СТАТЬЯ

Some Practical Aspects of Language Teaching

Методист английского языка: Нурбекова А.А.

Шымкент
2010

Some Practical Aspects of Language Teaching

• Curriculum Links
One of the main points of teaching English should be the direct links between English language learning and the school curriculum. There are a number of reasons why this is important. Language teaching is a part of education, and needs to take its full educational responsibility. A cross curricular approach also offers students an ideal opportunity to refresh and revise what they have done in other subject areas and to make links with what they have learned so that their knowledge becomes more active. This makes both learning and teaching English more interesting and more memorable. Working with subject knowledge that is important and interesting in its own right makes it more likely that students will remember the language associated with it.
Teaching English through a cross-curricular approach can mean that the role of a teacher changes. An English teacher cannot be expected to know all about Science, Geography and so on. But the role of a teacher is to stimulate the students to find the information, answers and explanations that they require for themselves. A teacher may find it useful to talk to teachers of other subject areas. While approaching a new theme, a teacher could find out what work the students will do or have done in that area. It may be possible to teach some lessons together with another subject teacher. At the beginning of a new theme, a teacher could start with questions such as: “What questions from History connect to this? How does Geography connect to this? Is Math important to this topic?” and so on.
• Error Correction
Making errors is an inevitable and necessary part of language learning. It is only through making errors, and hearing the correct forms, that students can develop their own understanding of how English works. It is thus important that students have as much opportunity as possible to produce language and, with the focus on using English creatively (rather than simply repeating language), the number of errors that students make will inevitably rise. Teachers thus need to think carefully about how they will respond to these errors.
The process of absorbing a new language structure takes considerable time. Teachers cannot, therefore, expect that simply correcting an error will produce immediate results. Some errors can remain even up to very advanced levels. A strong emphasis on error correction cannot be expected to produce students who make few errors. In fact, an overemphasis on error correction is likely to be counterproductive as students become deterred from using – and experimenting – with new language and vocabulary. But students do need to have their errors pointed out to them. The key is to limit corrections to a small number of points at a time and to judge when the right moment for correction is.
Correcting students when they are in the middle of saying something may produce students who are afraid to talk. A teacher can make a note of the errors students make and go through them at the end of the discussion or lesson.
• Checking answers
After students have done an exercise, it is important that a teacher has an opportunity to check what they have done. This will give them feedback on their work.
There are a number of ways in which it can be done. A teacher can go through the answers while the students look at their own work. Or students can work together and then sit with another pair to check the answers. Small group of students can go through their answers together, during this time, a teacher can circulate around the class, helping and checking.
If students have incorrect answers, a teacher has to help them to find the right answer, rather than simply give the correct answer. This can help them think through the task again and learn more.
• Autonomy
Autonomy has two main aspects in language teaching. The first concerns the students’ use of the language. The ultimate goal of most language teaching is to develop the students’ autonomy in their own language use. That is, to develop the ability to use the language as they need or want to. This has direct implications for the kinds of tasks that students are asked to do ‘closed tasks’, they are unlikely to develop the ability to use the language with ease. Open ended tasks are much more important in this respect.
The second aspect of autonomy, however, concerns how the students learn. If all the decisions about learning are always taken by the teacher, the students will not have the opportunity to decide things for themselves. This means that they will not develop the ability to learn by themselves or to work out what works best for them as individuals. In a rapidly-changing world, however, these abilities are increasingly important as people are continually required to learn new skills and absorb new information. Learning how to learn should thus be a vital component in any educational course.
A teacher should prepare tasks which require students to decide things for themselves, to plan and to evaluate. A teacher can discuss these tasks with the students so that they understand the value of them in helping them to learn without teacher’s direct supervision. Listening and doing tasks with the cassette provides a good support for the students to exercise autonomy in learning. A teacher can only spend some time discussing with the students how they should use the cassette, when they listen to it. In the first two levels a teacher may suggest exercises asking students to make decisions. A teacher can increase the number of these in order to encourage the students to make more responsibility.
After the students have decided something and then carried it out, it is important to evaluate what they have do ne. You can discuss what they did, how it went and how they could improve it next time.
• Brainstorming
‘Brainstorming’ is the name of given to a number of techniques used for generating and gathering ideas which may be collected, for example, on the blackboard. During the collecting of ideas, all ideas suggested are noted down – only after the brainstorming is finished, the ideas can be discussed, grouped or eliminated.
Brainstorming can encourage students to speak out and share ideas. It also gives the teacher an immediate impression of how much the students already know about something.
