Why is planning important



Handouts

Practical Teaching

&

Practical Workshops

2009

What is language?

Language is an arbitrary system of vocal symbols used to communicate ideas and express feelings among the members of a certain social community.

This definition of language means:

a- Human language is quantitatively and qualitatively complex as compared to other system of communications.

b- Language is vocal, i.e. composed basically of spoken elements,

c- Language is arbitrary given meanings or referents,

d- Language is used basically for purpose of communication.

Functions of language

The following is a list of language functions:

1- Personal: to express one's emotions, needs, thoughts, desires, etc.

2- interpersonal: to maintain good social relations with individuals and groups

3- Directive: to control the behaviors of others through advice, warning, requests, persuasion, discussion, etc.

4- Referential: to talk about objects or events in the immediate environment or in the culture.

5- Metalinguistic: to talk about language e.g. what does ………..mean?

6- Imaginative: to use language creativity in rhyming composing poetry, etc.

Why do we learn English?

Here are a few suggestions:

o Fulfill school/university requirements

o Function and compete effectively in the global economy of today and the future

o Increase job opportunities and salary potential

o Develop intercultural sensitivity, increasing global understanding

o Improve English vocabulary and language proficiency in order to communicate with members of that language community.

o Improve critical and creative thinking skills

o Improve one's education

o Enhance travel and study abroad opportunities

o Enjoy great literary and musical masterpieces and films in their original language

o Improve likelihood of acceptance into university and graduate schools

o Increase understanding of people in own country

o Gain social power (prestige)

o Have a secret code

o Please one's parents

▪ Any other reason(s)?

Planning

Why is planning important?

• Gives structure to each lesson.

• Supports continuity and progression.

• Helps teachers to be clear about what they are teaching.

• Supports differentiation by enabling observation of students' learning to inform planning.

• Gives opportunity to reflect on the sequence of teaching and students' possible response and to prepare for contingencies.

• Ensures choice and preparation of material in advance.

• Provides a record of teaching for parents, peers, head teachers and supervisors.

• Enables teachers to discuss and develop their teaching collaboratively.

• Gives the teacher the chance to give good teaching through considering the individual differences.

• Gives the teacher the ability to anticipate (predict) to evaluate the situation to meet any emergencies.

• Documentation for the administration – supervisor.

• To develop peer work among teachers.

• Emphasizes teacher's professionalism by demonstrating their accountability.

Daily lesson Plan:

It's a document that states the practical procedures towards the target objectives.

The table of content:

The daily plan usually begins with the table of content that includes:

Learning Objectives:

The expected outcomes in students' behavior after having a certain experience. They have to be SMART.

What's meant by SMART?

New language:

It's the new language to be taught. It includes :

- New vocabulary.

- New structures.

- New functions.

Resources:

It's the teaching aids, the audio visual materials the teacher is going to use to facilitate his job and achieve his target objectives. The time the teacher decides to use certain aids he should :

1- Consider the content he is to present.

2- Consider the students' levels.

3- Consider individual differentiations.

4- Try the material before using it in the classroom.

5- Choose easy done, safe, cheap and clear materials.

6- Use the audio-visual material for purpose not as time fillers.

7- Decide when and how to use the teaching aid.

What are different audio-visual materials can be used in the class?

There are variety of these materials, the teacher should be clever in choosing the appropriate materials that facilitates not hinders the teaching learning process. Teachers can use: [ pictures – cassettes – Realia – flash cards – OH Transparencies – drawing – puppets – video films – handouts – miming – acting – gestures . . . etc]

prerequisite

It's the previous experience that relates mainly to the objectives the teacher is going to achieve. It's previous words or structures that pave the way for the new lesson. The teacher should be very careful in choosing the appropriate pre-requisite having in mind that human beings memories have a system in organizing knowledge as similar and related items are gathered in units.

Advice for implementing a Pre-requisite:

- It's important to know that each activity should have its own pre-requisite especially if it includes new and different new language.

- The teacher should employ different techniques to present this phase. Variety is required.

- The teacher should revise active words and structure and never revise every thing.

Warming up:

It's the phase that aims at tuning students' ears to the English lesson to create a friendly and relaxed atmosphere between the teacher and the students.

It can be defined as a switch on of the English mood and a switch off of the Arabic mood. It's a transition period where teachers try to melt the ice and build an intimacy.

Warming up, . . . Why?

- It plays a crucial role in breaking ice.

- It motivates students to participate and accept the presence of the teacher as well as the foreign language.

- It creates a supportive, pleasant, and relaxed working atmosphere that paved the way to acquire and use language.

- It helps engaging the students' feelings as well as their minds.

Warming up, How . . . ?

Different techniques can be used to warm students up in this phase, variety is required. The teacher shouldn't stick her / him self to a certain technique, he should vary between using jokes, riddles that can stimulate and motivate students towards positive participation and involvement in the new lesson.

Presentation

It's the process of presenting the new language ( vocabulary – structure – functions) using different techniques that help students to acquire language.

This process includes:

- Revising related language items.

- Presenting the new language ( using different techniques )

- Mechanical practice for drilling the new language .

- Controlled practice where the teacher controls the students' performance through certain prepared activities. ( SB – WB activities ).

- Freer practice where the teacher guides the students' performance through certain prompts.

- Consolidation where students use the new language to express themselves and their lives.

* Summative evaluation:

It's an overall evaluation process. The teacher use summative evaluation at the end of the period to make sure that students have acquired the new language presented throughout the lesson. It's advisable to use authentic summative evaluation to give the students the opportunity to use new language for real personal purposes in a communicative way.

Homework :

It's considered an integrated part of the lesson in the sense it reinforces the learnt language and increases the students' time of practicing the new learnt language.

The characteristics of the homework activity :

1. It should be demonstrated in advance.

2. It should be easy, authentic, short and within students' abilities.

3. It should be stimulate students' towards research.

4. It should reinforce the learnt language.

Rounding up:

It's a conclusion phase that summarize the lesson. It's essential to help students organize their thoughts and what hey have learnt. The teacher should vary his techniques for rounding up his lesson, from eliciting the meaning of the learnt vocabulary, drilling the words, summarizing the reading passage to singing the words, matching the words with pictures or stimulating students to use the new structure to express themselves

Sample 1 (governmental Schools)

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Sample 2 (UNRWA Schools)

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Grade ……………………………… Class ………………………………………… Period …………………………….

Unit ……………………………….. Lesson ………………………………………. Date ………………………………

|Prerequisite | If type 1/2 / Tenses ……………………. | | |

|Resources | Cards / realia / poster / OHP …………………. | | |

| | | | |

|Objectives |Procedures / Teaching Learning Activities |Evaluation |Notes |

| |Ice breaker / Warming Up: a game / a song / a riddle / General Questions | Ss' participation | All the class loved the |

| |New Vocabulary: ( amusement- focus- vital-rubbish- …………….etc) | |song |

| |New Structure: Conditional If Type 3 / If he had seen the crime, he would have called the police. | | |

| |New Functions: Advice / You should help the poor. | | |

| |Request / Could you clean the desk, please? | | |

| | | | |

| |Revision: Correct the verbs in brackets: | |The poster was monotonous |

|Students are expected to: form |She will meet you if she …………….( take) the early bus. |Ss' answers | |

|sentences in conditional If type 3 |They …………….( succeed) if they studied hard. | | |

| |Presentation: | | |

| |T. asks Ss about their dreams which weren't achieved. | | |

| |T. asks Ss what would have happened if they had done something different? | |Only 3 girls were able to |

| |T. elicits sentences in If Type 3 from Ss and write them on the board. | |write the paragraph |

| |T. asks Ss to work in pairs and write similar statements using these prompts | | |

| |* win the competition / build a mosque. |Ss' sentences | |

| |* not be born in London / not speak English fluently. | | |

| |T. ………………………………………………………………. | |Discipline was missed |

| |T. …………………………………………………………. | | |

|change from active to passive |Revision: Correct the verbs in brackets: |Observation |A MESS |

| |My mother…………………( cooks) the lunch for us everyday. | | |

| |They ………………..( not find) the secret code last century. | |To be continued tomorrow |

| |Presentation: | | |

| |T. …………………………………………………………………………….. | | |

| |T. …………………………………………………………………………….. | | |

| | | | |

|Homework |Students do exercise A/B Workbook page 17/ Children bring real fruits | | |

Bloom's Taxonomy

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Applying Bloom?s Taxonomy

 

Knowledge

 

|Useful Verbs |Sample Questions Stems |Potential Activities |

|tell |What happened after ?? |Make a list of the main events |

|list | | |

|describe | | |

|relate | | |

|locate | | |

|write | | |

|find | | |

|state | | |

|name | | |

| |How many ? ? |Make a timeline of events . |

| |Who was it that ?? |Make a fact chart . |

| |Can you name the ?? |Write a list of any piece of information you can |

| | |remember. |

| |Describe what happened at ?? |List all the ?in the story |

| |Who spoke to ?? |Make a chart showing? |

| |Can you tell why ?? |Make an acrostic . |

| |Find the meaning of ?? |Recite a poem |

| |What is ? |=== |

| |Which is true or false ?? |=== |

 

