Week 1

Schedule – Introductions and course overview

Icebreakers

  1. Icebreaker – Find Someone Who
  2. Analyze icebreaker: Why is this kind of activity good on the first day?
  3. Other icebreakers
  4. Get to know your professor

Remembering names

  1. Alphabetical line-up and name chain
  2. Video (*optional)
  3. Me cards
  4. Contact list
  5. Other name-remembering activities

Syllabus

  1. Website (methods I and II + books)
  2. Contact information
  3. Course description
  4. Materials
  5. Assessment criteria
  6. Semester schedule

Teaching and learning discussion

  1. What are the qualities of a good teacher?
  2. Who was the best teacher I’ve ever had? Why did this person have such an impact on me?
  3. What kind of teacher am I (or do I want to be)?
  4. What are (or will be) my strengths as a language teacher? What do I (think I) need to work on?
  5. What are(or do I think will be) the most rewarding aspects of teaching for me?
  6. What are the best ways to learn a language?
  7. What is the most effective language learning environment for me?
  8. Which English classes and activities have I enjoyed and benefitted from the most over the years? Why?

Homework – Due Week 2

Scan LT 1-4, 6 (pp.11-78, 109-121) and handwrite or type your answers on a separate sheet of paper. This is a double required reading assignment (40 points).

  1. How does Scrivener describe the act of teaching? (p.10)
  2. What is a teacher for? (pp.15-17)
  3. Why does T (teaching) not equal L (learning)? (pp.17-18)
  4. What can teachers create? (p.18)
  5. Beyond explanations, what do learners seem to need? (p.19)
  6. What is the experiential learning cycle? What impact does it have on language teaching? (pp.20-22)
  7. What kind of teacher creates conditions in which a great deal of learning is likely to take place? (p.22)
  8. How important do you think rapport is? (pp.22-23)
  9. Task 7 (p.23)
  10. In order to create an effective learning environment, what three core teacher characteristics are needed (according to American psychologist Carl Rogers)? (p.24)
  11. According to Adrian Underhill, what are three broad categories of teaching styles? (pp.25-26)
  12. What are some key hints when planning your first lessons? (pp.34-35)
  13. What are some key hints when teaching your first lessons (pp.35-37)
  14. What are some key hints for starting to teach better? (p.37)
  15. What is an activity or task? What are some examples of these? (p.41)
  16. To make sure that students are genuinely engaged, what must teachers do? (p.41)
  17. What is a complete lesson? (p.41)
  18. What are some options for teachers when using coursebook material (arrangements and running an activity)? (pp.42-43)
  19. What are the six steps of the activity route map? (pp.44-46)
  20. What is the general rule about planning? (p.109)
  21. What are some general areas to think about when planning? + Task 63 (pp.109-110)
  22. What are important considerations for a lesson plan? (pp.110-111)
  23. What is a key test to see whether your lesson plan is okay or not? (p.121)
  24. What are some learner differences? Why do we need to consider these (especially in terms of motivation)? (p.63)
  25. What are multiple intelligences? Why are these important?(p.64)
  26. What are some common level structures in schools? (p.66)What accounts for mixed-level classes? (pp.67-68) What is an important conclusion about level? (p.69)
  27. Task 37-38 (pp.69-71)
  28. Task 39 (pp.72-74)
  29. What is teaching primarily an act of? What do unsuccessful teachers do? (p.74)
  30. Why is it hard to tune in? (p.75)
  31. Why do some teachers avoid feedback? (pp.75-76)
  32. What are some starting points for getting useful feedback? (p.77)

Week 2

Schedule – Classrooms at work/Starting out/Classroom activities/Who are the learners?/Planning lessons [LT 1-4, 6]

  1. Discuss LT 1-4, 6 homework questions
  2. Activity route map practice

 Before the lesson

 Lead-in/Prepare

 Set up the activity

 Run the activity

 Close the activity

 Post activity

Homework – Due Week 3

Read LT 7 (pp.146-169) and handwrite or type your answers on a separate sheet of paper. This is a single required reading assignment (20 points).

