Document two: drive, docs, pub
1. Specialism Young Learners 8-13
1.1 Rationale
I have chosen the specialism of Young Learners for several reasons. The primary reason is it is the group that I am currently teaching. But more than that, my experience teaching English in Japan, Cambodia and Vietnam has convinced me that teaching young learners is likely to be the future of the industry. At most of the schools I have worked at, the majority of the students are young learners, so I anticipate continuing to teach this age in the future. I have also experienced some challenges in motivating this group, and I hope that additional research might help me to overcome this.
This view is also confirmed by the literature. Neville Grant asserts that the teaching of English to young learners has become increasingly common in recent years, and many language teachers now find themselves teaching to primary age (in Scott and Ytreberg, 1990). Pinter confirms what I have anecdotally noticed myself--that there is a growing thriving private education industry dedicated to teaching young learners (2006)
1.2. Issues
1.2.A Motivation
The motivation of Young Learners is different than adult language learners. Adult language learners are usually self-motivated, and also are often motivated because they think learning English will be useful for them in terms of future goals. This is known as extrinsic motivation. Young learners, however, often lack this external motivation, and instead are motivated to learn and participate by their enjoyment of the activities in the classroom. This is known as intrinsic motivation. For the target age group of this study, (8-13), research has shown that they are beginning to develop some slight extrinsic motivation. By around the age of 11 or 12, children have some future goals related to English around the age of 11 or 12, but these goals are very still very vague (Pinter, 2006)
Implication
A key point for all young learner courses is that the activities should be inherently fun and engaging for the students, since extrinsic motivation cannot always be relied upon. However, in my experience it is often difficult to find activities which the learners find fun and engaging. (Often the activities the course designer thinks will be fun and engaging is different from what the learners actually find enjoyable.) A needs analysis is a useful tool to get the data on what the students enjoy.
Equally, however, it is important to note that some extrinsic motivation is beginning to occur at this age, so the course designer can begin to ask students about their goals for using English in the future
1.2.B Shorter Attention Spans
Younger children have shorter attention spans. They have a limited ability to sit still and concentrate for prolonged periods of time. Children ages 8 to 13 are able to concentrate for longer periods of time, but still need lots of variety (Scott and Ytreberg, 1990)
Implication
Course designers must incorporate variety into the lessons by including many different types of activities, and varying the pace of activities (ibid.). Because students ages 8 to 13 are able to do some work concentrating, it is not necessary or appropriate to do songs and games the whole lesson. They can do some reading and writing work, but they should not spend the whole class period reading and writing.
1.2.C. Developing Literacy Skills
At the ages of 8-13, young learners are still developing their literacy skills even in their first language. Specific issues identified for 8-13 are relative clauses, linking words that show the logical relationship between sentences or clauses, coherence with reference words across sentences and discourse skills for writing specific genres of writing such as narratives (Cameron, 2001).
Implication
With writing coherence, and with writing specific genres, it cannot always be assumed that the students will be able to transfer skills from their own language (ibid). Unless there is a specific focus on these skills, they may not be integrated into the students’ writing. Therefore lessons focusing on these skills may have to be added by the course designer.
1.2.D Developing Interest in the Outside World
Learners around the age of 8-13 are developing their knowledge of the outside world. They are fascinated by learning about realistic details about places and contexts that are different than their own. They also enjoy researching these topics (Curtain and Dahlberg, 2008.)
Implication
The course designer can engage these students more by incorporating topics about interesting places and contexts. This would also tie into the issue of motivation (1.2.A). It may be useful to survey the students about what topics they are interested in, and then try to build these topics into the curriculum to increase engagement.
1.2.E Developing Ability to Analyze Grammar
The question of whether or not it is beneficial to teach grammar rules is one that has been in debate in language teaching generally (Lightbown and Spada, 1993). There is also some debate about whether it is beneficial for this age range specifically. It is generally recognized that in classroom settings, children learn formal rules of grammar more slowly than adults (Ortega, 2009). Some of the literature therefore recommends avoiding the explicit teaching of grammar rules to young learners, and instead teaching phrases and structures containing the grammar as whole unanalyzed chunks. Some authors recommend this even for children aged 8-10 (Scott and Ytreberg, 1990). However other authors say that older children are able to start analyzing grammar. Pinter (2006) recommends that older children (8-13) can benefit from activities that get them to notice and analyze grammar structures, and that metalanguage for grammar is appropriate at this age.
Implication
It may be appropriate for the course designer to include some activities which focus on analyzing grammar forms and rules. However children at this age should not be expected to master the rules as quickly as adults, and therefore it is important not to overload them with new grammar rules. The students may benefit from getting more reviewing grammatical forms they have already studied, and also getting more practice with these same grammatical forms.
2. Needs Analysis and Diagnostic Test
2.1 Group Profile
This is a class of 11 Vietnamese students aged between 10 and 13. The decision to study English was made by their parents, and not the students themselves. The students were all placed in this class based on an ability. However, since the initial placement, they have not progressed at the same rate, and the current ability is mixed. Most of the students are currently at a B1 CEFR level, and are studying out of a course book aimed at this level.
2.2 Needs Analysis
A needs analysis is “fundamental to the planning of general language courses” (Richards, 1990, p.2) A needs analysis can give information about the needs and interests of the learners, which then informs which activities are beneficial in the classroom (ibid). For young learners especially, finding which activities they find engaging is important since they have little extrinsic motivation to study English (1.2.A).
Nation and Macalister (2010) identify three areas that can be assessed with a needs analysis: necessities, wants, and lacks.
2.2.A Needs Analysis Design
A questionnaire was used for reasons of practicality. It was easy to administer, easy for students to complete, and easy to tabulate.
However there are some issues for young learners. Young learners have trouble contextualizing questions, have trouble with abstract concepts such as “benefit” and “value”, and find responding to open-ended questions tiring and time-consuming (Pinter, 2006)
Therefore, the questionnaire contains no open-ended questions. The questionnaire also uses a technique suggested by Pinter (ibid) of contextualizing the questions by asking students about activities they are already familiar with. Another technique was a question design suggested by Park (as quoted in Pinter, p.149) that describes several different classrooms, and asks students which one they want to join.
Following the advice of Nation and Macalister (2.2) the questionnaire focused on necessities (what did the students hope to do with English in the future--see 1.2.A. for extrinsic motivation), wants (their favorite classroom activities, and topics) and lacks (their perceived strengths and weaknesses). (See Appendix 3)
Interviews are another tool for needs analysis (Graves, 2000). The parents for this class were interviewed by phone call to determine what their goals for the class were.
Finally, the center manager of the school was interviewed to ask what her goals for the class were.
2.2.B Needs Analysis Findings
2.2.B.1 Students
The results show that most students have intrinsic motivation to study English (they find it fun and interesting), as well as extrinsic. The most prominent extrinsic factors are a desire to study abroad, travel, making foreign friends, and watching English movies. The majority of students indicated speaking was their strongest perceived skill, and writing was their weakest. The students preferred group based games and activities. The students were interested in reading about stories and animals, and writing about stories, and about their life (See Appendix 2)
2.2.B.2 Parents
Want
Focus on grammatical accuracy
Because
It is valued in Vietnamese schools
Want
Focus on KET test scores (by Cambridge English exams)
Because
KET is used for admissions in international schools in Vietnam
2.2.B.3 Center Manager
Wants
Focus on KET test scores
Because
Students at this school take this test as part of their course. The results are made available to parents and head office.
2.3 Diagnostic Test
2.3.A. Diagnostic Test Design
Because the students and their parents want to study abroad or at international schools, the diagnostic test focused on the four skills focused on by school admission tests: reading, writing, listening and speaking. Speaking and listening skills are also necessary for students’ goal of communication (2.2.B).
For the listening and reading, practice KET tests were used. (Appendix 4 and 6). This was because of the preferences of the parents (2.2.B.2) and the center manager (2.2.B.3). Also the KET test is an internationally respected test, so it has content validity, that is, it accurately measures the reading and listening skills it is purported to measure.
Because many of the student’s extrinsic goals were linked to real communication situations, speaking tests were conducted by holding conversations with the students on familiar topics. This is also aligned with part 1 of the KET speaking test. Each conversation would start off with the same prompts (see Appendix 7), but then the follow-up questions would vary depending on each student’s individual response. Speaking ability was then analyzed in terms of grammar (accuracy and range), fluency, vocabulary, and pronunciation.
