ING303 Teaching Language Skills LECTURE 2: THE LESSON 1 Asst. Prof. Dr. Emrah Görgülü

Things we look at in this chapter  The Lesson: different perspectives: Definition and different ways  Functions of the teacher in the English language lesson: diff. roles  Interaction patterns in the lesson: Different interaction patterns  Lesson preparation: Basic guidelines and practical tips  Written lesson plans: Ways to write good lesson plans 2

The Lesson: different perspectives  The Lesson: It is a type of organized goal-oriented social event that occurs in most, if not all, cultures.  Lessons vary in topic, atmospehere, methodology and materials in different places but they have basic elements in common.  The main objective is learning. Lessons are attended by predetermined population of learners and teachers. Where and when they take place is known.  Other aspects of a lesson that is not always obvious: A lesson is like... a TV show eating a meal a menu climbing a mountain a wedding a conversation a football game consulting a doctor (do task 1) 3

The Lesson: different perspectives (cont’d)  The Lesson: It is a very complex construct which fulfills a variety of functions and can be seen differently by different people.  Cooperative interaction: A lesson is like a conversation, a wedding, a TV show, or a football game. Everybody participates as a member and there is cooperative social interaction.  Goal-oriented effort, involving hard work: Climbing a mountain or a football game. There is a clear and worthwhile objective. There is a triumph if achieved, or a disappointment if failed.  An interesting and enjoyable experience: Enjoyment may be based on entertainment and interest (TV show), challenge and fun (football game) or satisfaction of a desire (eating a meal). 4

The Lesson: different perspectives (cont’d)  A role-based culture: Roles of the participants are predetermined. The role of the teacher involves responsibility and activity. Students respond to the teacher and receive the knowledge (a consulation).  A social event with elements of ceremony: Some examples are a wedding or a TV show. Certain behaviors occur every time.  A series of free choices: Participants are free to do what they want within a certain number of choices (a menu or a conversation). The teacher is a facilitator rather than an authority figure.  Summary: The lesson is seen differently by different people. Each interpretation represents one aspect of the whole picture. 5

Functions of the teacher in the English language classroom  Old-fashioned image of the teacher: dictator and lecturer. Thus teachers were encouraged to see themselves as supporters of learning, rather than ‘telling’ facts. No more ‘mug and jug’ method.  Most teachers would want to be supportive and encourage learner autonomy and independence. But an extremely learner-centred approach can be counterproductive, especially in language class.  Why is an excessively learner-centred approach not ideal?  Language is composed of a collection of sounds, words, grammatical combinations: students cannot discover or create them without an instructor.  Effective language teaching should be based on teacher-initiated instruction, though student-centred activation is important (do task 2) 6

Functions of the teacher in the English lang. classroom (cont’d)  What do you think of the functions of a teacher in the classroom?  Instructor  Activator  Model  Provider of feedback  Supporter  Assessor  Manager  Motivator 7

Functions of the teacher in the English lang. classroom (cont’d)  Instructor: The teacher, together with teaching materials, provides information about the language: the sounds, words, grammar etc… The most essential teaching skills are ____________________________.  Activator: Getting students to use English themselves is essential for acquisition to take place. Getting them to speak or write, or to listen or read.  Model: The teacher normally represents the prototype of the English speaker during the lesson. It is your accent, writing and language usages that the students will use as a model.  Provider of feedback: The teacher provides feedback on students’ oral and written production. In order to progress, students need to know what they are doing well and what they are not. 8

Functions of the teacher in the English lang. classroom (cont’d)  Supporter: The teacher encourages students, helps them understand and produce appropriate language, and suggests learning strategies that may be useful.  Assessor: Teachers spend some lesson time assessing students. It is either formal, graded classroom tests, or informal, through quizzes and dictations. Good way of assessing present achievements.  Manager: It includes activities such as bringing the class together at the beginning of a lesson and organizing group work, making sure the students are attending and responding accordingly.  Motivator: It is the teacher’s job to motivate students and bring interesting materials / activities to class. (Do task 3/do the quiz) 9