Comprehension

 

|Useful Verbs |Sample Questions Stems |Potential Activities |

|explain |Can you write in your own words ?? |Cut out or draw pictures to show a particular event. |

|interpret | | |

|outline | | |

|discuss | | |

|distinguish | | |

|predict | | |

|restate | | |

|translate | | |

|compare | | |

|describe | | |

| |Can you write a brief outline ?? |Illustrate what you think the main idea was . |

| |What do you think could of happened next ?? |Make a cartoon strip showing the sequence of events . |

| |Who do you think ?? |Write & perform a play based on the story . |

| |What was the main idea ?? |Retell the story in your words. |

| |Who was the key character ?? |Paint a picture of some aspects you like . |

| |Can you distinguish between ?? |write a summary report of an event. |

| |What differences exist between ?? |Prepare a flow chart to illustrate the sequence of events. |

| |Can you provide an example of what you mean ?? |Make a colouring book. |

| |Can you provide a definition for ?? |=== |

Application 

 

|Useful Verbs |Sample Questions Stems |Potential Activities |

|solve |Do you know another instance where ?? |Construct a model to demonstrate how it will work . |

|show | | |

|use | | |

|illustrate | | |

|construct | | |

|complete | | |

|examine | | |

|classify | | |

| |Could this have happened in ?? |Make a diorama to illustrate an important event . |

| |Can you group by characteristics as ?? |Make a scrapbook about the areas of study . |

| |What factors would you change if ?? |Make a paper-mach map to include relevant information about the event. |

| |Can you apply the method used to some |Take a collection of photographs to demonstrate a particular point . |

| |experience of your own ?? | |

| |What questions would you ask of ?? |Make up a puzzle game suing the ideas from the study area . |

| |From the information given , can you develop a |Make a clay model of an item in the material . |

| |set of instructions about?? | |

| |Would this information be useful if you had a |Design a market strategy for your own product using a known strategy as a |

| |?? |model . |

| |=== |Dress a doll in national costume . |

| |=== |Paint a mural using the same materials . |

| |=== |Write a textbook about ?for others . |

 

Analysis

 

|Useful Verbs |Sample Questions Stems |Potential Activities |

|  |Which events could have happened ?? |Design a questionnaire to gather information . |

|analyze | | |

|distinguish | | |

|examine | | |

|compare | | |

|contrast | | |

|investigate | | |

|categorize | | |

|identify | | |

|explain | | |

|separate | | |

|advertise | | |

|  | | |

| |What might the ending have been ?? |Write a commercial to sell a  new product . |

| |How was this similar to ?? |Conduct an investigation to produce information to |

| | |support a view. |

| |What was the underlying theme of ?? |Make a flow chart to show the critical stages. |

| |What do you see as other possible outcomes ? |Construct a graph to illustrate selected information. |

| |Why did ??changes occur ? |Make a jigsaw puzzle. |

| |Can you compare your ?with that presented in ..? |Make a family tree showing relationships. |

| |Can you explain what must have happened when ?? |Put on a play about the study area. |

| |How is ?similar to ?? |Write a biography of the study person . |

| |What are some of the problems of ?? |Prepare a report about the area of study . |

| |Can you distinguish between ?? |Arrange a party. Make all the arrangements & record the |

| | |steps needed. |

| |What are some of the motives behind ?? |Review a work of art in terms of form ,colour & texture |

| | |. |

| |What was the turning point in the game ? |=== |

| |What was the problem with?? |=== |

Synthesis

 

 

|Useful Verbs |Sample Questions Stems |Potential Activities |

|create |Can you design a ? to ?? |Invent a machine to do a specific task . |

|invent | | |

|compose | | |

|predict | | |

|plan | | |

|construct | | |

|design | | |

|imagine | | |

|propose | | |

|devise | | |

|formulate | | |

| |Why not compose a ?about ?? |Design a building to house your study . |

| |Can you see a possible solution to ?? |Create a new product . Give it a name & plan marketing |

| | |campaign . |

| |If you had access to all resources , how would you deal with |Write about your feelings in relation to ? |

| |?? | |

| |Why don?t you devise your own way to deal with ?? |Write a TV show , play , puppet show or role play about |

| | |?? |

| |What would happen if ?? |Design a record , book , or magazine cover for ?? |

| |How many ways can you ?? |Make up a new language code and write material suing it |

| | |. |

| |Can you create new & unusual uses for ?? |Sell an idea . |

| |Can you write a new recipe for a tasty dish ? |Devise a way to ? |

| |Can you develop a proposal which would ?? |Compose a rhythm or put a new words to a known melody . |

 

Evaluation

  

|Useful Verbs |Sample Questions Stems |Potential Activities |

|judge |Is there a better solution to ?? |Prepare a list of criteria to judge a ?show . |

|select | | |

|choose | | |

|decide | | |

|justify | | |

|debate | | |

|verify | | |

|argue | | |

|recommend | | |

|assess | | |

|discuss | | |

|rate | | |

|prioritize | | |

|determine | | |

| |Judge the value of ? |Indicate priority and ratings. |

| |Can you defend your position about ?? |Conduct a debate about an issue of special interest . |

| |Do you think ?is a good or a bad thing ? |Make a booklet about 5 rules you see important . |

| |How would you have handled ?? |Convince others . |

| |What changes to ?would you recommend ? |Form a panel to discuss a view , e.g. ? Learning at |

| | |School.? |

| |Do you believe ? |Write a letter to ?advising on changes needed at ? |

| |Are you a ?person ? |Write a half yearly report . |

| |How would you feel if ?? |Prepare a case to present your view about ? |

| |How effective are ?? |=== |

| |What do you think about ?? |=== |

   

 

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Qualifications required for EFL, English foreign language, teacher

Linguistic qualifications

1- He should master the four skills.

2- He is expected to communicate orally with correct pronunciations and s good command for vocabulary and structure.

3- He should posses the ability to read material such as prose, verse, essays, and literary criticism.

4- He should be able to write on a variety of subjects with clarity and correctness.

Professional qualifications

1- He must be aware of the theoretical and practical developments in the filed of language teaching,

2- He should give special attentions to the methods and techniques of teaching foreign qualities.

Personal qualifications

1- he should be endowed with the capacity to teach

2- The teacher's enthusiasm and feeling of responsibility are crucial.

Qualities of a good teacher

Positive - Thinks positively and enthusiastically about people and what they are capable of becoming. Sees the good in any situation and can move forward to make the most of difficult situations when confronted with obstacles. Encourages others to also be positive.

Communicative - Shares with others in a manner that encourages effective two-way communication. Communicates personal thoughts and feelings on a wide spectrum of issues and can listen to students in an empathetic manner, assuring each that conversations will be held in confidence.

Dependable - Honest and authentic in working with others. Consistently lives up to commitments to students and others. Works with them in an open, honest, and forthright manner.

Personable - Establishes and maintains positive mutual working relationships. Likes to be with others. Has many ways of getting to know students as persons while building trust and appreciation through personal interaction and involvement.

Organized - Makes efficient use of time and moves in a planned and systematic direction. Knows where he or she is heading and is able to help students in their own organization and planning. Can think in terms of how organization can be beneficial to those served.

Committed - Demonstrates commitment to students and the profession and is self-confident, poised and personally in control of situations. Has a healthy self-image. Encourages students to look at themselves in a positive manner, careful to honor the self-respect of the students, while encouraging them to develop a positive self-concept.

Motivational - Enthusiastic with standards and expectations for students and self. Understands the intrinsic motivations of individuals, and knows what it is that motivates students. Takes action in constructive ways.

Compassionate - Caring, empathetic and able to respond to people at a feeling level. Open with personal thoughts and feelings, encouraging others to do likewise. Knows and understands the feelings of students.

Flexible - Willing to alter plans and directions in a manner which assists people in moving toward their goals. Seeks to reason out situations with students and staff in a manner that allows all people to move forward in a positive direction.

Individually Perceptive - Sees each student as a unique and valuable individual. Looks for the differences among students. Quickly diagnoses student difficulties and assists in the management of individual situations.

Value Based - Focuses upon the worth and dignity of human beings. Is sensitive to community values. Strives to work in an environment consistent with his or her belief system. Recognizes the importance and power of modeling constructive behavior.

Knowledgeable - Is in a constant quest for knowledge. Keeps up in his or her specialty areas, and has the insight to integrate new knowledge. Takes knowledge and translates it to students in a way which is comprehensible to them, yet retains its originality.

Creative - Versatile, innovative, and open to new ideas. Strives to incorporate techniques and activities that enable students to have unique and meaningful new growth experiences.

Patient - Is deliberate in coming to conclusions. Strives to look at all aspects of the situation and remains highly fair and objective under most difficult circumstances. Believes that problems can be resolved if enough input and attention is given by people who are affected.

Sense of Humor - Knows how to take the tension out of tight situations. Uses humor, spontaneously, in a tasteful manner. Builds togetherness in the classroom, through the use of humor.

40 Tips for being an Effective EFL Teacher

1. Learn your students' names.

2. Establish authority from the beginning.

 3. Be overly prepared.

4. Always consider the learners' needs when preparing for each lesson.

5. Be prepared to make changes to or scrap your lesson plan.

6. Find out what learners already know.

 7. Be knowledgeable about grammar.

8. Be knowledgeable about the learners' culture.

9. Don't assume (falsely) that the class textbook will work.

10. Choose your class textbooks very carefully.

11. Don't neglect useful vocabulary teaching.

12. Proceed from more controlled activities to less controlled ones.

13. Don't neglect the teaching of listening.

14. Turn regular activities into games or competition.

15. Motivate your students with variety.

16. Don't teach linguistics.

17. Don't teach phonetics.

18. Don't leave the learners in the dark.

19. Be enthusiastic! Don't do it just for the money.

20. Show interest in the students as individuals.

21. Allow opportunities to communicate directly with students.

22. Allow time for free communication.

23. Use humor to liven up the class.

24. Show an interest in the students' native language.

25. Don't have pets.

26. Circulate.

27. Make your instructions short and clear.

28. Speak up, but don't break anyone's eardrum.

29. Don't talk too much.

30. Don't talk too slow.

31. Be sensitive to your students.

32. Don't be a psychiatrist.

33. Respect both "slow" and "fast" learners.

34. Don't lose your cool.

35. Be frank.

36. Be a coach.

37. Be fair and realistic in testing.

38. Don't overcorrect.

39. Be reflective.

40. Keep in shape.

Vocabulary

Types of Vocabulary

1. ESP vocabulary: (English for Specific Purposes) It is related to special interests whether professional or technical. It's the vocabulary that helps students to enlarge their use of content words.( It's best learned in connection with the job or profession itself.)

2. Active vocabulary ( Productive): It is utilized in everyday speech. It is learned for performance in any communication act. It should be taught through focusing on the pronunciation, correct form, appropriate collocation and meaning so that pupils can easily remember them.

3. Passive vocabulary (Receptive): It is not essential for production in speaking or writing. It is meant for recognition and understanding. It is not utilized in everyday life speech.( Words which are passive in one situation can be considered active in others).