Since the students had indicated a strong preference for writing stories in the needs analysis (2.2.B.1) the writing test gave the students a writing prompt and had them complete an extended narrative (see Appendix 8), and then analyzed their writing ability in terms of organization, grammar (range and accuracy) and vocabulary.
2.3.B Diagnostic Test Results
See the full results in appendix 2.
Strengths
Writing: Can write extended pieces of text (11 out of 11)
Speaking Vocabulary: Suitable vocabulary for describing daily life (11 /11)
Speaking Grammar: Can use complex sentences in free production (7/11)
Speaking Pronunciation: Can articulate phonemes correctly (10/11)
Reading: Understanding general meaning at the sentence level (94% accuracy)
Listening: (90% accuracy)
Weaknesses
Writing Coherence: the text is not organized into coherent paragraphs (8 out of 11)
Writing Cohesion: the sentences are not linked to each other (8 out of 11)
Speaking Pronunciation: problems with rhythm and intonation (7/11)
Speaking Grammar: Mistakes with verb forms, particularly those used to express past meaning(7/11)
Speaking Fluency: Slow speech or pauses (7/11)
Reading:
KET Part 4: detailed comprehension questions (right, wrong, doesn’t say),
Part 5: Text cohesion (Fill in the missing word task) (70% accuracy for both parts)
2.4 Priorities for the Course
Priority
Rhythm and Intonation
Rationale
assessed on the KET test
a factor in communicative competence
Priority
Reading: answering “right, wrong, doesn’t say” reading comprehension questions, and understanding of cohesion between sentences
Rationale
Assessed on the KET Test
Priority
Writing Coherence and Cohesion
Rationale
important for academic work in international schools and studying abroad
3: Course Design
3.1 Course Goals and Objectives
An important distinction is the difference between goals and objectives. According to Graves (2000), goals represent the “main purposes of the course” (p.73) and objectives are “statements about how the goal will be achieved” (p.76).
Goal 1
Increase overall scores on the KET test
Need Analysis Findings
2.2.B.2, 2.2.B.3
Goal 2
Increase students’ skills in formal writing
Need Analysis Findings
2.2.B.1
Goal 3
3. Increase students’ conversational ability
Need Analysis Findings
2.2.B.1
Goal 4
Increase students’ grammatical accuracy
Need Analysis Findings
2.2.B.2
From these goals, the following course objectives have been created:
Course Objectives (CO)
Students will…
CO1. … improve their ability to answer “right, wrong, doesn’t say” questions for reading for detailed comprehension.
Links to Goals
Goal 1
Diagnostic Test Result2.3.B
CO2. ….improve their ability to supply the missing word in reading texts.
Links to Goals
Goal 1
Diagnostic Test Result2.3.B
CO3. …. increase their familiarity in writing genres: narratives, and opinion essays.
Links to Goals
Goal 2
CO4. … develop awareness of paragraphing in formal writing.
Links to Goals
Goal 2
Diagnostic Test Result
2.3.B
CO5. … increase their awareness of linking cohesion between sentences.
Links to Goals
Goal 2
Diagnostic Test Result
2.3.B
CO6. … increase their ability to use correct rhythm and intonation in speech.
Links to Goals
Goal 3
Diagnostic Test Result
2.3.B
CO7. … increase their ability to speak at a natural speed without pauses or hesitation.
Links to Goals
Goal 3
Diagnostic Test Result
2.3.B
CO8. … improve their accuracy in speech production with verb structures used for past meaning: specifically past simple, past continuous, present perfect, present perfect continuous.
Links to Goals
Goal 4
Diagnostic Test Result
2.3.B
3.2 Syllabus Design
The full syllabus can be seen in Appendix 1. It is primarily a product syllabus.
A product syllabus has a clear objective for the result of the instruction. It is often used for grammar structures and skills (Nunan, 1988). This syllabus contains elements of product because various grammar structures are practiced, with the intended result of an increase in the accuracy of their use (CO8). It also features numerous skills practice lessons, for example, reading comprehension (CO1, CO2), and speaking fluency (CO7) with the intended result that the learners will improve their skills as a result.
It is also an integrative syllabus, since it combines systems and skills (ibid). This is in line with the advice of Richards (1990), who notes that although traditionally syllabuses are divided into categories like “structural” or “skills”, in practice these elements are usually combined, and it benefits the learners to combine them since they are all aspects of the language that must be covered.
This syllabus also contains elements of a synthetic syllabus (a type of product syllabus) because the grammar structures are practiced one or two structures at a time with the hope that focusing on individual items will help to build up overall grammatical competence (CO8) (ibid). It is important to note, however, that the learners are not overloaded with new grammatical structures (important because of 1.2.A.) All the grammar structures in this syllabus are review. They are structures that had already been studied in previous levels, but which the students struggle to use in free production.
3.3 Sequencing
Some of the main principles of sequencing are: tasks which form the foundation of later tasks should come first, simple tasks should come before more complex tasks, and controlled tasks should come before more open-ended tasks (Graves, 1990). This course observes these principles in the following way:
3.3.A Grammar (CO8)
The grammar starts with a general review of verb tenses used to express past meaning (1A). Various structures are then studied in individual lessons (4B, 6A, 7A), and then synthesized in various speaking and writing activities (8B, 10B).
3.3.B Speaking Skills (CO6)
Speaking subskills are taught separately at the beginning of the course: stress and rhythm in lesson 1B, Intonation in lesson 2B. Having been established, these two skills are then combined in lesson 3A. Rhythm and intonation are then consequently sub-aims of all following speaking lessons (5B, 10B)
3.3.C Writing Skills
Writing subskills are taught separately at the beginning of the course: paragraph structure in lesson 2A (CO4), cohesive linking devices in lesson 3B (CO5). Having been learned separately, they are then integrated into all following writing lessons (8B, 9B).
3.3.D Reading Skills (CO1, CO2)
Reading for detailed comprehension is practiced in several reading genres (4A, 8A, 9A) before being practiced in the context of the KET exam skill. This is to give students a broad base in the skill before practicing it in the context of the exam (10A).
The KET exam task of putting missing words in sentences is practiced first at the sentence level (5A) before being practiced at the text level (7B).
Reading texts are often exploited as either the text for subsequent grammar lessons (4A→4B) or the model for subsequent genre writing lessons (8A→8B, 9A→9B).
3.4 Teaching Approach
Once the goals, objective, and content of the course are identified, it is appropriate to think about the methodology, which among other things is the kind of learning activities and tasks selected by the teacher (Richards, 1990). The following teaching methodologies are in the course plan:
3.4.A. Communicative Language Teaching
Grammar focused lessons move from a presentation stage to a controlled practice stage to a freer production stage. This follows the common framework used in most Communicative Language classrooms. The assumption is that grammatical items need to be practiced in a fluency focused speaking activity if they have any hope of being acquired.
Also in-line with this methodology is a focus on pair and group work activities instead of teacher-led discussions. This is also in-line with Goal 3.
3.4.B. Games and Fun Activities
Most of the lessons practice the skills in the form of games and competition. This is because young learners generally need fun and engaging activities (see section 1.2.A), but also a result of the specific needs analysis findings (see 2.2.B.1).
3.4.C Variety of Activities
As noted in section 1.2.B, it is necessary to create a variety of activities. Therefore no similar lesson types were put together in a 2 hour block. Also, within each lesson, there was a variety of skills and activities. For example, all reading lessons contained communicative follow-ups.
3.4.D Interesting Topics
As noted in section 1.2.D, learners at this age will be more engaged with topics that they enjoy. Following the findings of the needs analysis (2.2.B.1), this curriculum contains topics that the students are interested in: stories (4A, 8A, 8B, 10B) and animals (9A, 9B).
3.5 Materials and Institutional Constraints
The students study in two hour blocks, so the content must be scheduled in a way that fits this time-table. In order to maximize the amount of content covered during this course, each two hour class is divided into sixty minute lessons, labelled “A” and “B” (e.g 1A, 1B).
The school mandates that at least some use must be made of the following material, although there is flexibility as to the sequence and selection:
The course textbook: English World 7.