There are a number of different ways you can approach brainstorming. A teacher can write a question ‘What do we know about (name of the topic)?’ in big letters on the blackboard, then place a circle round it and some lines out from the circle. Then the students are asked about what they know about the topic. As they say things, the teacher writes them around the circle. If the students’ suggestions come in the mother tongue, the teacher can write them up in simple English so that they can see their ideas in English.
Or after the teacher had written the question on the board, he may give the students a few minutes to note down ideas by themselves. Then collect their ideas on the board. The same work the students may do in small groups. Students work in groups to generate ideas and then cross-group to compare. The brainstorming can be put up on a poster and referred to and added to over a number of lessons.
Brainstorming doesn’t have to be about things they know. It can be about things they would like to know. Students can build up a question poster.
• Discussions
Discussions can allow students the opportunity to give their own ideas and, in the later stages of learning language, to practice using English to say what they want to say. They can also form a way into a topic which can stimulate the students’ imagination and give the teacher an indication of how much the students already know. It is important, however – that the emphasis is always on the ideas which are being expressed (grammar, pronunciation, etc.). A heavy focus on form can block a discussion and prevent ideas emerging.
Discussions of abstract topic do not usually work well with the secondary school students. Discussions need a clear, concrete focus – for example, what they know about something or what they think about something with which they are very familiar.
Discussions are probably best kept short (maximum ten minutes). Beyond that students may lose interest or the discussion may lose its focus.
With a clear, concrete focus, students can work briefly in small groups. Some groups can then feedback to the whole class.
• Feedback
In learning, one of the most important factors is a feeling that you are getting somewhere. For some students, learning at school can seem like an endless list of exercises, in which they move from one task to the next. This can lead to a lack of a sense of direction in their learning or a feeling that there is no value in it. It is important, therefore, that students receive feedback on what they have done and that their effort is recognized and valued. Feedback may focus on the form of what they have done (spelling, grammar, neatness, etc.) or on its content (its message, the opinions and ideas expressed).
Feedback can come from other students as well as from the teacher. Allowing time for students to show their work to each other can allow them an opportunity to have pride in their work, ask questions about things they are unsure of, and share ideas.
Feedback between students is best done in pairs or threes with students who are friends with each other.
Feedback between students can be given a clear focus by asking them to produce a single re-written version of their work which draws on what each of them has done. For example, if they have completed a guided piece of writing, they can produce a new version which has corrected spelling, grammar, extra ideas, etc.
• Grammar
An understanding of the grammar of English is crucial to the development of the students’ language learning. By the time students reach secondary school age, they are able to handle and understand grammatical rules and descriptions. With the limited amount of time which the classroom provides for language learning, grammar can be a vital tool in speeding up the students’ ability to produce ‘correct’ meaningful English. In order to see how the language ‘jigsaw’ fits together, it is also important that students learn to use words such as ‘noun’, ‘verb, ‘adjective’, etc. This will enable the students to work things out for themselves, and the teacher to explain things to them.
To make sure that students understand the metalanguage, they can write the main words – noun, verb, adjective, personal pronoun, etc. – on a poster on the wall with examples underneath to act as a reminder.
As they discover the main grammatical rules and structures, students can construct a poster for the wall with example sentences underneath each main rule.
• Inductive Grammar
Grammar may be approached in two main ways: deductively, in which students are given a rule which they are then practice (that is, they work using other people’s deductions about the language), or inductively, in which they work out rules for themselves. Inductive grammar teaching is useful for a number of reasons. It can involve the students more fully as thinking people with ideas of their own and increase motivation. It can involve them more fully in understanding the language as they work out different rules for forming and using English and it can help clear up misconceptions they have and make it clear to a teacher what ideas they have about how grammar works.
Before presenting a grammar area, the students may be given some example sentences with the grammar item encircled, and then asked to work out when it is used. Students can be given simple tables and asked to complete them (for example, sentences with ‘isn’t’ and ‘aren’t’ missing). Students can work briefly in small groups/pairs to work out a rule before you ask for their ideas. If their ideas are incorrect, you can then present the correct rule or give some more examples which make them think about the rule further.
• Open-ended Tasks
Open-ended tasks are tasks to which there is not a single absolutely correct answer or where a variety of answers are possible. They can be distinguished from ‘closed tasks’, where students have to answer in a particular way.
An example of an open-ended task might be where the students are asked to imagine a person standing in a pair of shoes which they are shown and then to write a description of that person. A closed task using the same type of language might be one where they are given a description with certain words missing, which they have to supply. Both closed tasks and open-ended tasks are useful in language teaching. Where students are working in groups, for example, closed tasks can force the students to discuss more in order to find the correct answer.