4. Structure or function words (empty words): They are called grammatical words as they have special grammatical function. They are called empty words because they don't have much meaning if compared with content words. They are limited in number(about 200 words in English) . They include "auxiliaries, prepositions, conjunctions, relatives, interrogative, articles and adverbs of degree"

5. Content words: They are closely related to one's experience. They are also open-ended in the sense that new words, verb, adjectives and adverbs are often coined to name things or processes. (They are about 5000000 words)

Word Meaning

Types of Meaning

← There are four kinds of meaning in the semantic content of word forms

1.Lexical Meaning ( Dictionary Meaning): It is called the dictionary meaning which is common to all speakers of the same language . It doesn't change from one situation to another. Nor is it affected by personal experience. Students learn it by connecting the form with the category of things accompany it.

2. Grammatical Meaning: It is essential for understanding the language. It is determined by the syntactic relationships within the language or by grammatical signals( several, his, an, a, many, the …….etc). Lexical meaning is objective.

3. Connotational Meaning: It is related to the culture of the target language. Some words and phrases are associated with special connotations or interpretations which have evolved from personal experience. Connotational meaning is subjective as it carries personal feelings, judgment or experiences.

4. Idiomatic Meaning: Idioms, proverbs and clichés constitute an integral part of language. Pupils must learn them as part of the vocabulary system. (It's raining cats and dogs.) (As white as snow)

Techniques for teaching Meaning of New Words

Occasionally, you may wish to get learners to guess the meaning of new words. However, there are times when you need to present the meaning of new words directly. To do this, you can use one of the following techniques:

1. Context: You can use different types of context in showing the meaning of the new words:

← Simple statement or example. " Galabeyas and dresses are clothes.

← Imagined examples: "naughty" Hany is naughty. He kicks his brother. He chases the dog. He is naughty.

← Outside the classroom: Referring to things in the learner's environment. ( Look at that. It is a tree.)

2. Description or Definition: You can select easy and previously learned words so as not to make it difficult for your pupils to understand and save time and effort. " The bedroom is the room where we sleep."

3. Realia: You can make use of real objects inside the class room and even bring others with you .

4. Board Drawings: Use the board drawings to show the meaning " It doesn't mean to be a good artist………just let your chalk do it …."

5. Miming (action):It works well in teaching the action words" smile, sleep, move, run, jump, stand, write, drink, sing, kill, escape, walk…………..etc."

6. Equivalent / Synonyms: The given synonym has to be familiar to your pupils; otherwise it will be an added problem. " ancient = old"

7. Opposites / Antonyms: sad / happy big / small.

8. Pictures: If the referent can't be brought to the classroom. Its picture " a photograph or a drawing" can be used to teach a certain word.

9. Wall Charts: A chart of a street scene – A chart of a school yard ….etc.

10. Scales: You can also use scales to show the differences between words of the same group.

Never rarely sometimes often always

0% 100%

11. Arabic Translation: In presenting abstract words, if other techniques prove to be ineffective, you can use the native-language equivalent along with an English example

Teacher; What does naughty mean?

Student: { مشاغب: Mushagheb}

Teacher: Please put naughty in a sentence that shows its meaning.

Student: My brother is naughty because he does not obey the teacher.

Steps for Teaching New Words

← When you teach new word, show both the meaning and the form of the word.

1. Showing the Meaning of a word: In this stage you should show what the word means by using any of the previously mentioned techniques.

2. Showing the Form of a word: Demonstrate how the word is pronounced and have the learners repeat in chorus, in small groups and individually. Show how it is written and spelled by writing on the board. Have students write it in their notebooks as part of useful sentences.

3. Checking Understanding of the Meaning: After teaching the form of the word , you should ask questions using the new word so as to check pupils' understanding. Do not use " Do you understand the word " thief"? as a question. Instead ask " What things does a thief take?" " Is a thief a good man?" " Do thieves like the police?" Get students ask and answer questions using the new word.

Reading

Studentsneedtobeabletoskimatextasiftheywerecastingtheireyesoveritssurfacetogetageneralideaofwhatitisaboutjustaswithscanningiftheytrytogatherallthedetailsatthisstagetheywillgetboggeddownandmaynotbeabletogetoutofittheymayscanacomputermanualtofindtheonepieceofinformationtheyneedtousetheirmachineandtheymayskimanewspaperarticletogetageneralideaofwhat'sbeenhappening.

Before You Read!!!

Here are statement about reading. Do you think they are true or false??

← Silent reading involves looking at a text and saying the words silently to yourself.

← There are no major differences between how one reads in one's mother tongue and how one reads in a foreign language.

← The teacher can help students to read a text by reading it aloud while they follow in their books.

← To understand a word, you have to read all the letters in it; to understand a sentence, you have to read all the words in it.

Now read the Text

If we are to help students develop reading skills in a foreign language, it is so important to understand what is involved in the reading process itself. How do good readers read???

It is important to distinguish between two quit separate activities: reading for meaning(silent reading) and reading aloud. Reading for meaning is the activity we normally engage in when we read books, newspapers, road signs …etc; it is what you are doing as you read this text. It involves looking at sentences and understanding the message they convey, in other words 'making sense' of a written text. It doesn't normally involve saying the words we read, not even silently inside our heads; there are important reasons for this, which are outlined below.

Reading aloud is a completely different activity; its purpose is not just to understand a text but to convey the information to someone else. It is not an activity we engage in very often outside the classroom; common examples are reading out parts of a newspaper article to a friend, or reading a notice to other people who can not see it. Obviously, reading aloud involves looking at a text, understanding it and speaking, it is a much more difficult activity than reading silently; we often stumble and make mistakes when reading aloud in our own language, and reading aloud in a foreign language is even more difficult.

When we read for meaning, we do not have to read every letter of every word, not even every word in the sentence. This is because, provided the text makes sense, we can guess much of what it says as we read it. To see how this happens at the level of individual words, try reading this sentence: A m--was walk---d—n the st---t, c-r-ing a gr--n --------

Even tough more than half the letters were missing, you could probably read the sentence without difficulty, and even guess the last word without the help of any letters. You may have noticed that as soon as you guessed the second word, it helped you to guess the whole of the first part of the sentence. This is an example of isolated sentence; It is even easier with connected sentences. Reading is an active process. When we read, we also draw on our own knowledge of the world and of language to help us guess what the text will say next. It is only if we are reading a series of words that makes no sense at all, such as: Man walking elephant the onto reading to help that we have to slow down and read every single word, as we can no longer make guesses. Normally while reading our eyes do not move from one word to another in a straight line, but flick backwards and forwards over the text. Attempting to read one word at a time slows down reading so much that we lose the sense of what we are reading.

There are differences between reading in our own language, where comprehension does not usually pose a problem, and reading a foreign language, and the differences are even greater if the language uses a different writing system. But the characteristics of good reading are the same in any language, and in developing reading skills we need to be sure we are not hindering our student but helping them to become good readers, efficient at extracting meaning from written texts.

Why Reading !!!!?

Pleasure: Magazines –poetry-novels-Holiday brochures-Letters from friends-headlines newspapers photograph captions

Survival: Forms-official notices-bills and receipts-labels-directions bus and train timetables-place names-street signs-job adverts-phone directories

Work: Reports-articles-catalogues-workshop manuals-notice boards-professional journals advertisements-business letters-charts-diagrams reference-works graphs

Study: Dictionaries-text books-indexes-glossaries-bibliographies-library catalogues-abstracts literature

Reading Skills

← Recognizing words and phrases in English script.

← Using one's own knowledge of the outside world to make predictions about and interpret a text.

← Retrieving information stated in the passages.

← Deducting the meaning and use of unknown words; ignoring unknown words/phrases that contribute nothing to the text.

← Distinguishing the main ideas from subsidiary information.

← Understanding the meaning and implications of grammatical structures( cause, result, purpose, reference in time)

← Recognising discourse markers: e.g therefore- conclusion, however-contrast, that is-paraphrase, e.g.-example.

← Recognising the function of sentence- even what not introduced by discourse markers: e.g. example, definition, paraphrase, conclusion, warning.

← Understanding relations within sentence and the text

← Extracting specific information for summary/ or note taking.

← Skimming to obtain the gist, and recogise the organization of ideas within the text.

← Knowing how to use an index, a table of contents, …etc.

← Understanding layout, use of headings …etc.

← predicting – getting an idea of what you will be reading from a quick look at the text without reading it (clues from layout, pictures, heading etc)

← scanning – finding specific information without reading the whole text

← intensive reading – reading all the information in the text, and possible extracting specific information from it

← information transfer – transferring information in a text to a graph, a picture etc

← pronoun reference – understanding what words such as ‘this’, ‘he’ and ‘there’ refer to

← guessing meaning – getting an idea of what an unfamiliar word means from the context

Give me a hand, please!!!

Main principles to help students read a difficult text more effectively:

1. More background information!

2. Pre-teaching key words the day before!

3. Divide text into short chunks!

4. Sign-post questions for main points!

5. Add discourse markers where helpful!

6. Ask easy questions!

7. Paraphrase difficult ideas!

8. Set easy tasks like matching questions and answers!

9. Praise and encouragement!

Reading Activities

← What is the importance of pre-reading activities?

← Pre-reading activities could be:

← While-reading activities could be:

← Post-reading activities could be:

Micro teaching

← Within your group, choose a reading text and plan how you are going to teach it inside your class?

Teaching speaking skills

'I can understand my teacher's English, but when I speak to 'real people' I can't understand them'. This is a comment I'm sure many teachers have heard. While it is a bit of an exaggeration, students clearly feel that classroom-based speaking practice does not prepare them for the real world. Why do students so often highlight listening and speaking as their biggest problems? Partly because of the demands of listening and speaking and partly because of the way speaking is often taught. It usually consists of language practice activities (discussions, information-gap activities etc.) or is used to practise a specific grammar point. Neither teaches patterns of real interaction. So what can we do in the classroom to prepare students for real interaction?

What do students need?

• Practice at using L1 (mother tongue) strategies, which they don't automatically transfer.