KET preparatory lessons (published and prepared in-house at ILA Vietnam).
Additional material is included in the appendixes:
Appendix
9
Title
A Trip to the Jungle
Course Objective
CO8
Learner Preference
Contextualized in an adventure story
Appendix
10
Title
Writing a Paragraph
Course Objective
CO4
Learner Preference
Humorous contexts
Appendix
11
Title
Ready, Set, Talk!
Course Objective
CO7
Learner Preference
Form of a game
4 Assessment and Course Evaluation
Assessment is a way of collecting information about the success of a course (Richards and Schmidt, 2002). Assessment with young learners needs to be done with care, because they can be sensitive to criticism or feelings of failure. Nevertheless, assessment is necessary for a variety of reasons. Assessment provides accountability to the various stakeholders, such as the parents or the administrators. It shows that the children are learning what the course promised they would learn. Assessment is also useful for pedagogic purposes, as this helps the teacher decide on what to focus on next (McKay, 2006). Assessment can also be useful for giving students a reason to study, which will tie in to their motivation (1.2.A).
Assessment is divided into formative and summative assessment. Formative assessment is ongoing throughout the course. It is used to help the teacher make decisions about the course’s ongoing progress (Harlan, 2007). It is often informal (McKay, 2006). Summative assessment is at the end of the course and is used to test how successful the course has been as a whole (Harlan, 2007). Summative assessment is associated with traditional testing (Richards and Schmidt, 2002).
In this course specifically, the traditional summative test is important because the parents and center manager want the students to increase their test taking ability on the standardized KET test (2.2.B)
4.1 Formative Assessment
A useful type of formative assessment is observation of classroom tasks, known as classroom assessment (McKay, 2006). Observation is particularly good for young learners because it does not create stress and is non-intrusive—the students are not aware they are being assessed (Pinter, 2006). Another advantage is that the students can communicate with each other as equals, which will result in a greater variety of observable speech functions than traditional speaking tests with the teacher (Hughes, 1996).
There are a number of classroom speaking tasks throughout this course. The teacher can observe these tasks and make notes on the students’ performance. Speaking skills can be broken down into subskills that are individually observed (Baxter, 1997). The subskills used for formative assessment are linked to the course objectives: grammar accuracy and range, particularly with verbs used for past meaning (CO8), fluency (assessed on the ability to speak at a natural rate and with no long pauses) (CO7), and pronunciation (rhythm, intonation and individual phonemes) (CO6). In order to measure progress over time, each student will have a profile which will show their progress across multiple tasks (as suggested by Baxter, 1997). The teacher will write down descriptions of the student’s ability, but these will not be scored. See Appendix 12.
As noted by Cameron (2001), it is not realistic to observe all the children in one lesson. Cameron suggests focusing on six or seven students in one lesson, and then observing the whole class over several lesson. Therefore speaking profiles will be written for six students at a time during lessons 1B, 2B, 3A, 4A, 4B, 5B, 6A, 7A, 8A, 9A, 10B.
Student profiles will also be used to assess progress in writing skills. After completion of each writing task, the teacher will assess the progress of the individual students. Writing profiles will be conducted in lessons with writing tasks: 1A, 2A, 3B, 8B, 9B. The subskills measured are linked to the course objectives: paragraph structure (CO4), linking between sentences (CO5), grammar range and accuracy (particularly with verb structures for past meaning) (CO8) and genre familiarity (CO3). The teacher will write down descriptions, but not scores. See Appendix 13.
4.2 Summative Assessment
The summative assessment for this course is another mock KET test. Because the students used the reading and listening sections in the diagnostic test (see Part 2), they will be tested with the same parts in the summative assessment. (see Appendixes 14 and 15)
Aside from the fact that the KET test is linked to the needs assessment in Part 2, another advantage of the KET test is reliability. Reliability is the extent to which the results of a particular test are considered stable (Brown, p.192). The KET test has a reliability score of 0.91 for reading/writing, and 0.85 for listening (Cambridge English Assessment). The mock KET test also has the advantage of being practical. A practical test is one that is “easy and cheap to construct, administer, score and interpret” (Hughes, p.47). A mock KET test is practical because several mock tests are on file at the school, and so it requires no construction on the part of the course designer. It is also easy to score because the answers for the reading and listening are all objective, and it is easy to interpret these scores in terms of quantitative data. The KET test will also have a positive washback on the class. Washback is the impact that the test has on classroom activities (Richards and Schmidt, 2002, p.586). In this case, it will provide students with motivation to study the KET skill lessons.
In addition, the students’ writing ability will be tested by two writing tests: a short narrative, and an opinion essay (see Appendix 16). The students will be evaluated on familiarity with the genres learned (CO3), coherence and cohesion (CO4, CO5), and the accuracy of verb structures for (CO8). Each of these will be individually scored. See full evaluation criteria in Appendix 17.
Assessment Tool---Links to Course Objective
Speaking Profile---CO6, CO7, CO8
Writing Profile---CO3, CO4, CO5, CO8
Mock KET test---CO1, CO2,
Summative Writing Test---CO3, CO4, CO5, CO8
4.3 Course Evaluation
It is important to let the students have the opportunity to evaluate the course in order to give the students a voice in their own learning, and to let the teacher know what is working and what is not working. Course evaluations can also be used to improve the next course that will be taught (Graves, 2000), which is particularly relevant in this context because the teacher will be continuing with the same students to the next course, and so the data collected for this course can be used to shape the future course.
As mentioned in part 2, young learners struggle with abstract questions about benefit and value, and react better to evaluating activities they are already familiar with (Pinter, 2006). Consequently, the evaluation form asks the students to appraise the activities they have done in class, but does not ask them how beneficial the course was to them. The students will rate how enjoyable or useful the activities were on a 1 to 5 Likert scale (adapted from Graves, 2000, p.295-297). See Appendix 18. The course evaluation will then be considered alongside the formative and summative evaluation to determine if there is any relationship between the activities the students found useful and the achievement gains.
The opinion of the students’ parents will also be surveyed by the teaching assistant.
5. Conclusion
The course design reflects many of the issues particular to young learners. It caters to their shorter attention span by providing a variety of activities (1.2.B). It caters to their lower-motivations by including fun activities and games (1.2.A). Although there is a grammatical focus in the syllabus, all of the grammar structures that the students will focus on are reviewing structures from previous courses, which caters to the fact that young learners learn grammar slower than adults (1.2.E)
The course is limited because of the requirements of the school to make use of the textbook and pre-existing Cambridge test lessons (although it was possible to adapt and select with both).
However, despite these limitations, the course has several benefits for learners. It prioritizes skills that are important to the learners (speaking and communication) and for their parents (KET test skills, and grammar). The addresses skills that were perceived weaknesses in the needs analysis (writing skills) and subskills that were identified in the diagnostic test (fluency, rhythm and intonation, paragraph organization, and sentence cohesion).
Bibliography
Baxter, Andy. (1997). Evaluating Your Students. Richmond Publishing
Brown, James Dean. (1996). Testing in Language Programs. Prentice Hall Regents.
Cambridge Assessment English. Quality and Accountability. https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/research-and-validation/quality-and-accountability/ (Accessed November 10, 2019)
Cameron, Lynne. (2001). Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge University Press.
Curtain, Helena and Dahlberg, Carol. (2008). Languages and Children: Making the Match, New Languages for Young Learners, Grades K-8. Pearson.
Graves, Katherine. (2000). Designing Language Courses: A Guide for Teachers. Heinle.
Harlan, Wynne. (2007). Assessment of Learning. Sage Publications.
Hughes, Arthur. (1996). Testing for Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.
McKay, Penny. (2006). Assessing Young Learners. Cambridge University Press.
Lightbown, Patsy and Spada, Nina. (1993). How Languages are Learned. Oxford University Press.
Nation, Paul and Macalister, John. (2010). Language Curriculum Design. Routledge
Nunan, David. (1988). Syllabus Design. Oxford University Press.
Ortega, Lourdes. (2009). Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Hodder Education.
Pinter, Annamaria. (2006). Teaching Young Learners. Oxford University Press.
Richards, Jack. (1990). The Language Teaching Matrix. Cambridge University Press.
Richards, Jack and Schmidt, Richard. (2002). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. Pearson Education.
