ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook

Report prepared by:

Languages International
 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Classroom dynamics: unit 1 a)

Have you taught groups that sometimes don’t gel? Do you feel that the way
students get on in class is important? This lesson looks at the way classroom
dynamics create a good learning environment and enhance opportunities for
learning. It looks at what helps create good dynamics and the reasons for that.

Task 1 – Sonya’s least favourite class

Sonya: I’m teaching a class at the moment that I really am not very fond of. As a group I find
them very cold – almost to the point of being hostile. At the beginning of the course, I went
out of my way to be nice to them, but they just didn’t react, and it’s just gone from bad to
worse. I can’t wait for this term to end so I can be free of them.

Question: Is this just a personality problem? Why (not)? Jot down your
thoughts on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
There may be a personality problem here. However, Sonya’s comment about
being nice to the students suggests that this is all she did. Some student groups
do contain difficult personality mixes and simply being nice to students (while
very important!) is not enough to ensure a good group dynamic.

Key Skill
Teachers sometimes need to work hard at creating a good classroom dynamic
and in doing so they will need to employ a variety of strategies. This work needs
to occur not only at the beginning of a course but also during every lesson.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Classroom dynamics: unit 1 a)

Task 2 – Why are classroom dynamics important?

Below are some statements that give specific reasons as to why

classroom dynamics are important. However, in some of the statements
the rationale is not so valid. Read the statements and decide if the
rationale is valid or questionable.

Statements about classroom dynamics

1. Good classroom dynamics mean that the lesson is more fun for the teacher.
valid questionable

2. Good classroom dynamics involve interaction, and practice at interacting is a key

element in learning and being able to speak a language.
valid questionable

3. Good classroom dynamics foster a positive and constructive learning environment.

valid questionable

4. Good classroom dynamics mean that there is much more student-centred interaction
and the teacher can relax.
valid questionable

5. Good classroom dynamics can more clearly determine what different roles students
and teachers can take during a lesson.
valid questionable

6. Good classroom dynamics can result in a more spontaneous learning environment

that allows for more creative decision-making by the teacher.
valid questionable

7. Good classroom dynamics mean that you can respond to students more and you
don’t have to plan in so much detail.
valid questionable

8. Good classroom dynamics will result in more enjoyable lessons for the students and
increase their motivation to learn.
valid questionable

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Classroom dynamics: unit 1 a)

Key Skill
Good classroom dynamics are connected to the maximisation of learning
opportunities. Making lessons enjoyable is something that should be of benefit
to the learners. While teachers may also enjoy a fun learning environment, their
needs as far as this is concerned are secondary to the students.

Task 3 – Key requirements for classroom dynamics

Numbers 1 to 10 below are all key requirements of good classroom

dynamics. Letters a to j are explanations of these requirements in terms
of classroom practice. Match the key requirements to the explanations.

Key requirements Explanations

1. Good group dynamics require a shared sense of purpose.

2. Good group dynamics require clear staging of lessons and clear sign
posting of activities.

3. Good group dynamics require a sense of trust, empathy and

confidence within the learner group.

4. Good group dynamics require a variety of activities.

5. Good group dynamics require consideration of teacher and student

roles in a lesson.

6. Good group dynamics require consideration of students’

expectations.

7. Good group dynamics require consideration of cross cultural issues.

8. Good group dynamics require consideration of individual preferences

and learning styles.

9. Good group dynamics require consideration of physical factors in the

learning environment.

10. Good group dynamics require real communication that is

meaningful and relevant to students.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Classroom dynamics: unit 1 a)

Explanations

a. While students need to assume some responsibility for their learning, the teacher
often has to take the role of leader in the classroom.

b. Teachers need to think about how they can arrange the classroom furniture to
facilitate different interactions that aim to promote good classroom dynamics.

c. The teacher needs to indicate clearly to students when one activity finishes and
another begins as well as letting students know where the lesson is heading.

d. Individual students need to be aware of the fact that not everyone in the group will
want to learn in exactly the same way that they do.

e. This can only be achieved when students are able to personalise language and
share their ideas.

f. In multi-lingual / multi-national classes teachers need to make sure that students are
tolerant of one another’s differences.

g. The teacher needs to provide activities that give students a sense of working
together on a problem that can be solved by means of co-operation.

h. This can only happen when teachers and students begin to see each other as
individuals and not just part of a collective whole.

i. Students need to understand that they are part of a group that has to work together
and they are not doing a one-to-one lesson.

j. Too much routine activity will not create a dynamic and spontaneous environment
that facilitates learning.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Task 3 shows that careful consideration of learners as individuals and how they
may or may not fit together lies at the heart of establishing good group
dynamics. With most groups, good dynamics will not happen spontaneously,
but only as a result of careful planning on the teacher’s behalf.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Classroom dynamics: unit 1 a)

Task 4 – Ways of facilitating good dynamics

Numbers 1 to 10 are all ideas that can be used in the classroom to help
create good dynamics. Letters a to j describe the purpose of these ideas.
Match the ideas with the purposes. Different variations are possible

Classroom ideas
1. Do ice breaker activities at the beginning of a course …
2. Do regular, daily warmer activities …
3. Do group problem-solving tasks …
4. Do tasks that allow students to personalise language and ideas …
5. Do activities that integrate ‘old’ students with ‘new’ students when the composition
of the class changes …
6. Do work on learning styles and learning strategies …
7. Let learners know about your teaching style, the course content and your reasons
for doing some activities …
8. Monitor students not only for language problems, but also for the ‘climate’ or mood
of the class …
9. Monitor your own decision-making during the lesson and the effect this has on pace
…
10. Allow for interpersonal exchanges between you and the learners before, during and
after the lesson …

Purposes
a. … so that students find out more about themselves as learners and how to learn
more effectively.
b. … so that you can become aware of any potential threats to the dynamics of a group.
c. … so that newly formed classes can get to know each other as people.
d. … so that you get to find out about each other and what is happening in your lives.
e. … so that a good dynamic is constantly passed on within the group.
f. … so that the group’s energy levels are raised at the beginning of each lesson.
g. … so that lessons don’t drag and have a negative effect on the group dynamic.
h. … so that students get the chance to work as a team,
i. … so that they are more likely to feel confident about you when you assume the
role of ‘leader’ in the classroom.
j. … so that students can express genuine opinions and feelings.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Classroom dynamics: unit 1 a)

Thinking about your teaching …

Think about some previous learning experiences that you have had. They don’t need
to be related to language learning. Can you remember classes that had a good
dynamic? Try to analyse what it was about the teacher and the other students that
helped to create this dynamic.

Note your observations in your Teaching log

Taking it to the classroom …

In task 4 there is a good array of ideas. It is likely that there are some ideas in the list
that you haven’t tried. Make it your aim over the next term to try out as many of the
ideas in task 4 as possible. Having tried each idea, evaluate its effectiveness for
creating a positive learning environment with your students.

Want to find out more … ?

Classroom Dynamics by Jill Hadfield (OUP 1992) has an invaluable resource of ideas
and activities that aim to promote a good learning environment.

