Teaching English by Design
Peter Smagorisnsky offers one of the best approaches in teaching English in schools. The book Teaching English by design gives tutors an advanced method that can be used in the English Class for different levels. English is one of the core subjects in high school .If the subject is taught using a poor method; students will have a problem in understanding other subjects since they are mainly taught in English. The content taught in the subject will also be applicable in other areas of life and this call for the need to have a proper approach in teaching.
Many students are not able to connect various concepts being taught due to connection of themes. In developing the themes tutors should develop them according to the stance of students. Sometimes the theme will determine the attitude students will have towards a given unit or topic, however good English tutor should be able to create a suitable stance. Students will first analyses the teaching methods of a tutor and from that they can be develop a positive or negative attitude.
Chapter 11 of the book discusses various issues that have to be considered when developing an English lesson. There are many units that tutors have to cover when teaching English. Unless a unit is well outlines, concept delivery in each unit has to be done in a way that students can understand and relate with other units. One of the first considerations which need to be considered is the theme. Each unit should have a theme that needs to be covered. The theme should act as the unit guidance for both the tutor and students. Even when students are revising for an exam they will be able to link the various sub-topics to the themes. When developing the themes in an English class, there should be categorization of the major and minor themes; this makes it easier to link the various concepts in a unit. A tutor is able to stick to the theme when teaching and even complex units can be easily understood. The development of themes needs to be systematic to ensure that there is flow of the units that need to be taught.
The theme will enable a tutor to select suitable teaching materials to use when teaching. The material has to be connected to the theme and the unit being covered. Some of the materials can be acquired from the students ,involving the students in selecting teaching materials ensures that they actively participate .Most of the teaching materials can be found in the school library or other e-learning materials. Material section should put into consideration the availability of the material to both the tutors and students. A tutor in an English class should base his/her; lessons on specific goals. These goals are supposed to be achieved by the end of a given unit. Goal development ensures that a unit is completed within the given timeframe .Since the syllabus in an English class is usually defined in terms of scope and the methods of teaching, the goals assist students to revise and tackle questions at the end of every unit. When setting exam questions in a given unit, a tutor will focus on asking questions based on the goals. When students are studying in their group discussions, they can be able to relate the theme and the goals making it easier to recall the content of each unit.
Work Cited
Smagorinsky, Peter. Teaching English by design: how to create and carry out instructional units. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2008. Print.
