Adult-centered teaching English. Meeting the needs of learners Anna Voronina, Pearson-Longman teacher trainer, 608-54-19 (20) avmos@longman.ru; voronina.anna21@gmail.com

Aims of the session: To speak about the Common European Framework and how Pearson books are related to the system of levels of language competences; To show how we can teach with Pearson books in both traditional and creative classrooms; To highlight similarities of teaching English and exam training.

Buzz words in ELT Communicative Approach The Common European Framework Student-centred learning The Lexical Approach New technology (CD-ROMs, DVDs, Internet resources, blended learning) I’d like to start with a question “What are the buzz words in ELT today?” What do we mean by modern approaches in ELT?

Seminar plan: Features and Adult Learner characteristics Needs Psychological Practical Linguistic Teacher’s role Materials to meet the needs

Questions: Who we teach? What we teach? Why we teach / they learn? How we teach?

Learner’s portrait puzzle

Adult learners: Are people with established values, beliefs and opinions; Have accumulated a foundation of life experience and knowledge; Are autonomous and self-directed; Are goal-oriented; Are relevancy-oriented; Are practical. We need to demonstrate respect for different beliefs, value systems and lifestyles. Let students know that they are entitled to their opinions but that everyone in the room may not share their beliefs. And they also have to respect that. Have accumulated a foundation of life experience and knowledge (incl. work-related activities, family responsibilities, and previous education); It means that in many cases we need to base the choice of topics, language and explanation of new material depending on students’ knowledge, interests and experience. Autonomous and self-directed; - they are people with basic learning strategies and skills, they know their individual easiest way of perceiving language material and information, i.e. how they learn better. As teachers we need to use a variety of teaching methods, such as auditory, visual and participatory, organize pair and group work activities to give each of the students a chance to make most of the class. Choose the appropriate level of challenge, don’t spoon-feed the learners. Goal-oriented; upon enrolling in a course, they usually know what goal they want to attain. They, therefore, appreciate an educational program that is organized and has clearly defined elements. We need to show our students how this class will help them to reach their goals. (“Can do” statements, lesson aims) Relevancy-oriented;- students must see a reason for learning something. Learning has to be applicable to their future professional needs to be really valuable to students. Practical. – adult learners are people who tend to have a problem-centred orientation to learning. Many of students start working when they are still in the university. We need to focus their attention on the aspects of a lesson most useful to them. All six features influence the adult learner MOTIVATION

Learner’s portrait

Adult learner’s needs: Psychological; Linguistic; Practical. Why we teach / they learn?

linguistic psychological practical motivation linguistic psychological appropriate language level self-esteem learning style communicative competences learning skills self-assessment skills practical cutting edge technology exams taking strategies goal-oriented language learning

What we teach?

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages A European system of levels of language competence: Grades and defines language ability, achievement and progress in language learning The CEFR is made of a series of competence descriptors: ‘can do’ statements The Common European Framework is a common European system of levels of language competence, which allows transparent comparison between language ability and qualifications in different languages. It is relevant to the European Language Portfolio, in that all ELPs make specific reference to the CEFR for defining language competence. The CEFR is made up of a series of competence descriptors, or ‘can do’ statements, that refer to the ability of the learner in terms of the four skills and with particular emphasis on their ability to communicate and understand.

Effective proficiency CEF levels C Proficient User C2 Mastery C1 Effective proficiency B Independent User B2 Vantage B1 Threshold A Basic User A2 Waystage A1 Breakthrough There are 6 CEF levels. These levels are used by examination boards, materials writers, course designers, and provide a transparent standard against which to benchmark courses, coursebooks, examinations and tests.

CEF scales B1 Global scale Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics, which are familiar, or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans. There are 6 CEF levels. These levels are used by examination boards, materials writers, course designers, and provide a transparent standard against which to benchmark courses, coursebooks, examinations and tests.

CEF scales B1 Overall listening comprehension Can understand straightforward factual information about common everyday or job related topics, identifying both general messages and specific details, provided speech is clearly articulated in a generally familiar accent. Can understand the main points of clear standard speech on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure etc., including short narratives.