Scott, Wendy and Ytreberg, Lisebeth. (1990). Teaching English to Children. Pearson Education Limited.
Appendix 1: Course Plan
Goal 1: Increase overall scores on the KET test
CO1. … improve their ability to answer “right, wrong, doesn’t say” questions for reading for detailed comprehension
CO2. ….improve their ability to supply the missing word in reading texts
Goal 2: Increase students’ skills in formal writing
CO3. …. increase their familiarity in writing genres: narratives, and opinion essays
CO4. … develop awareness of paragraphing in formal writing
CO5. … increase their awareness of linking cohesion between sentences
Goal 3 Increase students’ conversational ability
CO6. … increase their ability to use correct rhythm and intonation in speech
CO7. … increase their ability to speak at a natural speed without pauses or hesitation.
Goal 4 Increase students’ grammatical accuracy
CO8. … improve their accuracy in free production with verb structures used for past meaning: specifically past simple, past continuous, present perfect, present perfect continuous
Course Objectives (CO) and Goals
Class Number
First lesson (60 minutes)
Second lesson (60 minutes)
Class 1 (2 hours completed)
Topic Link: none
Lesson 1A
Review of Past Verb Expressions
Aim: For students to notice a variety of verb forms used to indicate past actions in the context of an adventure story. CO 8
Sub-aim: Writing a narrative CO3
(The students have previously studied all of these verb forms before, so this lesson is a review, intended to help students notice how previously studied verb forms are used in context)
Sequencing: This provides a broad the various verb forms that can be used for past meaning, before some of these individual forms are looked at further in further in lessons 4B, 6A, 7A
Materials: A Trip to the Jungle Worksheet (Self-Created: Included below in Appendix 12
Procedure:
Lead-in: Students talk about their favorite adventure stories.
Gist Task: Students read an adventure story, and chose the best title for it (the original title will be hidden).
Noticing Task: Students underline all the verbs in the story, and classify them according to type.
Meaning Focus: Students discuss in their groups why each verb form is used. This is followed by open class feedback.
Production: In Pairs, students write the second half of the story.
Feedback is posting the stories around the room. Students read each other’s story, and vote on the best ending. Teacher gives feedback on language related to verb tenses: both good language use and any examples of errors.
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of language used in writing task for writing Profile
Lesson 1B
Practicing stress, Prominence in rhythm in connected speech
Aim: For students to notice receptively and practice productively features of stress and rhythm CO7
Sequencing: The first lesson dealing with rhythm. This will be revisited in lessons 3A, 5B, 10B
Procedure: adapted from activities described by Adrian Underhill on pages 176-194 of Sound Foundations)
1. Sensitization: read a poem or a chant without stress and rhythm and then with stress or rhythm. Ask learners to notice the difference.
2. Strictly Metrical Material: Learners first identify, and then produce, the rhythm and stress of a poem which exhibits obvious rhythm and meter.
3. Less Metrical Material: Learners are given a sample of more natural speech, and first identify the stresses and rhythm. They are then asked to duplicate it.
4. Rhythm in learner-originated utterances: Learners make their own sentences. The rest of the class identifies the features of stress and rhythm and mark these using Cuisenaire rods
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of rhythm for speaking profile
Class 2 (4 hours completed)
Topic Link: none
Lesson 2A
Writing Coherence: Lesson on Writing a Paragraph
Aim: For students to develop awareness and gain practice of writing a formal paragraphing CO4
Sequencing: First micro-skill lesson on writing. This will be combined with the microskill of sentence cohesion in 3B. It will later be revisited in lesson 4A, 8A, and 9B
Materials: Self-designed worksheets (included below in Appendix 13)
Procedure:
Modal Text: Give students sample paragraphs to read. Draw their attention to the format including topic sentences, supporting ideas, and examples.
Input on Features: Give students sample paragraphs to read. In pairs, students have to identify: the topic sentences, the supporting ideas, the examples, and find the sentence that is not on topic.
Planning: Students are given a planning sheet, and write ideas for topic sentences, supporting ideas, and examples
Writing:
Feedback: Students read each other’s paragraphs, and comment on which one was the most interesting. Teacher gives delayed feedback on which on positive and negative features noticed related to format.
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of language used in writing task for writing Profile
Lesson 2B
Intonation Practice
Aim: For students to notice, and practice using intonation CO6
Sequencing: This is the second lesson on pronunciation, following 1B, which focused on rhythm.
Procedure:
(Activities Come from Adrian Underhill: Sound Foundations p.196-201)
Signs and Symbols to Represent Intonation: Teacher introduces hand signals and written markers to indicate intonation
Sensitization to Intonation: Teacher reads examples of speech with no intonation and with natural intonation. Students are helped to notice the difference.
Listening to pre-recorded cassettes: Students listen to audio from cassettes, and identify the intonation patterns.
Intonation from a printed text: Students look at printed sentences, and predict the intonation pattern. Individuals give their prediction, and the other students discuss
Learners’ Spontaneous Speaking: Students tell anecdotes attempting intonation patterns. The rest of the class comment on the patterns.
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of intonation for speaking profile
Class 3 (6 hours completed)
Topic Link: None
Lesson 3A
Using TV and Movie Clips to Teach Pronunciation
Aim: For students to notice features of rhythm and intonation in authentic TV and movie clips, and to practice imitating these. CO6
Sequencing: This activity combines the rhythm and intonation practice that was previously practiced in lessons 1B and 2B.
Materials: Various film clips on Youtube and transcript
Procedure: (adapted from a PDF pamphlet made by Janet Goodwin, Dept. of Applied Linguistics & TESL, UCLA)
1). Prediction--Play the youtube clip for the students with the sound off, and get the students to predict what the situation is, what the conversation is about, and how the characters feel.
2). Gist Listening--Play with the sound on, and ask the students to answer the question: What is the man upset about?
3). Noticing 1: Give out the listening script. Play the video clip again, and ask students which words get stressed. Do feedback as a class, and then have students practice reading the dialogue themselves in pairs.
4). Noticing 2: Have students listen to the video again, and this time get them to mark the intonation patterns on their sheet. Where is the intonation going up, and where is it going down? Again do feedback as class.
5): Have students practice reading the dialogue in pairs.
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of rhythm and intonation for speaking profile
Lesson 3B
Writing Cohesion: Cohesive Linking between Sentences
Aim: To develop students awareness of cohesive devices between sentences, and for students to gain practice using these devices. CO5
Sequencing: The second writing microskills lesson after lesson 2A
Materials: Self-designed worksheets
Procedure:
Lead-in: Students are given a discussion topic related to the topic of the reading
Gist Reading: Students read the modal text for gist.
Noticing Key Features of Text: Students attention is drawn to the linking devices between sentences. They complete a sorting task for meaning.
Practice Activity: Students are given a second model text with gaps in it. Students fill in the text with linking devices.
Production: Students write their own paragraph using linking devices between sentences.
Feedback: Students read each other’s paragraphs and vote on the best one. Teacher gives feedback on good language use, as well as any persistent errors related to linking devices.
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of language used in writing task for writing Profile
Class 4 (8 hours completed)
Topic Link: Both lessons make use of the same reading text
Lesson 4A
Reading A Descriptive Narrative
Aim: To practice reading for Specific Information, and Detailed Comprehension in the context of a descriptive narrative. CO1
Sub-Aim: Students will gain speaking fluency practice in a communicative follow-up in the context of describing places CO7
Sequencing: The text from this lesson will be exploited in the following lesson (4B) as the model text in a language from a text lesson.
Materials: English World 7: The Man at the Fountain p.18-20
Lead-in: Students are asked to talk about an area of the city that they like
Reading for Specific Information (the text does not lend itself to a gist task): Students answer the questions 1-8 of subsection 1 on page 20. They check with a partner, and then open class feedback
Reading for Detailed Comprehension: Students answer the questions 1-6 of subsection 1 on page 20. They check with a partner, and then open class feedback
Communicative Follow-up: In groups, students select an area of their city which they will describe in detail to the rest of the class. Students prepare in groups, and then they are re-grouped so that they are with people from a different group, that they must describe their area to.
