organisation. How can you judge which mistakes to relate to and which not?

Your approach should vary according to context and the pupils’ individual needs. In any situation, your comments should relate to the task assigned. If the pupils are first asked to express their ideas in English (free writing, composition) and then to read critically what they have written in order to make changes, then you should also give a two-stage response,

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by separating your response to content and structure from your response to language accuracy.

One approach is to ignore the language mistakes that do not hinder reading. You may correct only those mistakes which are very basic and those which affect meaning, leading to misunderstanding or confusion, such as sentence derailments or faulty subordination. Other errors may go uncorrected, but while identifying them you can make a list of error types as they occur, and thus create an individual grammar syllabus.

To help your pupils to concentrate on particular aspects of language, you can tell them that their work will be corrected for only one thing, the use of tenses, for instance. By doing this, you ensure that their work will not be covered by red marks, and you encourage them to focus on particular aspects of written language. You can individualise language work by identifying for each pupil a few kinds of errors and assigning tasks that focus on these.

Where a piece of writing contains a number of common errors, you may photocopy the work (erasing the writer’s name) and show it to the whole class, asking them to identify problems. In this way the attention of the class can be drawn to common mistakes and the photocopied document can form the basis for remedial work.

You will learn about your pupils’ errors if you give them the opportunity to make them, fix them, and discuss them. You can ask your pupils to discuss where they think their mistakes come from and why they make them. This will help you to realise which mistakes the pupils can recognise and which ones they cannot. Asking the pupils to discuss their mistakes will provide you with information about their transfers from Romanian or from another foreign language they learn. In this way, the mistakes will no longer be everybody’s enemy, but clear evidence of language learning.

Another strategy is to point out both strengths and weaknesses. Thus, your pupils will have the chance to perceive a correct model in their own use of language and will be likely to continue taking risks if they see that their good qualities are noted and encouraged.

Use of correction symbols (all levels) You can indicate mistakes in written work by putting a mark in the margin to show

what kind of mistake it is (e.g. V for vocabulary, WO for word order, WW for wrong word, / for missing word, SP for spelling, P for punctuation, GR for grammar, VF for verb form, VT for verb tense, “?” for unclear meaning or handwriting, etc.) Indication of mistakes is less time consuming for you than correcting and more effective for the pupils. The latter have to re-read the text and spend time in identifying and correcting themselves the mistakes signalled in the margin.

You need symbols for spelling, wrong tense usage, agreement, inappropriate language, punctuation, missing words, unclear meaning, etc. Whatever symbols you use, your pupils should understand clearly what they mean. When you first use the symbols, underline the word in the text and put the symbol in the margin. Later you will only use the symbol in the margin for the pupils to identify the mistake.

When you bring back to class the pupils’ writing with comments on content and correction symbols in the margin, you should allow them time to identify their mistakes and correct them. While they are identifying their problems, you can help where they do not know what is wrong. If this stage is not gone through, your pupils will not take advantage of the system of correction symbols.

There is certainly no perfect approach to giving feedback on writing. Yet it is essential that your pupils understand how you want the feedback system to work. You should clarify both for them and for yourself what your policy on mistakes correction is, what symbols and abbreviations you use, and what you want them to do with their drafts and your comments when they receive them.

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Use a correction code to signal the language mistakes in the following piece of writing:

I am studying english because I want to work for a big company when I

will graduate. Perhaps I may to continue my studys. So I must to reach a good level of english because of when I will go abroad sended by the company, I’ll need to understand all. My father, who is mecanic engineer, he says that english is an interesting language for all kinds of reason. Another reason why I am studying english is that I like myself to listen to the music. I am learning new expressions and improve my listening, too. I can mix learning with the pleasure of listening to the music. Something else is we often have foreigners invited for dinner at home who are invited by my parents and usualy english is the language of comunication.

Rewriting When you receive written tasks, you normally correct and comment on them and give

them back. The question is whether you should insist on the pupils’ rewriting their tasks, incorporating your suggestions. Your pupils do not like doing it, but, on the other hand, frequent opportunities for writing and rewriting are an important tool for improving language, content and structure. Irrespective of the feedback the pupils receive from you, they improve their work when they rewrite their texts. According to A. Raimes, the number of language mistakes decreases by about 20%, even when the teacher’ response includes no explicit correction of mistakes (Raimes, 1983).

Pupils’ rewriting should be followed by teacher’s re-reading. You can motivate your pupils to rewrite by seeing the first version as provisional, and assessing the revised version. In this way the pupils will carefully read and incorporate your comments and new assignments in their final version. Another reason to ask for rewriting and not spending a long time on first draft correction is that you can misread your pupils’ intentions. Successful communication also means that pupils say in writing what they mean. To make sure that their ideas are communicated accurately, you have to ask them to rewrite and edit their own texts, assisting them with questions and comments on the parts of the text that you find obscure.

Summary Although recent ELT methodology considers the clarity and effectiveness of the

content of a piece of writing to be more important than language correctness, writing is still regarded by some teachers as transcribed speech. They tend to consider the quality of writing in relation to the frequency and gravity of linguistic errors. They neglect composition, assuming that once the language has been mastered, the ability to use the same language for written communication will follow naturally.

However, writing has a dual purpose: as a means (or a support skill) and as an end (or a communicative skill). Generally speaking, you will find two types of writing activities in the English textbooks: those designed to develop the writing skills per se (writing as an end/communicative skill) and those which provide opportunity of practising English (writing as a means/support skill).

The kind of feedback that teachers give on writing is largely a matter of experience. Generally speaking, the red pencil is intimidating and discouraging, when teachers believe that form (grammar and spelling) is everything. Alternative ways of determining re-writing can be found, such as peer-correction and self-correction.

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Further Reading Harmer, J. 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching. 3rd ed., Longman Huerta-Macías, Ana. “Alternative Assessment: Responses to Commonly Asked

Questions” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Nunan, D. 1991. Language Teaching Methodology. A textbook for teachers. Prentice Hall Peňaflorida, Andreea H., Nontraditional Forms of Assessment and Response to Student Writing in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP. Reppen, Randi. “A Genre-Based Approach to Content Writing Instruction” in Richards, Jack

C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Richards, Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP. Scrivener, Jim. 2009. Learning Teaching, Macmillan Books for Teachers Seow, Anthony, “The Writing Process and Process Writing” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. pp. 315 – 320. Cambridge: CUP.

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Catedra de Limba şi literatura engleză EFL Methodology for English students, year II

TEACHING VOCABULARY

For many people, the question “What is vocabulary?” has a simple answer: “Words”. But which words? Are “am”, “is”, “was”, “had” and “of” vocabulary items, or are they something else? On the other hand, we may wish to say that such words as “am”, “is”, “was”, “has”, etc. are part of our vocabulary in a general sense. What is a word? Is “put up with” (“tolerate”) one word or three? It has three parts, certainly, but only one meaning. “Beat”, on the other hand, has several meanings; is it one word or more? One way of avoiding this dilemma is to refer to items of vocabulary with a single meaning as “lexical items”, whether they consist of one word or more. The term “word” can then be reserved for a group of letters preceded and followed by a space. However, the word may include the base form with its inflections and derivatives (e.g. makes, made, making, maker-s). Since the meanings of these different forms of the word are closely related, it is assumed that little effort is needed to learn them.

However, it should be remembered that vocabulary learning is more than the study of individual words. A significant amount of the English language is made up of lexical phrases which range from lexical verbs to longer expressions, and routines. Because these can often be learned as single units, the same principles of learning apply to them as to individual words. The notion of a word has been ‘broadened’ to include such lexical phrases and routines, and it has been suggested that in the initial stages of learning these play a primary role in communication and acquisition. In addition, access to lexical corpora has made it possible for applied linguists to identify common patterns of collocation, word formation, metaphor, and lexical phrases that are part of a speaker’s lexical competence.

Whatever linguistic distinctions we choose to make, however, it is clear that our pupils need to know both lexical items and grammar words in order to communicate in English. Vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how learners speak, listen, read and write. Without an extensive vocabulary and strategies for acquiring new vocabulary, learners often achieve less than their potential and may be discouraged from making use of language learning opportunities around them such as listening to the radio, listening to native speakers, using the language in different contexts, reading, or watching television.

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• explain what vocabulary is and what role it plays in the system of a language and its culture

• explain how vocabulary itself is systematic • set up, apply and monitor a variety of interactive classroom tasks for developing

vocabulary • offer a theoretical justification for each of these tasks • explain and illustrate using a dictionary and the phonemic symbols • integrate vocabulary activities with the development of one or more of the four

skills • have reconsidered and improved your own repertoire of skills in the area of

language teaching • assess the learning outcomes of classroom vocabulary activities • have some ideas for developing pupil autonomy in vocabulary learning. Key Concepts: comprehension vs. production, active vs. passive vocabulary,

cognates, vocabulary acquisition vs. learning, vocabulary sets, incidental, intentional and independent learning of vocabulary.

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Knowing a word To know a word is to know much more than just its stress, its spelling and its most

commonly accepted meaning. It is to know its grammar: is it a verb? an adjective? a noun? Is it followed by a gerund, an infinitive or a clause? What is its range of meaning (e.g. head of a school, head of a bed, etc.)? its diversity of meaning (e.g. light weight; light literature, light food; light: illuminate; lamp, etc.)? its collocations (e.g. keen on; interested in; to gamble on; raw materials; heavy traffic), and its connotations (e.g. dustman vs. refuse collector; chairman vs. chairperson; trendy vs. fashionable)?

Many teachers advise their pupils to write “new words” in special vocabulary notebooks. However, these are of little practical use unless some indication is given of how the new lexical item is used. Words do not have meaning in isolation. If we see the single word “beat”, for instance, we have no way of knowing whether it is a noun meaning “rhythm”, an area for which a policeman is responsible, or a verb meaning “defeat”. Similarly, “round” may refer to the shape of something, but it is also another name for a bullet, a type of song and a number of drinks. Words take their meaning from the context in which they occur. It therefore makes sense to teach new vocabulary as part of a sentence or utterance that makes the meaning clear.

Harmer (1991: 158) suggests that, in order to know a vocabulary item, we must be aware of its:

• Meaning: many words have more than one meaning. For the noun “face”, for instance, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English lists fourteen meanings.

• Use: a word may carry information about register or style. Both “Good morning” and “Hi” are greetings, but they indicate different levels of formality. A word’s meaning can also be extended in metaphor and idiom.

• Formation: words change shape according to the affixes attached to them, and also according to their function, e.g.: lie, liar, lying, lied.

• Grammar: nouns may be countable, uncountable; adjectives and adverbs may have degrees of comparison, etc.

In addition to all this, as Penny Ur suggests (1996: 61, ff) we need to know what a lexical item sounds like and what it looks like: that is its pronunciation and spelling. We also need to be aware of its denotation, connotation and collocations.

Denotation and connotation both reflect the meaning of an item. However, while denotation refers to the usual dictionary definition, connotation is concerned with socio-cultural factors, with the feelings associated with the item. For example, “thin” and “slim” have roughly the same denotative meaning: they are the opposite of “fat”. But when used to describe people, “slim” has favourable connotations while “thin” is unflattering. Learners need to appreciate this kind of differences.

Certain words tend to go together. We “make coffee”, we “make the beds”, but we “do the dishes” and “the shopping” We speak of “sweet” and “sour taste”, but the opposite of “sweet wine” is “dry wine”. We say that “wine” collocates with “dry”, that “coffee” collocates with “make” and that “the shopping” collocates with “do”. Pupils therefore need to learn not only new items of vocabulary but also the words and phrases that collocate with these items. The collocations of a word are the combinations that it regularly makes with other words.

Coming to know a word is to absorb all the elements of its usage over time. In other words, during the first few encounters with a word the pupils will acquire a ‘rough idea’ of what it means and the way it is used. This rough idea will become more accurate with each new encounter of the word in context.

To conclude, to know a word is to be able to use it accurately in all its possible usages.

There is a fundamental difference between the native speaker’s process and the foreign language learner's process of learning vocabulary. This is to do with the semantic networks that each of them carries in his/her mind. To the native speaker, a new word is simply a new way of referring to something in an already very familiar cultural setting. To our pupil, a new word in

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English is a way of referring to something in an unfamiliar cultural setting. So the pupil tends to incorporate the meaning of the new word into his/her own familiar cultural and semantic system.

The meanings, both semantic and cultural, of the forms of a new language are most readily and precisely learned in the milieu where the language is spoken. Failing this, we need to surround the learner in the classroom with as much authentic speech, writing, aspects of the cultural environment, and contacts with native speakers as possible. Why? Because a language can only be truly and thoroughly absorbed in conjunction with its culture.

To what extent can you aim at accuracy in the use of vocabulary in the classroom?

The importance of vocabulary: comprehension and production How important is vocabulary to the pupil? Scrivener (1994: 73) claims that, as a means

of communication, vocabulary is much more powerful than grammar. Without a substantial stock of vocabulary items the pupil will be unable to communicate much at all. However, frequency counts show us that there is a very rapid drop-off in frequency of occurrence of vocabulary after the most frequent 2,000 to 3,000 high-frequency words of the language.

Here are some points about teaching vocabulary, on which theoreticians are in general agreement:

1. Like grammar, vocabulary can provide an effective vehicle for conveying meaning. 2. Vocabulary for recognition purposes (i.e. passive vocabulary) is acquired in

significantly greater quantities than vocabulary for productive purposes (i.e. active vocabulary). This is true for native speakers and foreign language learners alike.

3. The vocabulary of a language reflects the semantic systems of conceptual meaning that have developed within the culture and history of that language. The semantic systems of English and Romanian will therefore be different. The amount of difference between two languages depends on the degree of divergence between the two cultures. For instance, the semantic systems of Chinese and English will differ far more from those of English and Romanian.

4. Vocabulary in the mother tongue is acquired unconsciously and via active interaction with adults and other children.

5. Vocabulary is stored in the memory in different ways by different learners. Learners’ own strategies for vocabulary acquisition should be encouraged and developed so that they can continue to acquire vocabulary independently of the teacher and the classroom.

Even native speakers can rarely say they ‘know’ the meaning of a word, because there is

often a new use of a new collocation to learn that they haven't encountered before. Receptive (passive) and productive (active) knowledge of vocabulary

Receptive knowledge means being able to recognise one of the aspects of knowledge though reading and listening. Productive knowledge means being able to use it in speaking and writing. Teachers should be selective when deciding which words deserve deeper receptive and/or productive practice, as well as which type of knowledge will be most useful for their learners. In other words, active vocabulary is made up of those words the learners will be expected to use, to produce, and passive vocabulary of those words they will merely have to recognise/comprehend when they hear them or see them in print.

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The distinction between active and passive vocabulary assigns priority to comprehension. Comprehension should precede production. The object of a vocabulary lesson is to enhance the different strategies for comprehension and production. Thus, when considering active and passive vocabulary, three principles are important to bear in mind:

(i) you need to teach any lexical item either for active production or passive recognition.

(ii) the memory processes involved in assimilating passive vocabulary are less demanding than those involved in assimilating active vocabulary.

(iii) pupils can easily learn passive vocabulary independently of both you and the classroom.

As active vocabulary, you may look for high frequency words, and words with wide coverage. Such a high-frequency and wide-coverage word is for example “get”. English native-speaker primary school children are discouraged by their teachers from using “get” because they tend to use it too frequently: I got up, I got washed, I got dressed, I got ready, I got to the bus stop, I got punished, I got ill, etc. This simply shows what a very useful word “get” is, particularly for pupils in the early stages or where ability to communicate is seen as a highly motivating factor.

However, as Harmer warns, the distinction between active and passive vocabulary is not always clear cut, particularly at intermediate levels and above. A word that has been active through constant use may slip back into the passive store if it is not used anymore. On the other hand, a word that pupils may have in their passive store may become active of the situation or context provokes its use (Harmer, 1991: 159).

Consequently, you need to spend more time on active vocabulary, with examples and questions, but to present passive vocabulary briefly and allow pupils to guess the meaning from context where possible. Not all pupils will start guessing automatically, so you need to invest a little time in training this skill.

Vocabulary is only learnt if it is understood. Nothing can be learnt unless it can be incorporated into an existing mental picture of the way things are, a sort of framework of perceptions and associations. Pupils therefore need careful guidance about the meaning of lexical items, and about their grammatical use, before they can ‘place’ them in their internal networks of meaning.

A problem, however, may be one of interference from concepts in Romanian and English that seem to have associations with the target item. This is unavoidable, and has to be countered with clear examples of how the English word is used (or not used) in that context and in comparison with other words.

The vocabulary that pupils encounter will only be assimilated if it has relevance to the messages they want to understand or to the messages they want to convey. Only those lexical items are learnt that are perceived as having personal significance for the pupil. Personal significance can take many forms, e.g. “I need it to understand this text”, “I need it to understand a letter from my English pen-friend”, “I need it to understand the instructions in my grammar book”, etc.

In your own words, try to formulate the classroom implications of

these views of vocabulary. Think of what is taught versus what is learnt, of the pupils’ motivation for learning vocabulary, and of the strategies you may want to use in teaching vocabulary.

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Classroom vocabulary There are some items of vocabulary that need to be learned to a very high degree of

fluency and as quickly as possible. These include numbers, polite formulas, items for controlling language use (for example, to ask someone to repeat, speak more slowly and so on), times and periods of time and quantities. Although it is not always easy to decide which lexical items should be part of the active vocabulary, it is fairly clear that classroom vocabulary is a high priority. By this we do not simply mean the names of classroom furniture, although it is obviously important for the pupils to know and use “desk”, “board”, “wall”, “picture”, “book”, “chalk” as well as “write”, read”, “draw”. Classroom vocabulary includes the key words we use in instructions to the learners. Here are some of the more common ones:

true/false get into pairs/groups tick/cross grid/chart/map/form regular/irregular fill in/cross out/leave out/underline gaps/blanks top/middle/bottom offer/accept/refuse/invite instructions/description/suggestion/opinion

There are many vocabulary items that need to be learned to a very high degree of fluency as quickly as possible. These include not only classroom vocabulary but also numbers, polite formulas, items for controlling language use (ask someone to repeat, speak more slowly), times, and periods of time and quantities.

How much vocabulary?

How much new vocabulary do you think is appropriate for a one-hour lesson in a lower secondary school? Is this more, less, or the same as the textbook you are using expects? Does this apply to all vocabulary, or are some items more difficult to learn than others? If so, which and why?

Opinions vary on the amount of new vocabulary that pupils can be expected to absorb. Suggestions range from five to twelve new items in a one-hour lesson. Many teachers might feel that a number between five and eight would be more reasonable. A great deal depends on the aims of the lesson, the pupils’ level of ability, motivation, aptitude and so on. Nor can we expect that the pupils will remember all the vocabulary they are taught. In fact, they will not remember very much of it unless the items are recycled in later lessons.

Pedagogic considerations

Your decisions about what to teach will be affected by considerations referring to the pupils, the resources and the linguistic components, but also by pedagogic ones, that is by the factors that affect how you teach, and which choice you will make. These considerations are:

• teachability/ learnability You will teach according to the level of your pupils, and to how easy is an item to put

over. Even at low levels, you can teach:

i) international words (e.g. taxi, television, hotel, cinema, weekend) ii) cognates, that is words which are similar in both form and meaning in the two

languages (e.g. the names of many school subjects like chemistry, geography, biology, mathematics, etc., or verbs such as obtain, admire, insult, form, etc.). These are obviously very easy to learn.

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Can you think of any other words of Romanian which are similar to English words in both form and meaning (cognates), and of any others which are ‘false friends’ (similar in form, but not in meaning)?

• extendability Some words allow the use of prefixes and suffixes; others enter various combinations or

include the meaning of other words (their hyponyms):

i) word families: photo –graph, -graphy, -graphic, -grapher. ii) combinable items: hand bag, home work, guitar string iii) ‘cover’ words: (at early levels): seat for chair / stool/ sofa / bench, nice with people /

weather / events, house for house / flat / home / building, etc.

• concrete vs. abstract Those words that show concrete entities are easier to grasp and will be taught before the

more subtle or abstract words, e.g.:

i) beautiful before responsible ii) can’t stand before not keen on iii) Could you? / Yes of course before Would you mind –ing? / Not at all.

• amount (learning load) A rough guide according to level, mood and motivation of the learners is:

maximum 6 for beginners maximum 9 - 10 for intermediate for advanced students, it is up to the students themselves.

• teaching for active for for passive vocabulary is a crucial decision which affects your entire approach. Are the pupils to learn vocabulary in order to recognise it or in order to produce it?

if only to recognise, concentrate on pronunciation, spelling, context and meaning;

if to produce, concentrate on pronunciation, spelling, context, meaning and practice.

• difficulty of concept and pronunciation, etc. will also be factors to consider.

One obvious way of adding to one’s vocabulary store is to search for words in English which are similar to ones in Romanian. Pupils should be encouraged to do this, but they should also be warned to watch out for false friends, that is, words which look or sound similar but which have rather different meanings and uses. For example, the English “library” does not mean the same as the Romanian word “librărie”.

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Match the following ‘false friends’ with their Romanian equivalents. A few Romanian words have no English equivalents in this list!

1. accommodation 2. argument 3. (to) assist 4. commodity 5. conservatory 6. industry 7. interest 8. (to) resume 9. spectacles 10. sympathy 11. vacancy

a. compătimire b. gol, vid; loc liber; răgaz c. a relua, a reîncepe d. spectacol e. ochelari f. vacanţă g. marfă, produs h. cazare, găzduire i. hărnicie j. comoditate k. a ajuta l. discuţie, controversă m. dobîndă n. seră

Teaching vocabulary There are three main approaches to the teaching of vocabulary: incidental learning,

explicit instruction and independent strategy development. Teaching vocabulary means directing the learners’ attention to language items not for

producing or comprehending a particular message, but for gaining knowledge about the item as a part of the language system. This includes focusing on the pronunciation and spelling of words; deliberately mlearning the meanings of words; memorizing collocations, phrases and sentences containign a specific word; and being corrected for incorrect use of a word. Negotiating vocabulary is also a kind od such instruction if it involves discussing the word’s spelling or pronunciation, or giving explanation of its meaning.

Incidental learning (acquisition) Most words in both L1 and a foreign language are probably learned incidentally, through

extensive reading and listening. Learning vocabulary is a gradual process based on many exposures to the word in context. Vocabulary is learnt as it crops up for instance, from a listening or reading text, or during a discussion. The incidental learning of vocabulary requires that teachers provide opportunities for extensive reading and listening. The role of graded (i.e. simplified) readers is to build up the learners’ vocabulary and structures until they can use more authentic materials. Low-proficiency learners can benefit from graded readers because they will be repeatedly exposed to high-frequency vocabulary.

The incidental learning of vocabulary may eventually account for a majority of the advanced learners’ vocabulary; however, intentional learning through instruction contributes significantly to vocabulary development. Explicit instruction is essential for beginning learners whose lack of vocabulary limits their reading or listening, and generally speaking, their ability to communicate.

Explicit instruction

Explicit instruction involves diagnosing the words learners need to know, presenting words for the first time (e.g. before presentation of structures, before elicited dialogues or narratives, before reading or listening activities, or before discussion, games or role-play activities), elaborating word knowledge, and developing fluency with known words. Quite often, explicit instruction involves teaching vocabulary in lexical groups/ sets or fields. Also, translation has a necessary and useful role, although it can hinder learners’ progress if it is used to the exclusion of English-based techniques. Furthermore, translation needs to be followed up with other English-based exercises and learning strategies.

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Vocabulary lists can be an effective way to quickly learn word-pair translations. A more effective way is to use vocabulary cards because learners can control the order in which they study the words. Also, additional information can easily be added to the cards.

When teaching unfamiliar vocabulary, you need to consider the following:

1. learners need to do more than just see the form; they need to hear the pronunciation and practise saying the word aloud. The syllable structure and stress pattern of the word are important because they are two ways in which words are stored in memory.

2. Start by teaching semantically unrelated words. Also avoid teaching words with similar forms and closely related meanings at the same time (e.g. affect and effect). Also, bilingual vocabulary books often simply list words in alphabetical order, increasing the chances of confusing words that start with the same syllable. Likewise, words with similar, opposite, or closely associated (e.g. types of fruit, family members) meanings may interfere with one another if they are studied at the same time.

3. It is more effective to study words regularly over several short sessions than to study them for one or two longer sessions. Repetition and review should take place almost immediately after studying a word for the first time.

4. Teach 5 – 7 words at a time, dividing larger number of words into smaller groups. 5. Associating a visual image with a word helps learners remember the word. 6. A wide variety of L2 information can be added for further elaboration. Newly met

words can be consciously associated with other L2 words that the learner already knows: sentence examples, parts of speech, definitions, and images can be added.