On pages 161 – 167 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is further reading on the advantages and
disadvantages of using different grouping options in the classroom and their effect
on class dynamics.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 1 b) Student interaction and teacher roles: Includes discussion and analysis
on a variety of different seating arrangements and appropriate teacher roles for
each.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Classroom dynamics: unit 1 a)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback Task 3 – Feedback

1. questionable – The teacher’s sense of 1. g
enjoyment is less important than the 2. c
students’. 3. h
4. j
2. valid 5. a
3. valid 6. i
7. f
4. questionable – There is likely to be 8. d
more student-centred interaction. 9. b
However, the teacher should monitor this 10. e
interaction attentively and not relax.
5. valid
6. valid
Task 4 – Feedback
7. questionable – While it is good that 1. b, c, d, k, j
teachers are responsive to students, 2. d, e, f, k
teachers also need to ensure they plan 3. e, h
their lessons in such a way that students 4. j
get a sense of coherence from the 5. c, e
teaching programme. 6. a
7. i
8. valid 8. b, g
9. g
10. d, i, j

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Student interaction and teacher roles: Unit 1 b)

How should you sit and group students for the best learning results? This
lesson will describe different ways of arranging students in your learning space
and what roles the teacher plays within these different arrangements.

Task 1 – Seating arrangements

Look at the different seating arrangements a) to d) below. Which ones

have you used as a teacher (or perhaps as a second language student)?
Rank them in order from 1 = most preferred to 4 = least preferred. Then
read the feedback on Task 1 below.

a) Rows b) Circle

c) Horseshoe d) Islands

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Student interaction and teacher roles: Unit 1 b)

Task 1 Feedback
Your answers to this task will depend on past experience and personal
choice. In many private English language learning contexts with smaller
classes, ‘the horseshoe’ is a favourite seating arrangement. However,
with larger groups ‘islands’ might be more manageable. Sometimes the
institution you work for dictates the seating because the desks are
permanently fixed to the floor. However, they key issue is more to do with
how the students are grouped during specific activities, rather than how
the furniture is arranged.

Key Skill
It is important for a teacher to think about how a room is arranged and how
students will interact for different activities. It is useful if a teacher thinks
through these arrangements when they are planning their lessons.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Student interaction and teacher roles: Unit 1 b)

Task 2 – Patterns and activities

Numbers 1 to 7 below show pictures of different interaction patterns.

Letters a to g give the names of the patterns. Numbers i to vii describe
typical activities associated with one of the patterns. Match the pictures to
the names and activities.

1. ☺ 2. ☺
☺

3. ☺☺☺☺☺ 4. ☺☺ ☺☺
☺ ☺  T☺ 
☺
☺ ☺☺ ☺☺
T☺

5. ☺
☺ 6. ☺☺☺☺☺☺
☺
☺
☺ ☺ ☺
T☺ ☺
☺ ☺ ☺
☺
☺ ☺
☺ T☺

7. ☺ ☺



☺☺
☺
☺ ☺
☺
☺☺


T☺

☺ ☺
Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]
 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Student interaction and teacher roles: Unit 1 b)

Names of patterns

a. open pair b. teacher-fronted plenary

c. group work d. student working alone

e. closed pair f. onion ring

g. mingle

Activities
i. controlled oral practice of a four-line dialogue.
ii. discussion on a news topic – different students present their point of view.
iii. multiple role play – students assume different roles with different students.
iv. survey on free time activity – students find out information from others.
v. written grammar practice task.
vi. students check their answers to a listening task with each other.
vii. teacher conducts feedback on a reading task.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
In task 2 there are lots of examples of student-centred interaction. These are
only examples and some activities could use different interaction patterns. For
example, the discussion could be done by closed pairs and the multiple role play
could use a mingle interaction.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Student interaction and teacher roles: Unit 1 b)

Task 3 – What’s the teacher doing?

Using the same interaction patterns from task 2, decide on which two
roles a teacher has for each activity from the list a to d below. Then match
the teacher activity i to vii to the interaction patterns and teacher roles.

Teacher roles
a. controller b. evaluator
c. informer d. facilitator

Teacher activity
i. Monitor closely and help students with language.
ii. Keep students moving around so that everyone has a partner.
iii. Nominate who should answer a question.
iv. Time interaction and tell students when to change partner.
v. Monitor at a distance and make a note of errors.
vi. Nominate who should speak.
vii. Monitor closely and point out mistakes.

Interaction patterns Teacher roles Teacher activity

open pairs

teacher-fronted plenary

group work

student working alone

closed pairs

onion ring

mingle

open pairs

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Student interaction and teacher roles: Unit 1 b)
Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
During student-centred interaction, the teacher plays two key roles: facilitator
(making sure the students are able to speak) and evaluator (assessing students’
progress with the task and also assessing the language they are producing).
How closely you monitor depends on the nature of the activity and the
strengths and weaknesses of your students.

Task 4 – What are the issues?

Numbers 1 to 10 below describe criticisms that teachers can have of

student-centred interaction (pairs, groups, mingles). Letters a to j are
replies to these criticism. Match the criticism to the replies.

Critisisms Replies

1. Students make too much noise when they are all speaking at once.

2. The desks in my room are screwed to the floor, so it is difficult for

students to form pairs and groups.

3. Often when students work in pairs, they don’t like the person they have
to work with.

4. Students aren’t used to working in this way. They will find it strange.

5. I worry that students don’t really learn any grammar or vocabulary when
they are just chatting in pairs.

6. Some pairs finish before others and just sit there.

7. I feel like I am losing control of the class when students are in pairs or
groups.

8. Weak students often find pair work hard because they are not sure what
they are meant to be doing.

9. I can’t hear everything students are saying so that I can correct them.

10. Students will revert back to using their first language when I put them
together.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Student interaction and teacher roles: Unit 1 b)

Replies
a. Sometimes it is a good idea just to let students speak and not worry about mistakes.
This will help them develop some degree of fluency.
b. Students also need to develop speaking skills and this kind of interaction can help
them to learn to speak.
c. This means you need to help those students first when you are monitoring.
d. Even if you can’t move the furniture, you can always move the students.
e. This may happen so you will need to reinforce the importance of using English and
check that students are doing so when you monitor.
f. That’s true to some extent, but at least this means they are producing language.
g. This doesn’t need to happen if you monitor pair and group work actively and
attentively.
h. If that’s the case, you should keep students moving around so they work with
different students for each activity.
i. If this often happens, you should plan an extra activity that will keep these students
occupied until the others have finished.
j. In this case, you should introduce new kinds of interaction patterns gradually. Also
let your students know why you are doing this and what benefit they can gain from it.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Student interaction and teacher roles: Unit 1 b)

 Thinking about your teaching …

Do you feel your classroom is student-centred enough? Over a period of about five
lessons, try keeping a record of how much time is spent on teacher-fronted
interaction and how much time is spent on student-centred interaction. If you feel
the percentage of teacher-centred interaction is too high, think about which
activities could include a greater amount student-centred focus.

Keep a record of your findings in your Teaching log.

 Taking it to the classroom …

Are you familiar with all the interaction patterns in task 2? Try experimenting with
some of them. For example, role plays are traditionally done in pairs. However, for
variation, it might be interesting to try an onion ring role play exercise. Students
could perform their role with three or four other students as they move around the
onion ring. You will need to set a time limit for each interaction.

 Want to find out more … ?

On pages 108 - 111 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is further reading on different teacher roles.

On pages 84 - 90 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan

2005), there is further reading on classroom interaction and seating options.

See also section 1 of Language Teaching Classroom Practice DVD & Workbook by
Heather Richards and Karen Wise (AUT University 2007).

 Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 1 a) Classroom dynamics: Includes disscussion and tasks on how the

physical classroom environment can have a positive effect on classroom
dynamics.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Student interaction and teacher roles: Unit 1 b)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
1. d and v
2. a and vi
3. e and i
4. c and ii
5. g and iv
6. b and vii
7. f and iii

Task 3 – Feedback

Interaction Teacher roles Teacher activity

open pairs controller, evaluator vi. Nominate who should speak.

teacher-fronted plenary informer, evaluator iii. Nominate who should

answer a question.
group work facilitator, evaluator v. Monitor at a distance and
make a note of errors
student working alone informer, evaluator vii. Monitor closely and point out
mistakes
closed pairs facilitator, evaluator i. Monitor closely and help
students with language
onion ring facilitator, evaluator iv. Time interaction and tell
students when to change.
mingle facilitator, evaluator ii. Keep students moving
around so that everyone has
a partner.

Task 4 – Feedback
1. f
2. d
3. h
4. j
5. b
6. i
7. g
8. c
9. a
10. e

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Student interaction and teacher roles: Unit 1 b)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-
commercial Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute,
display and perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work
noncommercially, as long as you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the
identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learning styles: Unit 1 c)

Why is it that all students don’t learn in the same way? By doing this lesson,
you will find out about different student learning styles and how to deal with
them.

Task 1 – What’s wrong?

Lisa is talking about her current class to a colleague, Kate.

Kate: Are you going to use this grammar game?

Lisa: I don’t think so.
Kate: Why not?
Lisa: Games don’t seem to work with the class I have at the moment. They usually do, but
not with this class.
Kate: That’s strange.
Lisa: I know. I used to love language games when I was learning Spanish. This class gets
excited when we do a gap fill exercise. I don’t know what’s wrong with them.

Is there something wrong with Lisa’s class? What should she do? Jot
down your answers on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
There is probably nothing wrong with Lisa’s class. It is likely that as a group they
have a learning style that prefers more serious language learning activities. Lisa
and Kate are making the assumption that because they enjoy language learning
games all their students will. Lisa should talk to her students directly and find
out exactly what they do like. She could also do a learning styles quiz with her
class to discover what kind language learning activities her students might enjoy
more than games.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learning styles: Unit 1 c)

Key Skill
All students have different learning styles. This affects the way they behave in
the classroom and their response to different materials and activities. Here are
some common learning styles:

• Fluency-focused – likes communicating and doing freer speaking activities

• Accuracy focused – likes to be sure that they are getting things right
• Visual – likes working with visual information when learning English
• Auditory – likes receiving information by listening and responding
• Kinesthetic – likes to include physical activities in the learning process

It is important to realise that each learning style is a continuum and all students
will have a mixture learning styles, however some may be more prevalent than
others.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learning styles: Unit 1 c)

Task 2 – Learning styles and classroom activities

Numbers 1 to 11 describe different classroom activities. Letters a to e are

the learning styles from task 1. Match each classroom activity with the
correct learning style. You will need to use some of the learning styles
more than once.

Learning
Classroom activities
styles
1. Mingle activities that involve walking around and talking to other
students.

2. A role play done in pairs or small groups.

3. A grammar lesson taught through a context created by pictures and

drawings.

4. The teacher corrects students a lot during oral pair work.

5. Listening to the teacher read stories aloud.

6. Running dictations where students have to run to a text and run back
to their group to dictate what they can remember.

7. Completing a grammar gap-fill task that checks understanding.

8. Writing tasks based on graphs and tables.

9. Drilling students in a new grammar structure.

10. Listening to and responding to the teacher’s oral questions.

Learning styles
a. fluency-focused
b. accuracy-focused
c. visual
d. auditory
e. kinesthetic

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learning styles: Unit 1 c)

Task 3 – Finding out about your students’ learning styles

Match up columns A, B and C so that you create four logical sentences,

then write those sentences in the empty table below.

A B C

1. Giving students a lecture on ... because this is a quick and

learning styles ... efficient way of having some idea of
how your learners like learning.

2. Doing a simple learning ... is a good idea ... ... because it will give you a more in-
style quiz ... depth idea of their learning style
over a longer period of time.
... is a bad idea ...
3. Asking students directly ... because they probably won’t
about their learning style ... understand what you are saying

4. Observing how your ... because they probably don’t know

students react to different what it is.
activities ...

Logical Sentences

1.

2.

3.

4.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learning styles: Unit 1 c)

Task 4 – What can teachers do?

Once we begin to understand the different learning styles of our

students, what can we do about it? Below are some descriptions of
teachers’ actions. Decide which actions are ‘constructive’ (C), and which
are ‘not constructive’ (N). Write C or N in the right-hand column.

Teachers’ actions C or N?

1. The teacher tells the learners they must change their learning style so they
become better learners.

2. The teacher makes sure her/his lessons contain good variety so all
learning styles are catered for.

3. The teacher makes learners aware of their learning style.

4. The teacher asks students to discuss the usefulness of different activities

with their classmates.

5. The teacher monitors students carefully and tells them when they are using
the wrong learning style.

6. The teacher suggests different ways of doing activities in the classroom

and offers students a choice.

7. The teacher makes students aware of the fact that their classmates’
learning styles are different and that sometimes they need to be flexible about
their reaction to different activities.

8. The teacher always puts students with the same learning style together in
pairs.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learning styles: Unit 1 c)

Thinking about your teaching …

It can be interesting to think about your own learning style. Do a learning style quiz
to discover which kind of learner you are. Describe learning activities or ways of
learning that appeal to you when learning something new. Then consider this
question: “To what extent do my choices about teaching reflect my own preferred
learning style?”

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Whenever you get a new group of students, spend some time trying to work out the
learning style of individual members of the group as well as focusing on the group as
a whole. You can do this by questionnaires and direct observation of their behaviour
and response to activities. Try to strike a balance between catering for their learning
style and providing them with variety.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 88 & 89 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is further discussion on learning styles and
some alternative ways of describing students.

Learning to Learn English by Gail Ellis and Barbara Sinclair (Cambridge University
Press 1989) includes many practical ideas for dealing with learning styles.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL TaskBook series, which
also relate to this topic:

• Unit 1 e) Learner autonomy: Looks at different ways to help individual learners

become more autonomous.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learning styles: Unit 1 c)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback Task 4 – Feedback

1) a,d, e 1) not constructive: While it is good to
2) a, d encourage students to be flexible, forcing
3) c them to change is likely to affect their
4) b motivation in a negative way.
5) d
2) constructive: The idea to is try and
6) b, e
please all of the students some of the
7) b
time.
8) c
9) b, d 3) constructive: When students know
10) d their learning style, they are likely to be
more receptive to trying alternatives.
Task 3 – Feedback 4) constructive: If one student says she
doesn’t like listening activities, but another
1) Giving students a lecture on learning student explains why she likes them and
styles / is a bad idea / because they finds them useful, the first student might
probably won’t understand what you are re-evaluate her ideas.
saying.
5) not constructive: Adapting a learning
2) Doing a simple learning style quiz / is a style can only come about gradually over
good idea / beacuse this is a quick and time. This kind of very direct feedback to a
efficient way of having some idea of how student in the middle of the activity could
your learners like learning. cause resentment.
6) constructive: Particularly if many
3) Asking students directly about their learners in a group have a similar learning
learning style / is a bad idea / because style. Letting students participate in the
they probably don’t know what it is. learning process in this very active way is
likely to motivate them.
4) Observing how your students react to
different activities / is a good idea / 7) constructive: This means individual
because it will give you a more in-depth students are less likely to expect lessons
idea of their learning style over a longer tailored to their individual learning style all
period of time. the time.
8) not constructive: It is good for
students to experience a range of learning
styles when working in groups. It can open
their eyes to different ways of learning.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learning styles: Unit 1 c)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Motivating students to learn: Unit 1 d)

Do your students sometimes look bored and unmotivated? This lesson gives ideas
about how this can happen.