Self-assessment grid B1 Reception Listening I can understand the main points of clear standard speech on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. I can understand the main point of many radio or TV programmes on current affairs or topics of personal or professional interest when the delivery is relatively slow and clear.

CEF helps students to: reflect on their own language learning experiences and strategies assess their own competence aim for individual progress in proficiency Students need to learn to: reflect on their own language learning experiences and strategies assess their own competence select their best work for the dossier How can we help them to do this?

CEF helps teachers to: How to integrate the Portfolio into lessons don’t spend whole lessons on Portfolio work don’t do ‘extra’ work for the Portfolio when planning lessons, homework and other assignments, think about projects, roleplays, writing tasks which might be suitable for the Dossier. when looking at the “learning aims” of a unit in your textbook, think about the self-assessment descriptions. Are the students learning a new communication skill described in the Portfolio? use the self-assessment descriptions to help you when planning tests and examinations. think about using self-assessment as part of your regular progress tests because this will encourage students to think about their own communicative competence. show students what they need to be able to do to reach a certain language level choose coursebooks and materials design tests and exams write a syllabus or curriculum

www.coe.int

What is special about teaching an exam class What is special about teaching an exam class? Give one example that shows a difference between exam classes and non-exam classes EXAM CLASSES NON-EXAM CLASSES

Teaching for Exams Important things to keep in mind: Students need to know English at particular level; Students need to have exam skills; Students need to know about the exam.

International Language Exams

How we teach? Longman books’ philosophy Student-centered approach; Balance of language knowledge and communicative skills development; System of activities for various learning style development; Plenty of doing; Lifelong learning skills development; Self-assessment skills development.

Language Leader levels Proficient user Language Leader levels С1 CAE PTE L4 Independent user PTE L3 B2 FCE B1 PET PTE L2 Basic user Language Leader Elementary correlates with A2 level, Pre-Intermediate – starts with A2 and comes to the beginning of B1, Intermediate covers B1, Upper Intermediate – correlates with B2 KET PTE L1 A2 A1 PTE A1

Five Levels from A2 to C1 - factual rather than lifestyle content - adult and sophisticated design - scenario spreads that lead to a final communicative task - a strong focus on study skills - a stimulating and comprehensive writing syllabus

STUDY SKILLS HOW TO READ FASTER AND MORE EFFECTIVELY HOW TO WORK WELL IN GROUPS – TEAMWORK HOW TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY HOW TO DEVELOP STUDENTS’ LISTENING AND NOTE-TAKING HOW TO DESCRIBE GRAPHICS, CHARTS AND TABLES HOW TO MAKE INFORMAL/FORMAL PRESENTATIONS HOW TO REFERENCE SOURCES FOR DISSERTATIONS HOW TO PARAPHRASE & AVOID PLAGIARISM

www.pearsonlongman.com/languageleader/

Total English levels CAE C1 B2 FCE PET B1 KET A2 A1 Proficient user PTE L4 C1 Independent user B2 FCE PTE L3 PET PTE L2 B1 PTE L1 KET A2 Basic user PTE A1 A1

Website resource bank www.pearsonlongman.com/totalenglish/

Total English Portfolio

Teacher Support Teach rich, varied lessons using the Teacher’s Book with thorough teaching notes, photocopiable activities and DVD worksheets Get all the test material you could ever need using the Test Master CD-ROM, with fully editable tests for all stages of the course Add more variety to the course using the Companion Website with photocopiables and webquests for every unit Total English portfolio available for all levels of the series

linguistic psychological practical motivation linguistic psychological appropriate language level self-esteem learning style communicative competences learning skills self-assessment skills practical cutting edge technology exams taking strategies goal-oriented language learning

Teacher’s role Be patient! Choose appropriate language material to meet practical, linguistic and psychological needs of students; Base explanation on Ss’ actual knowledge and life experience, Guide Ss in developing learning skills; Use a variety of teaching methods to support different learning styles; Be patient!

“It is a supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge” – Albert Einstein “We have to do the best we can. This is our sacred human responsibility”

avmos@longman.ru; voronina.anna21@gmail.com; Questions Opinions Seminar materials requests avmos@longman.ru; voronina.anna21@gmail.com; THANK YOU!