Writers distinguish between the acquisition and the learning of vocabulary. Vocabulary can be acquired or picked up, through exposure to authentic samples of the target language. It may also be learned consciously or deliberately, and this process may depend to a great extent on your presentation and learner techniques. The deliberate learning of vocabulary is successful especially if the words learned are not complicated and if the learning is meaningful. Memory is aided if the pupil is encouraged to make as many cues or ‘memory triggers’ as possible when committing the vocabulary item to memory. These cues can take the form of:

• a visual reminder such as a picture or diagram (the use of colour can be very effective)

• the sound and rhythm of the word (this is why repetition practice is helpful) • the inclusion of the item in a sentence which is bizarre and/or personal • a translation of the item in Romanian. Most importantly, the association of one item with another item aids memory. Pupils will remember best those lexical items in which they have an interest, or which

they can associate with other words, objects, colours and so on. Presenting new vocabulary How do you present new vocabulary items in class? Various techniques are available.

These include:

• definition: a simplified version of a dictionary entry • illustration: a picture or a blackboard drawing • context: using the item in a sentence • mime: acting the meaning • synonym: using a word or phrase with roughly the same meaning • antonym: using a word or phrase with roughly the opposite meaning

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• superordinate: using a more general category, of which the new item is a member / hyponym (e.g. “chair”, “table”, “stool”, “wardrobe”, “sofa “are all hyponyms of the category “furniture”. “Furniture” is the superordinate term.

• translation: often the simplest way to present a new item is to translate it. Which techniques you choose will depend upon circumstances and type of item being

introduced. Concrete items are often best introduced through pictures or translation. Asking the pupils to suggest synonyms and antonyms is a way of extending vocabulary by considering various shades of meaning and of expanding the range of the pupils’ command of English.

Teaching vocabulary using sets

Think of three different ways in which new words can be grouped for learning purposes, and write your suggestions in the space provided below. Look for more ideas as you are reading this section.

The view that vocabulary is in some way systematic has been partly responsible for the idea of teaching vocabulary in lexical sets where this is possible and appropriate. Hence, you may use sets such as:

• types of transport • English money • rooms in a house • professions • services • weather, etc. or sets such as:

• degrees of fear (e.g. anxious / petrified) • ways of walking (e.g. stagger, tiptoe) • degrees of raining (e.g. drizzling / bucketing down) • opposites in food description (e.g. disgusting vs. delicious; savoury vs. sweet), etc. • personal characteristics concerning people (e.g. sociable) There are, however, areas of vocabulary where it might not be appropriate to teach in

sets: 1. where a word has multiple meaning, you would want not to teach all the

meanings of that word at the same time; 2. collocations are by nature ‘one-offs’; 3. connotation: for instance, youths is used to mean something different from young

people; and slim is used to mean something different from skinny. The connotational meaning of words can be taught in contrasting pairs, but other than this they are not systematically teachable;

4. idioms: these are more likely to occur in informal language than in formal language. Idiomatic language includes such commonly used phrases as as well (e.g. He took out an insurance policy as well) and such uncommonly used phrases as between the devil and the deep blue sea. Clearly, we cannot teach idiomatic language systematically; what we must do, however, is systematically select what aspects of it are worth teaching to our pupils.

To summarise, the knowledge that lexis does (to a certain extent) have a system should

help you to make decisions about how to select and organise vocabulary for teaching purposes.

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The basic principle of lexical meaning is that: the meaning of a word is in its use and in its relationship with other words, so, when teaching vocabulary, contexts are better than definitions and network diagrams of lexical relationships are useful too.

Elaboration Knowing an English word means a lot more than just its translated meaning or its

English synonyms. There are various aspects of word knowledge such as knowing related grammatical patterns, affixes, common lexical sets, typical associations, how to use the word receptively and productively, and so on. Expanding the connections between what the learners already know and new information involves elaboration. One way to elaborate is to choose English words from the surrounding context and to explain their connections to the recently learned word. Also, teachers should create opportunities to meet these useful, recently learned words in new contexts and provide new collocations and associations. Exercises that can deepen pupils’ knowledge of words include:

• Sorting lists of words and deciding on the categories; • Making semantic maps with lists either provided by the teacher or generated by

the learners; • Generating derivatives, inflections, synonyms, and antonyms of a word; • Making trees that show the relationships between superordinates, coordinates,

and specific examples; • Identifying or generating associated words; • Combining phrases from several columns; • Matching parts of collocations using two columns; • Completing collocations as a cloze activity; • Playing collocation crossword puzzles or bingo.

Much of what has been written about teaching vocabulary contains the assuption that vocabulary learning should be in context. This assumption is not supported by reasearch and by what successful learners do. Considerable research shows that (Nation, 271):

• Explicit, decontextualised study of vocabulary is an effective way of rapidly increasing learnes’ vocabulary size;

• The learning achieved in this way can lasy for a very long time; • This knowledge can be made available for use; • There are ways that increase the efficiency of learning vocabulary and they include

the use of mnemonic techniques, using vocabulary cards, the spacing and organizing of learning, and the deliberate avoidance of interference among items.

The deliberate learning of vocabulary may contribute directly to word knowledge if the words learned are not complicated and ig the learning is meaningful.

Independent strategy development

This is done through students’ own mini-research and involves practising guessing from context and training learners to use dictionaries when working on texts, projects, etc.

The current concern in teaching vocabulary is to offer a cocktail of techniques. Several writers suggest various mnemonics to aid the memory process. Others advocate grouping lexical items into various categories, associating items with pictures, colours or events, and so on.

Various textbooks provide activity questions encouraging pupils to look at the way words share affixes, how they are arranged in lexical sets or word families, and in phrases. Pupils play with words to increase their language awareness by experimenting with homophones, homonyms, idiom and imagery, collocations and cultural cues.

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Other textbooks offer activities requiring pupils to predict which words they are likely to find in a specified text, or to draw their own pictures as frames for learning and remembering new words. Yet others use pictures to stimulate vocabulary acquisition. (One such activity requires the pupils, in groups, to study six pictures of single items and create a narrative which will include all these items. The stories are then read out to other groups who have to guess what the six pictures were).

Most textbook writers try in one way or another to make vocabulary learning an interactive process, using pair, group or teamwork, competitions and games.

Recent approaches to teaching vocabulary do not totally reject rote learning. This is generally accepted as a valid method of dealing with new lexical items. But it is only one method, and like any other method, not suitable for all learners at all times.

Penny Ur (1996: 65 – 67) shows that lexical items are learnt more easily if: • they have clear, easily comprehensible meanings; • they can be linked to other items though meaning or sound association; • they are taught and reviewed for brief periods in several different parts of the

lesson; • they have personal or emotive significance. Independent strategy development: pupils’ own vocabulary extension As the emphasis on learner independence deepens, you may also think of the amount of

time and number of activities that you spend on learner training in class, aimed at helping your pupils to develop autonomy in vocabulary learning. The skills concerned, once acquired, will enable your pupils to become independent learners of vocabulary outside the classroom. There are a number of ways of fostering learner independence in the area of vocabulary:

• Brainstorming A useful technique is getting pupils into the habit of brainstorming around a topic area

that is being focussed on. This helps them to reactivate known vocabulary and also ‘warm’ them for a particular topic. In class, for example, ask your pupils in groups to note down every item of vocabulary that relates to, say, bedroom. This can work particularly well at later levels and can be made competitive.

The visual element in brainstorming can reinforce learning. The pupils may be given a key word and asked to put it in a box in the middle of a piece of paper. They then think of all the associated words they can. Each of these branches off on a line drawn out from the key word and is written in its own circle. Each word may itself become a minor key word with branches going off it.

If you give them the word “bedroom”, for example, ask them to think first of the large items in a bedroom, then of the small ones, and finally of the things that surround them.

If you were asked to draw the network of associated words for

bedroom, what words would you contribute, and how would you organize them? Draw your meaning network for the word bedroom.

The point of the exercise is that the pupils are creating their own word associations, and the information collected is visually striking and thus they likely to be remembered more easily.

Out of class, they may mentally run through or note down any words they can think of related to, for example, the topic of a film they are about to watch on TV, or of an article they are going to read for homework. It can be done in preparation for a task (e.g. writing about a particular topic; explaining areas of interest or hobbies, etc.)

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• Guessing from context The context offers clues to the meaning of an unknown word. (Is the word a verb? A

noun? An adjective? Does it refer to a being? A thing? A concept? etc.) The same unknown word may occur a number of times in the text, and the variety of contexts in which it occurs, the importance of the word to understanding the text – all these contribute to facilitating or hindering the use of these clues.

However, guessing from context is a complex and often difficult strategy to carry out successfully. To guess from context, learners need to know about 19 out of every 20 words (95%) of a text (Hunt and Beglar, 262), which requires knowing the 3,000 most common words. Even when one knows these words, unless the context is very constrained, which is a relatively rare occurrence, or unless there is a relationship with a known word identifiable on the basis of form and supported by context, there is little chance of guessing the correct meaning. Moreover, because guessing from context fails to direct attention to word form and meaning, relatively little learning occurs.

At least in the early stages of the development of the guessing skill, learenrs have to consciously focus on unknown words, interrupting their normal reading, and systematically drawing on the avauilable clues to work out the unknown word’s meaning. Guessing from context focuses on the particular reference of a word as determined by the context rather than on its underlying meaning. Guessing may also serve to raise consciousness of the word. (Nation, 271)

Although this strategy often may not result in gaining a full understanding of word meaning and form, guessing from context may still contribute to vocabulary learning. Just what is and what is not learned will partly depend on text difficulty as well as learners’ level. More proficient learners can be expected to use this strategy more effectively than low proficiency level learners. Although time-consuming, if regularly practised, this strategy may contribute to deeper word knowledge for advanced learners as long as they pay attention to the word and its context (collocations, associations, related grammatical patterns). To this, we may add raising the learners’ confidence in guessing from context, and making learners sensitive to the range of clues available.

Can you arrange the steps of this strategy from the first to the last? Use numbers from 1 – 5 to arrange the steps in an order that makes sense to you:

• guessing the meaning of the unknown word • checking that the guess is correct • looking at the relationship between the clause containing the

unknown word and surrounding clauses and sentences • finding the part of speech of the unknown word • looking at the immediate context of the unknown word and

simplifying this context if necessary

A dictionary may be consulted to confirm the guess. This strategy is recommended as a class rather than as individual work. It should also be demonstrated by the teacher by circling the unknown word and drawing arrows from other words that give clues to its meaning.

• Pupils find words in the text which mean… This activity can be done in pairs or groups. Deducing meaning from context is a skill

which needs to be practised in class, with emphasis on the contextual clues that can help your pupils deduce meaning (e.g. part of speech, synonyms elsewhere in the text and so on). This is a fairly standard activity in many textbooks nowadays.

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• Dictionary work Bilingual dictionaries have been found to result in vocabulary learning. A bilingual

dictionary may be much more likely to help lower-proficiency learners in reading comprehension because their lack of vocabulary can be a significant factor in their inability to read.

Bilingual dictionaries have some advantages over monolingual dictionaries, especially if they provide L2 definitions, L2 sentence examples as well as L1 synonyms.

Electronic dictionaries with multimedia annotations offer a further option, especially when both pictures and text are available for students. (See CD-ROM dictionaries published by Collins COBUILD, Longman, and Oxford).

Training in the use of dictionaries is essential. In addition to learning the symbols and what information a dictionary can and cannot offer, learners may need extra practice for words with many entries. Furthermore, learners need to be taught to use all the information in an entry before making conclusions about the meaning of a word. The learners’ attention should also be directed toward the value of sentence examples which provide collocational, grammatical and pragmatic information about words. Finally, the teacher should emphasise the importance of checking a word’s original context carefully and comparing this to the entry chosen, because context determines which sense of a word is being used.

Pupils must be trained in this and there are such exercises in many textbooks. Once the pupils have acquired this skill, dictionaries can lend themselves to a number of useful classroom activities:

Can you remember any classroom activity that involves the use of the dictionary?

A lot has been said about the use of dictionaries. While all EFL teachers will agree that a dictionary, properly used, is a valuable tool for the language learner, it is also recognised that there are potential problems. Sensible use of a good dictionary can lead to learner autonomy; that is, the learner will be able to continue learning outside the classroom. Over-reliance on the dictionary, on the other hand, can slow down the learning process. The meanings of many words can be guessed form the context in which they occur, and if pupils automatically reach for the dictionary every time they come across a new word, they are denying themselves genuine learning opportunities.

Dictionary work is helped if pupils are familiar with the names of the parts of speech and their dictionary abbreviations, as this allows them to become immediately familiar with the new word’s function in an utterance.

The dictionaries themselves vary in their value to the learner. At one end of the scale are the small bilingual dictionaries which provide one-word Romanian equivalents. As the meaning of a word tends to change according to the context in which it is used, the chances of getting the wrong meaning with this type of dictionary are fairly high. At the other end of the scale, we find dictionaries where the definition of the word is written in language too complex for the pupil to understand. It is probably better to choose a dictionary specially produced for pupils, which recognises this problem and tries to simplify its definitions. In this type of dictionary, definitions are not reduced to note form: they usually consist of a full sentence showing how a lexical item is used in a particular situation or for a particular purpose.

By facilitating the pupils’ use of dictionaries and other skills concerning vocabulary, you are helping them become more independent and more in control of their own learning outside the classroom.

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• Use of the phonetic script Another element that most English–English and English– Romanian dictionaries offer is

the phonetic script / transcription of the words. You may think that asking your pupils to learn the International Phonetics Association (IPA) symbols is asking too much. As with any aspect of language teaching, there are arguments both for and against this point of view. Here are the reasons why some attempt to introduce the IPA system should be made: If knowing a word means, among other things, knowing how to pronounce it acceptably, then the ability to transcribe it in phonemic symbols is obviously a valuable teaching/learning aid. The phonemic transcription avoids the perils of English spelling, as here one symbol equals one sound.

• Although a symbol chart looks rather frightening at first glance, it is really quite easy to learn the phonemes of English. There are only 44 of them, and half of these are the normal English letters, with others very close.

• Knowledge of the IPA symbols is extremely helpful to dictionary work. Problems with awkward words such as cough and bough disappear if the learner can discover in a dictionary that cough is pronounced /k℘f/ and bough /bau/.

It is worth mentioning that, if the phonetic script is taught imaginatively, pupils enjoy it. Many see it as a secret code they can use for their messages and become quite proud of their skill once they have learnt the symbols.

An ability with the phonetic script helps to give you and your pupils a knowledge of what happens generally to sounds as they move from their decontextualised form to their contextualised form. This knowledge will help you to appreciate the difficulties your pupils face, especially in listening. This will benefit the preparation of your lessons and the anticipation of the difficulties that your pupils are up against. Teaching and practising the phonetic script with pupils will also facilitate knowledge of the most obvious phonetic differences between Romanian and English, which will help you in anticipating and dealing with errors (both reception errors and production errors) in the classroom.

• Awareness of the role played by prefixes and suffixes The majority of words in English come from French, Latin, or Greek and the majority of

these have word parts, particularly prefixes and suffixes. Knowledge of these word parts can be used to improve the learning of many words through relating unknown word forms and meanings to known word parts. This is similar to the effect of mnemonic devices on vocabulary learning. This can help your pupils to expand their vocabulary store. You can ask pupils, in groups, to think of as many words as they can which end in –ship but have nothing to do with water, and then write sentences showing how each word is used. A group scores one point for each word none of the other groups has thought of, plus one point for each word used correctly in a sentence.

The effect of such learning is to add to explicit knowledge. This will contribute to implicit knowledge receptively because it is a very strong form of consciousness-raising, and productively through the deliberate production of meaning-focused output.

Developing fluency with known vocabulary Fluency-building activities recycle already known words in familiar grammatical or

organizational patterns so that learners can focus on recognizing or using words without hesitation.

According to Nation, the following learning conditions favour the development of fluency (Nation, p. 270):

• The demands of the task are within the experience of the learners; that is, the learners are working with known language items, familiar ideas, and familiar tasks. Fluency activities should not involve unfamiliar vocabulary.

• The learners’ focus is on the message;

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• The learners are encouraged to reach a higher level of performance, through the use of repetition, time pressure, and planning and preparation.

Fluency partly depends on developing sight vocabulary (receptive vocabulary) through extensive reading and studying high-frequency vocabulary. Fluency exercises include timed and paced readings. In timed readings, learners may try to increase their speed by sliding a card or a piece of paper down the page to increase their speed while attempting to comprehend about 80% of a passage. Also, learners need to be given practice in looking at groups or words rather than each individual word when reading. Teachers can ask learners to practice timed reading on passage that have already been read.

In paced readings, the teacher determines the time and pushes the learners to read faster. One type of paced reading is the “reading sprint” in which learners read their pleasure-reading book for 5 minutes and count the number of pages they have read. Then they try to read the same number of pages while the time they read decreases from 5 minutes to 4 to 3 to 2 minutes for each sprint. Finally they read for five minutes at a relaxed pace and count the number of pages they have finished.

• Use of games Puzzles always entertain, and word puzzles develop vocabulary at the same time. Tell

your pupils you are going to get from “sick” to “well” by changing one letter at a time so that each new formation is an acceptable word. Demonstrate as follows: “sick” – “silk” – “sill” – “sell” – “well”. Then ask the pupils in pairs to get from “cold” to “warm” in the same way (“cold” – “cord” – “word” – “worm” – “warm”).

Ask your pupils to find hidden words in a text. For example, ask them to find six capital cities in the following text. The answers are highlighted here for easy reference, but would not be in the pupils’ text, of course.

I needed to call on Donald last week and found the trip a risky one. I went on my horse and had a mad ride along the street charging at hens and cocks, boys and girls. ‘Go slowly’, I shouted. Was I brave? A hero? Me? Never.

Young learners also enjoy taking words to pieces and making new words out of the letters. This is an activity which is simple to prepare and mark, can be made into a competition, and provides an opportunity for them to experiment and be creative with language in group interaction. The word “tempo”, for example, yields “met”, “pot”, “toe”, “mop”, “mope” “mote”, “me”, “pet”, “top” and “poem”.

These are just a few ideas for developing vocabulary. Many others can be found in

methodology books and textbooks. What you need to do is to develop a clear programme for the systematic development of your pupils’ vocabulary, as vocabulary acquisition is much too important to be left to chance.

Bear in mind, however, that vocabulary should be taught: • regularly • in balance with all the other aims of your syllabus • whenever the pupils express a desire to know. It is the teachers’ job to establish priorities and make choices. Vocabulary teaching cannot account for all the words our pupils actually learn. Some

authors hypothesized that successful learners use a guessing approach: as readers or listeners, they look for clues in the text and build a mental representation of what they think the text says. This has been called the top-down model of reading and listening. In contrast to this approach, the more traditional approaches view reading and listening as decoding of letters into sounds and ultimately meaning (the bottom-up approach). More recent theories claim that both approaches are important.

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Typically, pupils are poor decoders (readers and listeners) since their vocabulary is poor. At the same time, they are already literate in Romanian, and are familiar with top-down processing. When a pupil’s vocabulary is poor, this needs to make big efforts to recognize vocabulary. Her/his short-term memory is so taxed that s/he cannot take full advantage of the context. However, a good reader or listener, who has sufficient command of the language, recognizes words automatically or in context.

Summary

This lecture explores aspects of the lexicon and vocabulary teaching within the framework of the communicative approach to language pedagogy. It does not claim to say all there is to say about vocabulary or vocabulary teaching. In spite of the long history that vocabulary teaching has, applied linguists and language teachers are paying now renewed attention to it after decades of relative neglect. There is still much work to be done and many perspectives to be considered and tried in the classroom. In this unit, we looked at the difference between active and passive vocabulary and at the pedagogic considerations that you need to take into account when dealing with vocabulary. We described many techniques for the teaching of vocabulary, discussing their advantages and disadvantages, including both new and old activities.

In more traditional textbooks, new vocabulary appears as columns of words to be learned, with the Romanian translation provided. Often there is no general pattern to the words: it is simply a matter of rote learning. This does not mean that rote learning is to be condemned. For many pupils it is a valuable learning tool. We do however need to be aware of its limitations and introduce a variety of techniques in our teaching.

As learners’ vocabulary expands in size and depth, extensive reading and independent strategies may be increasingly emphasised. Extensive reading and listening, translation, elaboration, fluency activities, guessing from context, and using dictionaries all have a role to play in systematically developing the learners’ vocabulary knowledge.

The vocabulary component of a course can be largely indistinguishable from the listening, speaking, reading and writing parts of the language programme. The main difference lies in the deliberate, language-focused learning and in the deliberate planning and manipulation of the written input to listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities to provide optimal conditions for vocabulary growth.

Further Reading

Carter, R. and McCarthy M., 1988, Vocabulary and Language Teaching, Longman, pp. 39-60, 62-83, 97-111, 181-201

Hunt, Alan and Beglar, David. “Current research and Practice in Teaching Vocabulary” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP, pp. 258 – 266. Nation, P., “Best Practice in Vocabulary Teaching and Learning” in Richards, Jack C. and

Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP, pp. 267 – 272.

Ur, P., 1996, A Course in Language Teaching, CUP, pp. 60-69

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Catedra de Limba si Literatura engleza EFL Methodology for English majors year II

TEACHING PRONUNCIATION The pronunciation (also known as phonology) of English tends to be neglected by EFL

teachers and this seems to be due to anxiety and, sometimes, ignorance, although pronunciation is a component of any lesson. It includes the role of individual sounds and sound segments as well as suprasegmental features such as stress, rhythm, and intonation. Many teachers, however, are unsure as to the status of pronunciation and whether or how it should receive systematic attention in a language class. Some even think that the more subtle aspects of pronunciation, such as rhythm and intonation may be simply picked up through exposure.

The fact that few second language learners are able to speak a foreign language without showing evidence of the transfer of pronunciation features of their native language is evidence of the difficulty of acquiring native-like pronunciation, but also of the goals learners set for themselves. Many learners do not mind showing evidence of their native language since it is sometimes viewed as a part of their cultural identity.

It is impossible to teach English without giving some attention to pronunciation. In the process of teaching (and learning) English you need ears trained to diagnose mistakes and vocal organs under control to produce accurate English sounds. Every word, every syllable, every sound uttered by the teacher may contribute to the pupils’ learning of pronunciation. However, pupils learn how to pronounce English not only when the teacher is deliberately and overtly concentrating on pronunciation. They may learn pronunciation when you believe you are putting the weight of your teaching on grammar or vocabulary, or when you are just socialising with them.

In this unit you are introduced to the type of awareness and knowledge about pronunciation that an EFL teacher needs, and also to some of the terms and concepts used to talk about it.

Pronunciation includes two systems: the phonemic system (the sounds) and the intonation system. Stress and rhythm are normally seen as part of the intonation system. However, in this unit, they will be dealt with as a separate component. Therefore, this unit deals with the sounds of the language (or phonology), stress and rhythm, and intonation.

Key Concepts: sounds, stress and rhythm and intonation, native models and

accents, international English, the functions of intonation, elision, assimilation, weakening, intrusion, catenation, minimal pairs, phonetic notation/alphabet, exhortation

By the end of this unit you will be able to:

• operate with a basic working knowledge of English sounds, stress, rhythm and intonation;

• identify the ways in which these systems operate in speech; • identify the problems your pupils are having in assimilating these systems, both

from the receptive and productive points of view; • apply the practical guidance and the techniques of teaching pronunciation. Quite a lot of things are known about the sounds of English and about how these work

as a system. Something is known about the components of intonation (i.e. pitch height, tones and voice range), but only a little is known about how these work together as a system. In fact, intonation was not really seen as a system until quite recently. Discourse analysts put forward a theory that intonation, among various functions that it plays in language use (e.g. in helping to convey attitude), also has the function of structuring discourse. Intonation can be

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seen as a system for signalling openings, closings, contrasts, emphases, parentheses, backward linking, forward linking, and so on.

In order to teach pronunciation, you need to be able to analyse it both from a theoretical point of view and from the point of view of your pupils’ difficulties. You need to be aware of its characteristics, so that you can make it manageable for your pupils. In other words, you need to have enough knowledge and awareness of pronunciation to make reasoned and flexible decisions in the classroom.

Pronunciation and effective communication

To communicate effectively, English learners need to become proficient in using semantic, syntactic, lexical, morphological and phonological elements of the language. They also need to understand its pragmatic use. Intelligibility entails more than simply using appropriate lexical items and correct word order. Words stressed incorrectly or with inappropriate pitch or intonation will impede the learner in getting the intended message across. The incorporation of a phonological component into the English lessons is based on the following assumptions about oral communication (after Herbert, 188 – 9):

1. Speaking involves two or more people and it is not the oral expression of written language.

2. Spoken language imparts referential and affective meaning. When we speak we reveal our interest and attitudes toward the topic being discussed and toward the people we are speaking with. These messages are largely conveyed through the prosodic features of language: stress and rhythm, intonation, pitch variation and volume. This is why pronunciation should be learned in context.

