Activity
Match the following types of activities to the most suitable seating arrangement. There can be more than one possibility.
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orderly rows
circle
horseshoe
separate tables
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group work (e.g. discussion)
individual work
role-play
debate
brainstorming
watching a video
explaining grammar
predicting
problem-solving
phonetic drill
listening to a text
making a project
dramatizing a dialogue
doing a test
answering teacher’s questions
writing a dictation
| Activity
What’s the best grouping for these activities? Put W = whole class, P = pair work, G = group work, S = solo work
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S tudents design a poster for a school event.
Students listen to a tape recording of a conversation.
Students practice saying sentences with the Present Perfect.
Students prepare a talk on a subject of their choosing.
Students repeat words and phrases to make sure they can say them correctly.
Students work out the answers to a reading comprehension.
Students write a dialogue between a traveller and an immigration official.
Students write a paragraph about themselves.
The teacher explains the rule for the pronunciation of‘s’ plurals.
Students choose one of three alternatives when faced with an imaginary moral dilemma.
Activity
What do you think is the best seating arrangement for the following situations? Explain your reasons.
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You want to have a game in teams with a class of forty students.
In your class of 15 students you want them to discuss a topic with you.
In your class of thirty students you want them to work in pairs.
You have some reading tasks in a class of ten students.
Students are designing an advertisement in groups.
The students are going to listen to a tape.
You want to explain a grammar point.
Activity
Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Give your reasons.
Classes where students sit in straight rows are easier to control.
Classes where students sit in straight rows are old fashioned and stop people learning.
Having students in straight row is the best way to teach a large class.
It is important for students for students to face the teacher.
Students participate more fully in a class where students sit in straight rows.
Students understand things better when they sit in straight rows.
Stages of the lesson
Aims: By the end of the lesson the students will be able to distinguish between 3 sequences of a good lesson: ESA (“Straight Arrow Sequence”), EAS (A) (“Boomerang Sequence”) and “Patchwork”, to define the three stages of a lesson and to produce their own activities for an ESA lesson.
Activity. Read the information about the three elements of successful language learning, highlight or underline the aims of each stage and types of activities.
What elements are necessary for successful language learning in classrooms?
Classroom students don’t usually get the same kind of exposure or encouragement as those who – at whatever age – are ‘picking up’ the language. But that does not mean they cannot learn a language if the right conditions apply. Like language learners outside schools, they will need to be motivated, be exposed to language, and given chances to use it. We can therefore way what elements need to be present in a language classroom to help students learn effectively. We will call these elements ‘ESA’, three elements which will be present in all – or almost all – classes. They are:
Engage: this is the point in a teaching sequence where teachers try to arouse the students’ interest, thus involving their emotions.
Most people can remember lessons at school which were uninvolving and where they ‘switch off’ from what was being taught them. Frequently, this was because they were bored, because they were not emotionally engaged with what was going on. Such lessons can be contrasted with lessons where they were amused, moved, stimulated or challenged. It seems quite clear that those lessons involved not only more ‘fun’, but also better learning.
Activities and materials which frequently Engage students include: games (depending on age and type), music, discussions (when handled challengingly), stimulating pictures, dramatic stories, amusing anecdotes etc. But even where such activities and materials are not used, teachers will want to ensure that their students Engage with the topic, exercise or language they are going to be dealing with. They will ask students what they think of a topic before asking them to read about it, for example. They will look at the picture of a person and be asked to guess what their occupation is before they listen to that person on tape, they will have been stimulated by the fact that the teacher (who normally dresses very formally and always stays in the same place in class) suddenly arrives in class dressed casually and moves around the room with unaccustomed ease, and so on.
When students are Engaged, they learn better than when they are partly or wholly disengaged!