  1. What are some ways to organize a regular discussion lesson or conversation class? (pp.146-147)
  2. What is needed for a good discussion to happen? (p.149)
  3. What are four common groupings for discussions? (p.149)
  4. What are a few ways to get a good discussion going? (pp.150-151)
  5. What is an information gap? (p.152)
  6. What is the aim of a communicative activity in class? (p.152)
  7. What are some common communicative activities? (pp.153-155)
  8. How do you organize learners in speaking tasks? (p.155)
  9. What are two benefits of role-play cards? (p.156)
  10. What are some role-play guidelines? (p.158)
  11. What is the difference between role-play and real-play? (p.158)
  12. What is a simulation? (p.159)
  13. What are some ideas for correction work after a fluency activity? (pp.161-162)
  14. What does scaffolding mean? (p.162)
  15. What are some scaffolding techniques? (p.162)
  16. What is a genre? Why is it important? (pp.163-166)

Week 3

Schedule – Speaking 1 [LT 7]

  1. Teaching speaking overview (PPT)
  2. Discuss LT 7 homework questions
  3. Activities

Controlled conversations – Focus on speaking strategies (“Conversation Strategies” and “Discussion Strategies”)

Information gaps – Complete a task by obtaining missing information – e.g. filling the gaps in a schedule > similar but with different missing details; features of grammar and vocabulary that are practiced are determined by the content of the pictures and the items that are missing or different (can/can’t and does/doesn’t)

Jigsaws – More elaborate information gap activities that can be done with several partners; each partner has one or a few pieces of the "puzzle," and the partners must cooperate to fit all the pieces into a whole picture – e.g. a comic strip, photos from a set that tell a story, sentences from a written narrative, or a tape recording of a conversation (comic strip)

*With information gap and jigsaw activities, teachers need to be conscious of the language demands they place on their students. If an activity calls for language your students have not already practiced, you can brainstorm with them when setting up the activity to preview the language they will need, eliciting what they already know and supplementing what they are able to produce themselves.

Scripted dialogues and drama – 1st time perform at regular speed, 2nd time perform in slow-motion – hand gestures, facial expressions, body movements, and speech > helps students focus on their pronunciation, and 3rd time perform at high speed > boosts fluency and confidence (A Three-Act Play)

Logic puzzles – Tasks involving negotiation to solve something; gets students to repeat and review facts, restate them, paraphrase to check for understanding, ask questions, and make negative statements (What’s the explanation)

Picture-based activities (“Lexicarry” – for questions below + LT 334-336 and MSNBC’s Week in Pictures)

  1. Describe the pictures. What is happening (present continuous)?
  2. What happened (simple past)?
  3. What will happen (future)?
  4. Add descriptions with adjectives and adverbs (any tense).
  5. Use alternative words and expressions.
  6. Make questions and negative statements.
  7. Personalize it (communicative): What time do you usually go to bed? What do you usually do before you go to bed? Is it easy for you to fall asleep? Do you usually snore? What was the best or strangest dream you’ve ever had? When was the last time you had a nightmare? Have you ever walked in your sleep?Have you ever suffered from insomnia?

Role plays (“Conversation Inspirations”)

Ways:

Pair or group work practice

Monitor for mistakes (e.g. grammar, lexis, pronunciation, etc.)

Prepare, rehearse and perform

Hot seats (improvise in the moment)

Tips:

Prepare carefully: Introduce activity by describing the situation and making sure that all students understand it

Set a goal or outcome: Be sure the students understand what the product of the role play should be.

Demonstrate: Model with a student to be explicit about what is expected of everyone.

Brainstorm: Before you start the role play, have students brainstorm as a class to predict what vocabulary, grammar, and idiomatic expressions they might use.

Give students time to prepare: Let them work individually to outline their ideas and the language they will need.

Be present as a resource, not a monitor: Stay in communicative mode to answer students' questions; do not correct their pronunciation or grammar unless they specifically ask you about it.

Allow students to work at their own levels: Each student has individual language skills, an individual approach to working in groups, and a specific role to play in the activity.

Do topical follow-up: Have students report to the class on the outcome of their role plays.

Do linguistic follow-up: After the role play is over, give feedback on grammar or pronunciation problems you heard.