Task 1 – Sally’s problem.

Sally started her teaching career as a primary school teacher. She liked young children, but
after a couple of years she found it tiring to teach them. She decided to make a change to
teaching English language to young adults. She did a training course and got a job. To her
surprise, she found teaching adults wasn’t all that different from teaching children. Many of her
students needed the kind of encouragement and support young children do. She liked the first
groups of students she taught and thought she got on well with them. She was shocked when
her boss told her some of the students had complained. They said they didn’t like her teaching
style.

What is causing Sally’s problem? Below are some ideas.

Jot down your answers on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

a. Sally has an unpleasant personality and the students don’t like her.
b. Sally really wants to give up teaching all together and generally has a negative
attitude.
c. Sally speaks slowly and gives strong stress to certain syllables. Her voice
sounds a bit patronising.
d. The students that complained feel that Sally is giving more support to other
learners in the class and not them.
e. The students that complained found out that Sally has only just finished her
training and they want a more qualified teacher.
f. Sally tends to treat her students as though they were younger learners and
hasn’t adjusted her manner to teaching adults.

Task 1 Feedback
All of the answers are possible, but, in this situation, answers c and f are the
most likely. Teachers often adopt a manner and a way of speaking according to
who they are teaching. It is possible that the students who are complaining feel
patronised.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Motivating students to learn: Unit 1 d)

Key skill
It is important for teachers of any subject to really connect with their students.
If you do this successfully, you will really help students become motivated to
learn.

Task 2 – Teacher behaviours

Letters a to e below describe teacher behaviours that could cause students

to react in a negative way. Make notes about possible student reactions to
these teacher behaviours.

Teacher behaviours
a. The teacher enters the classroom and looks at the learners over the top of her
glasses without saying anything. She looks a bit angry and waits until all students are
quiet. She then questions them in a loud voice.
Student reactions: ____________________________________________________

b. The teacher enters the classroom, looks quickly at the students and immediately
opens the course book. She asks students to do the same thing. The teacher doesn’t
look at her learners and questions them about the material in the course book.
Student reactions: ____________________________________________________

c. The teacher tells a joke in class. The students don’t really understand it, but the
teacher laughs loudly anyway.
Student reactions: ____________________________________________________

d. The teacher talks for a long time and never varies the pitch and tone of her voice.
Student reactions: ____________________________________________________

e. The teacher creates a lot of fun activities to help motivate her learners. She even
makes a cake once a week so they can have morning tea together in class.
Student reactions: ____________________________________________________

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Motivating students to learn: Unit 1 d)

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key skill
Apart from creating problems in the classroom, inappropriate teacher
behaviour can create a generally negative atmosphere for learners. It becomes
harder for teachers to teach and for students to learn when the learning
environment has an uncomfortable atmosphere.

Task 3 – Identifying the problem

Statements i to v say clearly what the problem is with the teacher’s

behaviour in each situation. Match the problems to the behaviours below.

Problems
i. The teacher forgets that most students want to learn rather than just have fun.
ii. The teacher’s voice is monotonous.
iii. The teacher misjudges the interests of the students.
iv. The teacher is too strict with the students.
v. The teacher has poor eye contact with students.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Motivating students to learn: Unit 1 d)

Behaviours Problems

a. The teacher enters the classroom and looks at the learners over the top of
her glasses without saying anything. She looks a bit angry and waits until all
students are quiet. She then questions them in a loud voice.

b. The teacher enters the classroom, looks quickly at the students

and immediately opens the course book. She asks students to do the
same thing. The teacher doesn’t look at her learners and questions
them about the material in the course book.

c. The teacher tells a joke in class. The students don’t really

understand it, but the teacher laughs loudly anyway.

d. The teacher talks for a long time and never caries the pitch and
tone of her voice

e. The teacher creates a lot of fun activities to help motivate her

learners. She even makes a cake once a week so they can have
morning tea together in class.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key skill
If the learning environment is negative, the responsibility is on the teacher to
do something about it. Students often do not have the skills to deal with the
situation and it is, in the end, the teacher’s job to manage the learning
environment as constructively as possible. The first, key step is working out
what the problem is so that you can do something about it. The next task looks
at strategies for solving these motivation problems.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Motivating students to learn: Unit 1 d)

Task 4 – Getting help

In the column on the right, there are some solutions to the problems we
identified in task 3. Match the problems to the solutions. It may be possible to
match more than one problem to a solution.

Problems
i. The teacher forgets that most students want to learn rather than just have fun.
ii. The teacher’s voice is monotonous.
iii. The teacher misjudges the interests of the students.
iv. The teacher is too strict with the students.
v. The teacher has poor eye contact with students.

Problems Solutions

a) Ask a colleague to observe you and give you

feedback.

b) Ask a colleague to video record your lesson and

watch yourself.

c) Use a cassette player and record your lesson –

listen to your voice on the tape.

d) Think about using gesture and facial expression

more to make information clear to learners.

e) Find out from your students what interests and

motivates them.

f) Begin each lesson with an informal chat with your

students.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Motivating students to learn: Unit 1 d)

Thinking about your teaching …

Think about the following question:
“When I am teaching students how much am I in the role of ‘performer’?”

Think about things like your voice, your physical energy, eye contact, body language.

Note your thoughts in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

If you are interested in exploring how you motivate your students, you could try any of
the ‘solution’ ideas in task 4. Or you could also keep a diary of the mood of your
students and your mood and see if there is any connection.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 98 to 104 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by Jeremy
Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is further discussion on what motivation is and where it
comes from. On pages 112 and 113 of the same book there is also an interesting
discussion of the teacher’s role as a performer and the effect this can have on students.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Motivating students to learn: Unit 1 d)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
There is an infinite variety of possible
student reactions. The reactions described
below are based on real situations.
Task 3 – Feedback
a. Student reaction: The students do not
answer any of the teacher’s questions, even a. iv
though they know the answer. The students b. v
remain silent. c. iii
d. ii
b. Student reaction: The students become e. i
restless and begin to whisper to teach other.
c. Student reaction: The students are
polite, but very distant to the teacher. They Task 4 – Feedback
do what she asks them, but they are very
quiet in class. a) ii, iv, v
b) ii, iv, v
d. Student reaction: The students c) ii
complain to the Director of Studies that their d) v
teacher is boring. Many of them want to e) i, iii
change class. f) iii, iv
e. Student reaction: The students
complain to the Director of Studies. They tell
her that they feel they are not learning
anything by only playing games and eating
cake.

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial Share
Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and perform the
work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as you credit the
author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Motivating students to learn: Unit 1 d)

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learner autonomy: Unit 1 e)

Do you sometimes worry that what you are doing with your students inside the
classroom just isn’t enough? There is probably good reason for your concern.
This lesson looks at why it is a good idea for learners to be autonomous and
suggests ways that you can help them achieve this.