• An awareness of formal / informal language and practice at choosing appropriate language for different situations.

• The awareness that informal spoken language is less complex than written language. It uses shorter sentences, is less organised and uses more 'vague' or non-specific language.

• Exposure to a variety of spoken text types.

• The ability to cope with different listening situations. Many listening exercises involve students as 'overhearers' even though most communication is face-to-face.

• To be competent at both 'message-oriented' or transactional language and interactional language, language for maintaining social relationships.

• To be taught patterns of real interaction.

• To have intelligible pronunciation and be able to cope with streams of speech.

• Rehearsal time. By giving students guided preparation / rehearsal time they are more likely to use a wider range of language in a spoken task.

Practical suggestions

• Transferring L1 strategies

When preparing for a spoken task, make students aware of any relevant l1 strategies that might help them to perform the task successfully. For example, 'rephrasing' if someone does not understand what they mean.

• Formal / informal language

Give students one or more short dialogues where one speaker is either too formal or informal. Students first identify the inappropriate language, then try to change it. Also show students how disorganised informal speech is.

• Vague language

Using tapescripts of informal speech, focus on examples of vague language.

• Different spoken text types

Draw up a list of spoken text types relevant to the level of your class. Teach the language appropriate for each text type.

• Interactive listening

Develop interactive listening exercises. Face-to-face listening is the most common and the least practised by course books. Any form of 'Live listening' (the teacher speaking to the students) is suitable. (See Try article for a more detailed outline of this)

• Transactional and interactional language

Raise students' awareness by using a dialogue that contains both. It could be two friends chatting to each other (interactional) and ordering a meal(transactional).

• Real interaction patterns

Teach real interaction patterns. Introduce the following basic interactional pattern: Initiate, Respond, Follow-up. This is a simplification of Amy Tsui's work. See Tsui (1994)

The following interaction could be analysed as follows:

A: What did you do last night? (Initiate)

B: Went to the cinema (Respond)

A: Oh really? (Follow-up)

What did you see? (Initiate)

B: Lord of the Rings (Respond)

Have you been yet? (Initiate)

A: No it's difficult with the kids (Respond)

B: Yeah of course (follow-up)

• Understanding spoken English

After a listening exercise give students the tape script. Using part of it, students mark the stressed words, and put them into groups (tone units). You can use phone numbers to introduce the concept of tone units. The length of a tone unit depends on the type of spoken text. Compare a speech with an informal conversation. In the same lesson or subsequent listening lessons you can focus on reductions in spoken speech, for example, linking, elision and assimilation.

• Preparation and rehearsal

Before a spoken task, give students some preparation and rehearsal time. Students will need guidance on how to use it. A sheet with simple guidelines is effective.

• Real-life tasks

Try to use real-life tasks as part of your teaching.

What language should I teach?

Spoken language is both interactional and transactional, but what should teachers focus on in class? Brown and Yule (1983) suggest the following:

• When teaching spoken language, focus on teaching longer transactional turns. This is because native speakers have difficulty with them and because students need to be able communicate information efficiently whether in their country or in a native-speaker country.

• Teach interactional language by using an awareness-raising approach. For example, with monolingual classes by listening to a recorded l1conversation before a similar l2 recording.

For recordings of native-speaker interactional and transactional conversations, have a look at 'Exploring Spoken English' by McCarthy and Carter (1997) It not only contains a variety of text types, but each recording comes with analysis.

Brainstorming Before Speaking Tasks

Brainstorming is an activity used to generate ideas in small groups. The purpose is to generate as many ideas as possible within a specified time-period. These ideas are not evaluated until the end and a wide range of ideas is often produced. Each idea produced does not need to be usable. Instead, initial ideas can be be viewed as a starting point for more workable ideas. The principle of brainstorming is that you need lots of ideas to get good ideas.

Brainstorming Encourages Better Learning

Some learners are more successful than others. In order to find out why, Rubin and Thompson (1984:114, Rubin 1975) studied the characteristics of good learners. Four of these characteristics are discussed below. These may explain why brainstorming is a useful tool in our classrooms.

Good Learners Organize Information About Language

Good learners try to organize their knowledge. As teachers, we can try to facilitate this organization by using suitable warm-up activities. A warm-up activity can remind our students of existing knowledge. At the same time, it can direct their minds towards ideas that they will meet in the main activity. In this way, it provides a link between new and existing knowledge.

However, each learner has a different store of existing knowledge organized in a unique way. A textbook or teacher presentation can never use this knowledge to its best potential. In many warm-up activities, the teacher and students can be frustrated because the organization of language in the warm-up activity is different from the organization in the learners' minds. This mismatch is a block to good learning. Brainstorming invites the learners to organize existing knowledge in their own minds. Many learners have a large passive vocabulary which does not translate directly into productive capabilities in the classroom. Brainstorming can help to activate this. It works to mobilize the resources of the student by creating a series of connecting ideas. This leads to an organization of language. The links which appear on paper created in word mapping are visible evidence of this organization. At this point the learners will be better oriented to the topic and better motivated to fill the gaps in their knowledge.

Good Learners Find Their Own Way and Take Charge of Their Own Learning

Students who do not take charge of their own learning are unable to take full advantage of learning opportunities. This is a problem that faces many Asian students who are generally more reserved than western students (Tsui , 1996). Many teachers find that lack of self-initiative is usually more of a problem than lack of ability in conversation classes.

Brainstorming can help learners to take charge. Learners begin examining their existing resources and identifying gaps in their knowledge. The free association nature allows learners to become involved in the selection of language used in the speaking task.

Good Learners Make Intelligent Guesses

The good learner makes intelligent guesses, but the language classroom often works against this. Because of nervousness in a foreign language or fear of teacher correction, many students are afraid of using language unless they are sure that it is totally correct (Lucus 1984). This stops them making intelligent guesses and slows down learning.

Brainstorming can help students to learn to take risks. McCoy (1976) makes a strong argument in favour of learning problem-solving skills in order to reduce anxiety. There are no 'right' or 'wrong' answers in brainstorming and no danger of teacher correction. By carrying out a simple brainstorming warm-up, students can obtain a sense of competence and feel more confident in making intelligent guesses.

Good Learners Use Contextual Cues to Help Them in Comprehension

The good learner uses the context of language to help in comprehension but the foreign language classroom can often seem artificial. Brainstorming allows the students to create a context for the subsequent speaking task. Relevant existing knowledge (content schema) can be called up from memory and can provide a context which supports comprehension and production in the subsequent speaking task.

As discussed in this section, brainstorming can help our students to become better learners, but equally importantly, students will benefit just by working in groups. They will learn language from each other and by interacting together they will become better communicators.

Practical Aspects of Brainstorming

Brainstorming is an ideal warm-up activity because it takes little time. Also, it can be explained easily and be used with any chosen topic. There was only one type of brainstorming used in this study. However, some others are listed below with brief examples and many other types can be imagined.

Simple Word Lists

1. List words to describe people's appearance.

2. List all the items you need for a party.

3. Make a list of house furniture.

Lists Based on a Principle

1. Write down a food that begins with each letter of the alphabet.

2. Make a list of animals starting with the smallest animal and getting bigger.

Brainstorming on a Picture

Pictures are a rich source of inspiration for brainstorming. Strange events evoke the biggest variety of responses. Most students will let their imagination roam if the pictures are strange enough. Use pictures from the textbook, magazines or other sources.

1. What are these people doing?

2. List the objects in the picture.

3. What is this man thinking about?

4. Write four words to describe this person.

Brainstorming Using a Song

Songs are wonderful for reducing nervousness. They seem to be particularly effective in whole-class brainstorming when the teacher is writing the ideas on the board. Play a song for the class and ask questions like the following.

1. How does the singer feel?

2. What do you think the singer looks like?

3. Suggest titles for this song.

4. When do you think that this song was written?

Word-mapping or Phrase-mapping Around a Central Theme.

Write a word or phrase in the center of a page. All the other words or phrases should link off this in a logical manner. Word-mapping can be useful for establishing groups of similar things, for example animals or food. Phrase-mapping can be useful for developing topics or functions.

[pic]

Changing One Word in a Sentence Each Time

Each word must be changed, but each sentence must have a meaning. This can be useful to show the students the role of each word in a sentence prior to a substitution drill or other activities. It can be a fun activity to do on the blackboard.

Example :

1. Peter played flute in the orchestra.

2. Peter played flute in the park.

3. John played flute in the park.

4. John played soccer in the park.

5. John watched soccer in the park.

6. John watched soccer near the park.

7. John watched soccer near a park.

Variations: add one word, take away one word.

Listing Different Ways of Expressing a Particular Language Function.

Example : Ask Someone to Move his Car.

1. Please move your car.

2. appreciate if you could move your car.

3. your car out of my way.

Prediction

Guess what the speaker will say next. This can be used in conjunction with dialogues in textbooks. It is a powerful technique to encourage students to take a risk. If the dialogue is recorded, stop the tape and ask

Free Association

This is best done orally and can be a lot of fun. One student gives a word in your chosen topic and asks another student to say the first word that she thinks of. The second student continues to make associations. The first student simply repeats the word in each case. After making about 10 associations, the first student should try to work backwards from the last association to the original word.

Example :

1. A : apple

2. B : red

3. A : red

4. B : rose

5. and so on.

Variation : Free association in pairs or in groups. Students make the associations from the previous student's word.

Active Brainstorming

This activity can be made to fit nearly any level, and works in class sizes of 6 to 40. The aims are to not only to generate lists of relevant vocabulary around a theme, but to invigorate the class with a rather noisy and rambunctious activity.

To begin with, the teacher must select three or four vocabulary subcategories within a theme, for example with a theme of housing/describing rooms, the subcategories might be things found in a bedroom, a living room, and a kitchen; in a sports theme, there might be team, individual, and non-competitive sports. Students are then paired up and asked to generate ideas together for each subcategory, preferably under a time limit to keep things pacey, much as in any brainstorming exercise. Then pairs should be grouped into 2,3,or 4 larger teams (depending on class size, logistics, etc.) to share/compare ideas and lengthen their lists if possible.

