Associateship in TESOL
Module Three Assignments
1. Classroom scenarios
Situation 1 description: Upper-immediate ESL class, 12 students, all about 20 years old
One newspaper article is passed around the class from left to right so each student gets a turn to read out loud. After this part of the lesson the teacher asks the student’s questions.
The time factor needs to be addressed in the planning for this type of lesson. It would be great to have all the time in the world but information has to be taught inside a strict schedule. Allowing everyone a chance to read is a good idea but should be divided between more of the lessons. I think it would be reasonable to let 5 students read out loud each lesson whenever appropriate. A rotating schedule could be marked in order to keep track of who has or has not read and who should read on a particular day.
Another problem that the teacher could be facing is that when the students read out loud they will each be doing reading at their own personal level. Some students will not be able to read some of the words. There is also the problem that because of accents the listeners in the class may not clearly understand the exact words being read out loud. This makes the second part of the lesson plan unfair to the student’s in the class who are listening. The teacher could allow the five designated readers to read two to three sentences each depending on the length of the sentences. After the five readers are finished the teacher should as the whole group, “Was everyone able to clearly understand what was read?” If everyone says “yes” then no problem exists. If one person or more says “no” then the teacher should slowly and distinctly start from the beginning of the newspaper article and read the whole article out loud for the twenty studies to hear. After that asking questions of the students about the article’s content would be a fine to include into the lesson plan.
Situation 2 My pre-intermediate class (15 adults) is happy with the amount of speaking and writing that have been provided but they want to learn more grammar. I do not think that grammar is the only part of language the students need so I need to find a way to satisfy the students without relying too much on grammar studies. I need to find the right balance between speaking, writing and grammar.
I will explain to the students that I understand the importance of grammar but I also understand that speaking and writing are just as important. I will explain to the students that the interesting thing about learning grammar is that while they are learning speaking and writing they are also learning grammar. Learning grammar rules by memorizing them will not be helpful to them when interacting with native speakers.
I will also make a point of explaining the grammar that is embedded within their reading and writing assignments so they will be able to understand that they have been in fact learning grammar without realized it. I have decided to review my lesson plans and for each class to list grammar rules that are being used. I will try to have the grammar rules listed on the board before each class starts. That way the students will have a more clear understanding that they are learning grammar.
I will also carefully review my lesson plans and add one more piece of take home work for the students where it fits appropriately with the students. The take home work can help them practice grammar on their own. I will make sure I explain with the directions of the assignment the grammar they are learning. I think for intermediate adults that this would an appropriate example. The students can make the assignment as simple or as complicated as their time and skills permit.
Situation 3 I am teaching in an English-speaking country. I have an intermediate level class of adult students. The students are having problems understanding people outside the classroom.
I would need to explain that natives in English speaking countries may be using slang or slurring their words together. Other types of problems arise when native speakers talk to quickly, leave out words or speak with a dialect.
A good exercise to use to focus attention on the way natives speak the language is to have the students listen to a cassette tape of two people working on a task. Module 3 describes using the TBL approach to this type of assignment. The TBL approach seems better than the PPP approach because it is not so rigid. Listening to the tape does not allow for the structure required in most PPP lessons. The TBL calls for three steps (a) the pre-task, (b) the task cycle, and the (c) language focus but I do not want my intermediate class to focus on a task. I want them to focus on listening and understanding.
So I will have them listen to a tape of two native English speakers for example one a hotel clerk (H.C.) at the reservation’s desk and one speaker is a tourist (T) looking for a room.
H.C.: Good morning
T.: Good morning
H.C.: May I help you?
T.: I would like to rent a room.
H.C.: How long will you be staying?
T.: Three days.
H.C.: Would you like a single bed or a double bed?
T.: Do you have a room with two double beds? I will be staying here with my wife and our two kids.
H.C.: Yes, we have a room like that available. Pay the deposit I will give you the keys.
T.: Here you go. (Handing the hotel clerk the money.)
H.C.: Please sign here.
T.: Okay.
H.C.: And here are the keys to your room. The number is 246. It is close to the swimming pool. Have a good day, sir.
T.: Thank you. You, too.
There are several tricky places the students may have trouble understanding. So while asking questions about the dialogue after they listen I will keep these trouble spots in mind. The tape will have to be played several times depending on how quickly the students understand what is being said. Some of the tricky places are mentioned below.
Why does the Tourist want two double beds? Because his wife and kids (children) are with him. This may be confusing first of all because it was not a choice given by the Hotel Clerk and secondly because the Tourist calls his children ‘kids.’
“Here you go” When the Tourist hands the Hotel Clerk the money for the room deposit.
“You, too” maybe confusing because the Tourist does not say the whole sentence – “You have a good day, too.”
In general the conversation between the two strangers is more relaxed than in other countries where people would be more formal with each other.
Situation 4 I am the head of the department and I heard a teacher use inappropriate methods in teaching. I will need to explain to her that teacher’s must always be courteous to students. When a student makes a mistake the student needs to be corrected. For example Ying answers the question incorrectly. Ying said, “If I win the lottery, I will go China for a holiday.” The teacher did not remind Ying that he needs to say “I will go to China” so she does not ask if he understands why we say ‘go to China’ and not just ‘go China.’
I was disappointed to hear the teacher speak rudely to the student Marta. Marta answered, “If I won the lottery, I will go on holiday.” This is correct grammatically but the instructions were to start their sentences by saying “If I win the lottery I . . .” Instead of explaining that to Marta the teacher said, “No, that’s not right Marta. You haven’t been listening” and immediately move d to the next student. The teacher did two things wrong when dealing with Marta. The teacher did not explain why Marta was wrong and she accused Marta of not listening.