3. Native-like speech takes time and is not always a realistic goal. It is probably better to focus on the global aspects of oral production than on accuracy, except in cases where inadvertent mispronunciations will cause embarrassment. Intelligibility will not always be affected if a learner substitutes one phoneme for another; however, saying a statement with a rising intonation contour when the intent is to impart information, will make the listener encounter difficulty in understanding meaning.

4. Not all difficulties will be at the level of production; some will be associated with perception.

5. Learners need to have some understanding of the role phonology plays in language learning, as the role phonology plays is not so obvious and needs to be explained. With low level students the teacher needs to use simplified terminology, graphic and gestural representations.

Pronunciation and students’ age The majority of Romanian pupils can imitate almost all of the sound features of

English with reasonable accuracy. This is explained by the fact that the degree of overlap between Romanian and English is large, and the majority of sounds are familiar and do not present any learning difficulty. Thus the pupils’ powers of mimicry can be concentrated on less than the whole phonetic and phonological system. Most sound features can be learnt by mimicry alone, as learners have a pronunciation-learning ability independent of any need for instruction.

The differences between the majority of learners of a given age in terms of their

phonetic abilities are relatively small. Generally speaking, the younger the learners, the less variation there is in language ability. The most important language variables affecting one’s pronunciation include:

• willingness to learn;

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• possession of a ‘good ear’ (i.e. good auditory discrimination); • instinctive ability to mimic (i.e. good control of speech mechanisms and good

monitoring of one’s own performance); • speed of learning; • previous experience of foreign languages; • changes brought about by age. The native model Any foreign language taught in school follows a native-speaker model. The pupils (and

you) are given for imitation the English spoken by a native speaker. In the case of English, the choice of the native-speaker model is not very easy, as there are more than one models. If for dialect the choice is easier – standard English – in the case of accent, you need to answer such questions as: How do I want my pupils to speak English: British-ly, American-ly, Australian-ly, Canadian-ly, or internationally?

Today, the choice of the model has to be made in full awareness of the status of English as the leading language in international communication.

• How does one speak English internationally? People coming from different cultures and speaking in different manners can

communicate in English if they know how to seek a common ground and adapt their way of speaking English. Finding a common ground requires their adaptation to the situation and fellow participants, and responsibility to adapt. Native English speakers must also adapt in such situations.

Adaptation requires the speaker’s willingness to temporarily modify one’s cultural identity, and an awareness of what is involved in cross-cultural communication and communicative skills. Not all situations call for the same degree of adaptation. A speaker of English as a foreign language, who feels secure as an English speaker, will be flexible enough to speak English internationally.

How can you ensure that your pupils will acquire a tolerant

attitude and that they will be sensitive to various manners of speaking English?

What accent is desirable? In spite of the impression of monolithic character, the English language displays many

variation phenomena: from various accents, to different lexical items used to name similar entities, to slightly different grammatical structures. What is a desirable target accent for foreign learners? Is it Received Pronunciation (RP), BBC English, Oxford English, the Queen’s English, a “posh accent”, a “nice voice”, or “speaking without an accent”?

In favour of Received Pronunciation would be many of the teaching materials on the market, and the fact that this accent is perceived in many places as regionless. However, it is perceived as a standard accent only in England, and as “English” (that is, foreign) in Scotland, for instance. The status and prestige of RP have declined lately, and the strongest evidence for this is that BBC has permitted announcers to use British regional accents.

Should we adopt “General American” then? This is a strong rival to Received Pronunciation as a model accent. It the most widespread member of a set of American accents, an educated regional accent used mainly in the eastern American states.

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Our learners are frequently exposed to American usage via television, the cinema and other aspects of the mass media, and many children pick up an American accent from watching cartoons. But the choice between a British or an American accent remains an open question, and most often it is the individual choice of each learner.

The native model and the teacher’s English From the perspective of pronunciation, especially, non-native EFL teachers are in a

vulnerable position. They may not feel comfortable when speaking English in front of the class, as their pupils may be aware that occasional mistakes occur in their speech. Moreover, the pupils, who are accustomed to the sound of English from taped native speakers, may question their pronunciation.

As non-native EFL teachers, we are placed in a position of insecurity. Some of us may seek defence and ways of minimising this threat. The traditional grammar - translation activities can be the expression of such a defence. Using such activities, you do not have to speak English, and thus you minimise the risk of making mistakes in front of the pupils. Given the reliance on strict grammar rules, you are in a position of being correct; a grammar book is at your hand to support your knowledge. Translation, an ability you have acquired after much practice, leaves you unchallenged. Also, by focussing on grammar and translation, questions of content are avoided. Grammar correctness is the target: form is uppermost, content secondary. The risk is that such teachers do not perceive themselves as being speakers of English and their pupils may inherit the same perception.

Can the grammar-translation method prepare the pupils for the use of English for communication? Can it provide the pupils with a perception of English as a living language in its full range of functions, including that of international language?

Reaching native speaker standards may be a futile endeavour, an unattainable goal, both for you and for many of our pupils.Even if you see the native model as a desirable target, the purpose of teaching and learning pronunciation is seldom to attain the perfection of the native model. Your purpose in teaching English pronunciation is limited to attainment of intelligibility. Your English will be as close to the chosen model as you can manage, but it will still remain different from it in some ways. However, this should not create frustration, inferiority complex or demoralisation.

Receptive fluency vs. productive fluency

A fundamental principle of teaching pronunciation is that pupils need to acquire a much greater degree of receptive fluency than productive fluency in their learning of English.

Do you agree with this principle? Why do you think pupils need

more receptive fluency than productive fluency in a foreign language?

The most obvious effect of this principle on your teaching is that you need to spend more time on developing your pupils’ appreciation of sounds, sound sequences, stress and intonation through listening skills activities than through speaking skills activities.

A further implication of the principle is that your pupils need neither aspire to nor achieve perfection in their production of English pronunciation. If they are realistic, they need only attain an approximation of English sounds, and thereby retain something of their foreign accent.

The aim of teaching pronunciation is not to achieve a perfect imitation of a native accent, but to get the learner to pronounce accurately enough to be easily and comfortably

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comprehensible to other competent speakers. ‘Perfect’ accents are difficult if not impossible for most learners to achieve in a foreign language, and not always desirable. Many people – even if often subconsciously – feel they wish to maintain a slight mother-tongue accent as an assertion of personal or ethnic identity. This feeling should be respected.

However, some pupils are concerned to sound like native speakers, and so you need to work on the accurate production of sounds.

The components of pronunciation You do not have to take your pupils systematically through all the components of

pronunciation; you do not have to teach each English vowel and consonant and later rhythm and intonation. Rather, you need to concentrate on some chosen features that cause difficulty.

• Sounds Traditionally, the teaching of English pronunciation was concerned primarily with sound

production. Pupils were encouraged to approximate as far as possible to a native speaker model. In recent years, a concern with fluency rather than accuracy has led to the recognition that perfect pronunciation is not absolutely necessary for a message to be conveyed effectively. Consequently, more attention is paid to intonation, stress and rhythm.

EFL teachers concentrate on the production of sounds only when they identify sources of unintelligibility or confusion. For instance, your pupils may often have a false idea of what a particular sound in English is, based on the sounds of Romanian. The classic example is the confusion Romanian pupils make between [θ] and [s]. They may in fact need training to appreciate the difference. Failure to articulate the difference may make them sound foreign, but is unlikely to create a barrier to communication. Nevertheless, failure to discriminate between ‘think’ and ‘sink’ may create problems.

An even greater problem can be the comprehension of stretches of language in which sounds have changed in connected speech. Therefore, it is useful for you to be able to list and define the sounds of English by writing them down using phonetic notation, and to organise practice in sound discrimination and articulation.

• Rhythm and stress Intelligibility in English depends more on the correct use of stress and rhythm than on

the correct pronunciation of individual sounds. English speech rhythm is characterised by tone units. A tone unit is a word or group of

words that carries one central stressed syllable. Stress is most commonly indicated by a slight rise in intonation. The rhythm of English is, then, mainly a function of its stress patterns; these may also affect such aspects as speed of delivery, volume and the use of pause.

Romanian learners encounter difficulties, as the notion of stress is alien to them. Romanian is a syllable-timed language: each syllable takes up approximately the same amount of time in an utterance. English is a stress-timed language, which has stressed syllables occurring at approximately equal time intervals, irrespective of how many unstressed syllables occur between them.

English teachers who are relatively uninformed about phonetics give little importance to mistakes due to rhythmic inaccuracy. However, a clear understanding of the phonetic aspects of the spoken language is important, not only for a correct evaluation of the pupils’ oral performance, but also for providing them with the most accurate model of the spoken language.

• Intonation The rises and falls in tone make the ‘tune’ of an utterance. Intonation is an important

aspect of the pronunciation of English, deciding differences to meaning or implication.

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Pupils usually perceive their learning in terms of sounds, words, sentences, and do not concentrate on intonation. This results in an oral production that is very monotonous. Moreover, Romanian has a narrower voice-range than English. Hence our pupils may sound unwittingly aggressive or rude when speaking English. Such errors of intonation may cause irritation in listeners, since the intended function is likely to be misinterpreted.

The importance of intonation is crucial especially at beginners’ level, when language production is minimal, and intonation is the best vehicle for social appropriacy. Its importance as a language system cannot be denied. As such, the least we can do is to make pupils aware of it, as we do with grammar. This suggests that making pupils aware, at a very early stage, of the importance and the system of English intonation is desirable. Exposure to the language should be constant and this should lead to an increased ‘sense’ or ‘feel’ for the ‘music‘ of English.

The functions of intonation English intonation carries meaning in subtle and complex ways. It has three functions:

grammatical, attitudinal and discoursal. The grammatical function of intonation denotes or reinforces certain grammatical

patterns. Grammatical function is realised by various intonation contours/patterns/tones. Such contours accompany wh-questions, yes/no questions, statements, question-tags, either/or questions, etc. Thus it is said that a falling pitch change accompanies wh-questions while a fall-rise pitch change accompanies yes/no questions.

Other intonation regularities, connected to attitudes, can also be observed. Such features as the width of voice range and the pitch height at the start of an utterance are considered to be part of the attitudinal function of intonation. For instance, more emotion leads to a wider voice range, and less emotion leads to a narrower voice range. Uncertainty is denoted by fall-rise and indignation by rise-fall changes, respectively.

A third function of intonation was proposed by discourse analysts: the discoursal function. Intonation can be seen as a system for structuring discourse: signalling openings, closings, contrasts, emphases, parentheses, backward linking, forward linking, and so on. It is used to show that the speaker is either referring to something that both speaker and listener know about (because it has been mentioned earlier or is physically present in the setting), or to show that the speaker is proclaiming some new information. A fall-rise pitch change refers the listener to an actual or known thing. A falling pitch change introduces a specific unknown thing.

Intonation can also signify aspect: a fall-rise pitch change can signify that you want to ‘engage’ the listener, that you envisage ‘rapport’, however short-lived the relationship. The fall-rise pitch change has been called the ‘convergent’ pattern, where the falling pitch change has been called the ‘divergent’ pattern. Also, a falling pitch change tends to denote finality, while a fall-rise denotes incompleteness or doubt.

The flow of speech English is unusual among languages for the changes that occur when it is spoken at

normal speed: the individual sounds contained in and between words can often change their character. The main reason for this tendency in connected speech is that English is stress-timed. The rhythm units force sounds to be said together or shortened in order for the regular rhythm of speech to be maintained. For pupils the problem can be difficult, not so much when they learn to produce the language orally, but when they listen to native speakers.

Different sounds, stresses and intonations may affect one another within the flow of speech. For example:

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• The way a sound is articulated is influenced by what other sounds are next to it: e.g. the -ed suffix of the past tense may be pronounced [d], [t] or [id] depending on what comes immediately before.

• Intonation affects how we hear stress. In fact, stress is not usually expressed by saying the stressed syllable louder: it is more often a matter of a raised or lowered tone level, with a slight slowing-down.

• A change in the stress pattern of a word will change its sounds as well: e.g. the word record has the stress on the first syllable when it is a noun, on the second syllable when it is a verb; and this makes a noticeable difference to the sound of the vowels.

Sound changes in the flow of speech

Can you write the following phrases in phonetic script:

roast beef [ ] I asked him [ ] cold weather [ ]

• Elision Elision (the suppression/omission of a sound) occurs frequently at the boundary

between two words, usually when the end of one word and the beginning of the next create a ‘consonant cluster’, e.g.: ‘pounds’ is reduced to [paυnz] and ‘and’ to [ən].

You must analyse model sentences and vocabulary very carefully before teaching them, to give your pupils an accurate model.

• Assimilation Assimilation happens when a sound changes, because it is affected by the sound that

follows it:

What words or phrases can be transcribed like this?

[imput] ……….. [hæf tə] ………. [iŋkəm] ……….. [iŋ gri:s] ……….

• Weakening Prepositions, articles (before consonants), and auxiliary verbs (including modals) tend

to be shorter and softer, and to have the neutral vowel [ə] when they occur in normal speech. It is only when these parts of speech are given particular emphasis or when they are the final word in a sentence that they are found in their strong form:

Should I go? ] Yes, you should. Vowels often get weakened to the schwa [ə] sound or disappear altogether, as in ‘I

wonder if you could…’ [ə w℘ndr if jə kd]. Weakening is the most difficult problem for foreign learners of English, a problem that you need to help them to become aware of and to overcome. You need to teach your pupils first of all, to recognise natural pronunciation, and if possible, to produce it accurately.

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• Intrusion ‘Go away.’ [gəυwəwei] Intrusion happens when an extra sound is introduced to ‘lubricate’ the flow from one

vowel to another. The sound is not indicated in the written form.

• Catenation This happens when a consonant at the end of one word is carried over to connect with

a vowel at the beginning of the next word: He’s out. [hizaυt] cup and saucer [k℘pənsο:sə] Catenation presents problems of aural understanding for pupils because it interferes

with their ability to hear word boundaries. Thus [greiteip] can be either grey tape or great ape.

Intrusion does not seem to pose problems of understanding, but elision, assimilation, weakening and catenation do. Having learned the words and their pronunciation in isolation, your pupils may fail to recognise them when changes take place in connected speech. That is why, it is important that you raise their awarereness of the way sounds, stress and intonation interact within entire utterances to produce easily comprehensible pronunciation. However, most words have a ‘stable’ sound, stress and intonation pattern that can be confidently taught in isolation.

Improving pupils’ pronunciation

Diagnosing pupils’ spoken English The phonological problems you focus on need to be related to the ‘problems’ the

learners are encountering. By collecting data of the learners’ general speaking habits, you can identify individual learner problems and those common to the group. You can collect samples of learners’ speech on cassette or video, although this may be traumatic for the learners. However, you can make written or mental notes of the pupils’ mistakes and devise a diagnostic learner profile with the following headings: clarity, speed, loudness, breathing, fluency, voice, gestural expression, eye gaze, intonation, stree rhythm, consonants and vowels. Firth’s (1987) diagnostic profile can be useful for determining those elements which reflect the needs of the majority of the learners in the class.

A Suprasegmental level General speaking habits 1. Clarity. Is the learner’s speech clear?

Are there instances where there is a breakdown in communication? What are the major factors?

2. Speed. Does the learner speak too quickly? Is her speech unintelligible because she speaks too quickly?

3. Loudness. Does the learner speak too softly? Does the lack of volume affect intelligibility?

4. Breathing. Does the learner speak with appropriate pauses, breaking each utterance into thought groups?

5. Fluency. Does the learner speak with either long silences between words or too many ‘filled pauses’ (e.g. ‘ah … ummm’)?

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6. Voice. Is there enough variation in pitch? 7. Eye gaze. Does the learner use eye-gaze behaviour appropriate to the context

(e.g., facing a conversational partner or looking at the audience if delivering an oral presentation)?

8. Expressive behaviour. Does the learner overuse gestures? Does the facial expression match the utterance? Intonation

1. Is the learner using appropriate intonation patterns in utterances? Can the learner use intonation contours to signal whether utterances are statements, ;lists, wh-questions or yes/no questions?

2. Is the learner changing pitch at the major stressed words? Stress and rhythm

1. Word-level stress. Does the learner produce the schwa in unstressed syllables? Does the learner use loudness and length to differentiate between stressed and unstressed syllables?

2. Sentence-level stress. Does the learner stress each syllable equally? Is she able to produce appropriate strong and weak stresses? Are lexical words stressed and functional words unstressed? Does the learner place the tonic stress on the appropriate words?

3. Linking. Is the learner linking words appropriately? Are identical consonants linked (e.g. top position)? Are vowels linked (e.g. pay up)? Are consonants linked to vowels (e.g. top of)?

Segmental level Consonants 1. Substitution. Is the learner substituting one phoneme for another? 2. Omission. Is the learner omitting consonants? 3. Articulation. Is the consonant being articulated properly (e.g. is /p/ aspirated word-

initially)? 4. Clusters. Are consonant clusters articulated properly? 5. Linking. Are consonants linked to each other?

Vowels 1. Substitution. Is one vowel being substituted for another? 2. Articulation. Is the learner articulating vowels correctly (e.g. lip rounding)? 3. Length. Do vowels have their appropriate length? 4. Reduction. Are vowels reduced in unstressed syllables? 5. Linking. Are vowels properly linked to other vowels across word boundaries?

After you analyse the data, you can identify the problems common to the majority of learners and you can provide feedback to individual learners. You have to make some decicions concerning what you can achieve in the time you have available, the areas that should be given priority, the source of the problems (perception or production?) and the types of activities that will help the learners improve their oral producation. Probably, with lower level students, the focus should be on improving the learner’s intelligibility, that is the focus should be on the suprasegmental level. Where the articulation of particular phonemes is

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causing ‘problems’, these should be dealt within the context of the word. Activities that help the learner to perceive and produce utterances should be given equal weight.

Pupils’ pronunciation errors Pupils’ errors of pronunciation may derive from various sources:

• Several English sounds do not exist in Romanian. The pupils are not used to forming them and therefore, they tend to substitute the nearest equivalent they know, e.g. [æ] tends to be substituted by by [e].

• Certain sounds do exist in Romanian, but not as separate phonemes. Consequently, the pupils do not perceive them as distinct sounds that make a difference to meaning (e.g. [i] and [i:]).

The pupils have not learnt the stress patterns of the word or group of words, or they

are using a Romanian intonation, which is inappropriate to English. The result is a foreign-sounding accent, and possibly misunderstanding.

Assisting the learning of pronunciation Here are a few teaching techniques that can be used to assist pupils in learning

pronunciation: 1) Checking that the pupils can hear and identify the sounds, intonation, rhythm or

stress, respectively. This can be done by:

• requesting imitation of teacher’s model or recorded model of sounds, words and sentences,

• seeing if pupils can distinguish between minimal pairs (e.g. ship/sheep, man/men, thick/tick, etc.)

• recording of their speech, contrasted with native model (this can turn out to be demoralising!)

• encouraging pupil self-correction through listening to recordings of own speech. While perception of sounds can be done using single words or even syllables, work on

stress and intonation nearly always needs to be based on longer units. 2) Using some explicit exhortation: you give the pupils instructions to initiate and

mimic, to make such and such a sound, without further explanation. Exhortation requires no special training on your part and no special understanding on the part of the pupils. This may involve the use of:

• imitation drills: repetition of sounds, words and sentences • choral repetition of drills • varied repetition of drills (varied speed, volume, mood) • dialogues (using choral work, and varied speed, volume, mood) • learning by heart of sentences, short poems, etc. 3) Systematic explanation and instruction (including details of the structure and

movement of parts of the mouth). For sound formation, for instance, you can use a sketch with a description of the organs of speech, and descriptions of the articulation of sounds in terms of lips, tongue, teeth, a description of stress and rhythm etc.

These can be supplemented by the use of phonetic notation, ear training (i.e. practice in auditory discrimination, see (1) above) and speech training exercises (i.e. practice in making particular sounds, words and sentences, in isolation or in nonsense sequences (see (4) below).

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4) Using special games and exercises for speech training that entail the use of words or sentences to practice particular sounds, sequences of sounds, stress patterns, rhythm, intonation, such as:

• rhymes, jingles • jazz chants • tongue twisters, etc. However, for most aspects of pronunciation a brief explanation is sufficient, followed by

demonstration and an invitation to imitate and practise. Teaching English sounds Very often the problem the pupils have in perceiving sounds is not that they cannot

identify them, but that they cannot distinguish them from other sounds. This may be because the sound is perceived by the pupils to be the same as a Romanian sound, with which they are already familiar. So, for example they may perceive [θ] and [s] or [æ] and [e] as being the same.

• Vowels We learn to produce vowel sounds accurately by developing an ability to hear and

discriminate and then by experimenting until we can match the sound we hear. This is a gradual process of approximation: very often after getting it right for the first time, the pupils get it wrong again and have to keep on trying until they produce the sound accurately. Your job is to provide the accurate model and to encourage and train your pupils, first to hear a sound correctly, and then to produce it correctly. This includes drawing attention to vowel length and lip position.

English has more vowels compared with Romanian. Consequently, Romanian pupils encounter some difficulties in learning the English vowel system. On the other hand, a pupil’s inability to produce vowels correctly is rarely a source of communication breakdowns.

• Diphthongs Diphthongs (two vowels run together) are not difficult to teach. You can break the

sound into its component parts and practice them separately, exaggerating the difference between them. Then you can get the pupils to run them together, emphasising that the first part of the sound receives heavier stress.

• Consonants Teaching consonants is a mixture of providing pupils with the right technical

information (‘bite your bottom lip when saying [f] or [v]’), and of organizing practice activities and careful monitoring of free speech and correction.

Technical information is of little use in learning to produce vowels and diphthongs. The

only way in which pupils manage to produce the right sounds is a trial and error process of approximation to what they perceive to be the right ones. Even if in the case of consonants, technical information is more helpful, this will not enable them to actually hear any difference between sounds, either in their own performance or in other people’s.

Using minimal pairs A minimal pair is a pair of words that are exactly the same, except for one sound, e.g.

bit and beat, cap and cat, etc. The use of such pairs is the basis for teaching pupils to distinguish and perceive the differences.

A procedure for the use of minimal pairs involves three stages of pupil training.

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Can you arrange these three stages in the correct order

according to the objective of each stage? Number them from 1 to 3.

• to perceive the sounds as different • to identify which is which • to produce each of the two sounds

Here is how you can organise work at each of the stages: Stage I. You ask the pupils to indicate when the sound changes in a string such as:

bit, bit, bit, beat, beat, bit, etc. The pupils will have to shout out or show hands when they hear a change.

It is important that the pupils identify the sound not only in isolation, but also in sentences, in both stressed and unstressed positions. You can give them examples such as ‘The ship is old, the sheep is old, the sheep is old’, etc.

Stage II. The simplest way to train the pupils to identify which sound is which is to

write each word of the minimal pair on the board, with a number by the side:

1) bit 2) beat You give the word at random and the pupils shout out which number goes with it.

This exercise should also be done with the sounds in different environments, and with the word in different parts of the sentence.

Stage III. You can say the number or hold up a picture, and the pupils say the word.

This can also be done in groups – with one pupil saying one of the words (in context as well as in isolation) and the others have to identify it by number or by picture. In this variant, you will be monitoring and providing the pupils with feedback on their accuracy and progress.

Using the phonetic notation

Here are some advantages of using the phonetic alphabet/notation/script. Can you think of any disadvantages?

List these after the advantages, in the space provided below. a) It sensitises the pupils to sounds b) It is useful for correction c) It is a valuable study skill d) It is used in textbooks and dictionaries and thus it can

support independent learning e) It may be exploited in the pupils’ notes f) It distracts attention from ordinary letter associations g) It encourages a less teacher-centred attitude h) It helps pronunciation. Disadvantages:

•

• •

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• Why use phonetic alphabet / notation / script? You may wonder whether a knowledge of the phonetic notation is of any practical help

to you in your teaching. Certainly, a knowledge of what happens to sounds in the context of the utterance will help you to appreciate the difficulties your pupils face, especially in listening.

An ability with the phonetic (tran)script helps you in the preparation of lessons and the anticipation of the pupils’ difficulties. Teaching and practising the phonetic script with pupils will also be facilitated. Also, a knowledge of the most characteristic phonetic differences between Romanian and English is helpful, too.