Now comes the wild part. The black/whiteboard is divided into sections, one for each subcategory, and one student from each group is called up and handed a piece of chalk or a marker of a color assigned to each team. There must be one color per team, eg. the blue team, the yellow team, and so forth. The designated writers for each team are not allowed to bring any paper up with them. Instead, their team members must shout out ideas which can be put under each/any subcategory, including the correct spelling of same. With all teams shouting at the same time, a seemingly out of control, but quite enjoyable atmosphere pervades. The object is to be the team with the most words on the board at the end.

It is best to stop every minute or two and change designated writers so that all can get a chance. Also, depending on how strict the teacher wishes to be, groups which use L1 might have their entries ereased. It is also a good idea in big classrooms to move the teams as far away from the board as possible, so as to increase the pandemonium. Finally, the teacher shouts "Stop!", and the scores for each team are tabulated.

This activity will take between 30 and 50 minutes, has been used successfully with groups ranging in age from 16 to 65, and would seem to suit younger learners as well. The only materials required are a rather large board and as many different color markers or pieces of chalk as there are teams.

Grammar

What is Grammar??

1. Grammar is something defined as the way words are put together to make correct sentences.

2. We can apply the term 'grammatical ' to units smaller than sentences. A tall woman sounds right; a woman tall does not. The same may be true of single words : compare bought with buyed.

3. The minimal component to be combined may not be whole words. The –ed suffix indicates the past tense of regular verb in English.

4. A specific instance of grammar is usually called a " structure"

5. Grammar does not affect how units of a language are combined in order to look right; it also affects their meaning.

6. Communicative grammar tries to reconcile language usage with use; to acquire grammar not simply as linguistic forms(e.g., present simple…etc) but as a communicative resource, too.

7. Grammatical meaning is determined by four elements ( inflections 'suffixes & affixes ' structure/function words, syntax 'word order ' and intonation.

Place of Grammar in Teaching !

Read the following extracts and state whether you agree or disagree:

| | | |

|Extract |Agree |Disagree |

|1. |The important point is that the study of grammar is neither necessary nor sufficient for learning to use | | |

| |language. | | |

|2. |It is better for the learner to study grammar individually and independently than as part of classroom | | |

| |lessons. | | |

|3. |Teaching learners how to construct grammatical sentences enable them to produce real-life discourse. | | |

|4. |Usefulness of grammar for effective language learning. | | |

|5. |Grammar, approached as a voyage of discovery into the patterns of language rather than the learning of | | |

| |prescriptive rules, is no longer a strange word. | | |

|6. |The meaning of a sentence is derived from words only…Grammar is less important. | | |

|7. |Mechanical drills of structure focus on form and automaticity. | | |

|8. |Role play affords an opportunity to practice the new structure in a context of natural communicative | | |

| |usage. | | |

|9. |All students need both oral and written practice of grammar. | | |

|10. |Knowing the rule does not mean that you can use the language better. | | |

|11. |Teacher should always correct students' errors in Grammar. | | |

|12. |Grammar sometimes refers to a group of rules that instruct learners, speakers and writers on what to say &| | |

| |not to say. | | |

Teaching Grammar

1. Evoke the new structure by reminding students of a familiar dialogue or text.

2. Use the new structure in a simple dialogue or conversation with familiar words.( sometimes accompanied by actions to illustrate meaning)

3. Repeat the new structure several times, then have it repeated in chorus. Ask individual pupils to repeat it (Good with young children)

4. For those grammatical structure which are difficult to present in a context, the teacher may present the rule formally with sufficient examples & practice.

5. It is more effective & motivating to give examples related to pupils' own experience.

6. After oral presentation, the teacher writes the new pattern on the board for further discussion. He may draw their attention to the form ( word order-inversion-inflections-spelling-words-punctuation….etc)

7. Teacher may ask questions that lead to the use of the new pattern.

8. Teacher can move from mechanical drills to meaningful drills where students' response can be expressed in more than one way( restatement-rejoinder-question & answer-situation drills ' situations should be clear and supported with chars, picture, drawings, filmstrips, transparencies, objects or actions)

9. Communicative drills ( free ones) come at the end where students are free to give their own responses ( interviews, role-playing, problem-solving)

Grammar Demonstration

← As a group, refer to your textbooks(English for Palestine) choose a grammar lesson, plan it then choose a person to teach it for the whole group ……

Guidelines on presenting and explaining a new grammatical structure

1. In general, a good presentation should include both oral and written forms, and both form and meaning.

2. It is important for learners to have plenty of contextualized examples of the structure and to understand them. Visual materials can also contribute to understanding.

3. The answers to this depend on your situation and learners. On the whole, older or more analytically-minded learners will benefit more from the use of terminology.

4. Again, this is very much depends on your own situation and judgment.

5. This is the problem about striking the right balance between accuracy and simplicity. Your explanations should cover the great majority of instances learners are likely to encounter; obvious exceptions should be noted, but too much detail may only confuse. As a rule, a simple generalization, even if not entirely accurate, is helpful to learners than a detailed grammar-book definition.

6. These are basic and important points; your observer will help you her.

7. Here you have to decide whether a rule would be helpful or not; then, whether to elicit it from the learners on the basis of examples ( sometimes called 'inductive method', or give it yourself, and invite them to produce examples ( deductive ). Like grammatical terminology, explicit rule are helpful to older or more analytically-minded learners.

8. As regard inductive or deductive methods; you are going to ask yourself which is more effective in this situation. If the learners can perceive and define the rule themselves quickly and easily, then there is a lot to be said for letting them do so : what they discover themselves they are more likely to remember. But if they find this difficult, you may waste a lot of valuable class time on sterile and frustrating guessing, or on misleading suggestions; in such cases it is better to provide the information yourself.

Spelling Checker

Eye halve a spelling chequer

It came with my pea sea

It plainly marques four my revue

Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word

And weight four it two say

Weather eye am wrong oar write

It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid

It nose bee fore two long

And eye can put the error rite

Its rarely ever wrong.

Eye have this poem threw it

I am shore your pleased two no

Its letter perfect in it's weigh

My chequer tolled me sew.

[pic]

----Sauce unknown

Writing

Writing is a productive skill. It is one of the most difficult and therefore frustrating ‘subjects’ to teach particularly in an EFL programme. It is especially difficult for non-native speakers because learners are expected to create written products that demonstrate their ability to organize the content , to address the correct audience as well as to demonstrate their linguistic ability (vocabulary, punctuation, spelling, etc). The difficulty is increased by the learners’ psychological strategies or processes, which until now remain vague and therefore immune to any definite assertions. In this investigation, the problem is complicated by the fact that the study is cross-sectional and involves a number of learners who learn English in similar situations. A purely longitudinal study of a small number of learners would show a clear line of development from one stage to another and the possible causes of ‘errors’ in writing. However, this study could be used as a starting point.

Brief grammar rules may be essential to help learners realize their errors resulting from overgeneralization and wrong analogy. Learners should be always encouraged to do remedial exercises. In fact, ability to communicate cannot be fulfilled unless “the grammar” is there (in the competence) of the writer. According to Chomsky (1986), grammar consists of various levels, which are ordered and interrelated. Teachers have to be realistic in their expectations. Writing is hard work in one’s own language let alone in a second language. Developing the necessary skills to improve learners’ writing is even harder work. Teachers should be happy with whatever progress learners make. It is always true that some is better than none.

Writing is a process of discovery as well as a process of productivity. In contrast to oral-aural skills, writing can provide students with a chance to work at their own pace, especially if it is done at home or without any limited time assigned by teachers and allows them to think the task over before producing language.

Writing is less stressful since it releases students from the pressure of being anxious when they are called upon to speak facing others; the matter which effectively blocks their ability. Writing can offer a permanent record; students can look back on what they have achieved in order to refresh their minds, to refine, gradually their linguistic competencies.

Writing is helpful for teachers in many ways:

1.To reinforce what students have learnt; either vocabulary, structures or idioms.

2.To go beyond what students have just learnt.

3.To involve students in the new language.

4.To make decisions of students' success or failure.

Writing enables students to:

1.Discover some thing new.

2.Express ideas freely.

3.Master new learning.

4.Relate the language into their own interests or environment.

municate with a reader.

6.Familiarize him/her self with the conversations of written English.

7.Check and correct what they have written before it is shown to others.

Main points teachers have to bear in mind when conducting a Writing activity:

1.Planning and timing.

2.Deciding the suitable activity to achieve the objective.

3.Choosing the most appropriate technique to implement the activity that suits both students' level and the type of activity.

4.Following up the outcomes.

5.Checking and feedback.

Teaching individual letters

Imagine you are teaching anew letter . Which of these steps are important ? Which are not important ?

1. Draw lines on the board .

2. Write the letters clearly on the board .

3. Describe how the letters are formed .

4. Say the name of the letter .

5. Give the sound of the letter.

6. Student repeat the name of the letter .

7. Student repeat the sound of the letter.

8. Student draw the letter in the air .

9. Student copy the letter in their books.

Writing words

Joining letters

1- When students have learnt a new letter, they can practice joining it to other letters they knew already . Obviously, they should only practice combinations ,which really exist in words ,and as soon as they know enough letters they should practice writing words and sentences.

Which combinations would be worth practicing :

ta ti et ot yt th tg nt dt

2- Letters joining can be thought in the same way as individual letters . Its very important to show clearly how we make joins from the end of one letter to the beginning of the next.

Copying words

What are the advantages and disadvantages of copying words :

Advantages :

For student who have to learn English, copying is a useful exercise ; students don’t have to produce words of their own , so the focus in entirely on handwriting

Disadvantage :

Simply copying words or sentences from the board can be mechanical activity, students can easily do it without really thinking, and it soon become boring .

How to make copying more challenging ?

One way to make copying more challenging is by including simple tasks for students to do . For example , we can ask student to match words together , match words with pictures ,put word in the correct order . This makes sure that student think about what are they copying and understand what the word mean ,it also gives reason for writing the words .

Here are some more tasks :

a-Match the question with the answer then write them out .

b-Copy the true sentence only ." one picture with four sentences "

c-Some of these animals are farm animals, other are wild animals write them in two lists " Farm animals ---- Wild animals ".