Task 1 – Opinion survey

Look at the statements below and decide if you agree or disagree with
them. Think about why you agree or disagree. Then read the feedback box
below for some comments on these opinions.

a) The best thing for students to study outside the classroom is vocabulary.

b) You can’t change a student’s learning style.

c) When it comes to independent learning, students don’t know what they need.

d) It’s no good setting homework because students never do it.

e) You can waste a lot of time making your methodology obvious to learners.

Task 1 Feedback
a) Vocabulary is only one thing students can study outside the classroom. They
can also study grammar and practise language skills. There is a lot of things
that they can do outside the classroom.
b) You probably can’t change a student’s learning style in any radical way, but
you can point out to them ways in which their learning style can limit them
and suggest some options.
c) This is often true. Students know what they like doing, but that is not always
what they need the most.
d) This is true of some students, but many students expect homework and feel
disappointed if teachers do not set it.
e) However, this can also give students an insight into different approaches to
learning that they can utilise outside the classroom.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learner autonomy: Unit 1 e)

Key skill
Students can make better progress if they spend some time learning
autonomously outside the classroom. Teachers need to help their students
develop awareness of autonomous learning options and suggest strategies for
putting them into practice.

Task 2 – Why should teachers promote autonomous learning?

1 to 5 below are key ideas associated with learner autonomy, while a to e

provide an explanation of the key ideas. Match the ideas to the
explanations.

Key ideas

1. Learning time 2. Students’ individual needs

3. Students’ motivation 4. Students’ general study ability

5. Students’ individual responsibility for learning

Explantions
a. Some students may have had little or no training on how to study any subject in
an effective way, so English language teachers will need to help them with useful
strategies.

b. If students have a sense of ownership of their English language learning, they are
likely to want to study more.

c. Teachers cannot hope to teach students absolutely everything they need to know
so a good part of the learning is up to the student.

d. Students are outside the classroom more than they are inside it and need
strategies to help them use their own time productively.

e. When students are working in a group they cannot hope to always do the things
they like doing or need to do. They have to consider other students needs too.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learner autonomy: Unit 1 e)

Key skill
One of the broader aims of learner autonomy is to ensure students accept some
responsibility for their own learning outside the classroom. It is easier for students
to meet their individual needs during the time they study alone. With the right
kind of advice from the teacher on how to go about this, student motivation can
be increased.

Task 3 – Advice to students

Numbers 1 to 8 below are areas of advice for students who need to

develop autonomy. Letters a to h are statements you might make directly
to students in relation to each area of advice. Match the advice to the
statements.

Areas of advice for students

1. goals 2. time frames

3. materials 4. help

5. learning style 6. progress

7. revision 8. learning systems

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 Statements
a. You will need this sometimes, so don’t be afraid to come and ask for it.
ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
b. This has got to be done regularly. We’ll do some in class, but you also need to do
your own. Learner autonomy: Unit 1 e)
c. A good way to start is by finding out what is available in the library and the learning
centre – not just books, but also computer programmes and things off the internet.
d. You need two lots of these – ones that you can reach in a short space of time and
others, bigger ones that will take you longer to reach, for example studying at an
English-speaking university.
e. You need to think about setting up ones that work for you, for example, the best
way for you to record vocabulary so that you’ll remember it.
f. These need to be realistic in relation to your learning goals.
g. I’m not asking you to change this, but you sometimes need to be a bit flexible about
the way you study language.
h. It’s just as important to know when this has been made as it is to realise what you
don’t know yet.

Key skill
The ideas in task 3 suggest that teachers have an important advising or
counselling role to play with their students. However, this is not all they can do.
See task 4 below for more ideas.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learner autonomy: Unit 1 e)

Task 4 – Some specific strategies

Some strategies for learner autonomy are best taught in class, while others
are best taught in one-on-one counselling sessions. Look at the techniques
below and put them into the correct box.

Techniques
1. Set homework regularly.
2. Discuss the rationale for the methodology you use e.g. stages in a reading lesson in
relation to practising reading sub skills (scan, gist, intensive reading etc.)
3. Help students articulate specific short and long term goals.
4. Systematically revise language that you teach.
5. Give advice on alternative learning strategies e.g. suggest a fluency-based learner
try some accuracy-based activities for a change.
6. Set up group and project work that gets students relying on each other independent
of you.
7. Provide learners with an orientation to resources that you have such as a library or a
learning centre.
8. Give learners feedback on their progress in relation to the goals they have set.
9. Point out specific resources such as self-access books, computer programmes or
internet web sites that could help students.
10. Provide examples of different learning systems that other students have used.

Best taught in class Best taught in one-on-one sessions

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learner autonomy: Unit 1 e)

Thinking about your teaching …

Put yourself in your students’ place. If you are currently learning a language, this will
be easy. If you are not, try to imagine that you are. Which of the autonomous learning
techniques in task 4 would you find most useful. Rank them from 1 to 10 (from the
most to the least useful) and note down why.

Record your observations in your Teaching log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Choose one of the in-class strategies from task 4 that you do not currently do with your
learners. Try it out and get them to give you feedback on this. You can record this
experiment in your Teaching log.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 394 – 408 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is further reading on learner autonomy.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL TaskBook series, which also
relate to this topic:

• Unit 1 c) Learning styles: Looks at how students’ learning styles may affect their
preferences for certain kinds of learning activities both in and outside the classroom.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learner autonomy: Unit 1 e)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
1. d
2. e
3. b
4. a
5. c

Task 3 - Feedback
1. d
2. f
3. c
4. a
5. g
6. h
7. b
8. e

Task 4 - Feedback

Best taught in class Best taught in one-on-one sessions

1. Set homework regularly. 3. Help students articulate specific short

and long term goals.
2. Discuss the rationale for the
methodology you use e.g. stages in a 5. Give advice on alternative learning
reading lesson in relation to practising strategies e.g. suggest a fluency-based
reading sub skills (scan, gist, intensive learner try some accuracy-based activities
etc.) for a change.
4. Systematically revise language that you 8. Gives learners feedback on their
teach. progress in relation to the goals they have
set.
6. Set up group and project work that gets
students relying on each other 9. Point out specific resources such as self
independent of you. access books, computer programmes or
internet web sites that could help students.
7. Provide learners with an orientation to
resources that you have such as a library
of a learning centre.
10. Provide examples of different learning
systems that other students have found
useful.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Learner autonomy: Unit 1 e)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and perform
the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as you credit
the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Lesson planning and determining aims: Unit 1 f)

When you have to write a lesson plan is it sometimes difficult to write down your
aims? This lesson will give you ideas on how to write better aims when you need
to.

Task 1 – Milly’s dilemma.

Milly is asking for help from her Director of Studies.

Milly: I’m going to teach this lesson using a reading text. The students will spend quite
a bit of time reading and then working on vocabulary-in-context. The only thing is there
are some really good examples of the past continuous in the text. I want them to
underline these verb forms because we studied them last week and it would be good
revision. The problem is I’m not really sure what my main aim is – reading or grammar?