The phonemic notation can be used for three purposes:

• to introduce the sounds of English • to practise the sounds of English (in isolation and in combination) • to teach the phonetic alphabet itself to pupils at various levels of study. • How to use the phonetic notation? First insist that the pupils have a copy of the phonetic alphabet attached to the inside

cover of their exercise book or make sure that there is one in the textbook. This can be consulted individually, in class and outside. Then use it for activities such as:

1. Copying: you select the words which the pupils will look up in a dictionary,

giving them the phonetic spellings. 2. Matching: you give the pupils a list of sound symbols along with a list of

example words containing these sounds. You ask the pupils to match both sets, e.g.: [i:] hat [ai] five [e] too [i] sit [a:] path [ ] cup [o:] saw [u] see [u:] ten [ ] got 3. Sorting: you ask the pupils to categorise a list of example words into two or

more groups, according to the vowel sound they contain, e.g.: [i] or [i:] sit, see, ill, eel, kneel, will, etc. 4. Filling in: you present an example of a phonetic transcription entry, such as

[si:] for sea to illustrate [i:] and then other sets with one of the columns blank, e.g.:

[i:] sea [si:] [i] sit [ ? ], [ ] ? [s n]

Categorising, matching and sorting exercises can be devised for plural noun forms [z],

[s], [iz] and irregular forms, for the -ed termination of the Past Tense Simple form. A number of familiarisation activities can be carried out with the whole class. Here are

a few examples;

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1) Bingo. You write 10 – 15 phonetic symbols on the board, each of which is numbered. You read out some of the items to the class, and the pupils only jot down the corresponding numbers. You check at the end that the class has the correct combination of numbers. This game can be continued in pairs, with the pupils taking it in turns to read out a selection of items to each other.

2) Kim’s game. A number of items are written on the board. The pupils close their eyes while you rub off one of the spellings. When asked to open their eyes, the pupils try to remember what was in the space.

3) The letters of the alphabet. Phonetic information can play a useful role in teaching and learning the letters of the alphabet, if you arrange the letters according to the sounds their names contain:

[ei] [i:] [e] [ai] [u] [u:] [a:] A B F I O Q R H C L Y U J E N W K G S P X T Z V

(after Abbs and Freebairn, Opening Strategies, Longman, 1982, p. 24) 4) Delayed correction of pronunciation. Phonetic notation may also be exploited

when monitoring pair or group work. Rather than interrupting immediately, you can hand the pupils slips of paper afterwards. These indicate the correct pronunciation in the form of a phonetic spelling.

A knowledge of the phonetic alphabet is of great value to the teacher of English. It

provides information and guidance about, as well as access to a potential learning aid. It may suit some pupils’ learning styles providing them with the means of solving some of the difficulties experienced with pronunciation independently.

Teaching strategies for stress, rhythm and intonation Your pupils need both recognition practice and production practice with stress, rhythm

and intonation, so that these become a part of their overall competence in English. This practice can be integrated either with the teaching of grammar, or with the teaching of communication skills, or you may have separate lessons /stages of the lesson on particular areas.

The easiest way for students to practise stress, rhythm and intonation is by repetition. Traditional repetition is often boring to do if the focus is not pronunciation. The same drills can be made interesting and challenging if you ask the pupils to repeat a sentence using a particular stress and intonation pattern. For this practice to be effective, it is important to:

• give a good model of the sentence; saying it at normal speed, making a clear difference between stressed and unstressed syllables, using natural intonation;

• indicate the stress, rhythm and intonation clearly, using gestures; • make sure that the pupils pay attention to stress, rhythm and intonation when they

repeat the sentence. You can use yourself or taped material as the model. Since emulating the voice range

of English may be difficult for your pupils, you may need to exaggerate your own voice range in hope that your pupils repeating it will sound about right. After listening comprehension dialogues, pupils love repeating a selected short extract from the tape.

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Remember to integrate constantly intonation when teaching a new structure, or when doing imitation, substitution drills or communicative drills. For further practice, take advantage of semi-controlled dialogues.

• Rhythm Quite often, teachers tend to unconsciously distort the rhythm of English in order to

make themselves understood by their pupils. They tend to speak so slowly that the sentence stress and rhythm are distorted. When the difference in the duration of stressed and unstressed syllables is lost, they will sound foreign.

As rhythm is superimposed on the utterance, it may be difficult to concentrate on it without also paying attention to other aspects (pronunciation of sounds, word stress, pitch variation, meaning of individual words, the utterance as a whole). In the early stages, you could concentrate on rhythmic patterns with words that do not produce vowel and consonant difficulties. Different pitch variations can be presented on the same utterance for better aural discrimination:

He’s coming tomorrow.

This can be said with a low fall, a high fall, or a rising pitch in the last stressed syllable.

What kinds of sentence are said with a 1) low fall, 2) a high fall, or 3) a rising pitch in the last stressed syllable, respectively?

1) 2) 3)

As for the syllables, these can be replaced with “ti” (for the unstressed) and “TA” (for the stressed). A sentence can sound:

a) . _ . _ . (ti TA ti ‘TA ti) b) _ . . . _ (TA ti ti ti TA)

Stressed syllables are louder than the unstressed ones. The slanted line marks pitch variation. The syllables can also be represented using smaller and bigger dots:

a) • • • ‘• •

b) • • • • • Length, a reliable marker of stress, is a variable that the pupils find easy to control. The

dots and lines give an idea of the difference in length between stressed and unstressed syllables. This is the feature that differentiates most significantly syllable-timed and stress-timed languages. Stressed syllables in English are about three times longer than unstressed syllables.

Pupils can be first asked to discriminate aurally the two rhythmic patterns, which you verbalise with the nonsense syllables ti and TA. A same – different drill or a drill identifying the pattern with (a) or (b) can be used. The pupils then can proceed to imitate the patterns using ti or TA.

A number of words, phrases and sentences are presented which contain the rhythmic patterns. Pupils identify the pattern writing (a) or (b), and then repeat a number of words, phrases and sentences that contain the patterns in question, e.g.:

a) b) We started early. Tennis is a game. We’ll have a picnic. Do it after lunch. A piece of chocolate. Why did you return? He’s just a baby. Susan must be there.

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Can you arrange these phrases and sentences according to the given patterns (a) and (b)?

Peter was with us. Another sandwich. Tell her not to come. Thirty of them left. He’s absent minded. A pound of apples. This morning’s paper. What about a drink? I don’t believe you. It’s time for supper. Don’t be such a fool. She couldn’t help it. Write your answers in the columns (a) and (b) below.

a) b)

………………… …………………. ………………… …………………. ………………… …………………. ………………… …………………. ………………… …………………. ………………… …………………. ………………… …………………..

For Romanian pupils, a good command of English rhythm is imperative. If they succeed in following closely the rhythmic patterns, an accent in certain features of intonation will not hinder intelligibility of their speech. Correct production of rhythmic patterns requires a prior teaching of the recognition of the patterns through adequate ear training. Remember that a pupil who is unable to perceive a phonetic aspect will also be unable to reproduce it in the spoken form, and do not neglect to teach aural discrimination of rhythmic patterns.

• Intonation It is sometimes said that the best techniques for teaching intonation are exaggeration

and exhortation. This means that it is always useful to simplify one’s teaching of intonation and to put a lot of encouragement into the models you give the pupils to repeat. It is also useful to ask them to repeat what you have said or what they heard on the tape, with as much enthusiasm as they can gather.

Here are a few more techniques:

• Recognition and discrimination a) Rise or fall?. Provide the pupils with cards of two different colours, or ask them to

raise their left or right hands, and say or play a series of short utterances. The pupils must signal recognition by holding up the appropriate hand or card, e.g. right hand for rise and left hand for fall.

Don’t forget to give your pupils a model of what you intend them to do, before starting. At higher levels, pupils can hear a continuous dialogue and then describe the

intonation on each line. They can even discuss why it is so. b) Isolated sentences said in different ways. For such sentences, ask the pupils to

determine context and meaning. c) Tone of voice. At low levels, pupils can recognise obvious attitudes (e.g. happy,

angry, bored, etc.); at higher levels, pupils can recognise more subtle attitudes (e.g. annoyed, rude, sarcastic, bossy, etc.)

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• Back chaining One way to help pupils use natural intonation is to practise saying the sentence in

sections, starting with the end of the sentence and gradually working backwards to the beginning, e.g., living here / been living here / have you been living here/ How long have you been living here? This technique is known as back-chaining.

When you think that the pronunciation point has been satisfactorily perceived, and your pupils can produce an acceptable version, the practice stage follows: consolidating and establishing the habits of good pronunciation through exercises that provide repetition and reinforcement.

• Intonation and meaning in context After you set up a situational context, you can sing, hum or whistle some ‘lines of a

dialogue’ (i.e. intonation only). Ask the pupils to assess the meaning of each line. Then ask them to repeat the singing, humming or whistling, building a kind of dialogue without words, and then elicit the possible language of the dialogue. Follow this by practice and acting out.

• Semi-controlled production Pupils respond to cues, such as “Try saying ‘Thank you’, ‘Pardon’, ‘Excuse me’ or

‘Really?’ politely/rudely/impatiently”, etc.

• Free production The real test of learning will take place during free oral production. Most errors will go

uncorrected, but gross errors will have to be fixed. Encourage peer correction.

The teaching of intonation should be integrated into the teaching of structures and functional language, and given equal importance. Teach intonation through situation, and spotlight attitude besides grammar and discourse. Use taped materials, especially dialogues, as often as you can, for both receptive and productive practice. Don’t forget that attitude is best suggested by either attitude cards or by your own facial expressions.

Use hand gestures to show stress and intonation. Use intonation as a way of disguising revision of structure.

Correcting pronunciation On the whole, you give feedback on oral work through speech, and on written work

through writing. Although there are occasional situations where the other way round is possible, these are exceptions.

It is recommended to refrain from correcting mistakes during fluency-oriented speech, and to correct only during accuracy-oriented exercises. Correcting a pupil when this is in mid-speech would disturb and discourage more than help. But there are situations when correction is likely to be helpful. When the pupil is obviously uneasy or ‘floundering’, no correction or help can be demoralising. In such situations, supportive intervention can help.

Conversely, even where the emphasis is on getting the language right, you may not always correct: in a grammar exercise, if the pupil has contributed an interesting or personal piece of information that does not use the target form, or when s/he has got most of an item right, you may prefer not to draw attention to a relatively trivial mistake.

Techniques of oral correction Oral corrections are usually provided directly by you. They may also be elicited from

the pupil who made the mistake in the first place, or by another member of the class. Corrections may or may not include a clarification of why the mistake was made, and may or may not require a re-production of the acceptable form by the pupil. Here are several techniques used in correcting oral mistakes, in general. They can be used in correcting pronunciation, too:

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• You do not react at all. • You indicate there is a mistake, but do not provide any further information about

what is wrong. • You say what is wrong and provide a model of the acceptable version.

Can you add any other techniques to this list?

Tips for correcting pronunciation

• You can correct pronunciation by writing the phonetic form on the blackboard; this is a more learner-centred approach than if you correct pronunciation orally, by giving a model.

• The pupils may also be able to write the phonetic notation on the board for correction purposes (some pupils respond with enthusiasm to this type of activity).

• A special area of the blackboard can be set aside for pronunciation work. • Exercises on the blackboard are not rubbed off until the end of the lesson. • A different colour chalk can be reserved for this end.

Summary

Although pronunciation is not always taught in an overt, explicit way, many pupils seem to acquire an acceptable pronunciation in school. However, this should not make us forget the benefits of teaching pronunciation in our lessons. The teaching of pronunciation makes the pupils aware of different sounds and sound features and this will improve both their speaking and their listening skills. Concentrating on pronunciation makes pupils aware of sounds, stress, rhythm and intonation, and of various accents. All these give pupils information about spoken English and help them achieve better comprehension of the spoken language and intelligibility in speaking.

Further Reading Bradford, Barbara, 1988, Intonation in Context CUP Harmer, Jeremy. 2001, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman, Chapter 2,

pp. 28 – 33 Haycraft, Brita, 1975, The Teaching of Pronunciation, Longman Herbert, Julie “PracTESOL: “t’s Not What You Say, but How You Say It!” in Richards, Jack C.

and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.

Cambridge: CUP. Jones Rodney H. “Beyond ‘Listen and Repeat’: Pronunciation Teaching Materials and

Theories of Second Language Acquisition” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002.

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Catedra de Limba si Literatura engleza EFL Methodology

LINGUISTIC AND COMMUNICATIVE MEANING, AND THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR

As with other aspects of language teaching, the importance given to the teaching of

grammar depends on the teaching / learning circumstances and the purpose of the course. Over the years, the importance of teaching grammar has also depended on the changing approaches and methods teachers used.

Krashen (1982) argues that formal instruction in grammar does not contribute to the development of ‘acquired’ knowledge (knowledge needed to participate in authentic communication). Prabhu (1987) shows that classroom learners can acquire grammar naturalistically by participating in meaning focused-tasks. Ellis (2002) argues that grammar teaching does aid foreign language acquisition, and that formal grammar teaching has a delayed rather than instant effect.

After a period in which the explicit teaching of grammar was avoided, the current view appears to be that some grammar is necessary. Although the emphasis is still on language as communication, it is recognised that a certain amount of grammatical knowledge helps many learners to build a basis for further progress. Grammar allows them to find patterns in language which act as guidelines. Therefore, the issue now centres on questions such as ‘Which grammar items do learners need most?’ ‘How do we go about teaching grammar items in the most effective way?’ ‘Are they best taught inductively or deductively?’

In this unit we will explore communicative and linguistic meaning, and the teaching of grammar. By the end of the unit you will be able to:

• explain why an utterance means what it means • say how meaning can be categorized • explain how you can make the learning of grammar manageable for your

learners • set up, apply and monitor a variety of interactive classroom tasks for

developing grammar • offer a theoretical justification for each of these tasks • assess the learning outcomes of classroom grammar activities. Key concepts: intelligibility, factors that interfere with communication,

communicative meaning, linguistic meaning, communicative competence, conventionalised functional exponent, inductive and deductive strategies, consciousness-raising, concept questions, horizontal extensions, correction techniques

Communication, meaning and interference

We use language to mean something with it. When a speaker says something, s/he intends the hearer to understand her/him. When the hearer hears the utterance, s/he sets about interpreting it, and the continuation of the process constitutes a conversation / a communication event / a speech event.

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intended meaning is it expressed adequately? interpreted meaning is it interpreted correctly?

When the intended meaning is not interpreted correctly or when it is not expressed adequately we say that there is interference. If two speakers misunderstand each other, they tend to rectify the situation by a so-called ‘repair’ sequence, e.g.:

A: No, hang on a minute. I’m talking about this week, not next week. B: Oh, I see. That'll be fine then.

If, however, the communication interference occurs between speakers of different languages, the reasons for this interference may be diverse, and of a different nature.

English native speakers can usually tolerate a high degree of inaccuracy of sounds and grammar. This is because many inaccurate sounds or structures, when surrounded by accurate sounds or structures, are intelligible, as they can be inferred from context. The crucial criterion of successful communication in English is then intelligibility. Intelligibility in communication depends on a few criteria:

• the subtlety or complexity of the message that the speaker wants to put across • the extent to which the listener understands the speaker’s language difficulties

– both in production and in reception • the tolerance of the listener to the speaker and/or the speaker’s culture and

language.

Interference can affect both native speakers and foreigners, both their production and their interpretation of the message. This is not to say, however, that every such conversation is loaded with miscommunication. The criteria outlined above apply only to specific instances. These aspects of (mis)communication raise a number of theoretical questions, of which the most important is “What does effective communication depend on?”

This question has practical implications for us: we need to think of what level of subtlety or sophistication our pupils need to achieve in their mastery of English. Depending on our answer to this, we need to make decisions concerning our teaching. On the one hand, we need to provide our pupils with a range of language which is wide enough to enable them to express what they want to say, with a degree of accuracy appropriate to their needs. Also, we need to prepare them to listen with understanding to native English speech in a range of topics and registers appropriate to their needs. Bear in mind, however, that the level of accuracy a pupil needs to achieve will be different from that of another. Similarly, the levels of receptive skill and awareness of socio-cultural conventions will also differ from one pupil to another.

Linguistic and communicative meaning

Compare these two fragments:

1. He’d be a fool if he refused. 2. A: I look like being offered a front-desk job at the bank. B: Yes, and you’d be a fool if you refused.

Which grammatical structure is common to 1 and 2? What variations of meaning can you detect in each of its uses?

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The grammatical structure common to 1 and 2 is the second conditional. Its meaning can be analysed in the following ways:

(1) is a sentence without context. The use of the second conditional here denotes a hypothetical and improbable refusal which is related to an unavoidable consequence, that of being considered a fool.

In (2), the second conditional is contextualised in a communicative exchange. The utterance in which it appears has two layers of meaning: one literal and one actual. The literal meaning is that, given the improbable refusal, the inevitable consequence is to be a fool. In other words, the literal meaning is as for (1). The actual meaning depends on the context, and takes on another dimension of meaning – communicative meaning. The communicative meaning of B’s utterance in (2) is “I advise you strongly to take the job”.

Contextualised utterances, then, have two types of meaning: linguistic / intrinsic meaning and communicative / contextual meaning. Linguistic/intrinsic meaning relates to the essential meaning of each of the structures and lexis which make up the utterance, as if that utterance were decontextualised. Communicative contextual / meaning relates to the message intended by the speaker and understood by the hearer. This meaning is sometimes called function.

Why does an utterance mean what it means? Because when it is produced, the speaker combines a series of linguistic meanings (i.e. structure and lexis) with factors in the context. The final outcome is the communicative meaning of the utterance, in other words, its function. Here are two examples of this process of combination:

Example 1 Forms: Yes, but you’re leaving in May!

Linguistic meanings: Yes: filler but: conjunction, indicating contradiction or contrast you: pronoun, referring to addressee ‘re leaving: present continuous, showing future arranged action in May: preposition + N (specific month)

Note: Stress and intonation indicate referring back to known information.

Context: Setting: at home, a couple is discussing Addressee: partner Previous conversation: the couple has been discussing a visit to one partner’s

parents Previous utterance: Well, how about May?

Communicative meaning/function: Reminding in a slightly exasperated way. Implication: “Stop pretending you’ve forgotten you’re going away.”

Example 2 Forms: Yes, but you’re leaving in May!

Linguistic meanings: same as above. Note: Stress and intonation indicate introduction of new information.

Context: Setting: landlord talking to tenant Addressee: tenant Previous conversation: the landlord has been trying to effect the departure of a

badly behaved tenant Previous utterance: You said I could have a few more days to sort out my affairs.

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In one short sentence, explain what is the communicative meaning/function of the statement “Yes, but you’re leaving in May!” in example (2) above.

The implications of such examples and the description of the way language and context come together to make communication possible are sometimes complex. For us, one very basic implication is that grammatical structures (e.g. tenses, modals, comparatives, etc.) have a central role to play in the communicative process.

We realise that the complexity of the matter is even greater when we remember that there is no one-to-one relationship between form and communicative function. Any grammatical structure or form can be used to express almost any function, given a particular context and appropriate accompanying vocabulary and intonation. Remember, however, that there is a fairly sound and reliable relationship between a form and its linguistic meaning, though there may be several possible linguistic meanings for one form (e.g. the present simple tense, the modal verb may, the word head, etc.). Because this relationship is more-or-less invariable or systematic, the speakers can assume that they share linguistic meanings, and can therefore use these forms in combination with external factors, to create specified messages.

Linguistic meaning Linguistic meaning falls into categories or ‘notions’. Notions include grammatical

categories such as: • pastness • mass and unit • presentness • purpose • futurity • result • duration • number • time relations • motion • possibility • direction, etc.

and lexical categories such as:

• descriptive adjectives and nouns • activity verbs • nouns of place • state verbs • qualitative adjectives and verbs • verbs of process • adverbs of manner • verbs of motion, etc.

As such lists are actually endless, it is important to realise that they are only attempts to categorise a language notionally. They are arbitrary and have been compiled through a combination of intuition, common sense and rational discussion. Such attempts cannot present the final answer to the question “How should the meanings of English be categorised?”

Although notions are one way of categorizing language, they have not become widely used in ELT in the way that functions have. Very few textbooks have been produced based purely on notional categories, many textbooks are functional-notional.

Linguists are in (some) more agreement on the concepts (i.e. linguistic meanings) of the lexical items and the grammatical structures of English. These are of central importance because they are what the learners use to generalise from. For instance, the past tense has the following generalisable form and concept/meaning:

Form: verb + -ed (regular) Meaning: activity/process/state at point of time or over period of time in the past.

Note: The -ed form also has other separate concepts, each of which is

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generalisable in its own way, e.g. its use with I wish... Communicative meaning

Look at the following utterances, all of which are possible responses to the statement by A:

B1: I couldn’t agree more. B2: Yeah. B3: Bloody weather. A: Looks like we’ve had it. B4: Have you got an umbrella? B5: What time’s the next bus back? B6: Hmmm. B7: Oh, you are such a pessimist!

What can we conclude? The meaning of an utterance in context depends on that context.

Communicative meaning is arrived at by adding the linguistic meaning of the components to the contextual factors, a process which native speakers can do in an instant. Native speakers would immediately know that the responses of B (1 – 6) are carrying the message “I agree”, even though each one is different. They would also know that:

• the style/register is appropriate in each context • the attitude is appropriate • the speaker is referring to something in the physical situation that both

interlocutors know about (i.e. grey clouds on the horizon).

In other words, native speakers have communicative competence. By communicative competence, we mean here, a cultural familiarity with all the aspects above. This competence enables the speakers to understand and produce utterances which will be understood across a wide variety of communicative situations.

Conventionalised functional exponents It is said that there are over 10,000 functions in Standard English. However, it is still

not clear what exactly a communicative function includes: does one utterance constitute a function, or can several utterances together constitute a function? Here are eight ways of expressing apology:

Please accept my humble apologies, sir. Sorry. Oh, I am sorry – are you alright? I do apologise. Oh dear, what an idiot I am. My apologies. My fault entirely. Pardon me.

Now it’s your turn to think of several ways of expressing a function. Think of as many ways as you can of expressing surprise, and write them in the space below:

Most functions can be expressed in a variety of ways, depending on the context, the personality of the speaker, the mood of the speaker, etc. The syllabus and the textbooks, which aim to furnish the learner with some immediate functional ability, have to

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select from among this variety. They select those functions that are the most useful to pupils, together with certain ways of expressing those functions. Such ways of expressing functions need to be commonly used and commonly recognised. They are termed “conventionalised functional exponents” or “conventional exponents” because they are considered to be the most generalisable exponents for their particular function.

Conventional exponents are a language teaching device and they provide the basis of most functional textbooks. They can equip pupils with structural patterns which have communicative meaning and which can therefore be used immediately.

Certain functions appear to be related to certain linguistic patterns, not rigidly but commonly enough to be regular. For instance:

Would you like a + NOUN = offer Would you like to + VERB PHRASE = invitation D’you fancy + VERB + -ING = invitation (informal) Excuse me ... please = polite attention getting formula

Conventional exponents represent a shortcut for both the learner and the teacher. We can teach them as conventions, together with their communicative meaning (not their linguistic meaning!), and with information as to their contextual/social appropriacy and the attitude expressed. Some of these conventional exponents often bear little relationship to the original linguistic meaning of the components. For instance, would you like a... is not really a second conditional improbable future.

Teaching meaning

Grammatical structures and lexical items have notional meaning, and functional exponents have functional meaning. The former provide the learners with immediate communicative tools.

What other aspects of language have meanings? What else, besides language, can contribute to the meaning of a message?

•

•

The teaching of an item of language – grammatical structure or lexical item – needs focussing on it in a variety of contexts. If we offer our pupils the opportunity of experiencing language items only in isolated contexts, the danger is that they only see language as a series of separate components. So we need to be aware of what is called the global dimension of meaning, meanings in combination –- in other words, spoken and written discourse.

What is the meaning of discourse made up of? What elements can you mention? Your answer should not exceed 50 words.

The comprehension and expression of meaning in discourse are skills which have to be practised above and beyond the learning of discrete items of language.

Traditionally, EFL teachers insisted on ‘grammatical structures’. Now we also deal with ‘functional structures’, that is, conventional exponents. On the whole, we need to emphasise grammatical meaning for the former type (e.g. tenses, modal verbs, prepositions, comparative and superlative forms, etc.), and communicative meaning for the latter type, e.g.:

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I’m awfully sorry… = apology but + statement = explanation you could always + inf. = suggestion, after initial suggestion is rejected The problem, however, arises when a particular grammatical structure lends itself

to several distinct functions. For instance:

Example Form: The First Conditional: if + clause, subject + will + verb

Linguistic meaning/concept: the condition is assumed as neither likely nor unlikely to happen – 50/50 possibility: If you do that again…, If she gets in early…

Function (i.e. communicative meaning): • threat: If you touch that again I’ll kill you. • warning: If you touch that you’ll burn your hand. • conditional promise: I'll come if I can get the time off work. • bargain: I'll do the washing up if you do the lawn, etc.

The question is if in cases like this we should think of linguistic or communicative meaning (i.e. concept or function) first. The common answer to this question is that we should give our pupils an idea of the concept relatively early, and then teach the functional uses. An alternative strategy is to use the functional contexts as a basis for revision and practice of the structure as the pupils rise through the levels.

