UNIT 18: ASSESSMENT TYPES AND TASKS

This unit taught me that assessment means judging learners’ performance by collecting information about it. Learners are assessed for different reasons and for using different methods to do so. A teacher can use formal and informal assessment. The first one has to do when a teacher assess learners through tests and exams and give them a grade. The second one has to do with when we observe learners to see how well they are doing something and then often give them comments o their performance.

I also learned that there are several reasons why a teacher might want to assess learners formally such as giving them a diagnostic test to find out what they know and don’t know. Also by giving them placement tests to know in what level they are at. It’s based on a syllabus which is formed by many things like a coursebook, etc.

I will implement this topic on my future teachings by recognizing it’s very important for tests to have a good influence on teaching and learning. I will reflect on the level of learners and the content of tasks, because it should reflect on what I will teach. I will finally feedback to learners on what they got right or wrong, their strengths and weaknesses and what they can improve, because through feedback assessment helps learning.

Extra information on web resources you can visit:

• Brown, G (2001) Assessment, A guide to lecturers. Retrieved from: http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/ftp/Resources/gc/assess03Lecturers.pdf

• Reference: Stiggins, R. (2005). Student-involved assessment for learning. Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Prentice Hall. Retrieved from: http://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/teaching-and-learning/assessment/types-assessment

UNIT 17: PRACTICE ACTIVITIES AND TASKS FOR LANGUAGE AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

I have been wondering what activities I can use to develop the learners’ skills and now thanks to this unit I know which ones I can use. I learned that that kind of tasks and activities are designed to give learners opportunities to practice and extend their use of language. It can include functional exponents and grammatical structures, or some reading, listening, writing and speaking subskills. I also learned that there are many different kinds of activities and tasks with different names and uses.

I also learned that activities divide into categories and has different focus and purpose. For example: On the one hand, controlled activities give students repeated practice in accuracy and the form of language and allow them to make few mistakes. On the other hand, free activities allow students to use whatever language they wish in order to complete a task. However between controlled and free activities are freer activities in which the teacher can predict some extent what language the students will need to use.

One of the ways I will implement this on future teachings is by deciding which activity learners will do for practicing or for developing language. I will focus in students’ needs to make a choice. I will also decide which skill or subskill will the lesson be focused on taking into account again the students’ needs and preferences. I will also use a great variety of activities to keep lessons more interesting and motivating.

Some extra web sources that you can visit:

• Learning and teaching (2010) Development activities. Retrieved from : http://www.bath.ac.uk/learningandteaching/rdu/tna/developmentactivities.pdf

• Arshad, N (2013) Class activities for developing speaking skills . Retrieved from: http://es.slideshare.net/nourinarshad/class-activities-for-developing-speaking-skills

UNIT 16: PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES AND INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITIES

The first impression not always is the most important, but is the one that will give learners an idea of how it will work and the teacher’s methodology and also what a lesson will be about. That’s why a teacher needs to be ready for giving a good introduction to a topic for the first time and get learners’ attention.

This unit emphasizes what I just wrote before. On the one hand there are presentation techniques, which are the ways used by a teacher to present or introduce new language such as vocabulary, grammatical structures and pronunciation for the first time. On the other hand there are introductory activities, which are those, used by a teacher to introduce a lesson or teaching topic.

The introductory stage of a lesson helps students to focus on the lesson and its content. There are two kinds of introductory activities: The first are known as warmers and are often used to raise students’ energy levels or to make them feel comfortable with the class right before it starts. They are not always connected to the topic of the lesson. The second are called lead-ins and are used to focus on the topics or new language of the lesson. They can also focus and motivate students and make link between the topic of the lesson and the students’ personalization.  

I also learned that the presentation stages (Presentation, practice and production PPP lesson and the Task-based learning TBL lesson) also must include introductory activities.

One of the ways I will include this on my future teachings will be according to the presentation stage. For example: for PPP lessons I will have an aim for it. I will also contextualize the new language, I mean; I will put it in situation that reflects its meaning. 

I will also apply eliciting or do a choral drill to make sure students remember previously studied language needed to practice and make sure students do less controlled and free practice, among other things I can do. For the TBL lessons I will have a complete task as the aim of it. I mean an activity in which students try to achieve something real and have to communicate to do it. I will start the class by proposing a discussion on the topic of the lesson followed by some tasks they can do. I will also explain some possible vocabulary or language needed to complete those tasks and they will do the exercises based on that new language.