Can you answer Milly’s question and tell her why? Jot down your answers
on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
Milly indicates that her students will “spend quite a bit of time reading”. Her
focus on grammar looks like she will only get students to underline and notice
the past continuous without doing a detailed focus on this verb phrase. This
suggests that the main aim of Milly’s lesson concerns the development of
reading skills and the grammar focus is a subsidiary (or secondary) aim.

Key skill
Sometimes it is necessary to write detailed lesson plans, for example, when you
are going to be observed by another teacher. Writing main and subsidiary aims
for the lesson as a whole as well as writing aims for each step or stage in a
lesson can help you to think carefully about what you are trying to achieve with
your students.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Lesson planning and determining aims: Unit 1 f)

Task 2 – Writing clear aims

Some of the following aims are well written, while others are not clear or do
not contain enough detail. Put the aims into the appropriate column below.

Aims
a) For learners to distinguish between ‘will’ and ‘going to’ used to make spontaneous
decisions in the context of stating intentions after a lottery win.
b) By the end of the lesson learners will have had practice in using strategies to guess
the meaning of new vocabulary in context.
c) To clarify the present perfect continuous using a taped dialogue.
d) For learners to practise the present continuous with the attached picture.
e) To provide practice in scan listening skills in the context of listening to flight departure
information at an airport.
f) By the end of the lesson students will have had speaking practice and clarification of
some tenses.
g) To provide freer writing practice in the context of mini paragraphs.
h) By the end of the lesson learners will have an understanding of which kinds of words
can have both a weak and strong phonological form in authentic spoken language.
i) For learners to practise detail reading and the inferring of opinion from a newspaper
article with political bias.
j) To focus on linking as per page 27 ex. 3
k) To clarify the form and meaning of the future perfect in the context of speculating
about technology in the future.
l) By the end of the lesson learners will have done a great variety of reading practice
around the topic.

Well written aims Aims are not clear or lack detail

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Lesson planning and determining aims: Unit 1 f)

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Task 3 – Aims in the procedure

Sometimes it can be difficult to write aims in the procedure of the plan. You
need to be sure you are stating an aim and not just describing what the
students are going to do. For example:

1) To get students to read and answer question 1.

2) To make sure students have a gist understanding of the text.

Comment: 1) is just describing procedure, but 2) is clearly stating an aim.

Decide whether the following statements are (A) aims or (D) merely a description
of activities. Put A or D in the column on the right.

Statements A or D?

a) To check learners’ understanding of the activity.

b) To identify and highlight irregular simple past forms.

c) To complete the second task.

d) To discuss the answers in pairs.

e) To provide oral fluency practice

f) To underline examples of the present perfect in the text

g) To plan the essay before the first draft

h) To provide controlled oral practice of the target language

i) To complete the gaps in the sentences

j) To brainstorm and share ideas for the first draft.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Lesson planning and determining aims: Unit 1 f)

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Task 4 – Aims and description

Now describe activities that match the aims. The first example has been done
for you.

Example activities

a) To check learners’ understanding of the activity.

Description: The teacher asks oral asks oral questions to make sure the
students know what they have to do.

b) To identify and highlight irregular simple past forms.

Description: ________________________________________________

e) To provide oral fluency practice

Description: ________________________________________________

g) To plan the essay before the first draft

Description: ________________________________________________

h) To provide controlled oral practice of the target language

Description: ________________________________________________

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Lesson planning and determining aims: Unit 1 f)

Thinking about your teaching …

You probably do not write detailed aims for lessons that you teach on a day-by-day
basis. However, it is often a good idea to think about what your aims are in a lesson.
Think of some lessons that you have taught in the last two or three weeks. Decide
whether your aims were clear for these lessons or whether they were a bit confused
and resulted in lessons that you were hot happy with. Do you think your students where
clear about your aims?

Note your thoughts in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Try telling your students what your aims are at the beginning of each lesson. You can
write them up on the board. Alternatively, you could ask your students at the end of the
lesson what they thought the aims were. It might be interesting to see what they say. If
their ideas are different from yours, it is interesting to explore why.

Want to find out more … ?

Page 371 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by Jeremy Harmer
(Pearson 2007) has an introduction to lesson aims.

On pages 124 to 128 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there is further reading on lesson aims.

See also section 3 of Language Teaching Classroom Practice DVD & Workbook by
Heather Richards and Karen Wise (AUT University 2007).

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Lesson planning and determining aims: Unit 1 f)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback Task 3 – Feedback

Well written aims a. A
a), b), e), h), i) and k) b. A
c. D
Aim not clear or lack detail d. D
c) To clarify the present perfect continuous e. A
using a taped dialogue. f. D
Comment: There is no mention of the topic g. A
of the dialogue or the context. h. A
i. D
d) For learners to practise the present j. D
continuous with the attached picture.
Comment: There is no mention of what
kind of practice – oral or spoken, controlled Task 4 – Feedback
or free. There is no mention of the context.
b) To identify and highlight irregular simple
f) By the end of the lesson students will past forms.
have had speaking practice and clarification Description: The teacher asks learners to
of some tenses. underline simple past irregular forms in the
Comment: There is no mention of whether text. She gives them a list of irregular verbs
the speaking is language practice or more to help them identify new forms.
general fluency practice. The tenses are not
named. e) To provide oral fluency practice
g) To provide freer writing practice in the Description: The students work in pairs to
context of mini paragraphs. personalise the information in the text by
Comment: There is no mention of the text telling each other about a recent holiday
type (narrative, report, argument) or the they have had.
topic of the text.
g) To plan the essay before the first draft
j) To focus on linking as per page 27 ex. 3 Description: Students share their
Comment: There is no mention of whether brainstorming notes and discuss the content
the linking is to do with pronunciation or of each paragraph of the essay. They write
grammar. up a paragraph-by-paragraph plan.

l) By the end of the lesson learners will have h) To provide controlled oral practice of the
done a great variety of reading practice target language
around the topic. Description: The teacher uses white board
Comment: There is no specific mention of prompts to elicit a four-line dialogue.
the kind of reading sub skills (scan, skim, Students then practise the dialogue in pairs.
intensive) that will be practised in the
lesson.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Lesson planning and determining aims: Unit 1 f)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial Share
Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and perform the
work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as you credit the
author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Analysing written and spoken language: Unit 1 g)

Do you sometimes feel that sentence-level examples of language do not

always help learners? Do some authentic examples of spoken language not fit
into neat grammar categories? This lesson aims to help you look at some ways
of analysing authentic written and spoken language.

Task 1 – What about the little words?

Anna: “I’ve got this student, Milos. He often picks up on some of the little words and sounds
that we use like ‘well’ and ‘umm’ and wants to know about them. However, there’s nothing in
the course book that we are using at the moment that can really help him. What should I
do?”

Can you help Anna? What should she do? Jot down your ideas on a
note pad, then check with the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
Anna probably needs to go outside the course book and find some examples of
authentic spoken language. She needs to look at how these little words are
used in spoken language and prepare a task of some kind that she can not only
give to Milos, but the class as a whole. Students are often very keen to learn
about this kind of language.

Key Skill
The analysis of authentic examples of written and spoken language is known as
discourse analysis. This kind of study of language encompasses not only the
“little words” mentioned above, but a whole range of features that look at
language as a communicative event. This lesson is a very brief introduction to
some aspects of discourse analysis.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Analysing written and spoken language: Unit 1 g)

Task 2 – Analysis of written language

a) Here is a letter that is mostly authentic (only the names and addresses
have been changed). Read the letter and complete the analysis task below.