At the end of the speaking part of the lesson the teacher says, “OK. Now write five sentences of your own.” This is not an appropriate way to give directions to the class. What are the five sentences to be about? Does the teacher want them to use the same beginning “If I win the lottery I . . . .” Then they could finish the sentence in five different ways. Or does she have another type of sentence in mind. She is much too vague, she does not explain what she wants and she leaves everyone confused.
2. Vocabulary challenge 1 Lower intermediate students are learning new words and do not know the meanings yet. Explain how I will help them learn the meaning of the words.
a) The house was surrounded by a low, wooden fence.
b) She welcomed him very warmly and offered him some food.
c) He wiped her face with a moist face.
d) She reluctantly agreed to clean her bedroom.
e) The teacher lived in a small terraced house not far from the park.
f) He picked up the pebble and threw it as hard as he could.
1. Fill out a chart on the board with the student’s participation. It will end up looking like this.
Sentences - Parts of Speech
2. Divide the students into team so they can take turns reading the five sentences to each other.
3. Bring the students back into one main group. I will then ask the student’s questions to help them understand the meaning. For example a I will read the sentence clearly. Then I will ask them to think about the types of structures they have seen around houses. I can also show them pictures of a house surrounded by a hedge, a moat, trees and a fence.
For example c I after I read the sentence to them I can say. Why would someone want to wipe someone else’s face? For instance if you were a mother and you were going to wipe your child’s face would the child’s face be dirty or would it be clean? Would you want to use a dry cloth or a wet cloth if the child’s face was dirty?
This is a strategy to help the students understand the meaning of the words.
3. Vocabulary challenge 2 I have a class of lower-intermediate students from different cultures. They are three phrases they do not understand at the end of the week. The phrases are “to get rid of,” “to sort out,” and “to look out for.” The aim of the lesson is to help the students understand the meanings of the phrases. First step give other examples with the same phrase to help the students see and hear the phrase in different sentences.
The phrase “to get rid of” may seem rude to people from some cultures who would not have that sort of phrase in their language. So it is good to have the sentence
a) However hard he tried to get rid of the stain he just seemed to make it worse.
She wanted to get rid of the mistake on her vocabulary paper.
He had to get rid of his dog because the dog bit the mailman.
b) Her father agreed to come to the school to try to sort out the situation.
The hostess told the cook, “We need to sort out the menu for the party on Sunday.
The teacher said, “I need to sort out the seating arrangement so the bad boys will sit in the front and the good students will sit in the back next week.”
c) The crowds were very thick and he held tightly onto his wallet because his wife had told him to look out for pickpockets.
Jeremy was hungry so he was at the window to look out for Father so we could eat dinner as soon as he came home.
It is best to look out for honeybees when you smell these flowers or you might get a bee sting.
After that a Matching game may be helpful. I can make a chart on the chalkboard so the class can work on the matching game together.
4. Lesson Plan Critique
In general the lesson plan is not written clearly enough and it does not include the approximate times for each portion of the lesson. I don’t see how all the activities can fit into a one hour lesson. The use of “ ‘ve got / ‘s got” is confusing. I think it should be written out in more detail. Also the order of the lesson steps is not a good order. I would change it in this way.
Time: 9:30 a.m. for 1 hour
Aim:
and its contracted forms I’ve, you’ve got and he’s got, she’s got and it’s got.
Theme:
Describing people
Teaching Aids:
A color poster showing a variety of people who the students can practice describing.
Chalk board or other Writing Board the whole class can see
Hand out with fill in the blank activity based on the posters with the verbs and descriptions.
Notions / Functions:
Learning to use the following verbs to describe people.
I have got/ you have got/ he, she and it has got
We have got/ you have got/ they have got
Learning to use the contractions
I’ve got/ you’ve got/ he’s, she’s, it’s got
We’ve got/ you’ve got/ they’ve got
Target Language (examples)
I have got blue eyes. / I’ve got blue eyes.
He has got black hair. / He’s got black hair.
She has got lovely hands. / She’s got lovely hands.
It has got a cold nose. / It’s got a cold nose.
They have got the same shirt. / They’ve got the same shirt.
We have all got large feet! / We’ve all got large feet.
He’s got / She’s got / It’s got ___________ and he’s/she’s/it’s wearing __________
She’s got blonde hair and she’s wearing a long blue skirt.
New vocabulary (write these on the board before class)
Curly hair
Braids
Blond hair
Brunette hair
Red hair
Hazel eyes
Eye glasses
Assumptions
The students know a lot of descriptive adjectives from earlier lessons.
The students are familiar with Present Continuous verbs.
Lesson steps
1. Write on the board
I have got/ you have got/ We have got/ you have got/ they have got
(about 5 minutes)
2. Draw attention to the poster with all the different types of people on it.
Demonstrate to the student’s how to use the verbs with the descriptions of the people. Then let the students each say sentences they create on their own. If the students need help to get started point to the different people in the pictures and get them started, “She has got ____.” Remind the students to use the new vocabulary. Write down any other new words.
(15 minutes)
3. Learning to use the contractions
Write on the board
I’ve got/ you’ve got/ he’s, she’s, it’s got
We’ve got/ you’ve got/ they’ve got
Repeat number two using the poster.
(15 minutes)
4. Class practice
Divide the class into pairs so they can practice repeating the sentences from the above exercises and make up new sentences.
(15 minutes)
5. To end the class on a fun note play a version of I Spy. Divide the class into four groups of three people each. For the game they take turns describing a classmate and let the other two guess who they are describing.
(5-6 minutes)
6. Hand out the homework sheet with the fill in the blanks. Give the students directions. Each blank is either a verb or descriptive word about a person from the poster. Ask the students to write two paragraphs (of about 150 words) describing the people in their family.
(4-5 minutes)