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of speaking task for speaking profile
Lesson 4B
Past Simple and Past Continuous
Aim: For students to practice past simple and past continuous. (This will be a review lesson, as students have already encountered these verb forms in previous levels) CO8
Sub-aim: Speaking fluency CO7
Materials English World 7: Past Simple and Past Continuous p. 22 (Also using the text from p. 18-19)
Sequencing: This is the first lesson on specific past forms after the general review in lesson 1A. It is using as a model text the reading text from the previous lesson (4A)
Noticing: Students are directed to notice the past simple and past continuous verb forms from the previous lesson.
Meaning: Students discuss in which situations the past simple is used, and which situations the past continuous is used.
Controlled Practice: Students complete the sentence reconstruction exercises on page 22
Freer Practice: Students discuss the discussion questions on page 22
Feedback: Teacher gives delayed feedback on the accuracy of the target language use.
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of freer practice for speaking profile
Class 5 (10 hours completed)
Topic Link: None
Lesson 5A
Ket for Schools Exam Skill: Completing Gaps in the Sentences
Aim: For students to improve their ability to fill in the missing word in sentences CO2
Sequencing: The first lesson practicing the KET skill of filling in missing words.
Materials: ILA Vietnam Supplementary Resources: Ket for Schools Lesson 1, Part 2 (In-house materials: not published)
Procedure:
Lead-in: Students are introduced to the topic of good and bad days at school.
Read for Gist: Students read a text and decide if it was a good or bad day.
Identifying Parts of Speech: Students are directed to look at the gap and discuss what type of word (e.g. noun, adjective) goes in the blank
Practice Game: Grab the correct word game played in teams.
Exam Practice: Students apply skills to a practice exam
Lesson 5B
Speaking Fluency Activity Game
Aims: Students will gain practice with speaking fluency CO7
Sub-Aims: Students will gain practice of features of rhythm and intonation. CO6
Sequencing: A review and further practice of the skills learned in 1B and 2B. This is the second practice after 3A
Materials: Ready, Set, Talk Gameboard. (Created by a colleague. Included below in appendix 11)
Procedure: Put students in groups of 3 or 4. Give each one a copy of the board, a die, and a place marker. The first student rolls the die, and advances their marker the number of spaces. They then have to talk about that topic for 1 minute, while someone else in the group keeps the time. If the player cannot speak for 1 whole minute, or has a pause longer than 10 seconds, then they must move back to the beginning. But, if they successfully speak for 1 minute, they can remain on the square. Play then proceeds to the next player. The first player to make it to the finish is the winner.
Before the lesson, students review some of the features of rhythm and pronunciation. Throughout the lesson, teacher gives feedback on accurate use of rhythm, stress, and pronunciation.
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of speaking for speaking profile
Class 6 (12 hours completed)
Topic Link: none
Lesson 6A
Present Perfect
Aims: Students will gain additional practice using the present perfect with a focus on 2 separate meanings: an action happening at an indefinite point in the past, and a past action with a present result. (This will be a review lesson, as students have already encountered these verb forms in previous levels) CO8
Sub-aim: Speaking fluency CO7
Sequencing: This is the second lesson on verb forms with past meaning, following a general overview in 1A, and focus on past simple and past continuous in 4B.
Materials: English World 7: Grammar: Present Perfect (p.42)
Procedure:
Model Text: Students read model text for comprehension. First a gist task, and then a detailed comprehension task.
Noticing Task: Students are directed to look at the present perfect verb structures, and discuss their meaning in context. Teacher confirms meaning in open class feedback.
Controlled Practice: Students do the controlled practice exercises on page 42. They do this first individually, then check with a group, and then open class feedback.
Freer Practice: Students discuss the discussion questions on page 42 using the target language. Feedback as a whole class, and then some delayed error correction.
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of speaking for speaking profile
Lesson 6B
Ket for Schools Exam Skill: Completing Gaps in the Sentences
Aim: For students to practice and gain strategies in filling in the missing word in gapped sentences. CO2
Sequencing: This is the first lesson on filling in gaps in missing sentences. At this level, the sentences are unconnected to each other, so broader text coherence is not an issue. Broader text coherence will be addressed in lesson 7B
Materials: ILA Vietnam Supplementary Resources: Ket for Schools Lesson 1, Part 2 (In-house materials: not published)
Procedure:
Lead-in: Students are introduced to the topic of good and bad days at school.
Read for Gist: Students read a text and decide if it was a good or bad day.
Identifying Parts of Speech: Students are directed to look at the gap and discuss what type of word (e.g. noun, adjective) goes in the blank
Practice Game: Grab the correct word game played in teams.
Exam Practice: Students apply skills to a practice exam
Class 7 (14 hours completed)
Topic Link: None
Lesson 7A
Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous
Aim: Students will improve their accuracy with present perfect simple and present perfect continuous. (This is a review lesson. The students have already studied these verb forms in a previous level). CO8
Sub-Aim: Increase speaking fluency CO7
Sequencing: This is the 4th lesson on past forms after a general overview in 1A, and lessons on past forms in 4B and 6A.
Materials: English World 7: Grammar: Present Perfect Simple; Present Perfect Continuous p.102
Procedure:
Model Text: Students read model text for comprehension. First a gist task, and then a detailed comprehension task.
Noticing Task: Students are directed to look at the present perfect verb structures, and discuss their meaning in context. Teacher confirms meaning in open class feedback.
Controlled Practice: Students do the controlled practice exercises on page 102. They do this first individually, then check with a group, and then open class feedback.
Freer Practice: Students discuss the discussion questions on page 102 using the target language. Feedback as a whole class, and then some delayed error correction.
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of speaking for speaking profile
Lesson 7B
Ket for Schools Exam Skill: Filling in the Gap with the Missing Word
Aims: Students will increase their ability to fill in the gap with a missing word in the KET reading test on an extended text. CO2
Sequencing: This is building on the exam skills lesson in 5A, in which the students had to supply the missing word in the sentence, but the sentences were not linked in a larger text. Here the text is more extended.
Materials: ILA Vietnam Supplementary Resources: Ket for Schools Lesson 5, Part 1 (In-house materials: not published)
Procedure
Lead-in: Students talk about their experiences at the circus.
Prediction: Students are told they will read a passage about the circus, and they predict what content will be in it
Checking Prediction/ Reading for Specific Information: Students read the passage and check their predictions
Exam Training: Explain to students the type of words likely to be in the gaps. Do the first two gaps together, and explain to the students the strategies used to determine the correct word.
Exam Practice: Students complete the rest of the gaps in groups. The feedback for this task is in the form of a competitive game, in which groups get points for correct answers.
Extended Exam Practice: Students are given a second exam practice, which they complete individually, followed by a peer-check, and then open class feedback.
Class 8 (16 hours completed)
Topic Link: Reading and Writing Narratives
Lesson 8A
Reading a Narrative Story for Gist, and Detailed Comprehension
Aim: For students to answer gist and detailed comprehension questions in the context of writing a narrative CO1
Sub-aim: students will develop speaking fluency practice in a discussion of the themes of the writing CO2
Sequencing: This is the second reading lesson students have had on detailed questions in the context of a narrative after lesson 4A. This lesson also provides the model text which will be exploited in the following writing lesson 8B
Materials: A Helping Hand (English World 7, p.98-100)
Lead-in: Students are asked to discuss their relationship with their own grandparents.
Gist: Students read the narrative quickly, and choose a suitable title for it. (The original title is hidden.)
Detailed Comprehension 1: The students answer the True or False questions on page 100. They do this first individually, and then in pairs. Teacher confirms answer in open class feedback, and elicits or explains the reasons to students for any questions that caused problems.
Detailed Comprehension 2:
The students complete the open ended questions on page 100 (which require them to interpret or make inferences about the text). Pair check and feedback is the same as above.
Communicative Follow-Up:
In groups, students discuss the questions at the bottom of page 100: “What do you think Annette learned from talking to her Grandma? Do you talk to your grandparents? What do you talk about? Who helps you at home if you have a problem?”
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of speaking for speaking profile
Lesson 8B
Writing a Narrative
Aim: For students to learn the features of narrative writing, and to gain practice writing a narrative C03
Sub-Aim: For students to notice how verb forms are used to express past meaning in a narrative text, and to gain practice writing about a past event using appropriate verb forms CO8
For students to continue to practice paragraph organization in writing. CO4
For students to continue to practice using cohesive devices in linking sentences.CO5
Sequencing: This uses the model text introduced in the previous lesson 8A. It also draws skills of paragraphing, practiced in a previous lesson 2A, and linking sentences cohesion, practiced in lesson 3B.