For more details about the topic, visit the below links:

• Williams, M. (2011) Presentation techniques and introductory activities. Retrieved from:        http://teachingknowledge.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/pppytbl.pdf

• LANGUAGE LINK (1997) Presentation techniques, approaches and introductory activities. Retrieved from: http://jobs.languagelink.ru/tefl_clinic/teaching_knowledge/glossary/presentation_techniques_approaches_and_introductory_activities.php

• Ayara, E, E. (20013) What are the presentation techniques and introductory activities? Retrieved from: https://prezi.com/favx3bysftea/what-are-presentation-techniques-and-introductory-activities/

UNIT 15: APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE TEACHING

Methods and approaches are a very big and sometimes complex topic to discuss. In this unit the terms ‘approaches’ and ‘methods’ will be used interchangeably as they are in the TKT to refer to views of language and language learning. That’s why this unit focuses on approaches to language teaching. However, what it exactly mean? Well, an approach to language teaching refers to how we see language and how we see language takes place. For example we might think language is a set of grammatical structures and rules and that it occurs by learning those rules and using them on real-life situations. An approach also refers to the ways or methods or teaching that a teacher use in the classroom and that are based on these views.

I also learned that some people who support communicative approaches believe that language is a tool to communicate meaning and that we learn language best by using it in communicative activities that focus on fluency, as it’s the case of speaking.

I also learned some aspects of the Structural approach. One of them says that language is a system of structures used to communicate meaning. Also that language is learnt through controlled practices and choral drills of simpler structures more than complicated ones. Furthermore, oral skills are learnt before written skills. In contrast, TBL approach says that language is a tool for communicating meaning through use of functions, vocabulary, structures and discourse. Also it says that language is learnt by using it, by being exposed to it. It finally describes that classroom activities are based around a series of problem-solving tasks that need to be solved through communication.

I will apply this on my future teachings by being aware that there are not good or bad approaches. The best approach to use depends on who my learners will be and which will be my teaching conditions. I will take into account learners’ age as well as their level of English, expectations of learning, previous learning experience and motivation to learn. I will also try not to change my methods and approaches so often to avoid students get confused and begin to think I’m not very sure of my teaching style.

You can visit these additional web resources that contain more information:

• Richards C, J. Rodgers S, T. (2001) Approaches and Methods in language teaching: Second Edition. Cambridge University Press.

• Richards C, J. Rodgers S, T. (1986) Language teaching methodologies. Retrieved from: http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/method.htm

• Richards C, J. Rodgers S, T. [wwwGVPconz]. (2014, May 28). Jack C. Richards - Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlVZpcan7q0

UNIT 14: LEARNER NEEDS

Some teachers think the only thing learners need to do is to learn, but they need more than just knowledge.  This unit basically talks about when learning a foreign language; a learner has various kinds of needs (most of the time personal needs, learning needs and future professional needs) that may influence on their learning. It’s the role of the teacher to find out those needs.

One of the personal needs that a learner may have can come from gender, age, cultural background, motivation (a very important factor on the learning process). A learning need can come from the learning styles, past learning experiences, learner autonomy, availability of time, learning goals and expectations for the course.

As a conclusion we can infer from this unit that learners have different needs. It means that they need to be taught in different ways and learn different things as well.

NOTE: You can see again unit 9 for MOTIVATION and unit 13 for THE EFFECTS OF LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS.

One of the ways I will implement this in class is by first taking some of the class hours to talk friendly with learners and talk about their needs. Since learners at primary or secondary school may not yet have professional or academic needs, they will have personal and learning needs in English; I will focus on those needs and give them the necessary resources to help them on their learning process.

I will also try to meet some other necessities through choosing suitable materials, topics, pace, skills, interaction patterns and different types of feedback in the case of personal needs. For learning needs I will choose among learning strategies, activities, approaches to teaching, etc.