Open-ended tasks, however, are also very valuable for a number of reasons. Since there is no single correct answer, the students can also answer at then level of their ability. This means that in mixed-ability classes, students can be working on the same tasks at the same time. Open-ended tasks also allow for more student involvement since the students are asked to contribute more of their own personal ideas This means that the outcomes of classroom work will be richer – there will be a variety of ideas expressed which students can further compare and discuss. In this way, the students’ autonomy in their own use of English can be developed. Open-ended tasks also allow the teacher, to get a good idea of what the students are capable of producing.
If, at the start of a course, a teacher is uncertain how much English the students know, he can use an open-ended task. For example, he could put some circles on the board with different areas: at home, at school, with friends, things in shop, etc. Students can then work in groups to see how many English words or phrases they can think of connected to each area. The results are often very surprising.
Instead of asking the students conventional ‘closed’ comprehension questions about a text they have listened to or read, you can ask open-ended questions. For example, the questions could be ‘Do you like X? Why/Why not?’ ‘Is X a good/happy person, do you think?’ ‘What does X like?’ and so on.
• Groupwork
Groupwork is based on the idea that students can learn language and information from each other. The principle of cooperative learning is basic to classroom education. It also allows teachers the opportunity to help with individual problems, stronger and week students to work at their own pace and more students to get more practice.
Before students start groupwork, a teacher makes sure they know exactly what they are expected to do. He can make the focus clear with a definite outcome (for example, to write something, make a list of something). The students should be encouraged to work with different people. After working in groups, they can be cross-grouped. This involves groups reforming with representatives of the other groups. In their cross-groups, students can compare ideas. Three or four are probably the best numbers for groupwork.
• Pairwork
Pairwork involves students working in pairs simultaneously. The reasons for the use of pairwork are similar to those of groupwork. Pairwork allows students to get more practice. It also provides a change of pace to a lesson and helps to sustain motivation. Students working in pairs are able to share ideas and help each other. However, pairwork can fail if it is not set up well. This can lead to students getting distracted, disenchanted with English, and, eventually, misbehaving.
A teacher should be sure that students know exactly what they have to do before they begin any pairwork activity. Run through a few examples with the whole class. Initially at least, pairwork tasks need to have a clear, concrete focus, for example on completing an exercise, doing patterned practice, preparing questions and so on. For variety, different students can be paired together. Students can be moved around the room or they can be put into pairs with students to their left or right, in front or behind. Students should be given a time limit so that they know when they have to finish. Students can work in pairs to produce questions, exercises, etc. for other pairs to do. If the task does not actually require pairwork, the students can choose whether they want to work in pairs or alone.
• Pace
The timing and pace of any lesson are linked together. Timing is concerned with management of the time available for each class, that is, when certain things happen. Pace is more concerned with the rate at which the students work. All students work at a different pace and they thus need to be allowed to work at a rate at which they feel comfortable. There are a number of ways of preventing some students from falling behind because the pace is too fast and of preventing others from getting bored because the pace of the lesson is too slow.
Different types of classroom activities will naturally have a different pace. For example, oral discussion with the whole class may be experienced as faster than individual writing. Pairwork may be experienced as more relaxed than teachers questions and answers. This differences in pace can be used to give variety to the shape of the lesson and thus sustain interest.
In large mixed-ability classes, different students can work on different tasks at the same time at their own pace. A teacher should prepare a number of different exercises, so that students could work at their own pace.
• Participation
Particularly in large classes, some students may seem reluctant to participate orally and contribute to the lessons. There may be a number of reasons for this. There may be a number of negative factors such as being afraid to make mistakes in front of others, feeling that they will appear stupid, fearing that they will be corrected, or otherwise lacking confidence in front of a large group. On the other hand, many students naturally say very little. They may feel that they learn best through listening and observing – silence is their preferred learning strategy. Before a teacher insists on students participating orally in the .lesso9n, it is best therefore to think about why they are not participating. What may seem a problem to you may not, in fact, be a problem to them. It is important to respect the personal preferences that different students may have. There are, however, a number of things that you can do to improve the chances of students participating.
If there are only one or two students that are persistently quiet, you could talk to them after a lesson to find out what they think about it. Alternatively, you could make up a questionnaire which all students can answer.
If possible, try to arrange the seating so that all the students can see you clearly and so that they can see each other. A horseshoe arrangement or circle is best, or try to push the desks together into pairs or groups. Accept that some students are quiet and may feel happier contributing in a less obvious way – perhaps by producing exercises and puzzles for others or bringing in pictures and ‘realia’ for other activities. Some students may dominate the class by being over noisy or always answering questions first. If this is a problem, you could divide the class into four quarters and say that you will accept an answer from each group in turn.