Some language constructions are more useful if they are taught from the basis of linguistic meaning (e.g. tenses, countables/ uncountables, etc.), because their meanings are not easily affected or determined by context: even when used in context, they retain their grammatical meaning. Other constructions are better taught as fixed expressions from the basis of communicative meaning, e.g. functional expressions such as: how about + -ing (suggestion/ advice); would you mind if + past tense (asking permission). This is because they can then act as immediately usable tools of communication.

What kind of meaning (linguistic or communicative) would you teach for each of the following items? Circle “L” for linguistic meaning or “C” for communicative meaning:

a) past perfect b) let’s + infinitive c) too + adj. + to d) you don’t happen to, … do you? e) if I were you I’d... f) if I had more spare time, I’d... g) will versus going to h) I’ll give you a lift i) I want versus I’d like j) hardly + inverted past perfect (e.g. hardly had

he got up when…

L C L C L C L C L C L C L C L C L C L C

A whole range of techniques for teaching meaning can be used. The choice of techniques used will depend on factors like the nature of the language item, the level of the pupils, their age and interests, the amount of time available, and so on. Your choice of classroom techniques will depend on the assessment of your priorities.

1. Start by asking yourself what kind of item you are teaching: is it structural or lexical? If you are dealing with a structure, then what kind of meaning do you need to teach – linguistic or communicative (concept or function)? What style does the structure belong to – formal, informal, or neutral?

2. Once you have decided what to say, guide your pupils to a focus on meaning; do

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not just leave them to work everything out on their own. 3. When possible, teach your pupils to make guesses about the meanings of

structure, using the context of a listening or reading text as an aid. 4. Do not expect immediate assimilation. Organise revision, recycling, variety of

context, practice in making choices, etc. 5. Remember that the way English divides up and classifies reality (i.e. actions,

things, ideas, relationships between things, etc.) is not the same as in Romanian. Your pupils may have conceptual difficulties to capture the English semantics.

Teaching grammar

Attitudes to grammar vary considerably. Michael Swan states (2002: 149) that there are seven bad reasons for teaching grammar and two good ones:

1. Grammar looks tidy and relatively teachable. It can be presented as a limited series of tidy things which students can learn, apply in exercises, and tick off one by one. Learning grammar is a lot simpler than learning a language.

2. Grammar is testable. Grammar tests are relatively simple, so grammar is often used as a testing short cut. So we can easily end up teaching what can be tested (mostly grammar), and testing what we have taught (mostly grammar).

3. Grammar is a security blanket. Grammar rules give students the illusory feeling that they can understand and control what is going on, as structural competence is only a portion of communicative competence, this can lead teachers and learners concentrate on grammar to the detriment of other aspects of language.

4. Grammar made me who I am. Many teachers spent a good deal of time when younger learning grammar and they feel these things matter a good deal and must be incorporated in their own teaching. The tendency of an earlier generation to overvalue grammar can be perpetuated.

5. You have to teach the whole system. People often regard grammar as a single interconnected system (like a car engine!). It is more realistic to regard grammar as an accumulation of different elements/subsystems. Depending on their native language, the students may already know something about the various subsystems.

6. Power. Some teachers enjoy the power of knowing more than the students. Grammar is the area where this mechanism operates most successfully, as grammar involves rules, and rules determine ‘correct’ behaviour.

7. The results. Where grammar is given too much priority the result is that the learners know the main rules, can pass tests, and may have the illusion that they know the language well. However, when it comes to language in practice. They discover that they lack vocabulary and fluency. Moreover, such an approach is psychologically counterproductive in that it tends to make students nervous of making mistakes, undermining their confidence and destroying their motivation.

The two good reasons are that:

8. Comprehensibility. Knowing how to build and use certain structures makes it possible to communicate common types of meaning successfully. Without these structures it is impossible to make comprehensible sentences. Although it is difficult to measure the functional load of a given linguistic item independent of context, such structures will obviously include basic verb forms, interrogative and negative structures, the use of the main tenses, modal auxiliaries, a.s.o.

9. Acceptability. In some contexts, deviance from native-speaker norms can hinder integration and excite prejudice (a person who speaks badly may not be taken seriously or may be considered uneducated or stupid). That is why students may

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need or want a higher level of grammatical correctness than is required for comprehensibility. Potential employers and examiners may also require a high level of grammatical correctness.

The question then is, when a pupil is learning to communicate in a foreign language, to what extent should grammar be made explicit? As a teacher, you may have to work with a textbook that your school uses, and you will need to assess:

• whether the textbook explicitly refers to grammar or not • whether you agree with this or not • the extent to which you need to supplement it with your own grammar

presentations and practice.

Modern linguistics most often addresses the largest unit of language – discourse or text. However, there are smaller units than discourse: the sentence, the clause, the phrase, the word and the morpheme. We may also want to analyse the component parts of the sentence: the subject, verb, object, complement, and adverbial. Different parts of the sentence may be realized by various kinds of words or phrases, called parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, determiners and prepositions.

A specific instance of grammar is usually called a ‘grammar structure’. Such structures are the present simple of verbs, the genitive of nouns, the comparison of adjectives or adverbs, etc. Such structures can cause problems to our learners as they may look different in Romanian, or they may be absent altogether (e.g. the present perfect, the progressive aspect, etc.). The meanings of the structures that do not exist in Romanian are notoriously difficult to teach.

The terms ‘grammatical’ and ‘ungrammatical’ can be applied to either sentences or clauses, or smaller units, such as phrases or morphemes. Thus a sentence like *“The pupil readed well” is ungrammatical, and a phrase like *“the boy tall” is also ungrammatical. Even morphemes can contribute to the grammaticality or ungrammaticality of a certain form, such as the suffix –ed attached to the verb go. However, for classroom use, the most convenient unit of analysis is the sentence. (Notice that a sentence may have two or more clauses; however, by a sentence we usually mean a set of words that include a verb, stand on their own as a sense unit, and conclude by a full stop or an equivalent – question mark or exclamation mark).

How much grammar?

Before reading this section, note down a few essentials of grammar that you think your pupils need.

What is the grammar that we need to teach? The answer to this question will depend on our circumstances and our learners’ aims and level. Helped by the syllabuses and the textbooks, you will need to decide how much grammar your particular pupils require. Quite often the question of how much grammar to teach is determined by the syllabus and the textbook, which specify clearly which grammatical structures the pupils are expected to learn. Normally, the structures to be dealt with are listed at the beginning of the textbook.

Although pupils need to be more concerned with how language works than with learning about grammar, it is nevertheless useful for them to be familiar with the names of the parts of speech. Some knowledge of terminology will help them with dictionary work, save explanation time, and facilitate discussion in the classroom.

An awareness of word order should also be a priority. Our pupils should know that

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English is a Subject – Verb – Object (SVO) language. That is, in the normal, unmarked sentences, the subject is at or near the beginning of the sentence, with the verb and any objects following. Secondary school pupils should be able to recognise the subject, verb, and object(s) of a sentence when they see them, as well as any adverbials a sentence contains, and to know what their functions are. Also, they should know something about verb forms; this means knowledge of the various patterns of regular and some of the more common irregular verbs, the –s third person singular and different tense forms. At a higher level, pupils should be able to explore the more subtle distinctions expressed by the modal verbs, etc.

Grammar teaching: between practice and consciousness-raising Rod Ellis (2002) pleads that consciousness-raising activities are even more

important than practice activities. The former involve an attempt to equip the learner with an understanding of a specific grammatical feature – to develop declarative rather than procedural knowledge. The characteristics of consciousness-raising activities are the following:

• There is an attempt to isolate a specific linguistic feature for focused attention. • The learners are provided with data which illustrate the targeted feature and

they may also be supplied with an explicit rule describing the feature. • The learners are expected to utilise intellectual effort to understand the

targeted feature. • Misunderstanding or incomplete understanding of the grammatical structure by

the learners leads to clarification in the form of further data and description or explanation.

• Learners may be required (although this is not obligatory) to articulate the rule describing the grammatical structure.

In other words, the main purpose of consciousness-raising activities is to develop explicit knowledge of grammar. This does not necessarily involve metalingual knowledge as grammar can be explained and understood in everyday language. It may be, however, that access to some metalanguage will facilitate the development of explicit knowledge. The main difference between consciousness-raising and practice activities is that the former do not involve the learner in repeated production. They are considered as a potential facilitator for the acquisition of linguistic competence and has nothing directly to do with the use of that competence. Whereas practice is primarily behavioural, consciousness-raising is essentially concept-forming in orientation. The two types of grammar work are not mutually exclusive, however. Grammar teaching can involve a combination of practice and consciousness-raising. Many methodologists recommend that practice be preceded by a presentation stage, to ensure that learners have a clear idea about what the targeted structure consists of. This presentation stage may involve an inductive or deductive treatment of the structure. Even if the practice work is directed at the implicit learning of the structure and no formal explanation is provided, learners (particularly, adults) are likely to try to construct some kind of explicit representation of the rule.

Whereas practice work cannot take place without some degree of consciousness-raising, the obverse is not the case; consciousness-raising can occur without practice. It is possible to teach grammar in the sense of helping learners to understand and explain grammatical phenomena without having them engage in activities that require repeated production of the structured concerned.

What teachers do when they teach grammar is to help learners internalise the structures taught is such a way that they can be used in everyday communication. To this end, the learners are provided with opportunities to practise the structures, first under

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controlled conditions, and then under more normal communicative conditions. (Ur (1988: 7) describes the practice stage of a grammar lesson in these terms: ‘The practice stage consists of a series of exercises ... whose aim is to cause the learners to absorb the structure thoroughly, or to put it another way, to transfer what they know from short-term to long-term memory.’

It is common to distinguish a number of different types of practice activities – mechanical practice, contextualised practice, and communicative practice. Mechanical practice consists of various types of rigidly controlled activities, such as substitution exercises. Contextualised practice is still controlled, but involves an attempt to encourage learners to relate form to meaning by showing how structures are used in real-life situations. Communicative practice entails various kinds of ‘gap’ activities which require the learners to engage in authentic communication while at the same time ‘keeping an eye, as it were, on the structures that are being manipulated in the process0 (Ur, 1988: 9).

Irrespective of whether the practice is controlled, contextualised, or communicative, it will have the following characteristics;

• There is some attempt to isolate a specific grammatical feature for focused attention.

• The learners are required to produce sentences containing the targeted feature. • The learners will be provided with opportunities for repetition of the targeted

feature. • There is an expectancy that the learners will perform the grammatical feature

correctly (accuracy-oriented practice). • The learners receive feedback on whether their performance of the grammatical

structure is correct or not. This feedback may be immediate or delayed. Presenting grammar

The advent of communicative teaching saw the demise of grammar-based instruction. Grammatical syllabuses were superseded by communicative ones based on functions or tasks. Grammar-based methodologies such as the Presentation – Practice – Production (P-P-P) lesson format gave way to function – and skill-based teaching. Accuracy activities such as drills and grammar practice were replaced by fluency activities based on interactive small-group work. This led to a ‘fluency-first’ pedagogy (Brumfit, 1979) in which students’ grammar needs are determined on the basis of their performance on fluency tasks rather than predetermined by a grammatical syllabus. This puts the onus of presenting grammar almost exclusively on the teacher’s shoulders. This means that it is important for you to be able not only to know how English works but also to be capable of passing this knowledge on to the pupils. Moreover, you should be able to explain to a class how grammatical structures work in actual communication. It is less important for your pupils to know the name of a particular structure than it is to know how and when the structure is used.

It is not easy to present and explain grammar structures. First, you need to understand yourself what is involved in the knowledge of the respective structure (form and meaning), and what kind of difficulties it may create for your pupils. Then, you need to select examples and explanations that will make it clear and accessible to the pupils. The proper balance must be found between simplicity of presentation and accuracy, as what is simplified may lose in accuracy.

There are basically two ways of dealing with grammar. The traditional way is deductive: the pupils are given rules to study and then they try to apply them. This view is to be found in the structural syllabuses and textbooks. Here the structures are sequenced according to their complexity.

The other way is inductive: you select the functions your pupils may need to

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express in English and then ask them to look for their grammatical exponents. However, it is very difficult to select and sequence functions, as the needs of the learners cannot be predicted with accuracy. And yet, the learning goals expressed in functional terms are more motivating for learners as they can see immediately the usefulness of such language as that use in asking for directions or accepting invitations.

Do the English textbooks in use teach grammar inductively or deductively?

Frequent short periods of formal grammar teaching are probably more successful than infrequent long periods. Five or six minutes dealing with a single point is enough, as long as you recycle the same point over a number of times until your pupils are comfortable with it.

Ways of presenting grammar in the classroom range from formal explanation to grammar games. None of these techniques should be despised until you have tried them and found suitable or unsuitable for your classes. You will choose techniques which suit your own teaching style and your pupils’ learning styles. However, there are voices (Celce-Murcia and Hills, 1988: 27-28) that claim that any grammar lesson should consist of four parts: presentation, focused practice, communicative practice and teacher feedback and correction.

• Presentation In the presentation stage you introduce the new grammatical structure. You should

decide whether this is o be done deductively (by formal presentation and study of a rule), or inductively (by offering examples of use from which the rule can be worked out).

• Focused practice In this stage, you give the pupils practice in manipulating the specific structure with

no other distractions, such as the need to communicate.

• Communicative practice In this stage, the pupils put a new structure to use in a variety of communicative

activities. The tasks that you select for this stage should incorporate information gaps, in which one participant has information that the other does not. The speaker must have a choice of what to say and how to say it. Finally, there should be feedback from the partner or listener. This will affect what the speaker says, and thus prevent a rehearsed conversation.

• Teacher feedback and correction You should give feedback throughout the lesson, to ensure that the new structure is

being used properly. However, during communicative practice, it is important that the flow of communication should not be interrupted, as at this stage the pupils should concentrate on meaning. Errors should be noted and dealt with later.

These four stages of a grammar lesson are compatible with most teaching styles. No matter how you conduct a lesson, and whatever your beliefs about language learning and teaching are, you need to present the new material to the class in some form or another, the pupils must have opportunities to get control of the structure and use it, and you need to monitor the whole process, if it is to be effective.

All these activities have the purpose of increasing the pupils’ grammatical awareness, and your task is to find ways of stimulating this.

Formal presentations on the board are sometimes the most simple and effective. For example, to check your pupils’ awareness of the functions of sentence components,

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write a short sentence on the board, such as “We watched a film last night”, and ask simple questions to check understanding, such as “Who did what? When?” Your pupils need to know enough to slot vocabulary items into the appropriate places in the sentence. Coloured chalk, boxed or circled words, small capitals and other graphic markers are useful for showing the word order changes on the board. For example, to show how the statement “She has done her job” is turned into a question form, you can highlight the word has, which draw attention to it when it moves to the front of the sentence:

She has done her job. Has she done her job?

Penny Ur (1996: 82) advises that after preparing a grammar presentation, you need to go through it again, asking yourself questions like:

• Do I present the structure in both speech and writing? • Do I present both form ad meaning? • Do I provide enough examples? • Do the examples have enough meaningful context? • Do I use the name of the structure? What other terminology do I use?

Could you add any question to those suggested above? •

•

From grammar-focused to task-focused instruction The belief that a precise focus on a particular form leads to learning and

automatization no longer carries credibility, and the underlying theory for P-P-P has been discredited. Nunan (1989: 10) offers the definition of the fluency-based pedagogy involved in task work:

The communicative task [is] a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form. The task should also have a sense of completeness, being able to stand alone as a communicative act in its own right.

The belief that successful language learning depends on immersing students in tasks that require them to negotiate meaning and engage in naturalistic and meaningful communication is at the heart of much current thinking about language teaching and has lead to a proliferation of teaching materials built around this concept, such as discussion-based materials, communication games, simulations, role-plays and other group and pair-work activities. The differences between traditional grammar-focused activities and communicative task work can be summarised as follows (Richards, 154, f.)

Grammar-focused activities • reflect typical classroom use of language • focus on the formation of correct examples of language • produce language for display (as evidence of learning) • call on explicit knowledge • elicit a careful (monitored) speech style • reflect controlled performance • practise language out of context

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• practise small samples of language • do not require authentic communication

Task-focused activities

• reflect natural language use • call on implicit knowledge • elicit vernacular speech style • reflect automatic performance • require the use of improvising paraphrasing, repair and reorganisation • produce language that is not always predictable • allows students to select the language they use • require real communication

Task work is not intended to promote development of a non-standard form of

English but is seen as part of a process by which linguistic and communicative competence is developed. Tasks are necessary, but may be preceded and/or followed by focused instruction which is contingent on task performance (Skehan, 1996).

Tips for reinforcing grammar understanding during pre-task activities Pre-task activities have two goals: (1) to provide language support that can be

used in completing a task; (2) to clarify the nature of the task so that students can give less attention to procedural aspects of the task and hence monitor the linguistic accuracy of their performance while carrying out the task. In other words, pre-task activities aim to teach, or mobilise, or make salient language which will be relevant to task performance. This can be accomplished in the following ways:

(1) Pre-teaching certain linguistic forms that can be used while completing a task (2) Reducing the cognitive complexity of the task (e.g. watching a video, listening

to a cassette of learners doing a similar task, doing a simplified task, dialogue work prior to carrying out the task, etc).

(3) Giving time to plan the task.

Here are a few practical examples: a. Concept questions

Example 1: past perfect

I realised I’d lost my money.

Linguistic meaning: the perfect aspect is very similar in past, present or future timescales. The style is neutral. Here the past perfect means “evident then”, but it can also show unfinished past beyond past, as in She had studied for 3 years before entering the architecture school, or an indefinite time beyond past, e.g. When I got in the film had started.

Situation: Careless Mrs. B going on holiday. Elicited examples: (of “evident then” concept): When she arrived she… discovered (that) she had forgotten his camera realised … had broken her wine bottle found … had left her passport at the airport saw … had brought the wrong suitcase

Concept questions (and expected answers):

Did she discover these things before she arrived? No.

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Did she discover these things after she arrived? Yes. When? Just after. In time, which came first – ‘discover’ or ‘forget’? Forget. If I say, “When she arrived she discovered she broke her wine bottle”, is that right?

Why not? Because ‘discovered’ and ‘broke’ happened at different times. Do we know when she broke her wine bottle? Does it matter? No. Time line

?

(time not important) X NOW broke wine bottle discovered

realised found saw

Note that these questions refer to the particular situation devised for presentation,

and that they are generalised questions which get to the essence of the linguistic meaning of the structure.

Example 2: Would you mind if I… + past simple

Would you mind if I opened the window?

Functional meaning: asking permission. Style: formal.

Situation: Man in a train compartment, sitting opposite to a stranger lady. Elicited examples:

Man: Would you mind if I… opened the window? smoked? put my feet on the seat?, etc. Lady: No, not at all. Be my guest, etc.

Concept questions (and expected answers):

Do they know each other? No. Do we often use this kind of language between friends? Not really. Is the lady going to open the window? No, the man is... So what’s he doing? He’s asking for… ? Permission.

Note that these questions refer to the social relationship as well as to the intended meaning of the utterances.

Concept questions need to account for function, style and register, as well as grammatical meaning.

Now try your hand at devising concept questions for “Jane used to eat meat”. Analyse and state the meaning first. Try to make your definitions simple and clear enough for your pupils to understand. Then write your concept questions and the answers you would expect from the pupils.

b. Horizontal extensions You can introduce conjunctions such as but or because to elicit an extension of a

sentence. The extension should reinforce the meaning, i.e. discontinued past habit in this case:

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He used to live in a big house… but now he doesn’t.

Teachers often use such extensions as a way of checking understanding. Having illustrated the meaning of an item (or asked the pupils to look it up) you can begin a sentence and then provide an appropriate linker/conjunction to prompt learners into finishing the sentence meaningfully, e.g.:

T: He needn’t have watered the garden because... S: … because it rained this morning.

One point to consider here is the level of language. You have to make sure that the conjunction selected is not more difficult than the target item (e.g. but versus even though).

Now add a conjunction which can lead to a horizontal

extension that reinforces the concept of “I managed to...”, and give an example of what you would expect pupils to say to complete such a sentence. Include a brief note on the concept involved, using simple language.

c. Mini-situations These can come from the teacher as a reinforcement of a presentation, or they can

be elicited from pupils as a check of their understanding. They should be carefully worked into it as part of a systematic build-up of meaning and anticipated at the planning stage. You give a situation and elicit an example like this:

have got to + infinitive (obligation)

(i) I’m going to Predeal on holiday tomorrow. My train leaves at seven o’clock in the morning. So?

(ii) My mother’s birthday is next week, so? ...

Or you can elicit an offer in this way:

‘ll + infinitive (offer)

(i) My friend needs to buy a shirt. He’s only got £2. I’ve got some money, so what do I say to him? ...

(ii) Your friend arrives at the local station and telephones you at home. You have a car. What do you say to him? ...

Alternatively, you can elicit situation with questions like:

a. Tell me a situation when you could use used to… b. When can I say I’m going to buy a new car and not ‘I’ll buy a new car’?

d. Contrasts To contrast come and go, for instance, you can write on the blackboard sentences

like:

*Are you going to my party? *When he comes back to his country, he’ll find a new job.

Then you ask your pupils to find mistakes and discuss the meaning of come and go. You then provide more examples of deliberate mistakes for pupils to correct.

Grammar structures can also be contrasted, such as present perfect and past simple. You can make use of a time-line for present perfect and another time-line for past simple. To illustrate the contrast, you can then divide the board, heading at top of each side:

(i) Shakespeare (ii) a Romanian writer who’s still alive

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This will lead to sentences containing wrote/did/was, etc. versus has written/has done/has been, etc.

Types of grammar practice activities

Grammar practice activities are meant to facilitate the pupils’ learning of structures so that they may become able to produce these structures correctly in free speech or writing. If the pupils still make mistakes in free production, it means that the structures are not yet thoroughly mastered, and the pupils still depend on conscious monitoring in order to produce them correctly. Our job is to help them pass from form-focused accuracy activities to fluent intelligible production by providing a variety of practice activities that help them get familiar with the structures in context, by giving them practice both in form and communicative meaning.

Penny Ur (1996: 83) suggests a sequence of grammar practice activities, ranging from more controlled to freer procedures, from form-focused to meaning-focused activities, from accuracy to fluency practice.

a. Awareness-raising activities After the structure has been presented, the pupils are given opportunities to

encounter it in discourse, and do a task that focuses their attention on the structure form and/or meaning.

For simple recognition purposes you may want to ask your pupils to highlight examples of particular structures in handout texts.

b. Controlled drills The pupils are asked to produce examples of a structure, following models given by

the teacher or found in the textbook.

Example Listen to Mick. Then look at the picture. What jobs had Mick done at 12:55 last

Tuesday afternoon? What jobs had he still to do? Ask and answer.

1 A: Had he cleaned the window? B: No, he hadn’t. 2 A: Had he made the bed? B: Yes, he had.

1. clean the window 5. vacuum the carpet 2. make the bed 6. mend the chair

3. wash the dishes 7. pick up the newspaper from the floor 4. tidy the desk 8. put the books onto the shelves

Now make sentences about what Mick had or hadn’t done at 12:55 last Tuesday afternoon.

1 He hadn’t cleaned the window. 2 He hadn’t made the bed. (from Granger C. and Beaumont D., Generation 2000 Student’s Book, Heinemann, p. 81)

c. Meaningful drills Still following a model, the pupils can make a limited choice of vocabulary.

Example Think about a place you know which has a lot of problems. What are the problems?

What improvements would you recommend? Make true sentences. There are some ideas in the box to help you.

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Examples There are too many cars. There should be a pedestrian zone. There is too much pollution. There isn’t enough entertainment. There is only one good disco. There isn’t anywhere to meet friends after school.

bottle bank car car park cinema club cycle lane disco entertainment graffiti litter bin noise park pollution pedestrian crossing rubbish pedestrian zone public transport shop sports centre street lighting swimming pool traffic tree

(from Granger C. and Beaumont D., 1993, Generation 2000: Student’s Book, Heinemann, p. 41)

d. Guided meaningful practice The pupils are asked to form sentences of their own according to a given pattern,

but without being given the vocabulary to use.

Example Talk about: • any coincidences that have happened in your past. • Anything you regret.

If I hadn’t… I’d never have… I wish I had/hadn’t… (from Abbs B. and Freebairn, I., 2001, Snapshot: Intermediate, Students’ Book, Longman, p. 102)

e. (Structure-based) free sentence composition The activity provides a visual or a situational cue, and the pupils are asked to

compose their own responses; they are directed to use a certain structure.

Example Talk about these questions. Do you have a festival or a carnival in your city? If so, what time of year is it? Is it

ever dangerous? What advice would you give to visitors? Always/Never/Don’t…. You should/shouldn’t…. (from Abbs B., Freebairn I., Barker C., 2000, Snapshot: Elementary, Students’ Book, Longman, p.