Materials: Writing p.104-105)(English World 7)
Also links back to narrative reading on pages 98-100 in previous section).
Procedure:
Analysis of Model Text: Looking back at the story in the previous section, students are asked to analyze the structure and identify the beginning, middle and end of the story, as well as the phrases indicating the passage of time. Students also have to identify the various tenses used to indicate past events (in this text past simple, present perfect, present perfect continuous). Then students identify the various types of punctuation used for indicating direct speech in a narrative.
Teacher also reviews paragraph structure, and cohesive linking devices.
Planning: Students are instructed that they will make the conclusion to the story presented in the model text, by planning the party alluded to in the previous narrative. With a partner, they plan what they will have in the beginning, middle and end of the story.
Writing: Students write the story collaboratively with a partner. Teacher monitors, and micro-teaches any areas of problem with verb tenses, paragraph structure or sentence cohesion.
Feedback: Students read each other’s writing, and vote on which is the best ending to the story.
Teacher gives delayed feedback on any issues related to use of verb tenses, paragraph structure, or sentence cohesion.
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of language used in writing task for writing Profile
Class 9 (18 hours completed)
Topic Link: Reading and Writing Opinion Essays
Lesson 9A
Reading an Opinion Essay for Gist and Detailed Comprehension:
Aim: For students to practice answering detailed comprehension questions in the context of an opinion essay. C01
Sub-aim: For students to gain speaking fluency practice on the same topic CO7
Sequencing: This is the third reading lesson students have had on detailed questions in the context of a narrative after lesson 4A and 8A. This lesson also provides the model text which will be exploited in the following writing lesson 9B.
Materials: Wildlife World (English World 7, p.78-80)
Gist Task: Students match headings to paragraphs
Detailed Comprehension Task: Students answer the True or False questions on page 80
Communicative Follow-up: Students debate the pros and cons of zoos. (Planning first in groups, and then discussing with a partner.)
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of speaking for speaking profile
Lesson 9B
Writing an Opinion Essay
Aim: For students to learn about the features of an opinion essay, and to gain practice using those features in writing CO3
Sub-aim: For students to continue to practice paragraph organization in writing. CO4
For students to continue to practice using cohesive devices in linking sentences.CO5
Sequencing: This lesson uses the model text introduced in the previous lesson 9A. It also draws skills of paragraphing, practiced in a previous lesson 2A, and linking sentences cohesion, practiced in lesson 3B. It is the second writing lesson that reviewed those skills after 8B.
Materials: English World 7: Writing Features p.84-85 (Also using the model text on pages 78-79)
Procedure:
Analysis of Model Text / Noticing Features: Students complete the exercises on page 84, which direct them back to the model text on pages 78-79 to notice the structure, and common vocabulary in a persuasive text.
Teacher also reviews paragraph structure, and cohesive linking devices.
Planning: Students are given the topic of mobile phones, and in groups are encouraged to make a list of the advantages and disadvantages of mobile phone use.
Writing: In pairs, students write an essay either arguing for mobile phones or against mobile phones. Teacher monitors and micro-teaches if there are any issues related to paragraphing or sentence cohesion.
Feedback: Essays are posted around the room. Students read them and comment on which ones they found most persuasive. Teacher gives delayed feedback on any issues related to paragraph structure and cohesion.
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of language used in writing task for writing Profile
Class 10 (20 hours completed)
Lesson 10A
Ket for Schools ExamSkill: Reading & Answering Right/Wrong/Doesn’t Say Questions
Aim: Practice the exam skill of answering detailed comprehension questions on the KET exam. CO1
Sequencing: Detailed comprehension questions have previously been covered in lessons 4A, 8A, 9A. This lesson will take the previously covered skills, and apply it specifically to the format of the KET exam.
Materials: ILA Vietnam Supplementary Resources: Ket for Schools Lesson 1, Part 2 (In-house materials: not published)
Procedure:
Lead-in: Students talk about a time when they lost something
Gist Reading: Students read a story about a man who lost something, and answer “Does the story have a happy ending?”
Detailed Comprehension: Students read the story again, and answer questions related to Right/Wrong/Doesn’t Say. Students complete individually, and then discuss in pairs. Teacher monitors for any questions that are causing confusion. Feedback as a whole class. Teacher confirms correct answers, and elicits or explains reasons.
Exam Practice: Students are given further KET reading practice with Right/Wrong/Doesn’t Say questions. Students complete individually, and then feedback as a class.
Lesson 10B
Telling Your Stories
Aim: Students will gain speaking fluency practice in the context of telling a story about the past. C07
Sub-aims: Students will get more practice using rhythm and intonation C06
Students will get more practice using correct verb tenses in free speech production CO8
Sequencing: This lesson builds on features of rhythm and intonation that were learned in 1B and 2B. This is the third practice after 3A and 5B.
It also practices accuracy with verb tenses for expressing past meaning, something that was practiced in lessons 1A, 4B, 6A, and 7A
Materials: Self-Made Materials (included below)
Procedure:
Introduction to Task:
An embarrassing moment. Think of a time when you were embarrassed. You should say: What happened, Why you were embarrassed, And what you did next
In groups, students discuss the topic.
Model Text: Students listen to a recording of a proficient speaker discussing the same task. They are first given a gist question (what was the embarrassing moment?) and then listen again to answer more detailed comprehension questions.
Noticing Grammar: Students are given a transcript of the talk by the proficient speaker, and are ask to notice which verb tenses are used. Students discuss in their groups which verb tenses are used and why.
Planning: Students are given time to plan their story.
Practice: Students recite their story to a partner. Teacher monitors.
Feedback: Teacher gives delayed feedback on features of rhythm, intonation, and verb tense accuracy.
Task Repetition: Students repeat the task again with a second, and then third partner. Teacher gives feedback after each repetition.
The same steps are then repeated for two additional prompts:
Describe a time that you got in an argument with a friend. You should say: Who the friend was, and how long you had known them, What the argument was about, What you said to your friend, And what the result of the argument was
Describe something exciting that happened to you recently.
Say: What happened, Where you were, Who you were with, How you felt
Formative Assessment: Teacher takes note of speaking for speaking profile
Summative Assessment
Writing Test and KET Mock Listening Test
KET Mock Reading Test
Appendix 2: Collated Needs Analysis and Diagnostic Test Results
Collated Needs Analysis
What activities do you like doing in class? (Put a check next to as many as you want to)
__3__ Using the Textbook
__10__ Story Time
___9_ Making a Project with my Group
__6__ Cambridge Lessons
__7__ Quizlet Live
___6_ Studying Grammar
__5__ Grammar Games
__8__ Studying Vocabulary
__6__ Vocabulary Games
__8__ Watching Movies
__5__ Reading Practice
__3__ Listening Practice
__7__ Speaking Practice
___7_ Other (please write)___Teacher Says (7)_____________________
Which activities do you NOT like doing in class? (Put a check next to as many as you want to)
_5___ Using the Textbook
____ Story Time
_2___ Making a Project with my Group
__4__ Cambridge Lessons
__2__ Quizlet Live
__4__ Studying Grammar
__4__ Grammar Games
__2__ Studying Vocabulary
__1__ Vocabulary Games
__2__ Watching Movies
__4__ Reading Practice
__7__ Listening Practice
__2__ Speaking Practice
__1__ Other (please write)__________Cambridge Test_______________________________
How much homework can you do every week?
_2___ None
__6__ 1-2 hours a week
___1_ 3-4 hours a week
___2_ 5-6 hours a week
What kind of homework do you want to do?
__6__ Reading stories
__2__ Reading articles
__3__ grammar exercises
__2__ writing practice
__6__ vocabulary practice
What kind of things do you like writing about?
__7__ Writing stories
__6__ Writing about my life
__0__ Writing about interesting places around the world
__3__ Writing about about history
__2__ Writing about science
What kind of things do you like reading about?
___11_ stories
___2__ history
___2__ science
___9__ animals
There are four rooms where students are studying English. You can see what they are doing in each room through the windows. Which class would you like to join?