Some students may be reluctant to ‘act out’ in class. The students shouldn’t be forced to speak out loud if they are not willing or ready. Students should be encouraged to understand the importance of everyone’s contribution in groupwork and that the work that the quiet students do often supports the work of the more dominant ones.
The students should be allowed to work at their own pace. This will give the more apprehensive students an opportunity to work without pressure. A teacher could make a particular point of praising weaker or quieter students and of accepting what they say (even if this contains many errors) in an effort to build up their confidence.
• Monitoring and Guiding
In many of the activities students work in small groups or pairs. This way of working has many advantages, in that it gives students a chance to work at their own pace, to ask each other for help, to share ideas and to get more language practice. Small group and pair work, however, can run the danger of students wasting their time together as they become distracted, talk about or do things other than requested, or produce work which is full of errors. For this reason monitoring and guiding is very important.
So before starting the work a teacher should check that students understand what they are going to do. Better to go through one or two examples with the whole class first. While the students are working, a teacher can go round the class and check the work they have done, give extra ideas where necessary, and generally keep them on the task. Going round the class, a teacher can also note down common errors that he notice and then spend a short time at the end of the lesson going through a few of these. He can also make a note of which students seem to be working well together and which seem to be having problems. Next time a teacher can vary the way he sets up a groupwork accordingly.
• Physical movement
Students in the early secondary years need physical activity. In school they may often spend many hours confined to a desk as they have one lesson then another. This can lead to boredom and restlessness (with its effect on discipline). Physical movement can also be important for other reasons. If students can be physically involved with English, it can lead to deeper, more long lasting learning as the language becomes more ‘concrete’ to them and involves them as whole people.
“Simon Says’ games, in which students have to carry out actions upon the orders of the teacher/a student can be fun. Students must only do the action if the student/teacher says ‘Simon says’ first. Basic verbs can be taught in this way, with the teacher first saying the verb and the students following the action and then the students doing the action as the teacher says the verb again. Students can also represent something in a group. For example, they might together form the shape of their country.
They can then move to where they would like to be in their country and talk about why they want to go there. They could ask each other across the map: ‘Dulat, where are you?’, ‘I am in Astana in the north’ ‘Why?’ ’Because it’s hot’. Students can similarly form maps of their town, maps of a jungle, and maps of their school.
Mime is also useful. Students act out a word and the others have to guess what it is. A teacher could have various items of clothing available such as hats, gloves, etc. to make role plays, acting out, mime, etc. more fun.
Physical activity doesn’t have to be related to language learning. A teacher might start a lesson or break up a long lesson by getting his students to do something. For example, shake their arms, change the shape of their face, or stand up and turn round a few times. A teacher could combine this with music.
• Posters
The production of posters is a useful technique in language teaching for a number of reasons. It gives students a concrete focus for their work and also ensures that English is produced as a result of their groupwork. Poster production can also be a lively way of working. Students can design their posters, spend time on how they look and express their ideas graphically. They can form a welcome break from a linear presentation of ideas in which groups feedback, one after the other, to the whole class. Posters allow all groups to feedback simultaneously, thus using the time more effectively. They also form a permanent record of the work that has been done that can be displayed.
• Role Play
In a role play students take on the role of another person – a waiter, an adult, even a monster. Often the situation is given (For example ‘You are in a restaurant. Order a meal’) and perhaps some ideas of what to say. Role play is a popular method in language learning classrooms for a number of reasons. Students of the secondary school age find it fun and quiet students are often found to speak more openly in a ‘role’. In a role play students are encouraged to use communication creatively and imaginatively and they get an opportunity to use language from ‘outside’ the classroom.
The success of every role play depends on the students knowing exactly what they have to do. A teacher should be sure that the students know the role they are going to play, some language they can use and some ideas for content. In general, role plays work better in groups of a maximum of three or four students. The time to prepare for the role should be discussed with students. Students can prepare either in ‘complete’ groups for the role play (that is, one student for each character) or in character groups (that is, in small groups they share ideas of what they will each say). During a preparation stage the role of the teacher to circulate, answering questions, checking that everyone understand and making suggestions. He also may need to remind students of some ‘checking’ and ‘communication’ phrases: ‘Sorry? Could you say it again please?’, ‘What do you mean?’, ‘What’s the word for..,?’. During the role play itself a teacher can write notes about points which can be discussed later. If a student gets stuck, indicate to the others to help in any way they can.