Storytelling (Storytelling with pictures)

Stories:

Are motivating and interesting

Can promote communication

Provides a context to hold students’ attention

Are an enormous language and cultural treasure trove

Help create a lively atmosphere and real life environment that encourages students to talk and discuss with each other; they will be so engrossed with the plot and individual scenes that they will tend to forget about themselves and consequently relieve any anxiety they might have, thus becoming more confident to express themselves spontaneously and creatively

Surveys (What’s your opinion?)

How to:

  1. Introduce surveys by going over an example (show how to construct and implement one).
  2. Either design or have your students design a survey based on things everyone seems to have an opinion about.
  3. Either pre-teach useful lexis or provide lexis assistance as students are creating their survey.
  4. Read over the surveys before starting to help with pronunciation and clarify any necessary details.
  5. Have the students respond to the survey first (for comparison with their classmates later).
  6. Have students mingle and survey classmates.
  7. Tabulate and present results.
  8. Extend with a discussion about interesting things that came up while doing the survey.

Conversation questions (Question Box – sentence strips/rotate partners > inner/outer circle)

Sources:

Tips:

Prepare the students: Give them input (both topical information and language forms) so that they will have something to say and the language with which to say it.

Offer choices: Let students suggest the topic for discussion or choose from several options. Discussion does not always have to be about serious issues. Students are likely to be more motivated to participate if the topic is television programs, plans for a vacation, news about mutual friends, etc.. Weighty topics like how to combat pollution are not as engaging and place heavy demands on students' linguistic competence.

Set a goal or outcome: This can be a group product, such as a letter to the editor, or individual reports on the views of others in the group.

Use small groups instead of whole-class discussion: Large groups can make participation difficult.

Keep it short: Give students a defined period of timefor discussion (e.g. 10 minutes). Allow them to stop sooner if they run out of things to say.

Allow students to participate in their own way: Not every student will feel comfortable talking about every topic; do not expect all of them to contribute equally to the conversation.

Do topical follow-up: Have students report to the class on the results of their discussion.

Do linguistic follow-up: After the discussion is over, give feedback on grammar or pronunciation problems you have heard.

Week 4

Schedule – Speaking 2

  1. Activities

Fillers (“Five-Minute Activities”)

You may sometimes need:

  1. A quick warm-up for the beginning of your lesson to get students into the right mood for learning
  2. An idea for a brief vocabulary review before starting a new text
  3. A light filler to provide relief after a period of intense effort and concentration
  4. A brief orientation activity to prepare a change of mood or topic
  5. A game or amusing item to round off the lesson with a smile

Activities:

Controversial statements

General knowledge

How many things can you think of that . . . ?

It was the way she said it

Sentence starters

Pyramid discussions – A speaking activity where learners form progressively larger groups (1 > 2 > 4 > 8 > 16 . . .) as they carry out a speaking task, which normally requires each grouping to reach agreement before joining another group.

(Men and women can’t be just friends.)

Simulations (The Bomb Shelter)

Benefits:

  1. Provide a way of creating a rich communicative environment (a representation of reality) where students actively become a part of some real-world system and function according to predetermined roles as members of that group.
  2. Increase student (and teacher) motivation.
  3. Dismantle the normal teacher-student relationship so that students take control of their own destiny within the simulation, leading towards "declassrooming" the classroom.
  4. Help the learner confront and identify with the target culture.
  5. Reduce anxiety levels.
  6. Allow teachers to monitor the participants’ progress unobtrusively.

Debates (procedure, tips, topics, lexis)

Debate is an excellent activity for language learning because it engages students in a variety of cognitive and linguistic ways. In addition to providing meaningful speaking practice, debate is also highly effective for developing argumentation skills for persuasive speech. Moreover, debate is an important educational tool for learning analytic thinking skills and for forcing self-conscious reflection on the validity of one's ideas.

Presentations (basic elements, how to – and personal experience/most embarrassing moment)

Benefits:

Provide a forum in which to speak about a topic of interest

Assists students to speak on a topic with a beginning, middle and ending

Gives students an opportunity to listen to others besides the teacher, and to different accents and speech styles

Provides opportunities for learning how to use teaching aids and modern technology such as PowerPoint

Forces students to find creative ways to attract an audience

Helps build self-confidence while speaking in a new language

Ideas for short presentations:

Hand out magazine pictures. The teacher can pre-cut a selection of interesting ones to suit the age and ability of the students. Students have 5-10 minutes to prepare to speak about the pictures, and then give the presentation.