__5__ Room 1: The students are practicing grammar and vocabulary. The teacher shows the student a sentence with a word missing. In teams, the students race to write the correct word on their whiteboards. The first team gets a point.
____ Room 2: The students are studying grammar from the textbook. They are doing exercises from the textbook in which they have to write down the correct word in the sentence. Each student is working alone.
____ Room 3: The students are each at their desk reading quietly. At the front of the room, there are several story books. The students can pick the story that they like best, and then take it back to their seat to read quietly.
__7__ Room 4: The students are in groups working on their projects. In each group, the students have to design their own city. Right now the students are talking together about what things they want in their city, and writing down their ideas on a piece of paper. Later they will use these ideas to draw a map of this city, and then show the map to the rest of the class.
Explanations:
This uses a technique suggested by Pinter (p.148) of contextualizing the questions by asking students about classroom activities they are already familiar with. All of the activities listed here are ones that these particular students are already familiar with. A brief explanation of each activity is provided down below:
Using the Textbook: English World 7, published by MacMillan , A2+ Level
Story Time: A form of extensive reading. Pages of a popular comic book are displayed on a slideshow, and the teacher reads it together with the students.
Making a Project with my Group: Part of the Project Based Learning Curriculum that is used by the school. Students are put into groups of 3 or 4 and make a Google Slides Presentation on computers on various topics, and then present the presentation to their classmates.
Cambridge Lessons: These are provided by the school, and focus on various Micro-skills associated with the KET and PET Cambridge English Exams.
Quizlet Live: Students are given vocabulary homework on the popular vocabulary website quizlet.com. This website also has an interactive feature known as Quizlet Live in which students can compete with each other using electronic tablets.
Studying Grammar: Teacher-fronted presentations, and doing controlled practice activities out of the textbook
Cambridge Test: The students are required to do Practice Cambridge Tests (KET, PET) once per term by the school.
Teacher Says: Teacher Says is a variation on Simon Says, a TPR (Total Physical Response) Game. It is sometimes done at the end of class as a reward for good behavior during the lesson.
Listening Test Results
Total (out of 25)
Jenny
23 (92%)
Henry
25 (100%)
Harry Potter
24 (96%)
Harry G
23 (92%)
Kevin
24 (96%)
Minh
24 (96%)
Thomas
16 (64%)
Tony
23 (92%)
Dan
24 (96%)
Atom
18 (75%)
Jack
24 (96%)
Averages
22.5 (90%)
Unlike the KET reading tests, listening was not broken down by section here because it was decided that very similar subskills were being assessed over the 5 different sections of the KET listening tests. As is evidenced by the results, listening was a strong point for this class, with an average score of 90%. The notable exception was Thomas, who is one of the weaker students in the class.
Reading Test Results
Part 1
Task: Matching signs to summaries
Skill: Understanding general meaning at the sentence level
Part 2
Task: Matching the missing word to blank
Skill: Understanding meaning at the lexical phrase level
Part 3
Task: Matching reply to prompt
Skill: Understanding coherence between sentences
Part 3
Task: Matching missing sentences in a dialogue
Skill: Understanding coherence at the text level
Part 4
Task: Read passage and choose: right, wrong, doesn’t say
Skill: Understanding meaning of extended text
Part 5
Task: Read passage and choose missing word
Skill:
Understanding meaning of extended text
Total (out of 35)
Jenny
4/5
5/5
5/5
2/5
4/7
4/8
27
Henry
5/5
5/5
4/5
5/5
3/7
5/8
27
Harry Potter
5/5
5/5
5/5
5/5
7/7
6/8
34
Harry G
5/5
4/5
5/5
4/5
5/7
7/8
30
Kevin
5/5
5/5
5/5
4/5
5/7
5/8
29
Minh
4/5
3/5
5/5
4/5
6/7
7/8
29
Thomas
4/5
4/5
5/5
4/5
4/7
5/8
27
Tony
5/5
4/5
4/5
3/5
7/7
4/8
26
Dan
5/5
4/5
4/5
4/5
5/7
8/8
30
Atom
5/5
4/5
3/5
5/5
2/7
5/8
24
Jack
5/5
5/5
4/5
4/5
6/7
6/8
30
Averages
4.7 /5
94%
4.4 /5
88%
4.5 /5
90%
4 /5
80%
4.9 /7
70%
5.6 /8
70%
28.5 /35
81%
These are the scores of the first 5 parts of the KET reading test. Part 3 is divided into two sections because it was determined that the first part (11-15) measured a different subskill than the second part (16-20), namely the difference between comprehension at the sentence level and comprehension at the text level. Overall, reading scores were quite high. However, the accuracy did go down as the tasks got more difficult. The lowest section were parts 4 and 5. This is possibly because these sections asked students to comprehend a whole text instead of individual sentences.
Writing Test Results
Organization (Students are assessed on organizing text into paragraphs, and also logical connections and linkers between sentences)
Grammatical range (Students are assessed on the range of verb structures used, and also the ability to use simple sentences, compound sentences, complex sentences, and compound complex sentences)
Grammatical accuracy (Students were assessed on the frequency of errors made, particulary with verb structures)
Vocabulary (Studentsare assessed on whether they can produce vocabulary typically used on elementary, pre-intermediate, or intermediate language courses).
Jenny
Able to write an extended piece of text, but it is not organized into paragraphs (each sentence is a new line)
All simple sentences or compound sentences. No complex sentences.
Some vocabulary errors, but very few grammar errors.
Uses mostly basic vocabulary. Attempts some more intermediate expressions, but has errors in formation.
Henry
Able to write an extended piece of text. The sentences are logically connected to each other, but very little use of linking expressions
Mostly simple sentences, with some compound sentences. No complex sentences
A lot of basic errors even in simple sentences.
Uses basic vocabulary.
Harry Potter
Able to write an extended piece of text. Able to use paragraphs.
Uses only simple sentences
Mostly error free. Some problems with subject verb agreement.
Uses pre-intermediate level vocabulary.
Harry G
Able to write an extended piece of text. Does not use paragraphs, and there are no links between sentences.
Uses compound sentences, with appropriate conjunctions. No complex sentences
Some problems with verb forms.
Able to use pre-intermediate level of vocabulary.
Kevin
Able to write an extended text. Uses paragraphs, and uses lexical connectors between sentences.
Mostly simple sentences, but often with complex noun or adverb phrases. A couple conditional sentences.
Simple sentences are produced accurately for the most part. Some vocabulary mistakes.
He is attempting a lot of upper-intermediate vocabulary, although he doesn’t know how to use all of it yet, leading to some mistakes.
Minh
Able to write an extended text which is well organized into paragraphs
Uses mostly simple sentences, but attempts some complex sentences
Simple sentences are mostly error free, but the complex sentences are not properly joined together
Mostly basic vocabulary, with some intermediate level words (literature, clever).
Thomas
Able to write an extended piece of text. Uses both logical connections and lexical connections to connect sentences, but does not use paragraphs
Uses mostly simple sentences. Attempts some complex sentences, but has problems connecting them.
Mostly error free, but has some problems with verb tense formation
Uses a lot of pre-intermediate vocabulary, with some specialized vocabulary related to sports.
Tony
Able to write an extended piece of text. He attempts paragraph formation, but the division of ideas is not clear. Sentences are often logically connected, but no use of grammatical or lexical linkers
Mostly simple sentences. Attempts some complex sentences, but it is difficult to understand.
Lots of grammatical errors. Can accurately form simple sentences for the most part when the subject is the agent, but he has trouble with “there is/are” sentence formations. He attempts complex sentences, but doesn’t know how to form them.
Basic vocabulary is used.
Dan
Able to write an extended piece of text, but most of it was in bullet points rather than coherent paragraphs. Some full sentences, but no linking between sentences.
Not a lot of full sentences, but within the full sentences that he did write, there were some complex sentences
Very few errors
Intermediate level of vocabulary.
Atom
Able to write an extended piece of text, but no organization, and no connection between sentences
Mostly simple sentences. No subordinate clauses, but he does use complex verb phrases with “to+infinitive” construction
Lots of grammar mistakes, even in simple sentences.
Vocabulary is very basic.
Jack
Able to write an extended piece of text. No paragraphs, but good use of linkers between sentences.
Uses mostly simple sentences and occasionally compound sentences
Very few mistakes. Simple sentences are produced accurately for the most part.