Interaction patterns in the lesson  What is the most common type of classroom interaction?  It is known as ‘IRF’ – Initiation, Response and Feedback. The teacher initiates an exchange, usually in the form of a question, one of the students responds, the teacher gives feedback (assessment, correction)  Alternative interaction patterns: The teacher does not need to be the initiator and the interaction may be between students.  Teacher talk: This may involve some kind of silent response, such as writing. No student initiation!  Choral reponses: The teacher gives a model which is repeated by all the class together.  Closed-ended teacher questioning (IRF): The teacher invites response to a cue that has one right answer, nominates a student. 10

Interaction patterns in the lesson (cont’d)  Open-ended teacher questioning: There are a number of possible ‘right’ answers, so that more students respond to the cue.  Full-class interaction: The students debate a topic or do a language task as a class.  Student initiates, teacher answers: In an interviewing simulation students think of Qs and the teacher responds as the ‘interviewee’.  Individual work: Students work independently on an activity or task assigned by the teacher.  Collaboration: Students work in pairs or small groups on an exercise or a task assigned by the teacher.  Group work: Students work in small or big groups on certain tasks. 11

Interaction patterns in the lesson (cont’d)  Self-access: Students choose themselves what they want to do and work autonomously on paper-based or comp.-based tasks. (watch!)  Appropriate use of different interaction patterns: All the patterns discussed above may be used at different times in the lesson and for different purposes. We need to find the most appropriate pattern!  Comprehension check: The class has finished reading a story, the teacher wants to make sure the class understood it and asks comprehension questions.  Familiarization with text: The class has finished reading a story but the teacher wants to make sure students get themselves familiar with the text through reading. 12

Appropriate use of different interaction patterns  Oral fluency: You have a small class of business people who need more practice in talking. You give them a task in which they talk about the qualities of a good manager.  Grammar check: You do this when you want to distinguish between two similar tenses. You want to find out how far they have grasped it, using an exercise in the book.  Writing: The students need to improve their writing. Ask them to write  Grammar practice: The students need to practise asking questions. You use an interview situation where they interview each other.  New Vocabulary: You want to draw attention to some new vocabulary the class has seen in a text. (do matching on p. 18/19) 13

Lesson preparation  Most English lessons in schools are about 45 minutes long. Sometimes with adult students they may be as much as 90 minutes.  An English lesson may include some or all of the following components:  Work on a listening or reading text, with associated comprehension tasks  An oral communicative task, such as discussion of a controversial topic  Presentation and explanation of a grammatical point  Presentation and explanation of vocabulary  Exercises on linguistic usages, such as grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling and punctuation  A writing task 14

Lesson preparation (cont’d)  An English lesson may include some or all of the following components: (cont’d)  Silent reading of simplified readers chosen by students  Review of homework  Preparation for a test  A test (do the task on page 21)  Lesson variation: A lesson in which there is only one activity will probably not very inetersting. Student will find it hard to concentrate to learn.  Boredom may result in discipline problems.  A varied lesson will be more orederly and produce better learning. 15

Lesson variation  Lessons may vary in a number of ways:  Tempo:Activities may be brisk and fast-moving (such as guessing games) or slow and reflective.  Organization: The students may work individually, in pairs, in groups or as a full class interacting with the teacher.  Material: A lot of your lesson may be based on the coursebook, but it is good to spend at lesat some time working on teacher- or student-initiated tasks.  Mode and skill: Activities may be based on the written or the spoken language; and within these, they may vary as to whether the students are asked to produce (speak, write) or receive (listen, read) 16

Lesson variation (cont’d)  Difficulty: Activities may be easy and non-demanding, or difficult, requiring concentration and effort.  Topic: Both the language-teaching point and the (non-linguistic) topic may change from one activity to another.  Mood: Activities may also vary in mood: light and fun-based versus serious and profound, tense versus relaxed.  Stir-settle: Some activities enliven and excite students (such as controversial discussions, or activities that involve physical movement.  Active-passive: Students may be activated in a way that encourages their own initiative, or they may only be required to do 17

Practical tips  Put the harder tasks earlier: Students are fresher and more energetic earlier in the lesson and get progressively less so as it goes on. It makes sense to put difficult tasks earlier on.  Do quieter activities before lively ones:  Keep an eye on your watch:  Pull the class together at the beginning and end of the lesson:  End on a positive note:  Don’t leave homework-giving to the end:  Prepare a reserve: 18