Teaching the Language System - Grammar and Vocabulary

Wrap up:

• Learnt how to incorporate learning strategies for students for both grammar and vocabulary. Discovered how the two are linked and their important roles in learning English. As a strategy I liked the use of student vocabulary journals in which they are taking an active part of their learning process. 
• Learnt repetition and practice is key to automisation but lesson plans should be taught in context and not to teach grammar points in isolation. Appreciated the lesson plan checklist, helped with keeping a communicative approach to teaching grammar. Learnt that it is during the focused practice phase that you can interrupt students and correct them for accuracy and to keep the communicative phase fluid.
• Surprised me that explicitly teaching grammar rules speeds up the learning acquisition and that accuracy when using a language is also very important to being intelligible during communication.
• Surprised when creating a "schemata" for a single word on how it branched out to so many meanings and associations of that one word. It put into perspective the complexity of teaching vocabulary.
• Struggling with the inductive approach to teaching grammar and putting it into practice. Need more work on how to provide opportunities for meaningful communication through which students can discover the rule.
• I am still struggling with the grammar itself and not being comfortable with the contents of the material. 

Teaching the Language System - Grammar & Vocabulary

Module 5: Ways of Presenting Grammar

As a new teacher I would be more inclined to teach grammar deductively. I believe this strategy would be best considering my low comfort level with grammar rules. I might know instinctively how to write or speak grammatically correct texts and phrases. However teaching grammar principles would require on my part more familiarity with the rules and vocabulary of grammar to become a content expert for the students. If using an inductive approach I feel because of lack of experience I could get confused in guiding learners to achieve an accurate formulation of the rule.

One of the advantages of a deductive approach is it gets straight to the point. This appeals to my preferred teaching style since I'm not big on lectures. I prefer to keep my explanations clear and concise and then have lots of practice time for the students. I do believe adult learners need to perform the task in order to learn rather than listen to an instructor go on and on. One of the reasons I would hesitate to choose teaching grammar inductively is because of the time taken to work out a rule takes away from practicing communication skills.

I can understand if teaching only with the "chalk-and-talk" approach as cited by S. Thornbury lesson plans can become dull and boring. This type of approach might not appeal to everyone's learning style either, for example as in young students. How can I encourage myself to be more comfortable with the inductive strategy? I myself am a visual learner. S. Thornbury's sample lesson of teaching the present simple using realia (Beginners) appealed to my senses. I like the idea of using objects and keeping students interests high by using detective work as the activity. This seems like a fun activity, which focuses on the meaning rather than the form of the rule making it less dry as a lesson. When trying a new approach I would like to get feedback from the learners and act accordingly to their opinions on how the lesson went. Learning from experience and building confidence I would like to plan lessons using a generative situation. I like that this type of presentation offers a wide variety of visual media. If you don't have diversity in your lesson plans you risk tuning people out and you might even get bored by not challenging yourself from time to time. 

Teaching the Language System - Grammar and Vocabulary

Day of the Girl - Toronto Oct. 11

"If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls." 
Creg Mortenson, 
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . .   One School at a Time

Module 4: Developing a Grammar Lesson

I believe when there are clear goals established in your lesson plan it creates a path to learning that flows. When the objectives are focused on what adult students need and want they are more engaged in the process. It is very important to know students' backgrounds, prior learning and reasons for wanting to learn a second language because it determines the context you use in planning lessons. Participants appreciate when goals are introduced at the beginning of the lesson plan. When both teacher and students are heading towards the same goals learning becomes a joint effort. For adults the lesson plan activities need to be relevant and authentic to hold meaning for them. Students want to transfer their learnt skills and be able to communicate with others in the real world. 

As a new teacher in grammar I would use a lesson plan checklist to conduct a grammar lesson that flowed. I find a plan would be a better way for me to go instead of facilitating a project then finding the teachable moments for grammar points. My knowledge of grammar isn't high enough to go that route. I liked the format: Background Information - Presentation Phase - Focused Practice - Communicative Practice. I found there were several activities for learners to practice the language both in a structured-focused and communicative-focused methods. I like the way the form precedes the function giving students a base to build from. With this plan there is a variation of activities which keeps the interests of your participants. By applying different learning styles and by using a variety of single, pair and group work you are bound to involve your students and their preferred method of learning. You may even introduce learners to new ways  of learning communication skills, which they might appreciate instead of only the grammar translation method.

I find immediate feedback valuable but you must consider the timing. I think the most practicable time is during the Focused Practice phase. First you don't want students to carry over repeated mistakes into the next phase. Fellow students can be part of feedback during this phase and correct each other. During the communicative phase I don't believe feedback should be given during the activity. When you interrupt to give feedback you are interrupting the flow of the activity and learning. Since the goal is for the use of communicative language at this stage it seems counterproductive and maybe even discouraging for the participants. When I instruct safety training and we are at the final activity of role plays during emergency response procedures, I never interrupt the flow of their role plays. I wait until they are finished and then we begin feedback. I begin with the person giving themselves feedback, the group and lastly myself if I need to clarify any points. I don't know what a person is thinking while they are problem solving and acting in their emergency situation. I don't want to interrupt their train of thought while they reach for their goal. In language class I would give general feedback at the end of the activity as a group and not target any one individual at this stage.

I think an activity becomes "autotelic" when the students are stimulated and the activities challenge their skill level. The teacher needs to know the skill level of students to arouse their interests but not so high as to frustrate learners. That is why I like the lesson plan checklist since students' backgrounds are the first on the list. This information would be acquired during a needs assessment for the course.