96)

f. (Structure-based) discourse composition You ask the pupils to hold a discussion or write a passage according to a given

task. They are instructed to use at least some examples of the structure within the discourse.

Example Listen and read. 1. Expressing regrets about the past: I wish we’d taken some warmer clothes. If only I hadn’t lost my scarf. 2. Making helpful suggestions: Why don’t you find somewhere to keep warm? Maybe you could phone them. Perhaps you should sit down.

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In pairs, make conversations in the following situations. 1 you didn’t have any breakfast this morning and now you feel faint. 2 You bought a cheap CD player and now it’s gone wrong. 3 You were lazy when you were young and never learnt to play an instrument. You

regret it now. 4 You have just had an argument with your best friend and now you feel bad about

it. (from Abbs B. and Freebairn, I., 2001, Snapshot: Intermediate, Students’ Book, Longman, p. 99)

g. Free discourse The pupils are given no specific direction to use a certain structure. However, the

task situation demands the use of a certain structure.

Example Discuss. If someone from India came to live in your country, what things might they

find unusual or difficult to get used to? (from Abbs B. and Freebairn, I., 2001, Snapshot: Intermediate, Students’ Book, Longman, p. 89)

However, recent studies have questioned the effectiveness of practice. According to Pienemann, a structure cannot be successfully taught (in the sense that it will be used correctly and spontaneously in communication) unless the learner is developmentally ready to acquire it. In other words, the teaching syllabus has to match the learner’s developmental syllabus. It does not follow that practice is without any value. Practice does help where structure pronunciation is concerned; it may be quite effective in helping learners to remember formulaic chunks (e.g. How do you do? Can I have a …?) It needs to be recognised, however, that practice will often not lead to immediate procedural knowledge of grammatical rules, irrespective of its quantity and quality (Ellis, 170).

There are empirical and theoretical grounds which lead us to doubt the efficacy of practice, which is essentially a pedagogical construct. It assumes that the acquisition of grammatical structures involves a gradual automatisation of production, from controlled to automatic, and it ignores the very real constraints that exist on the ability of the teacher to influence what goes on inside the learner’s head.

Less formal grammar practice activities

Less formal, ways of presenting grammar are also possible. Grammatical awareness can be stimulated by games such as the simple “odd one out” tasks, in which four or five items are listed and the pupils are asked to suggest which one is unlike the rest, and why. If this activity is carried out in groups, lots of valuable discussion may take place as the pupils consider a number of options. Here are some examples of increasing levels of difficulty:

kick, go, walk, look go is an irregular verb go, come, should, sell should is a modal verb read, go, come sell read doesn’t change its form in the Past Tense as, while, but, although but is a coordinating conjunction

You may also ask your pupils to design their own tasks based on this or other patterns. This will not only increase motivation but will also cause them to reflect more deeply on the various possibilities. Another group task might be to explore how many words may be removed from a sentence one at a time without making the sentence ungrammatical. Start by creating a sentence with lots of adjectives and adverbs, which can be removed easily, then move to longer verb phrases.

A variation on this activity is to make a competition of it. Start with a short sentence and ask the pupils in two groups to take turns in trying to increase it one word at a time while still producing acceptable utterances. For example, start from Time flies:

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Time flies. Time flies quickly. Time flies quickly usually. Time flies very quickly usually. Spare time flies very quickly usually, etc.

Grammar games help to provide an element of competition and enjoyment, and puzzles can often focus attention on subtle aspects of grammar and usage. One simple idea is to give your pupils a pair of sentences with minimal structural differences and ask them to say what the difference in meaning is. Decisions reached by different groups can later be discussed and grammatical justifications can be offered; all of these develop grammatical awareness. Here is such an example:

I don’t think of her much. (“She’s not in my thoughts”) I don’t think much of her. (“I don’t like her”)

Another source of reflection is ambiguity. Provide your pupils with an ambiguous sentence and ask them to suggest two meanings and a possible explanation for the ambiguity, e.g.:

Can he swim? (“Is he capable?” / “Is he allowed to?”)

Sometimes it is difficult to say whether the problem is one of vocabulary or grammar. For example:

Remember me? (“Do you recognize me?”) Remember me to your wife. (“Give my regards to your wife”) Personalising grammar activities

It is not unusual for teachers to forget that pupils are people before they are pupils. They have interests, knowledge, emotions, opinions, anxieties, joys and sorrows, ambitions, and skills. Some have even jobs, families, problems, etc. All of these may be much more involving than the English classes. When you create a classroom atmosphere in which your pupils are encouraged to use English (and to share!) what they want to say about all these aspects of their own lives, there is a strong likelihood that the language they are learning will have much more relevance for them. Allowing for the expression of ‘personal meaning’ is the main principle behind the idea of ‘teaching for the whole person’ (also known as ‘holistic’ or ‘humanistic’ teaching).

When language items are introduced and practised, when comprehension texts are being exploited, when creative role-play and written work is being set up, and when discussions are being organised, pupils are pleased to be given the chance to talk about themselves, or to display their knowledge and opinions.

The advantages of ‘personalisation’ should not be underestimated. The language that the pupils use is centred on them personally rather than on the activities or tasks that the teacher has set them to perform. This underpins motivation, by demonstrating how language can be relevant to the personal meanings that a pupil wants to express. It also promotes ‘depth’ of assimilation and retention (Stevick, 1976: 33-36) and it can help to develop a positive attitude towards English and the Anglo-Saxon culture.

In terms of classroom activity, the following ideas are just a few examples of how personally meaningful language practice can be introduced into lessons:

a) Presentation of grammatical structures • 3rd conditional: elicit the pupils’ own stories or have them tell about ‘near miss’

accidents. • ‘have got’: elicit descriptions of the pupils’ descriptions family, home, friends, etc. • past perfect: elicit pupils’ recent ‘place/person revisited’ experiences and have

them talk about the changes they noticed.

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• past continuous and past simple: ask the pupils to tell anecdotes of frightening experiences, etc.

b) During preparation for listening or reading texts • ask what the pupils know about the subject in advance and pool information • ask if any pupils have experience of anything related to the topic, etc. c) During freer speaking activities • organise role-plays in which pupils play themselves. • organise discussions in which pupils express their own opinions. • organise simulations of conversations in various places.

Any topic or situation which has personal value to an individual pupil or which allows him/her to express their individuality will provide the sort of language practice that leads to deeper assimilation of that language. And deeper assimilation leads to better retention and easier recall.

Consciousness-raising activities We have seen that the goal of practice activities is to develop automatic control of

grammatical structures that will enable learners to use them productively and spontaneously. This may not be achievable if we assume that we can teach grammar for use in communication. If instead, we aim to develop the learners’ awareness of what is correct but without any expectancy that we can bring them to the point where they can use this knowledge in normal communication, then the main objections raised against grammar practice disappear.

Practice is directed at the acquisition of implicit knowledge of a grammatical structure – tacit knowledge needed to use the structure effortlessly for communication. Consciousness-raising is directed at the formation of explicit knowledge - intellectual knowledge which we are able to gather about any subject. The construction of explicit representation of grammatical structures is of limited use in itself when it comes to communicating. Although consciousness-raising does not contribute directly to the acquisition of implicit knowledge, it does so indirectly. It facilitates the acquisition of the grammatical knowledge needed for communication. Moreover, it is crucial for future teachers of English who will have to explain to themselves and their pupils various structures.

The acquisition of implicit knowledge involves three processes: 1. Noticing: the learner becomes conscious of the presence of a linguistic feature

in the input, whereas previously s/he had ignored it; 2. Comparing: the learner compares the linguistic feature noticed in the input with

his/her mental grammar, registering to what extent there is a ‘gap’ between the input and his/her grammar;

3. Integrating: the learner integrates a representation of the new linguistic feature into his/her mental grammar.

Noticing and comparing involve conscious attention to language; integrating takes place at a very ‘deep’ level, of which the learner is generally not aware. Consciousness-raising contributes to the acquisition of implicit knowledge in two major ways (Ellis, 171):

1. It contributes to the process of noticing and comparing and prepares the grounds for the integration of the new linguistic material. However, it will not bring about integration. This process is controlled by the learner and will take place only when the learner is developmentally ready.

2. It results in explicit knowledge. Thus, even if the learner is unable to integrate the new feature as implicit knowledge, s/he can construct an alternative explicit representation which can be stored separately and subsequently accessed

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when the learner is developmentally ready to handle it. Furthermore, explicit knowledge serves to help the learner to continue to notice the feature in the input, thereby facilitating its subsequent acquisition.

Consciousness-raising is then unlikely to result in immediate acquisition. More likely, it will have a delayed effect. Another reason for teaching grammar as consciousness-raising is that grammar fosters intellectual development; grammar embodies a corpus of knowledge the study of which can be expected to contribute to students’ cognitive skills.

An example of consciousness-raising task Consciousness-raising tasks can be inductive or deductive. The following table

provides an example of an inductive task designed to raise the learners’ awareness about the grammatical differences between for and since. The task involves minimal production on the part of the learners. However, there is an opportunity to apply the rule in the construction of personalised statements. Such tasks can make use of situational information, diagrams, charts, tables, and so on. They can also be used in lockstep teaching.

1. Here is some information about when three people joined the company they now work for and how long they have been working there.

Name Date joined Length of time Ms R 1945 45 years Mr B 1970 20 yrs Ms T 1989 9 mths Mr Ba 1990 (Feb) 10 days

2. Study these sentences about these people. When is for used and when is since used? a. Ms R has been working for her company for most of her life. b. Mr B has been working for his company since 1970. c. Ms T has been working for her company for 9 months. d. Mr Ba has been working for his company since February.

3. Which of the following sentences are ungrammatical? Why? a. Ms R has been working for her company for 1945. b. Mr B has been working for his company for 20 years. c. Ms T has been working for her company since 1989. d. Mr Ba has been working for his company since 10 days.

4. Try and make up a rule to explain when for and since are used. 5. Make up one sentence about when you started to learn English and one

sentence about how long you have been studying English. Use for and since.

Consciousness-raising constitutes an approach to grammar teaching which is compatible with current thinking about how learners acquire L2 grammar. It accords with progressive views about education as a process of discovery through problem-solving tasks. However, consciousness-raising may not be appropriate for young learners and it is definitely not an alternative to communicative activities, but a supplement.

Correction of grammar mistakes

Before you read the next paragraphs, note down a few techniques that you are familiar with used in dealing with grammar mistakes.

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In general, we should handle incorrectness with tact and consideration. Showing incorrectness and correction should be seen as positive acts and a useful part of the learning process. During the grammar practice activities, when we need to insist on the accurate reproduction of structures, there are two basic correction stages: showing incorrectness (when you indicate to the pupil that something is wrong) and using correction techniques.

• Showing incorrectness You indicate to the pupil that s/he has made a mistake. If the pupil understands this

feedback, s/he will be able to correct the mistake. Thus self-correction becomes part of the learning process.

You can use a number of techniques for showing incorrectness:

Repeating You ask the pupil to repeat what s/he has just said by using the word ‘again’,

said with a questioning intonation. This indicates that the answer was unsatisfactory.

Echoing You can repeat what the pupil has just said, with questioning intonation. This

indicates that the accuracy or content of what is being said is questioned. You can either echo the complete student response, stressing the part of the utterance that was incorrect or only part of the response, up to the point where the mistake was made. Echoing is probably the most efficient way of showing incorrectness.

Denying You can tell the pupil that the response was unsatisfactory and ask for it to be

repeated. This technique may be a bit more discouraging for the pupil.

Questioning You can say “Is that correct?” asking any other pupil in the class to answer the

question. The advantage of this technique is that it focuses the pupils’ attention on the problem; the disadvantage is that it may make the pupil who made the mistake feel exposed.

Using facial expression and/or gestures You can indicate that an answer was incorrect by your expression or by some

gestures. This can be economical but the danger is that the pupils may think that the expression is a form of mockery.

Quite often, however, you will find that showing incorrectness is not enough for the correction of a mistake, and you may have to use some correction techniques.

• Using correction techniques If the pupils are unable to correct themselves you can resort to one of the following

techniques:

Pupil corrects pupil: you can ask if anyone else can give the correct response. You can ask if anyone can ‘help’ the pupil who has made the mistake.

Teacher corrects pupil(s): Sometimes you may feel that you should take charge of correction because the majority of the class are too mixed-up. In such cases, you may have to explain again the item of language which is causing the trouble.

The use of correction techniques gives the pupils a chance to know how to get the new language right. It is important, therefore, that after you have used one of the techniques, you ask the pupil who originally made the mistake to give a correct response.

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These two stages of correction and the techniques described above are especially useful for accuracy work, not only in grammar, but for speech in general. Another possibility, however, for the more creative activities is gentle correction. This involves showing the student that something is wrong, but not asking for repetition.

Summary

We could say that there are four stages in the assimilation of the meaning of a grammar item:

1. experiencing the target item in limited context (i.e. isolated from main body of language)

2. discovering its boundaries of meaning 3. practising/recognising it in different contexts 4. using it to express real communicative intentions.

The meaning of some items can be learnt quickly. Other items take longer to learn. Their teaching has to be staged over a period of days or even weeks. The teaching of such items needs to go through several stages too. First, you need to guide your pupils to the meaning of the item by introducing and illustrating the meaning of the item. Second, you need to reinforce their understanding by: (a) checking their understanding, (b) comparing and contrasting the item with potentially interfering items, (c) testing the pupils’ ability to discriminate.

The full meaning of a new word or structure, the stylistic constraints on its use and the diversity of possible separate meanings are impossible to grasp at one and the same time. Just like in our mother tongue, where we constantly discover new nuances, uses and collocations for familiar words, in English our pupils will undergo the same process. They should start with a simplified or generalised account of the meaning of a new item. This meaning does not take account of diversity, nuance, constraints on usage, etc. Such an account is, therefore, to some extent, an approximation. In time, they will move on through further language exposure to a finer and finer appreciation of the exact use of the item.

The reasons for not going into the subtleties of meaning early on are obvious. Firstly, they would confuse the pupils. Secondly, they are often very difficult to explain. So, the solution is the subsequent exposure to a great deal of authentic language. Thus the pupils have the opportunity to recognise structures taught ‘approximately’, and through ‘sensing’ the nuances and complexities, they can come to a more exact appreciation of the uses.

It is important to stress that providing an approximation of a meaning is not the same as providing the bare essentials of a meaning. We need to give our pupils a word or structure and a meaning that they can generalise from. So, in initial presentations, information on meaning will probably include situations, communicative meaning and formality/ informality level for appropriacy for formulae and functional exponents (e.g. would you like to...). For grammatical structures, the initial presentations should include linguistic meaning, without subtleties.

Further Reading

Ellis, Rod. 2002. “Grammar Teaching – Practice or Consciousness-Raising?” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A. (eds.) Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Nunan, D., 1989. Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge: CUP. Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.

Cambridge: CUP.

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Swan, M. 2002. “Seven Bad Reasons for Teaching Grammar – and Two Good Ones” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Ur, Penny. 1988. Grammar Practice Activities, Cambridge University Press, pp. 4-43 Ur, Penny. 1996. A Course in Language Teaching, CUP, pp. 74-85, 90-98

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Catedra de Limba si Literatura engleza ELT Methodology

ERROR AND CORRECTION

Error is now seen as an inevitable and necessary part of the learning process. In learning English, our pupils are involved in a creative construction process, in which they constantly form, test and adjust hypotheses. This process involves them in making errors, too. By the end of this unit you will be able to:

• explain what is an error; • what are the causes of error; • discuss how and when error should be corrected; • put in practice some practical principles and suggestions for error

correction in the classroom. 1 What Is Error? Generally speaking, error is a “deviation from the norm”. By ‘norm’ we mean a language system shared by a language community, in our case, English. However, the answer to the question ‘What is error?’ will vary with who gives the answer and why. For instance, one teacher may see error as an important source of data for the study of internal psychological language processes. Another may see it as a source of information about the relative success of teaching. To the pupil, error may or may not be a thing to be avoided, a source of failure and inhibition, or a source of amusement, if not a fact of life. Not all errors are all of equal importance, however.

1.1 The Status of Error Today, errors are rarely seen as ‘failure’. That is why you need to coach your pupils into believing that:

• errors are positive as they form an indispensable part of learning; • native speakers of English make errors, too; • very often errors do not interfere with the intended message in the communicative process (e.g. “*Pardon, is possible I can use phone?”).

1.2 Some Causes of Error A few central causes of error could be outlined as follows:

• the interference of Romanian (also called ‘negative transfer’*); • the interference of English (e.g. overgeneralisation*, as in “*He must to be careful”); • the process of learning. For instance, pupils may forget previously learnt rules and these become again areas of confusion as new rules are introduced into the system; • the process of teaching. For instance controlled practice activities may put such pressure on pupils that they make errors of stress, for instance, because they are concentrating on the structures; • distraction, carelessness, etc.;

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• bad teaching. It is important for a teacher to establish the causes of an error in order to become more able to deal with it. 1.3 Types of Errors Classification is an important aspect of error analysis*. You can categorise errors in several different ways according to your purpose. For instance, you might want to categorise errors in terms of causes (as above). Or you might prefer to categorise errors in terms of type and in terms of priority considerations, which will lead you to category lists such as the following:

• Language categories

general language errors errors specific to spoken language

errors specific to written language

• grammar • lexis • style and register (appropriacy) • discourse-linking • formulaic expressions • functional exponents

• sounds • stress and rhythm • intonation • paralinguistics*

• punctuation • spelling • spacing and layout • coherence

• Behavioural categories

These involve culturally specific routines (e.g. how and when to greet people, take your leave, respond to gratitude, etc.), ways of not causing offence, and ways of behaving in conversation (e.g. turn-taking, interrupting, etc.).

• Priority considerations These considerations concern whether or not to deal with an error during a given classroom activity, addressing the question “How important is the error?” This aspect of error analysis is often dealt with immediately by the teacher, but it is important for you to be aware of the dimensions of the issue in order to make those systematically. Here are some of these priority considerations:

• Is the activity controlled or communicative? • Is the error frequent or infrequent? • Is the error global* or local*? • Is it a mistake/slip or a competence error? • Is the error linguistic or behavioural/sociolinguistic?

Applying these considerations, you can isolate different angles from which to view the importance of your pupils’ errors. Your decision as to how and when to correct will be largely a matter of common sense and sensitivity. 1.4 Feedback and Error Correction One essential feature of the language learning process is ‘feedback’. This allows pupils to know how successful their efforts are. There are two sides to feedback – confirmatory feedback and corrective feedback. Confirmatory feedback tells them when they are right, and corrective feedback tells them when they are wrong. Both you and the other pupils in the class are a constant source of both types of feedback during lessons.

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If we concentrate on corrective feedback, two questions arise: when should we correct and what should we correct? 1.5 When and What Should We Correct? These questions are interdependent. In general, we need firstly to be aware of when it is appropriate to correct, and when it is not appropriate to do so. In more specific instances, when your pupils produce language errors, you need to assess whether and what items it is necessary to correct. As a guiding principle, you can adopt a general corrective or non-corrective stance according to the aim of the activity you have engaged the pupils in. You need to adopt a corrective stance during accuracy activities, where the focus is on the form of the language. On the other hand, you do not need to adopt a corrective stance during fluency activities, where the focus is on effective communication and the achievement of a task-based objective. So, for example, the controlled oral practice of a new grammatical structure may need correction and attention to accuracy. By contrast, a pupil’s presentation of a match that he watched the night before will be followed by the correction of the global errors which impeded the communication of the message. As far as correction of specific errors is concerned, remember that you need to be selective. In other words, you need to choose which types of error you are going to focus on in any particular activity. SAQ 1

What would happen if you did not apply the principle of selectivity to specific errors in accuracy activities?

In an accuracy activity, correction emphasis may be on word form, syntax or rhythm. In another activity, the emphasis may be on correct production of sounds or intonation. In a semi-controlled activity (where there may be revision and practice of a wider range of language items), correction emphasis may be on general rhythm and intonation, on lexis, and on other errors which are frequent among the learners. In a fluency activity, where you are taking a generally non-corrective stance, the only interventions will be in cases where your pupils are unable to make themselves understood. In other words, these corrections will focus on global errors. You can take note of errors which occur in group or class work, focusing on general areas of weakness, and then feed these back to the pupils afterwards for comment and correction. Always bear in mind the priority considerations. Is the error a careless slip or an as-yet-unlearnt rule? Is it a word or a structure that has recently been taught and is therefore in the process of being assimilated? Is it a frequent error or an infrequent one? Is the activity controlled or free?

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2 How Should We Correct Errors?

Whether during written work or oral work, correction can be carried out by:

• the teacher; • the pupil her-/himself; • another pupil; • the whole class (through discussion).

The most desirable correctors are the pupils her-/himself and another pupil. But you will often need to do the correction yourself as consolidation, as pupils often do not trust each other to be able to provide the best solution. The whole class is asked to do the correction when a common problem seems to be worth making into a class problem-solving activity. In controlled oral work one possible procedure is to:

• stop the pupil who is speaking and make sure s/he knows there is a mistake (e.g. "Is that right?");

• give the pupil a chance to reconsider; • if this does not help, isolate the error (e.g. by counting off the previous

words with fingers and highlighting position of error in the pupil’s utterance), or…

• say "Grammar?, Pronunciation?, Stress?, Is that the right word?", etc.; • if this is still no good, ask the class "Can anybody help?" and encourage

intensive listening of pupils; • if this does not work either, tell the pupils what the correct form is and… • get the pupils to practise the correct version.

SAQ 2

In no more than 50 words, explain whether you would use a similar error correction procedure for oral fluency work.

When dealing with errors in written work, essentially the same principles apply:

• accuracy activities vs. fluency activities • important errors vs. less important errors

Many of the writing activities that you set are probably controlled or guided exercises, because these are easy to mark, and your pupils make fewer errors. However, when you set fluency-based writing (i.e. communicative writing), it is important to be selective about the types of error you want to focus on. Perhaps one of the best ways to correct written work is to make the pupils work it out for themselves. This means that you need to isolate the error (by underlining) and categorise it (by a code in the margin). Here is an example of such a code:

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Do not forget that your pupils may also enjoy helping each other with the correction of their work! When a group of errors becomes common in the class, it is time for remedial work*. One of the best ways of dealing with remedial work is to write 10 wrong sentences on the blackboard and the pupils (in pairs or groups) have to find the errors. 3 Errors and Mistakes An error is a ‘deviation from the norm’. This definition includes the performance of mistakes. So what is the difference between a mistake and an error? A mistake can also be called a ‘slip of the tongue’. The speaker/writer knows perfectly well what s/he wants to say but the message just does not come out right. This is often true of time-pressurised speaking, but also of writing at speed or under pressure. Often our thoughts run ahead of our speaking or writing and we may leave words out. Or, when we are tired, we tend to drop sounds or letters or to switch the sounds or letters around in words. Your pupils are vulnerable to the same kind of pressures. If you take this into account, you can avoid hyper-correction*. 3.1 Error or Mistake? How do you know if your pupils are making a mistake or an error? A possible answer is that slips of the tongue produce a different kind of ‘deviation from the norm’ from those resulting from a lack of knowledge of the system. Another answer is that you base your decision on whether the pupil usually uses this word or item with facility or not. Moreover, people often realise immediately when they make slips of the tongue and correct themselves immediately. 3.2 Categories of Mistakes Linguists have looked into ‘slips of the tongue’ in some detail. Here are some of the categories they found:

• reversals or spoonerisms: e.g. *I’m catching the town drain (instead of down train)

• blends: e.g. *"The road was very slickery" (slick + slippery). • substitutions: e.g. "Give me a black coffee – I mean white", even

sometimes grammatical substitutions e.g. "I had my photo took" (from “I had my photo taken + Someone took my photo”). Such substitutions are common for native speakers and language learners alike. 3.3 Production and Reception Mistakes We have considered so far only production mistakes, that is, the kind of mistakes made by the speaker or writer when producing sentences or utterances. But mistakes

Gr = grammar T = tense WO = word order St = style WW = wrong word ? = I don't understand SP = spelling L = linking not logical ?? = word omitted NP = new paragraph P = punctuation etc.

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can also be made by listeners or readers; these are called reception mistakes. Reception mistakes are less easy to detect but they are usually due to:

• mumbled or badly written input; • the listener/reader has a different interpretation; • the listener/reader has made wrong assumptions about the content or

topic; • the title, the topic or a word causes misunderstanding; • lack of attention (which may cause putting together wrong bits of

information); • bad hearing or eyesight or distraction; • ‘blends’ and ‘substitutions’ that occur in listening/reading.

These factors are true for native speakers and foreign pupils alike.