Lots of intermediate and upper-intermediate use of vocabulary.
Totals
Extended piece of text: 11
Use paragraphs: 3
Links Sentences: 3
Simple Sentences only: 2
Simple and Compound Sentences: 4
Attempts complex Sentences: 5
Problems with Sentence Formation: 5
Basic Sentences are Error Free: 6
Mostly basic: 5
Pre-Intermediate: 3
Intermediate or higher: 3
All the students showed a willingness to write at length, but for most of the students (8 out of 11) there was no attempt to use paragraphs or to link sentences in any logical way. 5 of the students still have problems with basic sentence formation, but 6 of the students can form basic sentences without problems, and only make errors when they attempt complex sentences. 5 students are attempting complex sentences, but 6 students can only do simple or compound sentences. 5 of the students are using vocabulary suitable for the elementary level, but 6 of the students are attempting vocabulary suitable for pre-intermediate or intermediate level.
Speaking Test Results
Name:
grammar accuracy
(Students assessed on accuracy with verb tenses, and subject verb agreement)
grammar range
(Students are assessed on whether or not they are attempting subordinate clauses in their speaking)
Fluency
(Students are assessed on rate of speech, and speaking without long pauses)
Vocabulary
(Vocabulary is assessed on whether or not students are able to express themselves when talking about their daily life)
Pronunciation
(Pronunciation is assessed on accuracy of individual phonemes, rhythm, and intonation)
Henry
He’s also not tensing his verbs still. (Everything is expressed in the present simple). But other than that, basic sentence formation is fine.
He is speaking very conservatively, and not using complex sentences.
Fluency is a weak point. It takes him a bit of time to think about what he wants to say
has a level of vocabulary suitable for level
Articulation is good,but he has very little rhythm or intonation--partly because of slow speech
Jenny
And her verb tenses were perfect. She was very conscientious about using the past simple and future simple.
She is using such wonderful grammar. So many complex sentences. Lots of conditionals.
She understood all the questions put to her, even when I spoke fast. She was able to respond immediately (with no pauses).
Sufficient vocabulary to talk about her daily life and interests
Articulation is great, and she has some features of intonation and rhythm, although these are not always sustained.
Harry G
Grammatical accuracy is good--he’s making very few mistakes. His verb tenses are particularly good. He was very good at remembering to use “will” in future sentences. In the past, he usually remembers to make the past tense. He is better with irregular verbs. (Some of the regular verbs he forgets to put in the past tense.)
He’s speaking very conservatively, however. Almost all simple sentences. He’s not attempting any complex sentences.
For whatever reason, his fluency was a bit down today. He was really struggling to find the words he needed. He’s usually better than this.
He struggled a bit to remember the vocabulary, but he has sufficient vocabulary for the level--enough to talk about his daily life and school studies.
His articulation is good. But he is speaking very flat with very little intonation and not rhythm
Tony
He is attempting various verb tenses. There are some errors. When using the future tense, he would often forget the “be-verb”. For example: “I going to” instead of “I’m going to”. In the past, he is attempting to use both the past continuous and the past simple, but he still has an incomplete understanding of when to use the past continuous. Nevertheless it is good that he is attempting it. He also sometimes mixes the forms--example “I was ate”.
He has trouble with the 3rd person singular “s”, and will not use it most of the time.
He is still using only simple sentences.
He speaks at a very slow rate of speech, but he speaks steadily. No long pauses while searching for words.
He has sufficient vocabulary to express himself on a variety of subjects. When he doesn’t know the exact vocabulary words for the situation, he is very clever at circumlocution (coming up with alternative ways to get his meaning across). For example, when he didn’t know the word for “change the diapers” he said “refresh the poop.”
Articulation is good for the most part, but once and a while he misses the final /s/ on words. He has some intonation, but rhythm is affected by a slow rate of speech.
Minh
His verb tenses are accurate for the most part. He is good at using future tenses. When talking about the past, he will often tense the first verb in the past simple, but then he will forget and use the rest of the words in the present simple.
He uses mostly simple sentences. Although he can do some complex sentences (reported speech, subordinate clauses with “when” and “until”).
He speaks at a slow but steady rate.
He can understand basic vocabulary for talking about daily life and school studies. However he cannot talk about more abstract topics.
He has good articulation, but no rhythm or intonation.
Kevin
He is making some small grammar mistakes, but this is to be expected from a student at his level who is starting to experiment with complex sentences.
There is still some confusion about tenses. He seems to know the past simple tense, but forgets to use it sometimes. (Although sometimes he remembers). Also he is a bit confused about the future tenses. He says “I will going to” instead of “I am going to”
He’s also getting a lot better at grammar. He is using a lot of complex sentences now.
He is able to understand all questions, and respond immediately. He gives extended answers, and he doesn’t need time to think.
He has sufficient vocabulary to talk about his daily life and school studies.
Good news. His pronunciation is really improving. He has always had good articulation, but his rhythm and intonation had been a bit flat in the past. This has been improving. He has much better rhythm and intonation.
Jack
Very few grammar mistakes.
He uses mostly simple sentences and short replies, but he responds with a lot of short quips just like a native speaker might. He can do complex sentences when he wants to, but he usually gives shorter replies.
Speaks quickly and without hesitation.
He also has a lot of native-like vocabulary and idioms.
Pronunciation is excellent. He’s always been good, but his pronunciation has gradually gotten more and more native-like.
Thomas
He has always been weak on grammar but strong on desire to communicate.
His main mistake is with verb forms. He usually forgets to tense the verbs appropriately. He also has trouble with verb patterns (e.g. “started +Ving”). And he usually forgets the 3rd person singular “s”
He is using more and more complex sentences. He uses a lot of subordinate clauses.
His fluency is improving. He is talking longer and longer.
Vocabulary is good. (Vocabulary has always been one of his strong points).
Articulation is excellent. Intonation is a plus--he’s learned to express a lot of his feelings and emotions through intonation, and he’s doing it accurately.
Atom
He is making a lot of mistakes with verb forms (both tense related, but also verb patterns). But he is able to get across his ideas well.
He is using mostly simple sentences, but he links them together with a wide range of connectors. Complex sentences are rare, but he is beginning to experiment.
His rate of speech has increased a lot over the past year. He makes a few brief pauses to gather his thoughts, but then he is able to complete his utterance without further pausing.
He has sufficient vocabulary to talk about a large number of subjects.
Articulation is good, but he has not real rhythm or intonation. Everything is said in a flat monotone voice.
Dan
Very few grammar mistakes
He uses mostly short responses, but he can use more complex grammar when prompted.
His communication is really good. He’s able to understand all of the questions put to him, and replies immediately with no time needed for thinking. On occasions when he gives a longer reply, sometimes the connections between sentences aren’t always obvious, and he can begin to lose coherence.
he has picked up a lot of natural sounding vocabulary and idioms
His pronunciation is really good
Harry Potter
Some minor mistakes with verb tenses.
Is able to give a lot of longer answers. Uses a lot of complex sentences.
Occasionally has to pause mid-utterance for words, but only rarely.
He has sufficient vocabulary to express himself on a wide range of topics.
Articulation is excellent, and he’s beginning to develop rhythm and intonation
Total
Using Verb tenses accurately: 4
Mistakes with verb tenses: 7
Using complex sentences: 7
Using only simple sentences: 4
Able to speak quickly without noticeable pauses: 4
Speaks slowly but without extended pauses: 2
Has noticeable pauses: 5
Suitable vocabulary for describing daily life: 11
Advanced vocabulary: 2
Problems with articulation: 1
Problems with rhythm and intonation: 7
No major problems with articulation, rhythm or intonation: 4
The majority of the students are making mistakes with verb tenses. This is primarily true on verb tenses used to express past meaning (e.g. past simple, present perfect). Some of the students have a tendency to over-use the base form of the verb, or to use the present participle form for all situations. The majority of the students (7/11) are attempting complex sentences (with subordinate clauses) in speech, with only 4 using only simple sentences. 11 of the students can use vocabulary suitable for talking about their daily life, and 2 students are able to use vocabulary suitable for a more advanced level. Most of the students can pronounce the individual phonemes accurately (articulation), but the majority (7/11) have problems with rhythm and intonation.