Dictation

Revised Items / New Teaching items:

1.Teacher writes the words on the board.

2.Students read the words aloud.

3.T. erases some words to be dictated / Teacher erases part of the word like a vowel, a diphthong, consonant, combination.

4.Ss. write the words.

5.T. rewrite the words again on the board.

6.Ss. Look at the words and correct themselves.

Classification Exercise:

1.Ss. Read the words silently.

2.Ss. read the sets.

3.Ss. Fill in the words within a limited period of time.

4.T. moves around offering help.

5.Checking the answers along with the students.

6.Writing the correct answers on the board.

7.Giving appropriate and immediate feedback.

Question Answer Techniques:

-T. presents the new teaching point ( N.T.P )

-T. models some sentences or questions asking Ss. (either to repeat or answer )

-T. chooses a students to ask him / her on the (N.T.P).

-T. chooses two Ss. To ask each other on the (N.T.P)

This technique can be repeated with all (N.T.P) with variety of questions and the teacher has to correct immediately though indirectly.

Pair / Group work:

-Having presented the (N.T.P), the teacher gives Ss. 2 – 3 minutes to work in pairs or groups

-T. moves around offering help.

-T. chooses (2 – 3) groups / pairs to perform their dialogues.

-T. doesn't interface (Why?)

How to develop spelling?

1.Look at the word.

2.Say the word.

3.Cover the word with a piece of paper.

4.Think of the word.

5.Write the word.

6.Check and see if you are right.

Writing Stages

1. Controlled writing (Comment on this activity)

Copy the following sentences :

"Ahmed goes to school by bus ."

Comments :

1-The activity is completely mechanical. Students can copy the sentence even if they don’t know what it means . Their attention is not focused on the meaning of the sentence at all.

2-Because it is so mechanical , it is very uninteresting . The students are not required to think or use their imagination in any way.

How to make the activity more meaningful and more interesting while keeping it fairly controlled?

1-Leave out parts of the sentence for students to write themselves ,e.g," Ahmed ____________ by bus ." or "Ahmed goes to school _________ ." Either let student for themselves what to write in the gap , or say the whole sentence and ask them to write what they heard .

2-Say the sentence ,but write only the outline on the board. e.g "Ahmed – school – bus " student write the whole sentence .

3-Draw a picture to replace part of the sentence.

Ask students to write the whole sentence in words.

- write the sentence on the board, and ask students to write a similar sentence about themselves.

More controlled writing activities:

-Gap filling: listen to the teacher, then write out the complete sentence.

-Re-ordering words: write the sentences correctly.

-Substitution: write a true sentence like this about yourself.

-Correct the facts: Re-write the sentences so that they match the pictures.

2. Guided writings:

What problems might be involved in giving a completely free writing task?

-Many students would probably find it quite difficult, ands make many mistakes. If so, they would find the task frustrating and probably not learn very much from it.

-Students would probably approach the task indifferent ways, and produce a wide variety of different paragraphs. So the only way to correct their work would be individually, book by book; this would be very time-consuming for the teacher.

How can we make such activities guided?

-By giving a short test as a model.

-By doing oral preparation for writing.

Strategies for teaching writing:

The strategy you use to teach your students writing depends greatly on the type of writing activity whether it is a post card, a letter, paragraph, dictation … etc and it also depends on your students level. In general you have to go through the following stages.

1. Pre -Writing process:

Introducing the subject, discussing a picture, a table, a map … etc, providing ideas, words, pattern to help in writing, Explaining the task itself completion, filling gaps, full piece of writing …. Time, organization.

2. Writing process:

Providing the needed materials, the needed support for students, creating a quiet atmosphere in which students will have the chance to think.

3. Post-writing process:

Checking the product, correcting it, displaying it in classroom by reading it or fixing it on a wall or the English corner.

General Principles of Error Correction

As far as possible, encourage the students, focus on what they have got right, not on what they have got wrong.. Praise students for correct answers, and even for partly correct answers; in this way, they will feel they are making progress. Avoid humiliating( students or making them feel that making a mistake is "bad". Correct errors( quickly; if too much time is spent over correcting errors, it gives them too much importance and holds up the lesson.

Suggested Ideas for Correcting Mistakes

Correcting work orally in class is a good idea for a large class, as it greatly reduces the teacher's workload. As he or she corrects, the teacher can move around the class to check that students are correcting their own mistakes.

Correcting work immediately in class ( rather than returning it the next day) means that the teacher can draw students' attention to problems while they are still in their minds.

Correcting in class works best with fairly controlled writing activities, where there are not too many possible answers. Getting students to correct either their own or each other's work (before the teacher gives the correct answer) takes time in the lesson; but it gives students useful practice in reading through what they have written and noticing mistakes. It is also a good way of keeping the class involved.

Mistakes Identification and Correction

Errors correction is often done by the teacher providing corrections for mistakes made by the students. However, it is probably more efficient for students ( as mentioned earlier) to correct their own mistakes. In order to do this, students and the teacher should have a common shorthand or code for correcting mistakes. (Correction Key)

W/O Word order

W/W Wrong word order

WF Word form (noun, adjective, adverb …etc)

SV Subject verb agreement

# Number (singular and plural)

VT Verb tense

VF Verb form (gerund, participle, …etc)

GR Grammar

P Punctuation

SP Spelling

^ Missing word / add a word

X Omit this

? Unclear

Cap Capitalization

Prep Preposition

Twelve rules for Good Cursive Handwriting

1. Good writing is based on a pattern of ovals and parallel lines. [pic]

2. All small letters start at the top. [pic]

3. All the down strokes are parallel. [pic]

4. All similar letters are the same height. [pic]

5. All down strokes are equidistant. [pic]

6. The space between words is the width of the small letter o. [pic]

7. Ascenders and Descenders are no more than twice the height of small letters, preferably less. [pic]

8. Capital letters are no higher than the ascenders, preferably less. [pic]

9. Lines of writing are far enough apart for ascenders and Descenders not to touch. [pic]

10. Letters which finish at the top join horizontally. [pic]

11. Letters which finish at the bottom join diagonally. [pic]

12. Letters which finish on a stroke moving left, are best left un- joined. [pic]

ELMYL

(English Language Methodology for Young Learners)

All listening activities in English For Palestine (regardless to their headings), elaborate either listening for gist or listening for details.

Listening for gist aims to get the general idea or meaning. This means ignoring the details and just following the overall topic even if the learner doesn't understand every word. answer, etc.

Listening for details aims to identify basic information such as weight, places, times, personal details, names, ages, etc.

It identifies key words in a given context.

It identifies information contained in description of people and places.

It identifies grammatical structures.

It identifies stressed syllables.

It aims to understand opinions (for higher levels)

Learner could answer questions, write, fill in gaps, match, choose the correct

Rule

The same listening activity could be functioned "at the same time" to serve both types: - listening for gist, and listening for details.

The first listening is usually to get the gist through the initial questions, and the additional listening could be for specific details through the subsequent question

An Authentic Dialogue for an authentic Learner

To make it an authentic dialogue and motivate your learners:-

• a. Let it be a situation dialogue.

• b. Let students learn language in real life situations.

• c. let students substitute the words so that they are true to their world.

• d. let each student uses his/her own variation.

• e. Give each student a chance to do a thing, to speak, to imitate, to share, to model, to interact, to substitute, to choose a character, and to implement any physical response in making a laugh, a smile, a shout, a movement, or any gesture.

To get a true developing to your students` ability to speak, you should:-

• -Keep in mind that each classroom offers a wide range of learners differing in their abilities, knowledge, confidence, motivation and learning styles.

• Provide learners with proper environment that would help them develop -their skills, independent of their basic characteristics and diversity.

• -Give classroom learners as many speaking opportunities as possible, and their speaking time should slowly but steadily rise so as to prepare them for various communicative situations.

Total Physical Response Approach

1- Who suggested TPR approach?

• TPR approach was suggested by Dr. James J. Asher. He originated this approach to second language acquisition which is known internationally as TPR. Dr. Asher developed this approach in 30 years of research in the laboratory.

• Dr. Asher is emeritus Professor of Psychology and former Associate Dean at San Jose State University.

2- When can a teacher use TPR in the classroom?

The teacher can use TPR to teach and practice many things such as:-

• a. vocabulary connected with actions.

• b. grammar: - tenses, prepositions, comparisons, etc.

• c. classroom language, e.g. "open your books…"

• d. introducing multi-word verbs, e.g. "look up this word from the dictionary"

e. songs, dialogues, pronunciation.

3- What are the advantages and disadvantages of TPR?

Advantages:-

• a. It is a lot of fun and students enjoy it.

• b. It is very memorable.

• c. It is good for learners who recall from movement "kinesthetic''

• d. It works well with mixed-ability groups.

• e. It is very effective with low level learners.

• f. It promotes accuracy.

Disadvantages:-

• a. It is not suitable for all types of classes.

• b. It can't be used to teach more complex grammar, e.g. "2nd and 3rd conditionals"

4- When does learning happen?

• When the teacher gives instructions repeatedly, the students learn through repetition.

• To demonstrate teaching listening for a gist.

• To demonstrate teaching listening for detail

Successful Shared Reading

The following outline highlights key ingredients for a successful "shared reading" experience:

• Step 1: Introduce the story

• Step 2: Read the story

• Step 3: Conclude the reading period

• Step 4: Conduct additional after-reading activities

• Step 5: Re-read the story

• Step 6: Allow independent reading

• Step 7: Conduct follow-up activities

Tips for Teaching Reading for Young Learners

• Create appreciation of the written word

• Develop awareness of printed language and the writing system

• Teach the alphabet

• Develop the students' phonological awareness

• Develop Phonemic Awareness

• Teach the Relation of Sounds and Letters

• Teach children to spell words

• Teach children how to sound out words

• Teach children to spell words

• Help children develop fluent, reflective reading

Shared Writing

Shared writing is a means of introducing writing to young learners. The procedure for carrying out shared writing with a class of young children learning English might be as follows:

• Choose a story, song or a rhyme with a strong repeated pattern. Read it several times over a few days.