4 Errors and the Language Learning Process Another factor which will influence the way you correct errors and the kind of feedback you give, is the stage that the pupils have arrived at in learning a particular language item. You need to take account of the extent of knowledge they have, and of when and how they use it. It may therefore be helpful to look at what Pit Corder suggests are three stages in error making: pre-systematic, systematic and post-systematic. At the pre-systematic stage, errors are due to the ignorance of the rule; at the systematic stage, they are due to the use of a wrong rule, and at the post-systematic stage, they are due to lapses in the use of correct rule. 4.1 Pre-systematic Stage Errors In this stage, the pupils are not aware of a certain rule, or they are confused about the rule. They will either transfer a rule from Romanian, or use their limited knowledge of English. For instance, beginners without knowledge of simple past tense may say:

*Yesterday I go early in the school.

Beginners with no knowledge of question-form inversion may say:

*You can write it?

Such errors tend to be random guesses with no system. During the same class, a pupil who is not sure how to mark the 3rd person may produce: *"I gets up early" or *"He’s gets up" just to see which is right. SAQ 3

Could you think of the instances when pupils tend to make such errors? Write your explanation (no more than 30 words) in the space provided below.

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4.2 Systematic Stage Errors In this stage, pupils are still constantly making errors but each of the errors has a definite pattern. A pupil may have discovered and transferred a rule (not the rule), s/he is applying it consistently, and s/he cannot correct this alone. This means that pupils are consistently wrong, unlike in the pre-systemic stage where by chance they could come upon the right form. The important difference is that in this systematic stage, the pupils can give a reason for using the language item in the way they have used it. Therefore, you can give the pupils feedback focused on the particular problem. This is also the stage when pupils may ask you or each other questions about rules to check hypotheses, e.g. ‘Is the question “Did you went” or “Did you go”’? or “The negative of ‘must’ is ‘mustn’t’?” Your response is to correct, explain, re-present, re-situationalise. Pupils rarely remain in this stage with a particular language item for long. Systematic errors occur as a natural part of the learning of a new item, and show you what to do for remedial work or for further practice activities. 4.3 Post-systematic Stage Errors In this stage, the pupils have internalised the correct rule; however, the use of the respective rule is not yet automatic, and errors occur in less controlled activities. So practice, but not remedial work, is still needed. When you point out the error, the pupils can correct it immediately. You can correct this kind of error by simply drawing attention to the fact that there is an error, by a look; by a shake of the head; by saying ‘stress’ or ‘grammar’ or ’question’, or by underlining the written form. Post-systematic errors tend to occur in freer activities. They will appear as the pupils move on to learn new items, shifting their focus on to new rules and concentrating less on the old. Post-systematic errors are practically the same thing as ‘mistakes’. However, mistakes are more widespread than post-systematic errors in that they occur randomly and with language that may have been learnt long ago. These three stages refer to individual language items at any level of proficiency. In a sense, learning is a process by which the new becomes the familiar, which in turn is disrupted by the new again. The best you can do is to be sympathetic to your pupils’ feelings in these different stages of error-making, and bear in mind that they need a space between the learning of one major item and the learning of the next.

5 Error Analysis

Error analysis is a process which has four steps:

• identifying the error; • reconstructing; • classifying; • explaining possible causes of the error.

5.1 Identifying an Error Identifying errors is not always an easy task. For instance, it is always easier to identify production than reception errors. Reception errors may often go unnoticed as we often remain ignorant of pupils’ reception errors until these errors reach the

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production stage. That is why error analysis research has limited itself to analysing production errors. SAQ 4

Look at the following errors. Some are easier to identify than others. Why is it so? Explain your reasons in the space provided below. a. *I have saw him recently. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………............. b. *I’ve seen him yesterday. ………………………………………………………………………….......................................................................................................... c. *I took the jacket back – it didn’t suit me. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… d. *I don’t want to go to Spain this year. I prefer going to Italy. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. e. *I clean my teeth twice a week. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. f. *There are cinemas from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

There are two kinds of errors: overt and covert. Overt errors are easily recognisable as the sentence where they appear provides enough context. Covert errors are the more difficult to recognise as they require greater sensitivity to the wider context and to what the pupil is trying to say. Examples (a), (b) and (f) in SAQ 4 contain overt errors. Examples (c), (d) and (e) are ‘covert’ errors. Such covert errors may either pass by altogether or are realised as errors because we have some extralinguistic knowledge about the pupil who is speaking or the situation s/he is referring to. Covert errors involve the wider context of the discourse.

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5.2 Reconstructing an Error Reconstruction means deciding what the pupil really wanted to say, and involves interpretation. It is almost simultaneous with identification, as in the act of identifying we almost always replace the error with what we think the pupil wanted to say. SAQ 5

Have another look at the examples in SAQ 4. What did you replace the erroneous sentences with? a. *I have saw him recently.

…………………………………………………….

b. *I’ve seen him yesterday.

……………………………………………………..

c. *I took the jacket back – it didn’t suit me.

………………………………………………………

d. *I don’t want to go to Spain this year. I prefer going to Italy.

d. ……………………………………………………….

e. *I clean my teeth twice a week.

…………………………………………………………

f. *There are cinemas from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m.

………………………………………………………… To reconstruct covert errors you have to look behind the immediate context. In order to correct covert errors you may have to ask the pupil if s/he meant what s/he said or not, and if not, what s/he wanted to say. Questioning may also be needed when a combination of errors occurs in one utterance. Moreover, overt errors can very often conceal covert errors. In reconstructing an overt error such as *‘I clean rarely my teeth’ or *‘I want speak to you’, the impulse to correct the word-order in *‘rarely my teeth’ may obscure the fact that it doesn’t really make sense. In *‘I want speak you’ you might insert the ‘to’ but not notice the stylistic error. So, whether you are marking written work or listening to pupils’ oral work, you shouldn’t miss important covert errors in your attempts to correct the overt ones. 5.3 Classifying Errors Classifying or describing errors refers to putting an error into one of the categories. This happens almost simultaneously with the first two processes. Assigning errors to categories is dependent on what you think the pupil is aiming at or what a native speaker would say, and on your reconstruction of the correct version. 5.4 Explaining Errors This is the most speculative part of the process of error analysis. Once an error is identified, reconstructed and categorised, you are in a position to consider its possible cause(s). Broadly speaking, errors will be either interlingual*, and stem from negative transfers from Romanian or another language the pupil speaks, or intralingual*, and stem from negative transfer within English.

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• Interlingual errors Inter-lingual errors are comparatively few in number compared to intra-lingual errors. This suggests that the traditional ‘contrastive analysis’ is useful to explain only those errors that are caused by the interference of Romanian. As a teacher of English, you are already familiar with the areas of interference between Romanian and English.

• Intralingual errors Many errors are common to pupils with different native languages. However, the pupils in a certain group do not necessarily make the same errors. So error analysts looked at the errors made within the context of English and of the students’ learning experience. They attempted to work out what influences could cause error apart from the learner’s mother tongue. Below are some of the most common causes of intra-lingual errors:

• Overgeneralisation An overgeneralisation error appears when the pupil has learnt a rule (e.g. –ed marks the past tense) and s/he overextends the rule to exceptions. Hence *comed, *goed, *maked or *"I must to buy this book", etc. Native English children also do this when acquiring English.

• Early learning The language pupils learn first has to cover a multitude of functions and they must ‘make do’ with the little language that they know. For instance, the present simple may serve as past: *"Yesterday I come to school by bus". The errors produced in such circumstances could be called ‘communicative’, and they are gradually removed as the pupils learn more English.

• Errors deriving from the nature of teaching What is practised most in class or is needed most for classroom communication is used most, even when inappropriate. For instance, very often a question like "What’s he doing?" may get an answer like: *"He’s doing reading a book". Such errors are often linked to the verbal prompts used by the teacher or by written prompts used in written exercises (as in the example above). They show the need for more careful teaching and more practice.

• Teacher-induced errors Some mistakes may be caused by overloading, which may lead to mixing or confusing, or even erasing. Also, the teacher’s failure to highlight the relevant details of a rule, may determine the pupils’ production commission of errors. For instance a question like *"Is she gone out?" may be caused by the teacher’s failure to show that she’s gone out stands for she has gone out in the affirmative.

• Cross-association Pupils may confuse two different uses of similar forms or concepts as in:

*It’s mine book. *The book was very interested. *He asked me to borrow my car to him.

Any of the above-mentioned causes could contribute to such errors. Whatever the cause though, the pupils are not associating the right form to the right concept or function.

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• Hypercorrection The pupils may transfer a correction to areas where it does not apply, and in which they previously made no errors or different errors, e.g.:

*He always is late. After the teacher has insisted a lot on structures like ‘He always arrives late’ or ‘My father’s car’, the overcompensation begins. The pupils may say things like ‘*He always is late’ or ‘*The chair’s legs’.

• Distraction When a pupil is thinking about one aspect of language, he may lose concentration in another. This is especially true of intonation, as practice of structural accuracy may lead to flat intonation.

• Communication strategies Communication strategies include simplification, translating, borrowing, guessing, over-generalising, etc. Each strategy brings with it several types of error. For most pupils, true communication in English (i.e. fluency) is inaccurate. However, the errors that occur will be considered significant only if they lead to communication breakdown. These ‘breakdowns’ must be noticed and quickly repaired. Here are some examples: simplification: *I like a tea. (for ‘I’d like a tea.’) borrowing: *He is terrible. (for ‘He is terrific.’) guessing: *We can meet together at the… the… car station. OK? (*'car station’ for ‘bus stop’) There is always some speculating in talking of the possible causes of error. Nevertheless, knowledge of and sensitivity to the causes of error should make you more vigilant about your teaching, and about the false corrections that pupils often make in the learning of English. 5.5 Teacher’s Response to Error The final link in the chain of error analysis is response to error, that is, what you can do to rectify errors. You have two main courses of action: correction and remedial work. Correction is done on the spot or shortly afterwards. Remedial work is a more thorough and systematic recapitulation of the language which is causing particular difficulty.

• Correction A difficult problem teachers are confronted with is how to make your pupils notice and concentrate on your corrections. You can never be sure of your pupils’ commitment to correction, because they learn in the way that suits them best. For instance, some pupils will benefit from homework, if you attach a good deal of importance to it, and give them corrections and comments in it. When the pupils are motivated, you may ask them to self-correct using a ‘correction code’. An introduction to self-correction is to get the pupils correcting each other’s work after it has been coded by you and handed back.

• Remedial action The systematic diagnosis of language weaknesses can pay dividends. When diagnosing areas of weakness, especially from written work, it is important to end up with:

• a list of all errors made

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• a list of the common errors made by both individuals and the class as a whole. The errors in the list can be categorised: errors with articles, punctuation, modal auxiliaries, etc. Such a list can help you devise a step-by-step approach to remedial work. 5.6 Correction or Reformulation? It is interesting to note that parents seldom correct their young children’s pronunciation or grammar in their mother tongue. Parental correction tends to concentrate on conventions of politeness (e.g. Say ‘please’) or on correcting the truth value of an utterance (e.g. That’s not a chair, is it? It’s a stool). The child’s grammatical system develops with little parental attention. It seems that parents do two things:

• They reformulate what the child tries to say, and in so doing, they confirm that they have understood. In reformulation, no attention is drawn to an error. • They extend what the child is talking about, thereby providing relevant and comprehensible new input. SAQ 6

What are the implications of these two parental strategies for classroom teaching? What questions do they raise?

In the classrooms where exposure to English is intensive and frequent, pupils could accept the idea that a lot of fluency work will benefit them. In such circumstances, such an approach to correction would be valid. But, in general, most pupils would only accept such an approach as part of a particular freer-style activity, or at higher levels of study where some fluency has already been attained. Summary To conclude, you need to be aware of various types of mistakes: slips, lapses, and errors and be able to say in which category or subcategory of errors they belong. In addition, you need to identify the causes of errors and say if they originate in Romanian or in English. Your responses to error will depend on the medium: in speech, you will have to opt for either correction or reformulation, while in writing you will have to decide on a coding system. Key Concepts

• error • identifying error • mistake • reconstructing error • negative transfer • classifying error • overgeneralisation • explaining error • error analysis • inter-lingual errors

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• production and reception mistakes

• intra-lingual errors

• pre-systematic stage errors • correction • systematic stage errors • remedial action/work • post-systematic stage errors • reformulation

Further Reading 1. Norrish, J. Language Learners and their Errors, Macmillan 2. Swan, M. and Smith, B., 1987, Learner English, Cambridge University Press

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Catedra de Limba şi Literatura engleză EFL Methodology year II

EVALUATION, ASSESSMENT, TESTING

The terms of evaluation and assessment are often used interchangeably. In general, by evaluation is meant “the systematic gathering of information for purposes of decision making” (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics,1992). Evaluation uses both quantitative (e.g. tests), qualitative methods (e.g. observation) and value judgements. The evaluation of learners involves decisions about entrance to programmes, placement, progress and achievement. According to the same dictionary, assessment is “the measurement of the ability of a person or the quality or success of a teaching course, etc.” Assessemtn may be by test, interview, questionnaire, observation, etc. Students may be tested at the beginning and again at the end of a course of study to assess the quality of the teaching on the course.

Testing is often a misunderstood word. When hearing it, many people envisage formal written tests, done by pupils working on their own to a time limit. In fact, we test our pupils’ ability to speak write or read, or their listening comprehension skills every day throughout the lessons. However, because marking written tests is easier than marking oral tests, and because written tests take less time and are easier to administer, most tests are written.

Whenever we check that a pupil is understanding, following, making progress, assimilating a new word, pronouncing a correct sound, we are testing our pupils. Also, whenever we informally assess whether our teaching is effective, we are testing our pupils.

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

• explain the difference between various types of tests • justify the use of tests in your classes • discuss what communicative testing is • devise specific tests for your classes. Key Concepts: evaluation, assessment, formal and informal testing, progress

tests, diagnostic tests, placement tests, assessing tests, reliability, validity, scorability, subjective and objective tests, discrete item, integrative and communicative testing, alternative assessment.

Informal and formal testing Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of classroom testing: informal and formal.

Informal testing is usually done orally and has a short-term objective within a lesson. Formal testing is usually done via the written medium, and tends to have more long-term objectives. Formal testing divides into three categories.

1. placement testing, i.e. finding out what level the pupil has reached in

comparison with an objective scale of competence, in order to put him/her in a suitable class;

2. diagnostic testing, i.e. finding out what the pupil needs; 3. progress/achievement testing, i.e. finding out what the pupil has learnt.

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Placement and diagnostic testing are often carried out in unison when a pupil first enters a school. Progress tests reflect the work of a lesson (e.g. homework) or the work covered in a week or a longer period of time.

Informal testing Informal testing refers to the techniques we use in a lesson to keep a constant

check on our pupils’ minute-by-minute progress and the effectiveness of our teaching. It can be done using concept questions to check assimilation of meaning, by eliciting* and by peer correction*.

Here are a few types of informal tests: • asking concept questions • checking understanding of instructions • eliciting pupils’ own examples • eliciting pupils’ explanation of a grammar rule • eliciting pupils’ definition of a vocabulary item • controlled oral practice (e.g. drills) • elicited/cued*/guided dialogue-building • elicited/cued/guided monologue-building • free stage activities • language games • communication games • comprehension questions • tasks based on listening/reading material As a result of informal testing, both your pupils and you get an ongoing and

impressionistic idea of their progress. Formal testing In formal testing, you give a certain time to a group of pupils to do a test that

was previously prepared, which is then corrected. Formal tests are not necessarily set by you, the class teacher, and they may not be related specifically to previous classroom teaching. Apart from their grade or mark, the pupils may never see the tests again.

Formal tests can be most types of written exercises:

• transformation e.g.: He's a fast runner. He runs... • clause combination e.g.: She had a cold. She went swimming. (although) • gap-filling e.g.: The chocolate cake looks so good. It must be very... • multiple-choice e.g.: Which of the three solutions is closest to the given word: hostage a) prey b) victim d) captive • sentence-completion, etc. e.g.: My friend would be all right if....

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What other types of written activities could be used in formal written testing?

•

The written work that the pupils produce provides a basis for assessment and

analysis. Approaches to testing Traditional types of formal tests may test linguistic competence to some extent,

but they do not test linguistic awareness or communicative competence. Thus, we can identify three different approaches to testing:

• discrete item tests These test individual grammar rules or vocabulary items (e.g. Jane … (go) to

school by bus every day.)

• integrative tests These test a more global linguistic awareness, e.g. cloze tests where every nth

word is deleted from a passage.

• communicative tests These test the pupils’ communicative effectiveness in each of the four language

skills, and also the socio-cultural awareness of language choice in a range of contexts. Most teachers believe that their job is a constant process of TESTING (or

ASSESSING) → TEACHING → TESTING AGAIN... and so on. In fact, pupils work off the feedback they get from their teachers and teachers work from the feedback they get from their pupils. Thus, teachers can continuously assess individual pupils’ progress and the effectiveness of their teaching.

There are four basic issues in testing:

• the purpose of the test • the criteria for deciding whether the test is good or not • what should be tested • what testing techniques should be used. What does a test measure? A test is a measuring device, and a means of comparison. We use a test when

either we want to compare a pupil with other pupils who belong to the same group, or we may be comparing what the pupil can do now with what s/he has done in a past test. We may therefore use a test to…

a. compare a pupil’s present performance with his/her past performance. We do this using a progress / achievement test, based on what has been taught.

b. find out if a pupil’s language abilities compare with the minimum requirements for a task (e.g. studying in an intensive English class, which requires a certain level of English). In such circumstances, we use a proficiency test, based on what the pupil needs to be able to do with the language to perform a certain task.

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c. find out which of the classes available is best suited to the pupil’s needs. This is a placement test and is most often used on entry into a school.

d. find out what a group of pupils’ specific needs are, what they are good at or weak on; to see which skill areas need more work, and what kind of work. This is done using a diagnostic test, based both on what the pupils should know and on what may still need to be covered. A diagnostic test is similar to a placement test in content but it may be a more precise instrument. Actually, we may consider that informal diagnostic testing is going on for some time at the beginning of a course.

e. find out which are the best pupils in a group. This is competitive assessment via a selection test.

f. find out the language learning abilities of a pupil or group of pupils, to see to what extent they would benefit from a language course. This is called an aptitude test.

With the exception of aptitude tests, all the tests overlap to a certain extent in terms of content language and its use. However, each one has a different aim and a different relationship to teaching. These differences influence the content of a test, the way in which it is handled and marked, and who writes the test. The three tests that most concern us are the progress, diagnostic and placement tests.

Progress tests These are the tests that you administer most often, and which affect your pupils’

learning directly and immediately. Their aim is to find out if what you have taught has been assimilated sufficiently to be used accurately and appropriately, or whether remedial work is needed. Progress tests are based on what you personally have taught your pupils, on what the syllabus or the textbook directed you to teach. That is why, progress tests are, in a sense, retrospective to teaching. They act as a kind of summary of a number of hours’ work in class or at home.

Regular progress tests can help you and your pupils to see improvement in certain areas or skills over a longer period. This is particularly useful with more advanced pupils where progress is often more difficult to see. Progress tests are also a good way of indicating to pupils that more effort is required of them if they are to reach a certain standard.

We should consider the results of progress tests in conjunction with continuous assessment. As some test results may indicate a bad day for some pupils, you may also need to consider factors such as: how hard they have worked, how much passive knowledge they have, whether they like a challenge or not, and perhaps even the group spirit.

A progress test, administered at the end of a year or at the end of a term, has the aim of helping you and your pupils to see progress or lack of it. Such tests are probably best written by someone with an overall view of the different levels and of how they relate to one another and the syllabus. Many textbooks offer such tests at the end of the year. However, if the aim of the progress test is to summarise a week’s work or to draw together the different elements of a unit, you are the best person to write the test. Such a test needs to be strictly related to what you have taught that class of pupils. The results of such a test have the advantage of not only telling your pupils and yourself how much they have learned, but also what needs remedial work in subsequent lessons. If the test exposes huge gaps in your pupils’ knowledge, it has the function of a diagnostic test as well.

However, tests can go wrong, not only because of the pupils’ lack of knowledge, but also because of problems in the writing of the tests themselves. When you write tests, bear in mind these five rules suggested by Harmer (1987, pp. 58 - 59):

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1. Do not test what you have not taught. Unless you are testing reading or listening comprehension, you only test the language you have exposed your pupils to. However, if you ask your pupils to write freely, then encourage them to show as much as they know.

2. Do not test general knowledge. Remember that you test only their English. 3. Do not introduce new techniques in tests. For instance, ask them to do a

sentence-ordering activity, only if they have worked with jumbled sentences before. 4. Do not just test accuracy. A progress test should examine the pupils’ ability

to use language, not just their grammatical accuracy. Give them the opportunity to express themselves freely, too.

5. Do not forget to test the test. Show it first to a colleague, who might identify problems you have not thought of, such as unclear instructions, mistakes, or the difficulty of the test (too high or too low). If possible, try your test out with a similar class or a class of a slightly higher level.

Diagnostic tests While progress tests are based on what you have taught, diagnostic tests are

based on what you think needs to be taught. Diagnostic tests are usually set at the beginning of a course when you want to know your pupils.

Based on the information provided by a diagnostic test, you will plan your language work for the class or group. A diagnostic test on the first day will help you to decide which areas need remedial work, and which ones the pupils have at least some knowledge of. This information will enable you to select the most necessary language work and the right approach to input, practice and skills work. This is particularly important at intermediate level and above, when learning is a process of constant remedial work in order to help pupils achieve increasing mastery of complex aspects of language use.

You may even use the same diagnostic test at the end of the course, as a progress test, so that both you and your pupils see how and where they have improved.

Placement tests Placement tests are concerned with the general needs of a pupil, and are based

on a general assessment of his/her ability to use English. When testing a pupil for placement purposes you need to bear in mind an image of the syllabus at all levels, and a knowledge of what demands are made on pupils at different levels. Based on what the pupil understands and produces in the light of this criterion, you place him/her up or down the scale.

Placement tests are important for you, as you have to cope with the results of placement tests, even though you may not be involved in designing them.

Assessing tests Four main issues concern us in assessing a test:

• validity • reliability • scorability • administrability

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A test has validity when it does what it sets out to do, and does not test other things unnecessarily (such as memory, intelligence, non-linguistic knowledge, personality, etc). A valid test uses means of testing appropriate to the aims of the test.

A reliable test will give consistent results. If we administer the test again to the same pupils or to other pupils at the same level, the test will give the same results. To give reliable results, the test should be long enough.

A scorable test is quick to score, and not very time-consuming. An administrable test is easy to administer. Reliability and validity It is important for the results of a test to remain the same if the test is marked by

different people, or by the same person at a different time, or if the same pupils did the test again under the same conditions. Reliable results are also important if you want to compare one group of pupils with another. Reliability is easier with written tests than spoken ones.

What can you do in order to make sure that your tests are reliable?

a. Make sure the test is long enough, and if possible test the same things in more than one way.

b. Pilot your test: try it out on a group and note any problems that emerge when administering the test.

c. Mark the test twice or give it to somebody else to mark it, to see if both of you agree with the marking. The more people agree with your marking, the more reliable your test will be.

Validity emphasises the importance of the pupil's reaction to the test. It is very

important that the test looks like a good one to the pupils; otherwise, they may not feel like putting in the necessary effort to do it well. This means that we should design tests that are clearly connected with what we have done in our class, in terms of both test content and testing technique. Our pupils' previous experience of tests will affect what they consider to be a valid test or not. Our main aim is to assess their language knowledge and skills, and this will be difficult to do if the pupils are unsure how to handle a testing technique, multiple choice, for example. it is, therefore, in everyone's interest to design tests that do not cause pupils undue stress.

The secret of content validity is to: a. make sure you are very clear in your mind both what you want to test and

what different testing techniques you demand of the pupils; b. analyse the results of any test you write to see which test items got the

answers you intended them to get. Then you can consider what happened and modify the test items for the next time.

A reliable test is not necessarily a valid one and vice versa. For example, if you

want to find out if your pupils can write an essay, then the valid test is to ask them to write an essay. However, if you have not thought carefully about the degree of guidance your pupils need to receive in relation to what you expect, and about how you will mark the test, this can be an unreliable way of testing essay-writing skills.

On the other hand, a test with multiple-choice questions may be a reliable way to test pupils’ ability to recognise the correct structural item, but it is not a valid way of testing the pupils’ ability to produce these items.

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Below are five examples of test items that have the aim of testing pupils' ability to produce a simple past question using How.

Which would you say are valid ways of doing this? a) Make a question from this sentence: He went to Brighton by car. b) Make the question for the answer below: ............................ to Brighton last year? . I went by car.

c) Make a question about the phrase underlined: I went to Brighton by car. d) Make the question for the answer below. By car. e) Make this sentence complete: How/go/Brighton?

Scorability and administrability Administrability refers to how easily a test can be made or done. A number of

technological developments, such as the photocopiers, the audio-recording equipment and the computers have made testing an easier task for the teachers.