Teaching Grammar and Vocabulary

Module 2: Why do we teach grammar?

"A student in your class approaches you and tells you she is very bored with the grammar lessons, and that she feels she can learn English without learning grammar separately. What would you tell her?"
I would tell her that it very important to be accurate as well as fluent in speaking and writing a language to have meaningful communication whether for academic advancement, work, or social interactions. Betty Azar "Goal - Create an inter-language that is increasingly fluent and accurate in the use of English structure in meaningful communication" The Naturalist Movement, Krashen (1982) believed grammar would be learnt naturally from meaningful interactions in the classroom. Research has showed that when grammar is included in the program students show accelerated learning and substantial gains in usage ability. The written example Betty Azar gave of a University student was quite astounding. There were so many fossilised mistakes in the text it was even hard to believe they had passed high school. For this reason grammar has returned into the curriculum and communicative methods can be integrated into grammar based teaching. I would say to the bored students that the solution is not to eliminate grammar but to find a more interesting methodology in teaching it to keep their interests high.
     In preparing lesson plans and activities I would do things differently depending on the group of students. I would consider perhaps the age of the students in the class and also consider different learning styles. Hedge 5.2.2 Reasoning and hypothesising "Adult learners in particular tend to use their capacity to analyse a new language." I think adult learners like to learn the rules and figure out the patterns in a language and compare it with the L1. Also by having explicit grammar knowledge learners can monitor and check their language. Perhaps younger learners would find all this analysis boring. In both cases I believe a communicative approach is a better way to teach rules and structure especially with students who find it boring.  I think it would be fun to have activities where the class is moving as in blackboard races for kinesthetic learning styles. I would tell my bored student there is value in learning grammar and we can work on the approach to make it more interesting for them.

Thinking About Theory

• My views of language learning and teaching changed after the module: Comparing Language Teaching Methods. My own experience of 2nd language learning was grammar translation and audiolingualism approach without very desirable interest or results. I was introduced to a variety of methods throughout history each with strengths and weaknesses. I learnt not to discount some approaches because of my past experience but think creatively and consider drill activities fun when used in songs. When defining communicative competence I learnt about form and function and that language knowledge comprised both organisational knowledge and pragmatic knowledge. Bachman and Palmer

•  I found the most interesting was the module on Communicative Classrooms. I liked the idea that language in the classroom should be as real as possible and unpredictable. I prefer the idea of using pair and group work in cooperative learning activities. The advantage is that students interact (talk) more amongst themselves than teacher-led activities. I found the information-gap activities great for authentic language use, unpredictability in communication and enjoyable. I did learn that there still should be a balance between fluency and accuracy with communicative activities. A disadvantage to the communicative approach surprisingly comes from the students themselves.  They dislike this approach mainly because of sociocultural or past educational experiences and do not feel inclined or equipped to work in groups. Their preference is teacher-led activities.

• I was surprised to learn of strategic competence and that it was also teachable. I found it interesting that you can teach students how to use strategies such as paraphrase, guessing, repetition, avoidance of words when there is a breakdown in communication. I liked that strategic competence included non-cognitive aspects to learning such as self confidence and risk taking.

• To continue on my learning journey my next step is grammar. Professionally I would like to develop language vocabulary and activities towards Business English. I think teaching with the Communicative Approach would be a good fit in the business world. 

Thoughts on Language Learning & Teaching

Thinking about Theory: Communicative Classrooms

Communicative Classrooms: "Guide at the side"

Thinking about Theory

    Key characteristics of communicative activities are that language should be real, spontaneous, focus on meaning not form, and be interactive.
    Authenticity in the classroom is important for students to be able to transfer their knowledge and skills to real life situations. Learning slang, gambits, idioms, catchphrases, and social formulas to help discourse competence.
    Example of an information-gap activity for speaking/listening:  Two handouts of same map but Student A has different locations to describe than student B. Take turns in asking and giving directions.
    In task based learning language production starts immediately, students engage in meaningful communication and develop strategic competence. At the end of activity structured elements are addressed and practiced.
    Pros & Cons: Balance of form-focused and meaning-focused activities is necessary to develop communicative competence. Authentic language might overwhelm students at beginner level. Teacher must equip students with sufficient skills or revise the task to make it manageable. In communicative classroom management teacher guides students with pair and group work.


   

Understanding Language Skills: Learning Objectives

Learning objectives role are to keep focus on specific goals and are made to keep courses accountable to both the students and institutions funding the programs. Learning objectives can be modified when performing ongoing formative assessments throughout the course. These assessments can provide essential information on a student's strengths and needs. This data can alter the learning objectives or confirm that they are meeting the goals of the learners.
Teaching attempts to transform learners by students Knowing new things, demonstrate and apply new Skills, and maintain and develop positive Affect towards themselves and learning. B. Bloom identified 3 domains: cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills when planning educational objectives. Most common focus is on the cognitive domain: what students know and are able to do. Learning objectives can also address cultural issues and values which fall into the affective realm.
S.M.A.R.T. method used to develop learning objectives. Specific: accurately describe purpose Measurable: solid evidence that objectives are achieved Achievable: good match between what's intended and what's possible, consider students skills & knowledge, consider resources - space, equipment, staff... Relevant: real purpose Timely: achieved in available time.
B. Bloom use of measurable verbs to help describe and classify observable knowledge, skills, attitude, behaviour and abilities. Knowledge - Name, Comprehension - Discuss, Application - Demonstrate
Critical Thinking Analysis - Debate, Synthesis - Design, Evaluation - Assess.