Study: Study activities are those where the students are asked to focus in on language (or information) and how it is constructed. They range from the study and practice of a single sound to an investigation of how a writer achieves a particular effect The two procedures we’ve shown so far demonstrate two different approaches to language teaching. In straight arrows sequences the teacher knows what the students need and takes them logically to the point where they can Activate the knowledge which he or she has helped them to acquire. For the boomerang sequence, however, the teacher selects the task the students need to perform, but then waits for the boomerang to come back before deciding what they need to Study.
Many lessons aren't quite as clear-cut as this, however. Instead, they are a mixture of procedures and mini-procedures, a variety of short episodes building up to a whole.
Activity. Read about the three sequences which are very effective with students of different levels at any language lesson. Fill in the chart:
Type of sequence
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Recommended level of the students
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Advantages of the sequence
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Disadvantages of the sequence
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Activity. Look at the example of “Patchwork” lesson. Define each stage: Engage, Study or Activate.
1. Students look at a picture of sunbathers and respond to it by commenting on the people and the activity they are taking part in. Maybe they look at each other's holiday photos etc.
2. Students act out a dialogue between a doctor and a sunburn victim after a day at the beach.
3. Students look at a text describing different people and the effects the sun has on their skin. They say how they feel about it. (The text is on page 75 in this book.)
4. the teacher does vocabulary work on words such as pale, fair-skinned, freckles, tan' etc., ensuring that students understand the meaning, the hyphened compound nature of some of them, and that they are able to say them with the correct pronunciation in appropriate contexts.
5. Students describe themselves or people they know in the same kind of ways as the reading text.
6. The teacher focuses the students' attention on the relative clause construction used in the text (e.g. ‘I’m the type of person who always burns', ‘I’m the type of person who burns easily'). The use of the 'who' clause is discussed and students practice sentences saying things like ‘They're the kind of people who enjoy movies’ etc.
7. The teacher discusses advertisements with the students. What are they for? What different ways do they try to achieve their effect? What are the most effective ads the students can think of? Perhaps the teacher plays some radio commercials or puts some striking visual ads on an overhead projector.
8. The students write a radio commercial for a sunscreen. The teacher lets them record it using sound effects and music.
Activity. Read the description of the first lesson; define the end of each stage.
'Well, first we talked a bit about deserts, and what it's like to travel across a desert. Then we read a text about an explorer who's crossed every desert in the world and the students answered questions on if in the text, there were several examples of the present perfect tense; I wrote some of these on the board, and I gave a few more examples orally. Then we did a grammar exercise in the textbook. After that, I asked students to make up their own questions using Have you ever...? to ask each other.
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1. Engage
2. Activate
3. Study
4. Study
5.Study
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Activity. Read the description of the second lesson; define the stages of the lesson and where each stage ends.
'First we reviewed words for clothes, which the students had learnt last week and then I taught them adjectives to describe materials (wool, cotton, leather, etc.), and wrote them on the board. Then we looked at some pictures of people in the textbook, and they made sentences about them ("She's wearing a green cotton dress"). Then I asked them to write a few sentences about themselves, beginning "Last weekend I was wearing...'. After that we read a text in the book about clothes people wear in different countries.'
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Activity: (see the supplement).
a) look through the Engage activities and give each of the activities a ‘like it’ score from 0 (= I don’t like it at all) to 5 (=I love it);
b) tick the boxes which are similar to Study activities you have experienced as a learner;
c) tick the boxes for the activities you would enjoy doing if you were learning a language.
Activity: How would you describe the following lesson sequences in terms of ESA?
(see the supplement)
Activity: Use any materials you have at your disposal, design a set of activities for an ESA model of a lesson.
Activity:
Question Page
Complete the scheme:
SKILLS
 
