Unit 19

WORKSHEET – UNIT 19

Task 1 – List the different categories of beginner students, giving a brief explanation of each:

Absolute beginner - no previous exposure to the language.
False beginner – previous exposure but no recollection.

Adult beginner - no previous exposure to the language but lots of motivation.
Young beginner – quick learning capability but not motivated.
Beginner without Roman alphabet - Requires a large amount of reading and writing skills

Task 2 – How would you as a teacher adapt your approach to beginner students?

• Use simple and clear language.
• Short sentences.
• Speak strongly and at a constant pace.
• Ask a lot of questions.
• Use a lot of body language.
• Use as many aids as possible.
• Only speak in English.
• Use a lot of vocabulary sheets, homework and exercises.
• Constantly monitor the progress of your class.

Task 3 – How can teaching individual students differ from teaching groups?

·        No mixed levels.

·        High motivation.

·        Easy to monitor, evaluate and attack problems.

·        Class dynamic can be lost.

·        Can be boring with all the attention concentrated in only one person.

·        No group activities.

Task 4 – What information would you want to obtain in a needs analysis for a group of Business English students you will be teaching in their office? How could you use this information when planning the program?

There is a lot of information the teacher needs from the class in an ESP lesson.

Everything from level, to purpose of the course, issues that lead to the establishing of the course. Specific activities, vocabulary that needs to be addressed and the companies line of business, etc. Using all this information the teacher plans class specific lessons designed to meet the needs of the class considering the company’s line of business and the previous issues that lead to the creation of the course.

Task 5 – How does the teaching of young learners differ from the teaching of adults?

There are many differences between teaching kids and adults.

On the discipline side, it is very difficult to get and maintain the kid’s attention. That issue would never arise with adults. Designing lessons for adults is also easier because they can easily be tailored to their progress and vocabulary level. Adults also tend to communicate more with themselves in their native language; they also tend to translate everything to their native tongue.

Kids on the other hand learn more quickly, they learn new languages just the learned their native tongue. Kids require constant attention by the teacher.

Task 6 – Imagine you are going to teach a class of 7 year olds. The objective is that the learners use basic food vocabulary in English by identifying different foods and expressing their likes and dislikes.

Plan a 30 minute ESA lesson using the lesson plan form on pages 6/7 of unit 14.

Date - time	May 27, 2009
Teacher:	Marcos Blass	Room:	969
Number of students	16	Level	Intermediate
Teaching aids	Work Cards with pictures of food. DVD with the pronunciation of the basic food vocabulary. Game of Bingo
Objectives	Learn basic food vocabulary, learn the correct pronunciation. Be able to see a picture and say the name of the object in English. Learn the how to identify what you “like” and “dislike”.
Personal Aims	Encourage students to verbally participate in class. Learn the food vocabulary Learn the correct pronunciation. Learn “like” and “dislike”
Anticipated Problems (students)	Lack of interest, lack of concentration. Difficulty in getting them to pay attention.	Solutions	Use as many aids as possible. Make the class fun for the students,
Anticipated Problems (teacher)	Frustration due to the lack of concentration	Solutions	Make the class dynamic and fast paced. Patience.
Procedure			Phase	Timing	Interaction
Start conversation by greeting the class			Engage	1 min	T
Give a short presentation on food, and what food is, what you “like” and “dislike”.			Engage	2 min	T
Show students your lunch in an entertaining way and explain what you “like” about it.			Engage	2 min	T
Show the students the cards and name the item showed in the card. Do it again and again, in a playful fashion each time and try to do it faster so it would be more interesting for the class. Ask the students if they “like” or “dislike” the food in the pictures.			Study	5 min	T - S
Play a game using the cards, the students have to name the card, keep score to have them interested, each them they identify the item ask them if they “like” or “dislike” it.			Study	5 min	T - S
Play the game of Bingo in which the teacher shouts out the name of the food and the students cross the image from his board. The winner ears a prize. Always ask them if they “like” or “dislike” the items they see.			Engage	5 min	T - S
Give the students their home work and give the food cars a last pass encouraging the kids with a “surprise prize”			Engage	5 min	T  - S
Play a game of “Simon Says” its fun and it stimulates the kids listening and coordination			Activate	5 min	T - S

Task 7 – Would you prefer to teach a monolingual or multilingual class?  Give reasons for your choice.

I would prefer to teach a multilingual class. Both have their pros and cons the biggest objection of a monolingual class is that students can easily communicate between themselves in their native language. Discipline issues can arise. None of these problems will exist in the multilingual class. The only negative aspect is that some students from different cultures can be shy within each other. But that is an issue that can be countered with good stimulation.