Some websites you can check for more details:

• Beetham, H. (2010) Learner needs V1. Retrieved from http://es.slideshare.net/hbeetham/learner-needs-v1

• Minderhout, V. (2005) Identifying Learners needs. Retrieved from: http://www.pcrest3.com/fgb/efgb4/3/3_2_6.htm

UNIT 13: LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS

As every single teacher in the world should know, learners are the base of the teaching-learning process. However what characteristics do they have that make them the main part of education? Well, what I learned on this unit was basically that. Learners’ characteristics differ from learners which influence their attitude to learn a language and the way they do it. Those differences include many factors like motivation, personality, language level, learning styles and strategies, even age and the way they learned English in the past. Also they have to do with the way of learners’ respond to different teaching styles, methods and approaches used by the teacher and how successful they are on learning a language.

Furthermore, the ways in which a learner likes to learn, how he have learnt in the past and his age influence a lot on how he prefers to learn a language, but how it occurs?. We all know that learning styles are the ways a leaner picks up, processes and remembers information and skills. On the one hand, each one of us has a different learning style and it influences on how we like to learn and how we learn best. That’s why experts have suggested several kinds of learning styles such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc. (See the link below for more learning styles information).

On the other hand, learning strategies are the ways chosen and used by the learner in order to learn language. They help a learner identify what he needs to learn, process new language and also join others to learn. This can help us learn a language better and make us more autonomous learners. Paraphrasing (Using other language to say what you want to say) is an example of it. Different learners use different strategies and most of experts think that it mostly depends on their personalities and learning styles. It means that there are not good or bad strategies. Something that also has influence on it is maturity, which has to do with growing up physically, mentally and emotionally. Children, teenagers and adults have different levels of maturity and then learn in different ways.

There are several ways in which I can apply this on future teachings, but personally I will be aware that learners are all different and also are in different levels. I will find out my learners’ characteristics by observing them, giving them questionnaires, asking them whether they like the class methodology and activities or not and why. I will also implement different learning strategies and train them to use as much as they can handle because as a teacher I shouldn’t and won’t limit my students to think they can only learn in a particular way. I will also try to vary my teaching method so that learners can match their own learning style and choose the learning strategy they are going to use.

For more information visit these links:

• Felder, M, R. (2012) Learning styles and strategies. Retrieved from:  http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

• Oxford, L, Rebecca. (2003) Language learning and strategies: An overview. Oxford. Retrieved from: http://web.ntpu.edu.tw/~language/workshop/read2.pdf

• Sabramowicz, A. [Anna Sabramowicz]. (2011, August 29). Learners characteristics: Emulated Socrates to Enrich a Lifelong learner [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQdMxq1FHps

UNIT 12: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN L1 AND L2 LEARNING

Many people, both learners and teachers, have wondered during long times which are the differences between learning L1 and L2, because when we learn in L1 (first language) we tend to learn and understand contexts in a different way than in L2 (Second language) also taking into account the age each of us have, which also influence on it.

I already knew that age is a decisive factor in language learning, however it was interesting and useful to know that the ways of learning and the contexts a learner actually learns in also have impact. Talking about age, in L1 it occurs since the learner is a baby as he is exposed to what will be his mother tongue and develop his cognitive skills at the same time, is also present in childhood and finally in adolescence for some kind of language skill like writing in an academic and logical way, because they are motivated to learn as they need to communicate with their families, friends, teachers, etc. Whereas in L2, it usually starts on the firsts years of school or highschool and could be also present in adulthood. Furthermore, by the time a learner learns L2 he has already developed most of his cognitive skills and is mature enough to at least produce at least a little L2 language.

L1 is also learned by exposure, interaction and picking it up as we grow up, while in L2 exposure and interaction not always completely work and some specific language items need to be taught as well as motivation needs to be implanted in learners if required. Also in L1 a learner is rarely corrected by others and most of the time people tend to reformulate some ideas, whereas in L2 teachers often correct learners, sometimes they don’t do it accurately.

One of the ways I will implement this on my future teachings will have to do with what age learners are. For young learners I will use exposure and interaction, which will provide them many benefits. If learners are older or adults, I will use the focus on form (form of the language) technique with more abstract ways along with interaction and some exposure.

Some extra information available on the following web sites:

• Cook, V. (2009) First and second language acquisition. Retrieved from:

• Perren, G, E. (2010) The Mother Tongue and Other Languages in Education.

• V.Cook (2000) Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition: One Person with Two Languages.