PERCEPTIVE PRODUCTIVE
________________ _________________
__________________ __________________
What are the stages of work at each of the skills?
READING
  
LISTENING
  
S  PEAKING
WRITING
Circle the stage(s) where you think integration of skills is possible / necessary.
Activity. Match the lesson types with their outcomes of effective and lazy use:
Lesson Type
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Nature of Link between Activities
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Some outcomes of effective use
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Some outcomes of inept or lazy use
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Logical Line
A
B
C
  
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Straight line
Programmed growth
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Person-centred
Responsive to immediate needs
Powerful personal insights
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a. limited response to individual needs
Atomistic; hard to see the overview
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T
A
opic Umbrella
E
BBB
  
D
C
 
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Topic
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B. Variety
Framework for learning
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b. Confused
Aimless
An escape from planning and preparation
Easily becomes odd mixture of things
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J ungle Path
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Evolutionary
(gradual development)
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C. Clearly visible progress
Focuses towards an aim
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c. Weak links to boring topics
Easily becomes odd mixture of things
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Rag-bag
C
B
A
E
D
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None
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D. Variety
Surprise
Entertainment
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d. Going nowhere
Students wait for teacher’s next surprise
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Module: Effective Lesson
Giving instructions and evaluating lesson effectiveness.
Aims: The students will be able to give clearly stated instructions and evaluate lesson effectiveness using criteria. .
Activity Read the passage from J. Harmer’s book “How to teach English” and work out what two general rules for giving instructions he recognizes.
Activity. Put a tick in the boxes if you think the instructions are good.
Activity. Guidelines on giving effective explanations and instructions. Read the guidelines and work out the headlines for each passage.
Activity. Giving instructions
Simplify the instructions using less confusing language or gesture.
Now actually I would really like you if you could now stand up Yes everyone please.
It’s the unit on er travel somewhere it’s near the middle page 35 and 36, can you find that? Have you got it, no, not that one, the next unit, and take a look at the introduction, read it through quickly and jot down your answers to the questions at the top of the page over there above the illustration.
If I were to ask you for your opinion on smoking what do you think you might say to me in your reply?
Would you like to tell everyone the answer you were thinking of again because I don’t think they heard it? When you spoke so quietly and I’m sure we’d all be interested in hearing if you could please.
Well, that wasn’t really what I was hoping you’d say when I asked that question I was actually looking for the name of the verb tense not an example sentence but what you gave me was fine only does everyone I wonder have the answer I’m looking for?
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Activity. Planning includes evaluation and implementation. How can you define evaluation and implementation.
Evaluation is gathering into about a class or an individual in order to form a judgment.
Implementation is carrying out a plan of a lesson.
Activity.
Look at the list of criteria and match them with the descriptions:
Criteria for evaluating lesson effectiveness
1. The learners were active
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a. All learners were able to cope with the evaluation task according to their level
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2. The learners were attentive
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b. Learners communicated successfully
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3. The learners enjoyed the lesson, were motivated
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c. Learners’ responses showed they were attentive
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4. The class seemed to be learning the material well
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d. Learners used English in the actual process of learning and fully responded to all the time
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5. The lesson went according to the plan
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e. Learners did everything with pleasure
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6. The language was used communicatively
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f. Learners were plunged into the learning process
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7. The learners were engaged with the foreign language
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g. Learning tasks were successfully fulfilled in learning process by all learners
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8. The learners’ aim was achieved
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h. Learners were willing to tackle the tasks and challenges with interest
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Activity. Put the criteria in the order of priority.
Activity. Using the guide evaluate the lesson the description of which you can read in Box 15.5.
Activity. Look through the plan of the given lesson and answer the questions. Present your findings
Activity.
Suggest your order of priority for the following criteria of evaluating the effectiveness of a lesson:
P rogression of skills
Materials
Instructions
Reflection
Seating arrangement
Timing and Pace
Tasks and Activities
Aims
Patterns of interaction
Dealing with errors
GUIDE TO USE OF CRITERIA
№
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Criteria
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Distinction
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Satisfactory
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Attention Needed
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1
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The learners seemed to be learning material well
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Learning tasks were successfully fulfilled in learning process by all learners
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Most of the tasks were fulfilled in learning process by most of the students
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Most of the tasks were not fulfilled in the learning process by most of the students
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2
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The learners’ aim was achieved
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All learners were able to cope with the evaluation task according to their level
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Most of the learners coped with the evaluation task according to their level
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Most of the learners were not able to cope with the evaluation task according to their level
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3
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The learners were motivated
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Students were willing to tackle tasks and challenges with great interest
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Learners tackled tasks and challenges with interest
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Learners did the tasks without any interest and willingness
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4
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The learners enjoyed the lesson
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Learners do everything with great pleasure
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Learners were pleased with their work, looked interested
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Learners seemed to be bored
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5
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The learners were active
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Learners are plunged into the learning process
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Learners were active. Evidence of learning
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Students were passive. No evidence of learning
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6
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The learners were engaged with the English language
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Learners used English in the actual process of learning and fully respond to all the time
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Learners used the target language in the actual process of learning and respond to
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Learners had language or psychological problems
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7
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The language was used communicatively
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Learners communicated successfully
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Learners communicated most of the time
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Learners made attempts to communicate
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8
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The learners were attentive
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Learners responses showed they were attentive
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Learners responses showed that they were mostly attentive
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Lack of learners attention
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Practice Session
Aims:
By the end of the lesson the students will be able to define different ways of correction mistakes of the written language and of the oral speech, to identify different patterns of interaction according to the type of activity.
Materials:
P.Ur. “A course in language teaching”. R.Tanner & C.Green Tasks for teacher education.
Task 1
Complete the sentences and be as practical and specific as you can.
Teachers should interrupt learners when they make a mistake or error when………………………………………………………………….
Teachers can give delayed feedback in the following situation………………………………………………………………..
Some errors or mistakes should remain uncorrected by the teacher, for example ……………………………………………………………….
Teachers can correct learners in different ways according to …………………………………………………………………………
For example see Box 17.3. Penny Ur. Module 17. Oral correction techniques.
Teachers can vary their error correction strategies according to the……………………………………………………………………………. by underlining, asking a student to correct.
Teachers can help learners to self-correct or to correct each other’s spoken errors by………………………………………………………………..................7.Some advantages of self-correction and peer correction are………………………………………………………………………….
1) learners become more………………. 2) learners don’t feel …………………
8. Some disadvantages of self-correction and peer-correction are: …(for
partners of the same level it’s ………………to hear mistakes or errors)
Five practical ways of giving feedback on spoken errors are:
tone (on the spot correction)
peer correction
making notes (delayed correction)
eliciting of the correct answer
body language correction.
Task 2. Group work Engage. T:10’
Here are some useful hints for indicating and correcting errors of the written language.
S – spelling
P – punctuation (including capital letters)
T – tense
A – article
WW – wrong word
WO – word order
C – connection of ideas
S/P – singular/plural
App – appropriacy (inappropriate style)
?M – meaning isn’t clear
^ - something missing here
 - start a new paragraph
 