5 February 2009

Anna Martin
1 College Street
Schooltown

Dear Anna,

Thank you for sending in your application and test for our TESOL Course.

We are sorry to tell you that your work in the test is not at a high enough level for you to
follow a TESOL Course. We need to be sure that the level of English of students on
these courses is high because part of the course involves teaching your classmates,
some of whom will be at an advanced level.

We feel you need to spend some more time studying general English to improve your
English language skills and think about applying for a course at a later date.

Thank you again for the interest you have shown in our courses.

Yours sincerely,

Emily Smith
Director of Studies

b) Analysis task: Numbers 1 to 8 are language examples from the letter.

Letters a to h are labels for these examples. Match the examples to the
labels, then place them in the correct table below: ‘key features of a formal
letter to a student’ or ‘features of problem
solution patterning’.

Key features of a formal letter to a student

Labels Examples from Letter

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Analysing written and spoken language: Unit 1 g)
Features of Problem
Solution Patterning

Labels Examples from Letter

Labels Examples

a. Full name and address included at the beginning 1. The second paragraph
of the letter. (beginning “We are sorry …”).
b. This outlines the background situation. 2. Yours sincerely,
c. The salutation uses the first name of the student. 3. The pronoun ‘we’ used in the
d. This is used throughout the letter by the writer to letter.
indicate that the organisation and not the 4. The third paragraph
individual is responding to the student. (beginning “We feel you …”)
e. This outlines the key problem in the letter. 5. Anna Martin, 1 College Hill,
f. This outlines a solution to the problem. Schooltown
g. This signals to the reader that the information that 6. the first paragraph (beginning
follows will be some kind of problem. “Thank you for …”)
h. This sign off is used because although the letter is 7. Dear Anna,
official, the writer of the letter knows the name of 8. the word “sorry” (paragraph 2)
the person she is writing to.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
This task gives an idea of the kind of analysis that can be done with authentic
written texts. The ‘key features’ are examples of typical language that we
associate with particular written genres. The situation problem  solution
pattern in this letter is known as a discourse pattern. Discourse patterns can be
found across a wide range of genres. For more information on genre features
and discourse patterns, refer to the “Want to find out more...?” section below.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Analysing written and spoken language: Unit 1 g)

Task 3 – Analysing spoken language

Below is a piece of authentic spoken language:

Line 1. A: What’s different about Tokyo to Auckland?

Line 2. B: Well, for a start, it’s … um … I don’t know if it’s actually bigger in size, but
Line 3. bigger population-wise. Of course, it’s a lot more crowded and a lot busier.
Line 4. Obviously the transport system is a lot different – there is a transport system as
Line 5. opposed to Auckland where there’s … well, there are buses, but not
Line 6. as efficient as Tokyo.

Letters 1 to 8 are pieces of language taken from the text (they have also
been highlighted in the text). Letters a to h give definitions or explanations
of these bits of language. Match the definitions to the pieces of language.

Language from the text Definitions

1. well (line 2) a. making a contrast

2. for a start (line 2) b. showing you think the listener already

knows this information

3. um (line 2) c. starting a new topic

4. of course (line 3) d. adjusting information in a sentence

5. obviously (line 4) e. showing that you expect the listener to

understand because the idea is clear

6. as opposed to (lines 4 – 5) f. indicating you are going to make your first

point

7. well (line 5) g. introducing a different idea

8. but (line 5) h. hesitating

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Analysing written and spoken language: Unit 1 g)

Key Skill
Task 3 has focused on only one aspect of spoken text: words that are typically
described as ‘discourse markers’. It is also possible to look at the way pronouns
refer forward and back to nouns, or the way that unnecessary words are often
left out of spoken language. A key problem is finding material that can be used
to focus on authentic spoken language. The next task suggests a strategy.

Task 4 – Creating your own spoken language samples

Letters a to f describe steps in an approach to creating an authentic or

semi-authentic recording that you could use in the classroom for the
purposes of analysing spoken language with students. Put these steps in
the correct order.

Steps to creating an authentic recording Order

a. Transcribe the excerpt.

b. Give students a language task that gets them to notice some useful key
features in the excerpt. You don’t need to focus on everything that’s there.

c. Listen to the conversation and find an excerpt that exemplifies some

interesting features of spoken interaction.

d. Give students the transcript.

e. Record some native speakers having a conversation or set up an

improvised role play of a particular situation.

f. In class treat the excerpt as a normal listening lesson and get students
to understand the gist and more detailed information in the text.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Analysing written and spoken language: Unit 1 g)

Thinking about your teaching …

In the TaskBook lesson: Teacher Language, it was suggested that you record part of
your lesson in order to evaluate your language. It could be useful to analyse your
own language along the lines suggested above. It would be interesting to see how
many discourse markers you use, or you could look for broader patterns in terms of
the way you initiate spoken interaction with students and how they respond.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Try to include regular lessons in your teaching programme where you focus on
language features that are not concerned with grammar or vocabulary. The
suggested book below will help give you ideas.

Want to find out more … ?

The following book is an excellent introduction to the ideas introduced in this lesson:
Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers by Michael McCarthy (Cambridge
University Press 1991).

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Analysing written and spoken language: Unit 1 g)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
Key Features of a Formal Letter to a
Student
a
5
c
7
d
3 Task 3 – Feedback
h
2
1) c
Key Features of Problem
Solution 2) f
Patterning 3) h
b
6 4) b
e
1 5) e
f
4 6) a
g
8 7) d
8) g

Task 4 – Feedback
1) e
2) c
3) a
4) f
5) d
6) b

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Analysing written and spoken language: Unit 1 g)

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teacher Language: Unit 2 a)

Do students sometimes not understand what you are saying, particularly at

low levels? This lesson will help you to pinpoint problems with your classroom
language and look at ways of making it clearer.

Task 1 – Andy’s Feedback

Andy used to have a problem of speaking too quickly and students found him difficult to
understand. He has worked hard at trying to slow down his speech, but students have told
him that they still have problems understanding his instructions and explanations.

Can you help Andy? What do you think the problem is?
Jot down your ideas on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
While the speed of Andy’s delivery may have improved, he is probably still using
language that is too difficult for his students. He may also be using more
language than he needs.

Key Skill
Teachers should use language in the classroom that is clear and natural. It
should be simple enough for students to understand, but not too simplified so
that it becomes ungrammatical or condescending. Teachers need to make sure
they do not use more language than is necessary with students.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teacher Language: Unit 2 a)

Task 2 – Problems with instructions

Numbers 1 to 8 are all examples of problematic teacher language. After

each example, there are two problems. Which of the two problems best
describes the example?

Tick the statement you think is correct.

1. “I want you all to get up on your feet and hitch up with someone other than your
mate next to you…”
a) The teacher uses more words than necessary.
b) There is too much colloquial language in these instructions.

2. “Just imagine if you might be an astronaut visiting the space station.”

a): There is too much hypothetical language that is unnecessary.
b) The use of ‘just’ is unnecessary.

3. “Then together talking – many words – happy class.”

a) The teacher is too specific about the language output for the activity.
a) The teacher over-simplifies her language and is speaking in an unnatural pidgin.

4. “The ideas espoused by group 1 are very interesting.”

a) The teacher uses a word that is overly formal.
b) The first noun phrase in the sentence is too long.