• Talk about the story in Arabic.

• Explain that you are going to change some parts of the story, song or rhyme, e.g. changing names, places, actions, etc.

• With young children, it is better to change just one or two items.

• It is important to retain the pattern to its original text.

• Begin to write saying the words of the sentence aloud as you do.

• Reread the sentence and continue with the next sentence.

• Reread the whole text from the beginning.

• Don't feel you have to finish the whole piece in one lesson. You can return to it in the other lessons.

Things that Young Learners Might be Encouraged to Notice during Writing:

• Directionality – left to right.

• The need for spaces between words.

• Matching spoken to written words.

• Repetition of particular words.

• Individual letters (when appropriate), e.g. letters children might know from their names.

• Words with similar patterns in the writing such as cat, sat, mat.

• Differences between upper and lower case letters.

• The way letters are formed.

• This will depend on the age and experience of the children.

How teachers teach grammar to young learners

1-Presenting the grammatical structure in a child's context, with humor.

2-Practicing the grammatical structure

3-Drawing and writing on the board

4-Story telling

5-Songs and chants

6-Rhymes and poems

7-Total Physical Response

The Value of Drama in Education

The need to play is an important developmental process in a child's life. When educationists realized this need, more attention was given to the use of drama in education.

Below is a summary of the values of drama in education as given by educators and researchers in linguistics:

1.Drama releases imagination and energy.

2. The use of drama fosters the social, intellectual and the linguistic

3. development of the child.

4. Drama increases motivation.

5. Drama fosters a sense of responsibility and co-operation.

6. Drama has a therapeutic effect.

7. Drama encourages students to exercise their sensitivity and imagination.

8. Drama can lead pupils to an appreciation of drama as an ar form.

Advantages and Disadvantages in the Use of Role-play and Simulation

• Below are more specific advantages of the use of role-play and simulation in the EFL classroom:

Advantages

1. Stimulates authentic conversations

2. Is a fluency activity

3. Is suitable for consolidation

4. Creates sensitivity and a sense of awareness

5. Increases motivation

6. A breaks the routine

7. Prepare students for real life and unpredictability

Disadvantages

1. Activity is artificial

2. Activities are difficult to monitor

3. Causes embarrassment

4. Encourages incorrect forms

5. Has cultural bias

6. Teachers' fear of losing control

7. Spontaneity is lost

8. Timing lessons is difficult

9. Activities may not be suitable for all levels

How to Choose a Game

Below are some questions which we might consider as we choose a game:

• Which language does the game target?

• Which skills does it practice?

• What type of game is it?

• What's the purpose of using it?

• Does it fit the students? How could I simplify or make it more complex if necessary?

• How much interaction and participation is there? Maximum involvement is something we are pursuing.

• Do I like the game myself?

Hints and Suggestions

• When giving instructions to beginners, a few words in the mother tongue would be the quickest way to make everything clear. More English exposure is needed at a later stage.

• Games are best set up by demonstration rather than by lengthy explanation.

• It is very important not to play a game for too long. Students will begin to lose interest. It is best to stop a game at its peak.

Testing

Why Tests?

Testing Objectives:

← Measure students' achievement in the language.

← Help teachers give valid ad reliable grades & determine their promotion.

← Motivate students, direct & promote learning.

← Pinpoint the weakness in learners' performance.

← Provide the school with statistical information about learners' level.

← Provide parents with information about the progress of their children.

← Create an air of rivalry in the classroom.

← Give the teacher an obvious idea about the progress of his students.

← Provide the learners with a rewarding learning experience, particularly on discussing the answers.

← Pinpoint items in the course that is too difficult for the students to master.

← Show the teacher whether or not his techniques of teaching are effective.

← Help teachers to select students who need special treatment( toppers as well slow learners)

Types of Tests..

Tests may be classified into many types; here are some major ones:

← Achievement/Attainment tests: usually more formal, designed to show mastery of a particular syllabus (e.g. end-of-year tests, school-leaving exams, public tests) though similar (re-syllabus) to progress tests. Rarely constructed by classroom teacher for a particular class. Designed primarily to measure individual progress rather than as a means of motivating or reinforcing language.

← Progress Tests: Most classroom tests take this form. Assess progress students make in mastering material taught in the classroom. Often given to motivate Ss. They also enable Ss to assess the degree of success of teaching and learning and to identify areas of weakness & difficulty. Progress tests can also be diagnostic to some degree.

← Diagnostic Tests: can include Progress, Achievement and Proficiency tests, enabling teachers to identify specific weaknesses/difficulties so that an appropriate remedial programme can be planned. Diagnostic Tests are primarily designed to assess Ss' knowledge & skills in particular areas before a course of study is begun.

← Placement Tests: sort new Ss into teaching groups so that they are approx. the same level as others when they start. Present standing. General ability rather than specific points of learning. Variety of tests necessary. Reference forward to future learning. Results of Placement Tests are needed quickly. Administrative load.

← Proficiency Tests: Measure Ss' achievements in relation to a specific task which they are later required to perform (e.g. follow a university course in the English medium; do a particular job). Reference forward to particular application of language acquired: future performance rather than past achievement. They rarely take into account the syllabus that Ss have followed. Definition of operational needs. Practical situations. Authentic strategies for coping. Common standard e.g. driving test regardless of previous learning. Application of common standard whether the syllabus is known or unknown.

On-Going Assessment……

← Testing should be an integrated part of instruction. Its aim is to know how well the pupils have mastered each step so that the teacher can make the necessary modifications in the teaching process. Thus, continuous assessment should be present in almost every day's lesson. On-Going Assessment need not be served by paper and pencil tests. They may be just oral questions or through silent observation of pupils at work, or by asking them to give a summery of the lesson or asking pupils to plan oral or written reports, summaries and projects to indicate their actual performance of skills.

What to test?????..

← Valid tests should cover sub skills ( vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation ), language skills ( listening, reading, writing, and speaking) and language functions ( requesting, greeting, agreeing, apologizing,…etc)

Testing Writing

Types of Tasks to Test Guided Writing

Gap Filling: It is controlled. Students are asked to fill in the gaps in a passage or discrete sentences.

Sentence Completion: A sentence or a phrase is omitted & students are asked to supply the missing Part.

Dicto-Comp: A passage is read out for students who are required to write it back as accurately as they can.

1. It is dictation if they give the original text.

2. It is composition if they are writing something akin to a composition

Form Completion: Students are asked to fill in a form, a questionnaire or a CV .

Making Correction: A piece of writing with deliberate grammar, punctuation and spelling errors is given to students who are asked to correct them.

Summary Making: It is a type of expressing something in shorter and simpler way.( It is not merely reducing the passage but providing the essential information)

Letter Writing (formal & informal): It is a common task. Students write either formal or informal letters on various purposes of interest

Essay Writing: It is often used for testing writing. But it can be adapted to suit the students level.

Writing Interviews: Real or imaginary interviews with classmates. Students may pretend interviewing famous people. Teacher may give key words & directions.

Cloze exercise: A passage with fix order deletion.( every fourth, six .. Word is deleted) students should fill in the words from a list.

Reordering sentences

Transformation

Characteristics of a good test…… The criteria of communicative test

← Validity: A valid test measures what it should be testing." A grammar Test should not include difficult words"

← Reliability: A test should provide consistent in measuring the items evaluated." On repeating the same test on the same students, it will produce almost the same results.

← Practicality: A practical test is easy to administer and score without wasting time or effort.

← Comprehensiveness: It should cover all the language aspects that have been studied.

← Relevance: The test items should measure the desired objectives.

← Balance: It should evaluate both linguistic and communicative competence.

← Economy: It makes use of the teacher's limited time for preparing & grading as well as the student's time.

← Authenticity: The language should reflect day-to-day discourse.

← Difficulty: it should be of appropriate difficulty" neither too easy, nor too hard"

← Clarity: Clear instructions.

← Objectivity: The questions & answers should be clear and definite for any grader to give the score the student deserves.

← Time: A good test is the one that is appropriate in length for the allotted time.

* Have clear simple instructions.

* Measure the language receptively and productively.

* The more tests resemble the classroom, the more valid they will be.

* Tests items need to be contextualized to be meaningful.

Guidelines For Classroom Testing..

• Test objectives ( goals ).

• Test what has been taught ( classroom procedures ).

• Test all four skills.

• Test one thing at a time ( for the sake of objectivity ).

• Weigh exam according to the objectives.

• Sequence items from easy to more difficult.

• Avoid incorrect language.

• Prepare items in advance and prepare more than you need.

• Acquaint the students with the techniques of testing.

• Test in context ( establish contextual situations ).

• Items of varying difficultly to test four skills should be included.

• Allow sufficient time.

• Make the test easy to grade.

• Distinguish between recall and recognition tests. A recall test is a test of performance ( used to test the productive skills, speaking and writing ).

What is feedback ?

In the context of teaching in general , feedback is information that is given to the learner about his performance of a learning task, usually with the objective of improving his performance. E.g. ( yes , right, a grade of 70% , a raised eyebrow in response to make a mistake in grammar, comments written in the margin of an essay )

Feed back has two main distinguished components

1- assessment = ( evaluation – measurement ) 2- correction

In assessment, the learner is simply informed how well or badly he has performed .

In correction , some specific information is provided on aspects of the learner’s performance : through explanation, or provision of better or other alternatives, or through elicitation of these from the learner.

The relationship between assessment and correction

It is possible to give assessment without correcting, as when a final percentage mark on an exam is made known to a learner without the exam itself being returned or commented on.

Approaches to the giving of feedback

( 1 ) Assessment

Audio-lingualism

Negative assessment need to be avoided as far as possible since it functions as ‘ punishment ‘ and may inhibit or discourage learning. Positive assessment provides reinforcement of correct responses, and promotes learning.

Humanistic methodologies

A crucial function of giving of assessment is to preserve and promote a positive self-image of the learner as a person and language learner. Assessment therefore should be positive or non-judgemental .