Stage 1 Elementary. Underline the mistake and write the symbol in the margin.
Stage 2 Underline the whole word or phrase and write the symbol in the margin (…level)
Stage 3 Do not underline the word or the mistake; only write the symbol on the margin (level…)
Stage 4 Put a dot (or a cross, or a tick in the margin for each mistakes)
Any fresh ideas?
Task 3 Activate. Pair work. T: 5’ -------
Read the following examples of learners’ errors and think of efficient ways of indicating what is wrong or correcting.
I go to party the last Saturday.
He like his school.
Give me one butterbread
Where you did go yesterday?
Just a minute!
Task 4 Activate (Home assignment). Task 6
10 situations. What would you do?
p.39 (trainer’s book)
Task5. Engage Tasks for teacher education U.12 We all make mistakes
Work in groups and discuss your sentences. A group secretary presents the ideas of the group.
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Group work
Timing 7`
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Task 6. Engage
Read the passage ‘Reading: Learning Steps’ and decide how far you agree with the point of view of the author.
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Pair work
Timing 7`
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Task7. Engage
Read a passage about the difference between an error and a mistake. What is it?
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Pair work
Timing 7`
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Task8. Engage
Write down some mistakes that you often make when you speak English. Why do you think you make them? What spoken errors have you made recently? Write them down. What caused them?
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Individual work
Timing 7`
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Task9. Activate
1) Work in pairs, make a table:
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Pair work
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-
2) Make a group of 4-5. Share your errors and possible causes and add more to your table.
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Pair work
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3) Compare your table with the one I’ll give to you.
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Pair work
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Some possible causes of errors:
Typical English errors vary according to first language.
Learners are tired or careless and just forget the correct language (=a mistake)
The influence of the first language on learning a second language (eg. lack of articles).
Learner knows a rule, but the use of it hasn’t become automatic yet.
Learners know a rule, but over-generalize: e.g. they know the regular past tense is made by adding –ed, so might create a sentence such as she comed to my party.
Learners know they are not correct, but are trying to communicate something quite complicated by using the language they already know.
Correction means helping people to express themselves more accurately.
Try to make correction a part of the teaching and learning process, not something for learning to fight against.
T ask 10 Engage. T Class, T:5’ (p.142 J.Harmer)
How should teachers use their physical presence in class?
Complete the chart with situations/activities.
Which might be appropriate for the behaviour described.
Teacher behaviour. Situations
The teacher shouts.
The teacher is at the back of the class.
The teacher is at the front of the class
The teacher is “sitting” on a table round which 4 students are working.
The teacher is sitting on the floor.
Task 11 Activate. Pair work: T: 10
Work in pairs. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Give your reasons.
Classes where students sit in straight rows are easier to control.
Classes where students sit in straight rows are old fashioned and stop people learning.
Having students in straight row is the best way to teach a large class.
It is important for students for students to face the teacher.
Students participate more fully in a class where students sit in straight rows.
Students understand thing better when they sit in straight rows.
2. What do you think is the best seating arrangement for the following
situations. Explain your reasons.
You want to have a game in the teams with a class of 40 students.
In your class of 15 students you want them to discuss a topic with you.
In you class of thirty students you want them to work in pairs.
You have some reading tasks in a class of ten students.
Students are designing an advertisement in groups.
The students are going to listen to a tape.
You want to explain a grammar point.
Practice Session
Aims: by the end of the session the students will able to distinguish between an error and a mistake, to make up a list of possible causes of making mistakes.
Materials: ‘A course in language teaching’ P. Ur
‘Task for teacher education’ R. Tanner, G. Green
Steps:
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