There is a tendency for the more reliable tests to be easier to mark. Where it is possible to be more objective about the answer, it is easier to mark. For instance, it is easier to mark multiple-choice questions, because the pupils' answers can be tightly controlled and anticipated, and there is room for one right answer only. By contrast, in a letter, for instance, you need to think of the way the pupils have expressed themselves; you may need to reconstruct errors; you may be uncertain about the importance of an error, etc. In other words, however much you think about the criteria for marking and attempt to standardise your marking, the unpredictability of free writing makes marking much more subjective. Therefore, we have two kinds of testing techniques in terms of marking: subjective and objective.

Marking tests Tests that are more reliable are easier to mark and thus it is possible for you to

be more objective about the mark.

Which of the following is easier to mark and why? A piece of free writing such as a thank you letter or multiple-choice answers? Write your answer (about 100 words) in the space provided below.

There are two kinds of testing techniques to choose from in terms of marking:

subjective and objective. These terms do not refer to the writing of the tests, but to the type of marking they require. Actually, all tests are fundamentally subjective in construction because they reflect certain attitudes to learning and to what is learnt. Both subjective and objective techniques have their strengths and weaknesses.

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• Objective tests These tests are very quick to mark. They are based on predicted answers and

on total control of what the pupil shows s/he can do. The big disadvantage of such tests is that we cannot find out if the pupils can do anything else.

• Subjective tests These tests are easy to design and administer, but their marking can be a time-

consuming process, involving a lot of decision-making about the quality and acceptability of the answers. In such tests, the pupils can avoid or get round things they are not sure of or do not know. They can show what they can do beyond what the test is meant to test. This could be as much to their disadvantage as to their advantage.

When setting out to write tests, remember to create a balance both for yourself

and for your pupils when marking. Try to devise ways in which subjective testing (e.g. free writing) can be put within a framework to restrict what the pupils produce (e.g. ‘include the following points...’ or ‘compare and contrast with...’) to help you make your marking both easier and more standardised and reliable.

Discrete item vs. integrative tests

Consider the following two test items: Test 1. Complete this sentence with a suitable word or

phrase. A: John failed his exams, you know. B: Well, it is his own fault, he …………………… harder. Test 2. Read this passage and follow the instructions: Your friend, John, had his first date last night. He played

football in the afternoon and didn’t have time to have a bath. He just brushed his teeth, changed his clothes and rushed to the cinema. He was half an hour late. He had chosen a horror film, and after a few minutes, the girl asked to leave. John had an argument with her in the cinema, and then they left. They went to a restaurant, and at the end of the meal, John told the girl she ought to pay half the bill. In the taxi on the way home, he tried to kiss her but she started crying.

Although it is too late, give John some advice about last night.

Now in about 60 words, answer these questions: a) What do these two test items have in common? …………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

b) Which one tests one specific language item? …………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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………………. c) Which one demands more of the pupil in terms of

language skills? …………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………..............................................................................................................................

d) Which one is closer to what happens with language in real life?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Test item 1 is an example of discrete item testing, while test item 2 is an example of integrative testing.

Test item 1 isolates a particular item of language and keeps the surrounding language to a minimum. Test item 2, on the other hand, is a small-scale example of integrative testing because the pupil has to demonstrate a wider knowledge of English and utilise an ability to read for gist.

The difference between discrete item and integrative testing is primarily one of intention. When we want to know if a pupil can recognise or produce a specific item of vocabulary or structure, a specific functional exponent or a certain pronunciation feature, then we use discrete-item techniques. If we want to know how well a pupil can combine her/his knowledge of grammar and vocabulary in skills work with a specific aim, then we use integrative testing techniques.

Here are a few testing techniques you are familiar with. Say whether they are examples of discrete testing or of integrative testing, by writing D (discrete) or I (integrative):

• essay … • dictation … • multiple choice … • true/false … • written answers to comprehension techniques… • gap-filling …

The discrete-item techniques have the advantage of making us consider carefully what we are testing.

One of the chief features of the communicative approach is to appreciate the importance of language in use, and thus to give more emphasis to language skills as the end, and language items as the means. Thus, communicative lessons provide a balance between items and skills. Traditional testing techniques have also been re-evaluated, and tests such as dictation have been reconsidered because in doing it, pupils have to show that they can integrate knowledge of the parts of the language in order to demonstrate their language level and ability.

While it is recognised that some kind of integrative testing is more appropriate in determining overall competence, this is not to say that discrete item testing techniques have been thrown out. However, they should be used as ways of testing specific linguistic sub-skills or language items and not as means of assessing overall competence in a skill.

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When we need precise information about the gaps in a pupil’s receptive or productive knowledge of the linguistic systems, or about her/his difficulties with specific sub-skills which affect the overall competence in one of the four skills, then discrete item testing will come into its own. Discrete item testing is of most use for diagnostic and achievement / progress testing, where we are concerned with finding out what the gaps are or with how much of our teaching has been absorbed, or what the pupil can and cannot do.

Would you also include integrative testing techniques in a diagnostic or a progress test? Why (not)?

Here are some common discrete item (and objective) testing techniques:

• transformation e.g. Complete these sentences: He’s a fast runner. He runs… e.g. Change the word in capitals to fit the sentences given: There were a lot of… for the job. APPLY, etc. e.g. Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first: “I’m thirsty,” she said. / She said… e.g. Make these sentences into questions: 1. I’ve got two sisters and a brother, etc.

• insertion e.g. Put the word in capitals into the right place in the sentence: She lives in an old farmhouse. HUGE

• fill in e.g. Fill in the blanks with so, such or such a and words from the text. Jo was so annoyed when her sister got a Walkman that she didn’t speak

to her parents for days.

• combination e.g. Join these two sentences using although: John had a cold. He went swimming.

• sentence completion e.g. My room would be all right if…

• re-arrangement e.g. jumbled words, sentence, paragraphs Find words/phrases in column B, which have a similar (in other tests, opposite) meaning to those in column A: A B disappear moist fade leave loathe lose colour

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damp dislike intensely etc.

• functional sentence matching e.g. Match the sentence with when you use it: Could I come in there? persuading Is there any way I could… generalising They tend to be dark-haired interrupting, etc.

• split-sentence matching e.g. Combine these phrases to get sentences: Would you mind my open the window? Would you mind if opening the window? Could I I opened the window?

• skeleton sentence e.g. Make sentences: This picture/paint/Van Gogh/long time ago

• error analysis e.g. Which part of the sentence is wrong? I’m frightened/that you’ll/feel angry/to me A B C D e.g. Correct the following: Do you like a cigarette?

• situations e.g. You want a day off. How would you ask... a) your boss b) a colleague who works with you in a busy office. 4.1 Two Popular Techniques: Multiple Choice Tests and Cloze Tests Below are described in more detail two commonly used testing techniques:

multiple choice tests and cloze tests. Multiple choice tests Multiple-choice tests are examples of discrete item testing. Almost all written

exams rely on the multiple-choice technique because of its obvious scorability. It is used primarily for comprehension testing and vocabulary testing.

A test item consists of a stem and options. The options consist of the correct answer and a number of distractors, e.g.:

STEM: I … saw him yesterday OPTIONS: see / saw / have seen / had seen 1 2 3 4 1, 3 and 4 are DISTRACTORS. 2 is the correct answer. The more distractors there are, the smaller the chances of pupils getting the

answer right by guesswork or luck. However, it is difficult to have a large number of options that are not absurd.

The STEM may be:

• an incomplete statement, e.g.: I …. him yesterday. • a complete statement, e.g.: He got over the flu in two weeks.

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• a question, as in comprehension multiple choice. Here are a few words of advice regarding options:

• make sure that you test only one thing at a time • make sure all options are at the appropriate linguistic level of the pupils you

want to test • give only one correct option. However, it is not impossible to have two correct options; for instance, two

correct options are possible in comprehension questions, rather than in questions that test language elements. Even if this could reduce guesswork, make sure that all questions have either two correct options or all have one.

• do not include absurd options • avoid ungrammatical options • avoid ambiguity • to ensure face validity, have a few colleagues look it over your test. Remember that it is useful to test major items twice in order to increase the

reliability of the score. Here are a few advantages of multiple choice testing:

• it enables objective scoring • it can easily expose language weaknesses • it encourages pupils to look at sentence context when making their choices • it is easy to mark.

Can you think of any disadvantages of multiple choice testing? Write down as many as you can in the space provided below.

Many teachers feel that their pupils need to be taught the ‘skill’ of answering multiple choice questions, especially comprehension questions. However this skill is quite simple, even for text comprehension questions. Teach your pupils to:

• look first at the question only, not the options • listen to (or read) the text • try to work out what they think the answer is • look at the options. Cloze tests Cloze tests are a type of integrative tests. A cloze test consists in a passage

usually taken from an authentic text in which every nth word is deleted. In the classic cloze test there is, therefore, no pre-selection of the blanks, which can cover all types of words. In order to fill in the blanks, pupils have to understand the passage as a whole (from the context), and fill in the blanks both in accordance with the meaning and function of the piece of discourse as a whole and in accordance with the rules of grammar at sentence level. In doing this the learner demonstrates an ability to:

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• read or listen for gist and process the information • predict and reconstruct meaning from the contextual clues surrounding the

blanks • show an awareness of the relevant rules of co-occurrence (grammatical,

stylistic and lexical). A cloze test is therefore a truly integrative test. The question is whether it is a

communicative test or not. Some argue that when pupils encounter an unknown text, there are ‘gaps in

meaning’ for them represented by the words they do not understand. A cloze test reproduces this situation with the purpose of either assessing how well pupils cope with this, or training them to make informed guesses and predictions based on existing knowledge applied to the contextual clues available.

Another favourable point about cloze tests is that they are easy to construct, by comparison with multiple-choice tests. All you have to do is pick a suitable text (about 250 – 300 words) and remove every fifth, seventh or ninth word (fifth can be too difficult – more than tenth is too easy!) Keep the first and the last sentences intact. Alternatively, you can delete only words by part of speech or content area vocabulary.

Here is how you can create a cloze test, starting from an instructional material given in a textbook in use. The text is taken from High Flyer, Upper Intermediate, by Ana Acevedo and Marisol Gower, Longman, 1999, p. 17:

Anya woke up with a start. She knew straight away that today would be a

special day. She had that familiar feeling in her stomach – as if lots of butterflies were trapped and were flapping their wings, trying to escape.

She had had that feeling just before her grandmother died and when her father was awarded a prize for his research. She felt, more than knew, most things before anybody else had heard about them, perhaps even before they had actually happened. To those who didn’t know her well, Anya seemed strange; to those who did know her well, she was simply special.

That bright summer morning Anya felt restless and the butterflies in her stomach were growing stronger by the minute. She knew from experience that it was no good fighting it: she would have to follow it.

‘Mum! I’ve got to go out,’ she announced. London was extremely hot and its streets crowded. Anya walked wherever her

feet took her, as if pulled by some invisible force. And still, the funny feeling in her stomach was intensifying. Eventually, she reached Piccadilly Circus, which was even busier than usual.

‘Shh! Take it easy,’ she whispered to the feeling in her stomach. ‘Whatever it is, it won’t be long now!’

He stopped to let the slow traffic advance before crossing the street. A coach stopped right in front of her. Anya saw herself reflected in the window. Then suddenly she realised. What she was looking at was not herself, but a boy, about her age, sitting in the coach. Hey looked at each other with equal surprise and delight.

Anya tried to call out but no sound came out of her mouth. Just then, the coach moved forward and disappeared in to the London traffic.

Replace the deleted words with blanks that are about the same size and

number each blank consecutively, e.g.: She …(4) had that feeling just before her grandmother died … (5) when her

father was awarded a prize for … (6) research. She felt, more than knew, most things …… (7) anybody else had heard about them, perhaps even …… (8) they had actually

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happened. To those who didn’t …. (9) her well, Anya seemed strange; to those who … (10) know her well, she was simply special.

Three levels of difficulty can be constructed from one reading passage by

deleting every fifth, seventh or ninth word. Passages with every fifth word omitted will be more challenging than those with every ninth word deleted. The greater the number of blanks, the more reliable the cloze becomes as an indicator of the pupil’s reading ability.

Could you now mention a few differences between cloze tests and gap-filling tests?

• •

One important difference is that a cloze test contains unseen elements, as the gaps are not especially chosen but are every nth word. However, the gaps can also be distributed according to criteria such as word class, redundancy or predictability.

Although they are very easy to construct, cloze tests are not necessarily very easy to do, and they can be frustrating for the pupils if the blanks occur too frequently for them to have sufficient contextual clues, or if the language level of the text is above the pupils’ own productive level.

In cloze tests the relationship between productive and receptive knowledge is a close one as pupils are being asked to read the passage intensively and complete it grammatically, so a grasp of the gist is not enough. It can be very demoralising for the pupils to find that all they can do is recognise which part of speech can fit, but not understand the passage sufficiently to choose a word.

To score a cloze, count all words that are semantically and syntactically correct or contextually appropriate. Accept any word that is contextually appropriate, not only exact word replacements. In this way you can maintain both flexibility and objectivity, because the range of predicted responses is not limitless, since it is controlled by the immediate and general context.

Communicative testing How often do our tests measure the pupils’ communicative ability? We still

primarily test knowledge of the grammatical and lexical system with some attempt to see how pupils put this to work in the skills. You will probably have noticed that the examples given so far are language-based not task-based tests; the emphasis is on what pupils know or don’t know rather than what they can or can’t do with the language at their disposal.

There are several reasons for this apparent lack of relevance of testing to teaching for communication. One of them is that greater use of communicative testing still awaits the resolution of many issues in communicative materials design and communicative methodology.

Another reason for the delay relates specifically to one of the problems of a communicative view of the language: what constitutes a core syllabus for communicative purposes? What functions and notions need to be developed?

As there is some uncertainty of how to test communicative ability in a way appropriate to the work done in class, we continue to test the language as before. We know that in this way we can at least rely on that for information about our pupils’ grasp of the linguistic system. This reveals at least something about communicative ability, especially at lower levels. A lack of knowledge of the basic tenses for instance will

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seriously impede and limit effective communication. We may even use integrative tests such as cloze tests to give us information about the pupils’ ability to process the language. These tests will tell us at what level the pupils can process language and what language (broadly speaking) they can process.

However, we often find that either the result does not accord with our subjective assessment of the pupils’ overall ability in class or we get a shock when our pupils appear that they can’t use what they know to communicate. This poses the problem: what should the criteria for communicative testing be, if existing tests are inadequate as a measure of communicative ability?

Let us now look at some of the features of language use that do not seem to be

measured in conventional tests.

• Interaction-based In the vast majority of cases, language in use is based on an interaction. Even

cases such as letter writing can be considered as weak forms of interaction as they involve an addressee, whose expectations will be taken into account by the writer. These expectations will affect both the content of the message and the way in which it is expressed.

A more characteristic form of interaction is represented by face-to-face oral interaction that involves not only the adaptation of expression and content but also a combination of receptive and productive skills. What is said by a speaker depends crucially on what is said to him.

• Unpredictability The development of an interaction is unpredictable. The processing of

unpredictable data in real time is a vital aspect of using language.

• Context Any use of language takes place in a context, and the language forms that are

appropriate vary in accordance with this context. Thus a language user must be able to handle appropriacy in terms of both context of situation (e.g. physical environment, role/status of participants, attitude/formality) and linguistic context (e.g. textual cohesion).

• Purpose Every utterance is made for a purpose. Thus a language user must be able to

recognise why a certain remark has been addressed to her/him, and be able to encode appropriate utterances to achieve her/his own purposes.

• Performance The pupils’ actual use of language.

• Authenticity The characteristic of language that is not simplified to take account of the

linguistic level of the addressee. An important feature of the pupils’ ability to use authentic language is their capacity to come to terms with what is unknown.

• Behaviour-based The success or failure of an interaction is judged by its participants based on

behavioural outcomes. More emphasis needs to be placed in a communicative context on the notion of behaviour.

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A test of communication must take as its starting point the measurement of what the pupils can actually achieve through language. None of the tests we have considered has set themselves this task.

Involving pupils in handling testing Involving pupils in marking Here are a few ideas that you can use so that pupils mark the test themselves.

In this way, you can distinguish between careless mistakes and real misunderstandings or gaps in their knowledge; pupils also get some individual attention from you.

Here is the procedure for this objective: 1. When a pupil thinks s/he has finished, and brings the test to you, check it

without ticking or crossing, but merely writing the number of mistakes at the bottom. The pupil then goes back and tries to find and correct the mistakes.

2. The pupil comes back, and if there are still mistakes, this time you indicate roughly where the mistakes are e.g. ‘in that line’ or ‘No. 4’.

3. The pupil comes back again. This time, if necessary, you indicate the type of mistakes.

4. If you cannot correct the test on the spot, make sure the pupil learns the correct form through remedial work as soon as possible.

5. Take the tests in to get an overview of what general remedial work is necessary.

Could you explain what advantages you see in involving pupils in marking?

• •

As you look at a progress test, consider:

• what level the test is aimed at • what aspects of language are being tested (i.e. grammar, vocabulary,

pronunciation, style) • what aspects of skill are being tested, if any • whether functional/communicative ability is being tested • whether each test item tests what it means to test. Involving pupils in constructing tests Here are some steps you may want to follow, when your pupils already have

experience of progress tests written by you.

1. Choose a grammatical or lexical area that is not too complicated, or tell your pupils to look back over work done during a given period.

2. Give them plenty of time in groups to prepare the test and homework time for writing it up.

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3. Give examples of a few techniques they might use. 4. Make sure they have understood that they must limit what they test to what

has been covered in their class. 5. Supervise the test writing to make sure the tests are correct. In this way the

writing of the test will act both as a learning tool and as further practice. 6. Facilitate the writing by (a) grouping the pupils appropriately (e.g. avoid

putting all the weak pupils together), and make sure there is a good mixture in each group; (b) have 3 or 4 groups and give each group a specific area to test.

When you administer the test, you can photocopy neatly written versions for class or homework. A scoring system must also be worked out.

What could be, in your opinion, the advantages of such an approach to testing?

•

However, problems can occur with students less willing to take responsibility for

their own learning, and it can be time-consuming. Therefore it is possibly best used with classes who are used to group work. It is also important to limit what is asked of them to test, either by the size and number of areas, or by the number of ‘questions’ they have to produce.

Alternative assessment In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the application of

assessment procedures that are different from traditional forms of assessment. Forms of assessment such as portfolios, interviews, journals, project work, and self- or peer assessment have become increasingly common in the EFL classroom. These forms of assessment are more student-centered as they involve more the students in their learning and give them a better sense of control for their own learning. They can show what the students can do in the foreign language. Students are evaluated on what they can integrate and produce rather than on what they are able to recall and reproduce. The main goal of alternative assessment is to “gather evidence about how students are approaching, processing, and completing ‘real-life’ tasks in a particular domain” (Garcia and Pearson, 1994: 357).

Advantages of alternative assessment These forms of assessment are called alternative, authentic or informal. These

new forms of assessment focus more on measuring learners’ ability to use language holistically in real-life situations and is typically carried out continuously over a period of time. In this way, a more accurater picture of students’ language profile can be obtained.

The new forms of assessment focus on communication, rather than on language, they are learner-centered rather than teacher-centered; they deal with integrated skills rather than on isolated skills; they emphaseze the process rather than the product; they involve open-ended, multiple solutions, rather than one answer or one-way correctness; they not only test but also teach.

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Alternative assessment provides alternatives to traditional testing in that it (a) does not intrude on regular classroom activities; (b) reflects the curriculum that is actually being implemented in the classroom; (c) provides information on the strengths and weaknesses of each individual student; (d) provides multiple indices that can be used to gauge student progress; and (e) is more multiculturally sensitive and free from norm, linguistic, and cultural biases found in traditional testing. (Huerta-Macias A., 339)

Alternative assessment procesures are nonintrusive to the classroom because they do not require a separate block of time to implement them, as do traditional tests. Moreover, the same day-to-day activities that a student is engaged in (e.g. writing, role-playing, group discussion) are the basis for alternative assessment. Thus, little or no change is required in classroom routines and activities to implement alternative assessment. Because alternative assessment is based on the daily classroom activities, it also reflects the curriculum, unlike traditional, standardized tests that are often test skills incongruent with classroom practices (e.g. none of the above). Furthermore, because the data collected are based on real-life tasks, alternative assessment provides information on the strengths as well as the weaknesses of the student.A work sample, may tell the teacher that a student’s strong points are with the mechanics of English but that s/he needs additional work on vocabulary and organization of a written piece. Alternative assessment provides a menu of possibilities, rather than any one single method for assessment. Thus, student growth can be more reliably assessed because information from various sources is included in the process. Finally, these procedures are not normedinstruments, and they are based on student performance in real-life tasks.

Alternative assessemnt procedures Al;though it is unlikely that any one procedure will fil the needs of a given group

of students, the idea is to adopt and/or adapt existing instruments in such a way that they reflect the goals of the class and the activities being implemented in that classroom to meet those goals. Alternative assessment procedures include, for example, the use of checjlists of student behaviour or productsm journals, reading logs, videos of role-plays, audiotapes of discussions, self-evaluation questionnaires, work samples, and teacher observations and anecdotal records. The teacher and students can collaboratively decide which procedures are to be used for assessment in a given class. Individual students are also often given the responsibility of selecting specific products of their work (published pieces, for instance) on which they will be assessed.

Validity, reliability, and objectivity Objections to alternative assessment are often voiced in terms of validity, reliability and objectivity. The following can be done to ensure reliability in alternative assessment:

• designing multiple tasks that lead to the same outcome; • using trained judges, working with clear criteria, from specific anchor

paper or performance behaviours; • monitoring periodically to ensure that raters use criteria and standards in

a consistent manner. Portfolio assessment A typical writing portfolio contains the student’s total writing output to represent

his/her overall performance, but it may also contain only a selection of works which the student has chosen for the teacher to evaluate. In other words, portfolios show a student’s work from the beginning of the term to the end, giving both teacher and student a chance to assess how much the latter’s writing has progressed. In order for students to take responsibility for their own learning, ownership of their own choices and

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actions is an all-important consideration. This is a real step towards learner autonomy. In the traditional approach, ownership of work and learning is looked upon more as the responsibility of the teacher than of the learner. However, when students actively participate in the selection and discussion of their work, they gain a true sense of ownership, which results in personal satisfaction and feelings of self-worth. Portfolios must be developed as follows (Farr and Lowe, 1991: 79):

• Teachers and students both add materials to the portfolio; • Students are viewed as the owners of the portfolios; • Conferencing between students and the teacher is an inherent activity in

portfolio assessment; • Conference notes and reflections of both teacher and the student are

kept in the portfolio; • Portfolios need to reflect a wide range of students work and not only that

which the teacher or student decides is the best. • Samples of the student’s reading and writing activities are collected in

the portfolios, including unfinished projects. Portfolios offer a good vehicle for assessment because (a) they typically contain

a variety of different samples of student work, and (b) they make it easy to separate evaluation from the process of instruction.

Portfolios may be used as a holistic process for evaluating course work and for promoting learner autonomy. Portfolios provide a sound basis on which to document individual student progress because they incorporate a range of assessment strategies over an extended period of time.

Learning logs See the lecture on Developing Writing Skills. Journal entries Journal entries may be used as an informal means of assessment by the

teacher because they are personal and intimate. The teacher can write short notes in response to students’ thoughts. Just as in portfolio assessment, journal entries may be a source of conferencing. See also the lecture on Developing Writing Skills.

Dialogue journals See the lecture on Developing Writing Skills.

Summary Most of this unit deals with formal testing. This is done though placement,

diagnosis, progress, proficiency, selection, and aptitude tests. You are probably mainly interested in the first three, though you may be asked to construct or administer placement tests, too.

The criteria of test assessment are also discussed: validity, reliability, scorability and administrablity.

The testing techniques include discrete items (used in testing grammar, vocabulary, functional exponents, pronunciation, style and include such test items as gap filling), integrative tests (which make use of skills and global awareness of language; examples of integrative tests: cloze, dictation, reading aloud); and communicative tests (which test all skills). All these testing techniques have their place in the testing system.

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Bear in mind that when testing you need to consider: the pupils' educational background, their language level, the pupils' age and the emphasis of the syllabus you are using: is it structural? functional? skill-based?

Remember that tests are as important to pupils as they are to you. Since they constitute a formal measure of progress or current language level, they are very motivating targets for pupils to work towards. The degree of formality with which you administer the test will depend on the educational expectations of the pupils and the relationship that you have built up with them.

Further Reading Harmer, J., 2001, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman, pp. 321 - 334 Heaton J. B., Writing English Language Tests, Longman. Huerta-Macías, Ana. “Alternative Assessment: Responses to Commonly Asked

Questions” in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Peňaflorida, Andreea H., Nontraditional Forms of Assessment and Response to Student Writing in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP. Richards Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

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