1. PRESENTATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS

2. QUESTION Can you recall a particular
teacher presentation or explanation
that helped you to understand
some aspect of the language
you were learning? How did it help?

3. EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION
One of the T‘s jobs → mediate something new (a text, a new word, how to perform a task) in a form that is most accessible for initial learning.
This kind of mediation may be called ´presentation´

4. PRESENTATION
Kind of limited and controlled modelling of a target item that we do when we introduce a new word or grammatical structure.
Initial encounter with comprehensible input in the form of spoken or written texts.
Various kinds of explanations, instructions and discussion of new language items or tasks.

5. It can help to activate and harness Ls‘ attention, effort, intelligence and conscious (´metacognitive´) learning strategies in order to enhance learning.
E.g. Point out how a new item is linked to sth. your students already know, or contrast the new piece of grammar with a parallel structure in their own language.
This does not mean that every single new piece of language – every sound, word, structure, text, etc. – needs to be consciously introduced; or that every new unit in the syllabus has to start with a clearly directed presentation.

6. Presentations may not occur at the first stage of learning.
They may be given after Ls have already engaged with the langauge in question, e. g. through discussion.

7. EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION
1. Attention
Ls are alert and focussed on T and the
material they should learn; make sure Ls are in
fact attending
2. Perception
Ls see/hear the target material clearly; T repeats it in
order to give added opportunities for perception; it is
helpful to get some response from Ls so that T knows Ls
have perceived the material accurately – repetition,
writing

8. Ls understand the meaning of the material
3. Understanding
Ls understand the meaning of the material
introduced, and its connection with the other
things they already know – T illustrates, makes
links with previously learnt material, explains,
etc.; a response – valuable feedback – a
restatement of concepts in Ss´ own words

9. more colourful, dramatic, and unusual
4. Short-term memory
Ls need to take the material into short-
term memory (to remember it until later
in the lesson to consolidate learning); the
more colourful, dramatic, and unusual
the presentation, the better!; after a long
explanation, finish with a brief
restatement of the main points

10. EXAMPLES OF EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS
Consider and discuss these:
What was the aim of the presentation?
How successful do you think it was, or would be, in getting students to attend to, percieve, understand and remember the target material?
How appropriate and effective would a similar procedure be for you, in your teaching situation (or in a teaching situation you are familiar with)?

11. EXPLANATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS
When introducing new material  give explicit descriptions or definitions of concepts or processes.
One particular kind of explanation is INSTRUCTION: the directions that are given to introduce a learning task which entails some measure of independent student activity.

12. Guidelines on giving effective explanations and instructions
PREPARE
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE CLASS‘S FULL ATTENTION
PRESENT THE INFORMATION MORE THAN ONCE
BE BRIEF
ILLUSTRATE WITH EXAMPLES
GET FEEDBACK

13. PREPARE
T‘s explanations are often not as clear to Ss as they are to the Ts
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE CLASS‘S FULL ATTENTION
When explaining something essential, your Ss must attend.
E.G. give instructions BEFORE you divide the class into groups or give out materials, not after! and if they have written or pictorial material in their hands, they will be tempted to look at it, which they may also find distractive.

14. PRESENT THE INFORMATION MORE THAN ONCE
A repetition or paraphrase of the necessary information may make all the difference
Ls‘ attention wanders quite often, and it is important to give them more than one chance to understand what they have to do
BE BRIEF
We have only a limited attention span.
Make your explanation as brief as you can, compatible with clarity.
Think carefully about what you can, or should, omit, as much as about what you should include!

15. ILLUSTRATE WITH EXAMPLES
Explain, e.g. the meaning of a word, illustrating your explanation with examples of its use in various contexts, relating these as far as possible to the Ls‘ own lives and experiences
GET FEEDBACK
It is not enough just to ask ´DO YOU UNDERSTAND?´
It is better to ask them to do something that will show their understanding: to paraphrase in their own words, or provide further illustrations of their own.

16. PEER-TEACHING Choose a topic or item of information.
Prepare a presentation of not more than five minutes, and then give it.
For each presentation, discuss what was effective about it, using the criteria suggested previously.

17. GIVING INSTRUCTIONS Stage 1: Experience
Choose an activity and prepare instructions on how to do it. The activity
may be: a game which you know how to play but others do not; a
process (how to prepare a dish, how to mend or build something); or a
classroom procedure.
Stage 2: Discussion
Look at the guidelines on giving effective explanations and think about
or discuss them in relation to the actual intructions given in stage 1.
In what ways did the instructions agree with or
differ from the guidelines?
Can you think of ways in which these instructions
could have been made more effective?