For homework, students look up information about a given topic (e.g. a famous person, strange animal, man-made wonders of the world, etc.). In the lesson, each student speaks formally about his or her topic.

Summary of a news item. As a homework assignment, students have to read a news article either in a newspaper or on the Internet. The assignment is for speakers to tell the class about the news article.

Running dictation

Homework – Due Week 5

Read LT 13 (pp.284-297) and handwrite or type your answers on a separate sheet of paper. This is a single required reading assignment (20 points).

  1. What are some pronunciation ideas for teachers? (pp.284-285)
  2. What are some starting points for teaching pronunciation? (p.286)
  3. What are phonemes? (p.287)
  4. What are some well-known games that are helpful for familiarizing students with phonemic symbols? (p.288)
  5. What are some general ideas for working with phonemes? (pp.288-289)
  6. Why is word stress important? (p.289)
  7. What is prominence? Tone units? Tonic syllable/nucleus? (p.290)
  8. What does stress typically mark out? (p.291)
  9. What are some ways of demonstrating patterns of prominence? (p.291)
  10. What is the schwa? (p.292)
  11. What are some awareness-raising and practice ideas for the schwa? (pp.292-293)
  12. What is intonation? Why is it important? (p.295)
  13. What are some ideas for working on intonation? (pp.295-296)

Week 5

Schedule – Pronunciation[LT 13]

  1. Teaching pronunciation overview (PPT)
  2. Discuss LT 13 homework questions
  3. Pronunciation books and activities

“Pronunciation Games”

Making tracks (counting syllables)

Cluster Busters (consonant clusters and syllables)

Stress Dice (stress patterns in adjectives)

Pronunciation journey (minimal pairs)

“Pronunciation Practice Activities”

Hearing and saying differences between vowels and between consonants: minimal pairs

“Basics in Pronunciation” and “Focus on Pronunciation”

Vowel contrasts

Consonant contrasts

Rising and falling intonation

Tag questions

  1. Activity route map

Review (1 Before the lesson > 2 Lead-in/Prepare > 3 Set up > 4 Run > Close > 6 Post activity)

Student examples (x4)

Class exercise (e.g. job interviews)

Homework assignment

Homework 1 – Due Week 6

Create (not copy from any source) one speaking activity – 30-60 minutes long – that a teacher could use in a classroom without any additional explanation from you. It can include any of the other three skills, but speaking has to be the primary focus. To do this, download the “activity form” ( – “methods I and II”) and use Arial 9-point font to type in your detailed information and instructions. You are limited to one page (no attachments), so also be simple, clear, and concise. Follow the student examples, and check these books for ideas and inspiration:

“Conversation” by Rob Nolasco (Oxford)

“New Ways in Teaching Speaking” by Kathleen M. Bailey and Lance Savage, Editors (TESOL)

“Keep Talking” by Friederike Klippel (Oxford)

“Conversation Starters” by Sue Fenton (Madame Fifi)

“Zero Prep for Beginners” (Chapter 2) by Laurel Pollard, Natalie Hess and Jan Herron (Alta Book Center Publishers)

“Zero Prep” (Chapter 3) by Laurel Pollard and Natalie Hess (Alta Book Center Publishers)

Homework 2 – Due Week 6

Read LT 9 (pp.192-205) and handwrite or type your answers on a separate sheet of paper. This is a single required reading assignment (20 points).

  1. Writing work in the classroom falls on a continuum of how much restriction, help and control is offered. What are the 5 methods that comprise this continuum? (p.193)
  2. How can a student learn to become a better writer? How can teachers help in this process? (p.194)
  3. What is a typical route for classroom work on helping students to write? (pp.194-195)
  4. What are some examples of (authentic) real-world writing tasks? (p.196)
  5. What are some ways to generate ideas for writing? (pp.197-199)
  6. What are some ideas for helping writing? (pp.199-200)
  7. What are two things to keep in mind when responding to writing? (pp.200-201)
  8. What are some variations on traditional teacher marking? (pp.202-203)
  9. How much teacher feedback on written work would you ideally like to have? Would you prefer correction symbols (which encourage you to self-correct) or would you like the teacher to correct all of your errors for you? (*opinion)

Week 6