Skill theory

For successful acquisition of a skill, the learner needs feedback on how well he is doing; hence the importance the provision of constant and honest assessment .( Johnson, 1995 )

Approaches to the giving of feedback

( 2 ) The correction of mistakes

Audio-lingualism

Learner mistakes are avoided by the limiting of progress to very small , controlled steps : hence there should be little need for correction.

Cognitive code-learning

Mistakes are not regrettable , but an avoidable part of learning : they should be corrected whenever they occur to prevent them occurring again.

Inter-language

Mistakes are not regrettable, but an integral and important part of language learning; correcting them is a way of bringing the learner’s ‘ interlanguage ‘ closer to the target language ( Selinker, 1972, 1992 )

Monitor theory

Correction does not contribute to real acquisition of the language, but only the learner’s conscious ‘ monitoring ‘ of speech or writing. Hence the main activity of the teacher should be to provide comprehensible input from which a learner can acquire language, not to correct ( Krashen, 1982 )

Communicative approach

Not all mistakes need to be corrected : the main aim of language learning is to receive and convey meaningful messages, and correction should be focused on mistakes that interfere with this aim, not on in accuracies of usages.

Assessment

Most of the feedback we give our learner is ongoing correcting and assessment , directed at specific bits of learner-produced language with the aim of bringing about improvement ; the type of evaluation involved here is sometimes called ‘ formative’ , since its main purpose is to ‘ form ‘ : to enhance not to conclude , a process.

Gathering information

(1) test The most common way of gathering information for assessment is through tests .

(2) other sources

a- teacher’s assessment . The teacher gives a subjective estimate of the learner’s overall performance .

b- Continuous assessment . The final grade is some kind of combination of the grades the learner received for various assignments during the course.

c- Self-assessment. The learners themselves evaluate their own performance , using clear criteria and weighting system agreed on beforehand.

d- Portfolio. The learner gathers a collection of assignments and projects done over long period into a file ; and this portfolio provides the basis for evaluation .

Criteria

Having collected the ‘ evidence ‘ of the learners’ proficiency in one or more of the ways described above, what will be our yardstick in deciding how good it is ? the following are some of the possibilities :

1- Criterion-referenced : how well the learner is performing relative to a fixed criterion, where this is based on an estimation of what it is reasonable or desirable to demand from learners at the relevant point in their development ( age , career , level , stage of course ) .

2- Norm-referenced : how well the learner is performing relative to the group. In this case , a group of slow learners would be assessed according to different , easier norms than a group of faster ones.

3- Individual-referenced : how well the learner is performing relative to his own previous performance , or relative to an estimate of his individual ability .

Assessment grades

Percentages are probably the most common way of expressing assessment grades, but there are others :

1- Letters , words or phrases : “ A “ or “B”, “excellent”. These look a little less impersonal , less definitive than percentages; but in fact learners often ‘ read ‘ them as definitive number-type grades , exactly as they read percentages ,

2- Profiles : a totally different kind of expression of assessment , comprising a number of separate grades on different skills or sections of knowledge , so that there is a possibility of describing the performance of an individual learner in more detail , showing his various strengths and weakness .

Correcting mistakes in oral work

There are some situations where we might prefer not to correct a learner’s mistake : in fluency work , for example , when the learner is in mid-speech , and to correct would disturb and discourage more than help.

Techniques of oral correction

Oral corrections are usually provided directly by the teacher ; but they may also be elicited from the learner who made the mistake in the first place, or by another member of the class. Correction may or may not include a clarification of why the mistake was made and may or may not require re-production of the acceptable form by the learner.

How Motivated Are Your Students???

Some students seem naturally enthusiastic about learning, but many need-or expect-their teachers to inspire, challenge, and stimulate them: "Effective learning in the classroom depends on the teacher's ability ... to maintain the interest that brought students to the course in the first place" (Ericksen, 1978, p. 3). Whatever level of motivation your students bring to the classroom will be transformed, for better or worse, by what happens in that classroom. Unfortunately, there is no single magical formula for motivating students. And, of course, not all students are motivated by the same values, needs, desires, or wants. Some of your students will be motivated by the approval of others, some by overcoming challenges.

• To encourage students to become self-motivated independent learners:

• Give frequent, early, positive feedback that supports students' beliefs that they can do well.

• Ensure opportunities for students’ success by assigning tasks that are neither too easy nor too difficult.

• Help students find personal meaning and value in the material.

• Create an atmosphere that is open and positive.

• Help students feel that they are valued members of a learning community.

• Most students respond positively to a well-organized course taught by an enthusiastic instructor who has a genuine interest in students and what they learn. Thus, activities you undertake to promote learning will also enhance students' motivation.

General Strategies

• Capitalize on students' existing needs. Students learn best when incentives for learning in a classroom satisfy their own motives for enrolling in the course. Some of the needs your students may bring to the classroom are:

1. The need to learn something in order to complete a particular task or activity.

2. The need to seek new experiences.

3. The need to perfect skills.

4. The need to overcome challenges.

5. The need to become competent.

6. The need to succeed and do well.

7. The need to feel involved and to interact with other people.

Satisfying such needs is rewarding in itself, and such rewards sustain learning more effectively than do grades. Design assignments, in-class activities, and discussion questions to address these kinds of needs. (Source: McMillan and Forsyth, 1991)

• Make students active participants in learning. Students learn by doing, making, writing, designing, creating, solving. Passivity dampens students' motivation and curiosity. Pose questions. Don't tell students something when you can ask them. Encourage students to suggest approaches to a problem or to guess the results of an experiment. Use small group work.

• Incorporating Instructional Behaviors That Motivate Students

• Hold high but realistic expectations for your students.

• Help students set achievable goals for themselves.

• Tell students what they need to do to succeed in your course.

• Strengthen students' self-motivation.

• Avoid creating intense competition among students.

• Be enthusiastic about your subject.

•   Structuring the Course to Motivate Students

• Work from students' strengths and interests.

• When possible, let students have some say in choosing what will be studied.

• Increase the difficulty of the material as the semester progresses.

• Vary your teaching methods.

•   De-emphasizing Grades

• Emphasize mastery and learning rather than grades.

• Design tests that encourage the kind of learning you want students to achieve.

• Avoid using grades as threats.

•   Motivating Students by Responding to Their Work

• Give students feedback as quickly as possible.

• Reward success. Praise builds students' self-confidence, competence, and self-esteem.

• Introduce students to the good work done by their peers. Share the ideas, knowledge, and accomplishments of individual students with the class as a whole.

• Be specific when giving negative feedback.

• Avoid demeaning comments.

• Avoid giving in to students' pleas for "the answer" to homework problems.

A List of Reward Ideas

Effort has been given to provide a combination of reward ideas suited for both primary and intermediate students.

1. Sit at the teacher's desk.

2. Take care of the class animals for the day.

3. Have lunch with your favorite person.

4. Have lunch with the principal.

5. Join another class for indoor recess.

6. Have the teacher phone parents to tell them what a great kid you are.

7. Draw on the chalkboard.

8. Be first in line.

9. Do only half an assignment.

10. Choose any class job for the week.

11. Choose the music for lunch. Bring in a tape.

12. Take a tape recorder home for the night.

13. Use colored chalk.

14. Do all the class jobs for the day.

15. Invite a visitor from outside the school.

16. Get a drink whenever you want.

17. Use the pencil sharpener any time.

18. No early morning work.

19. Take a class pet home overnight.

20. Be a helper in the room with younger children.

21. Help the custodian.

22. Help the secretary.

23. Help the librarian.

24. Stay in at recess to play a game with a friend.

25. Use stamps and ink.

26. Invite a friend from another class into the room for lunch.

27. Use the teacher's chair.

28. Work in the lunchroom.

29. Take a class game home for the night.

30. Choose a book for the teacher to read to the class.

31. Move your desk to a chosen location.

32. Keep an animal on your desk--stuffed or not stuffed.

33. No homework pass.

34. Lunch with the teacher.

35. Operate the projector.

36. Use the couch or beanbag chair for the day.

37. Go to another class for lunch.

38. Use the computer.

39. Be the first to eat.

40. Use the tape recorder and tape a story.

41. Have a special sharing time to teach something to the class, set up a display etc.

42. Be leader of a class game.

43. Go to the centre or your choice during play centre time.

44. Extra centre time or extra recess.

45. Read to a younger child.

46. Read to someone else.

47. Get first pick of recess equipment.

48. Get a fun worksheet.

49. Choose a movie for the class to watch

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← Pronounce the word two or three times with your students listening.

← Show the meaning of the word through using any technique you find suitable to that word.

← Have pupils repeat the word after you ( in chorus, small groups and individuals).

← Write the word on the board and have students read & copy it.

← Ask questions to check for comprehension.

← Encourage students to use the word themselves.

SMART

Specific

Measurable

Timed

Realistic

Achievable

4

6

5

3

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Oh, dear I can read OK.. but it takes me such a long time to read in English

Ah/ So you haven't practiced your reading skills. You don't have to read every word to get the meaning. You can skim and get the gist and predict what he's going to say next.

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Multiple choice items

Multiple choice paraphrase

Simple completion (words)

Cloze test

Limited response( for beginners) "yes/no"

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Limited responses "six"

Form modification "correct'

Joining sentences Completion "question tag" Transformation

Word re-arrangement Multiple choice completion Cloze test "delete propositions, pronouns, articles ,auxiliaries "

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Reading aloud "stress & intonation"

Hearing Identification Sentence completion Multiple-choice hearing identification Sentence completion

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Dictation

Roots & affixes

Multiple choice

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Selected forms, signs, articles or advertisements

* Students are asked to read & answer comprehension questions

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Repeat sentences – recite a poem – Take one role – Answer Qs – Describe what you see – Give a summery – Improvise a story – Tell a joke – Talk about a chart, poster, drawing …..etc – Engage in real conversation – What would you say when?

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phhíüB*[pic]CJaJph#hI8™híü5?B*[pic]CJ\?aJphh`©híüB*[pic]CJaJListen & recognize- Listen & write- Listen & answer- participation- Listen & draw- Listen & do- Listen & respond- Listen & give the Arabic equivalent- Listen & answer- Listen & take notes- Listen & write a brief summary- Listen & recognize the speaker's attitude

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