5. “I was wondering if you could all work in pairs and then would you mind talking
about the picture.”
a) The teacher uses too much unnecessary polite language.
b) There is too much hypothetical language that is unclear.

6. “I’m just writing up a question on the white board and I want you to … there we go
I’ve finished … yes, you should answer the question that I’ve written up.”
a) The teacher mixes the present progressive with the present simple and this is confusing.
b) The teacher narrates their activity and uses more language than is necessary.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teacher Language: Unit 2 a)
7. “So how was your weekend? Did you have a good time? Oh and I’d do task one
first. I had a great weekend.”
a) The teacher mixes social language with instructional language and this is confusing for
students.
b) The teacher narrates their activity and hides the instructions amongst the narration.

8. “Those two clauses have a hypotactic relationship.”

a) The 2 noun phrases in this sentence are too complex.
b) The grammar terminology used in this explanation would probably be too sophisticated for
many learners.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
To make your teacher language clear, it helps to avoid the following: language
that is very colloquial, language that is very polite, language that is rarely used
or is very technical. Two other things to avoid are: narrating what you’re doing
and mixing different types of language (explanation vs. instruction).

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teacher Language: Unit 2 a)

Task 3 – Instructions and gestures

Sometimes it helps to use gestures when talking to students. Look at the

examples of teacher language below and decide whether you would use
gestures or not. Circle ‘Y’ for yes and ‘N’ for no. If you choose ‘yes’,
describe the kind of gesture you would use.

Instructions Gesture? Describe your gesture

1. Talk together in pairs. Y N

2. Fill in the gaps in exercise one. Y N

3. Move around the room and talk to Y N

as many people as possible.

4. Listen and complete exercise 2. Y N

5. Those in group A should sit on Y N

the left and those in group B
should sit on the right.

6. You’ve got 5 minutes to finish. Y N

7. Stand up and find the picture that Y N

matches your text.

8. Read the text and complete the Y N

True / False questions.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
A good way of reducing the amount of teacher talk you need to use is by using
gesture and body language. It can also help support what you are saying and
makes your language clearer for learners.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teacher Language: Unit 2 a)

Task 4 – Making your instructions clear

The following examples of teacher language are unclear in one way or

another. Rewrite them so that they are clear. The feedback provides
suggested answers and variation is possible.

Teacher language
1. Have a chat to your partner.
2. If you were a journalist …
3. Time’s just about up.
4. How about maybe getting into groups.
5. Check out if you were right at the back of the book.
6. Listen and work out if you’ve more or less got the hang of it.
7. If you could just pop the word in the right place.
8. Just have a read and jot down some of the core arguments.
9. Don’t take forever – just whip through them.
10. What I want you to do is just get into pairs and have a look at what each other has
got.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teacher Language: Unit 2 a)

 Thinking about your teaching …

A good way to check your own instructional language is by taking a tape recorder to
the classroom and recording yourself giving instructions. After the lesson, write out a
transcript of some of your instructional sequences and analyse it to see if any of
problems noted in task 2 are present in your teacher language.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

 Taking it to the classroom …

An interesting challenge you can set yourself (and it can be intriguing and fun for
your students) is to try teaching for half an hour or an hour without talking at all and
trying to mime things. You may need to write the odd word on the white board. This
will give you an insight into how little it is possible to say some times with learners.
Note how much more language they produce in order to fill the silence.

 Want to find out more … ?

On pages 116 - 118 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is further reading on how teachers can help
students hear and understand language.

On pages 95 - 96 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan

2005), there is further reading on using gesture in the classroom.

 Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 2 c) Giving instructions: Learn how to plan and give effective instructions in
the classroom.
• Unit 2 b) Questioning techniques: Learn how teachers can effectively use
questions not only to check instructions, but also to check learning.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teacher Language: Unit 2 a)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback the teacher could hold up the book or

worksheet and indicate the correct text
1. b) 5. a) and task.
2. a) 6. b)
3. b) 7. a)
Task 4 – Feedback
4. a) 8. b) 1. Have a chat to your partner.
Rewrite: Talk to you partner.
Task 3 – Feedback
1. Talk together in pairs. Gesture: Yes. 2. If you were a journalist …
Describe gesture: The teacher points to Rewrite: You are a journalist. (Or:
each pair with both hands. Imagine you are a journalist.)

2. Fill in the gaps in exercise [Link]: 3. Time’s just about up.

No. However, the teacher could hold up Rewrite: It’s almost time to stop / to finish.
the book or worksheet and indicate the (Or: 30 seconds to go)
correct exercise.
4. How about maybe getting into groups.
3. Move around the room and talk to as Rewrite: Please get into groups of …
many people as possible. Gesture: Yes.
Describe gesture: The teacher makes 5. Check out if you were right at the back
circular arm movements to suggest of the book.
mingling. Rewrite: Look at the answers on page X
of the book.
4. Listen and complete exercise 2.
Gesture: No. However, the teacher could
6. Listen and work out if you’ve more or
cup one hand behind an ear to indicate
less got the hang of it.
listening.
Rewrite: Listen for gist to get a general
5. Those in group A should sit on the left understanding.
and those in group B on the right.
Gesture: Yes. Describe gesture: The 7. If you could just pop the words in the
teacher points to the parts of the room right place.
where the people in each group should Rewrite: Put the words in the correct
go. place.

6. You’ve got 5 minutes to finish. 8. Just have a read and jot down some of
Gesture: Yes. Describe gesture: The the core arguments.
teacher holds up a splayed hand – five Rewrite: Read and write down the main
fingers represent 5 minutes. ideas in the text.
7. Stand up and find the picture that 9. Don’t take forever – just whip through
matches your text. Gesture: Yes. them.
Describe gesture: The teacher raises her Rewrite: Don’t spend too much time on
hands to indicate standing up, then points them – do them quickly.
to two or three pictures in the room.
8. Read the text and complete the True /
False questions. Gesture: No. However,
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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teacher Language: Unit 2 a)
10. What I want you to do is just get into Rewrite: Please get into pairs and look at
pairs and have a look at what each other your partner’s answers.
has got.

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Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
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you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Questioning techniques: Unit 2 b)

Do you question your students a lot? Is it a good idea to use questions in the
classroom? This lesson will help you find out about questions as learning tools.

Task 1 – Kate’s question.

Kate was teaching a group of pre intermediate students the other day. She gave them these
instructions and asked them a question afterwards:

Kate: ‘I want all the students who are letter A to stand over here and all those who are letter B
to stand over there. Then I want you to find a partner from the other group and talk to each
other using the questionnaires and make notes on your partner’s answers and then go back into
your original group and tell each other about the answers you got. And then you should order
them from the most to the least interesting.’
Kate: “OK? Do you understand?”
Students: [Silence]

Kate: ”Do you understand?”

One student: “Yes” [very quietly]

Why are the students reluctant to answer? Do you think they understand?
Jot your ideas on a note pad, then check the answer key below

Task 1 Feedback
Kate’s instructions are quite long and complicated and the students’ silence
probably means they don’t understand them, at least not completely, and this
makes them reluctant to answer. The students who eventually answer ‘yes’ may
have understood the instructions, but they could just be saying ‘yes’ to save
face or because they think that if they say ‘no’, they will invite more difficult
questioning from Kate. The problem is that Kate’s question does not give her a
clear indication of whether her students have understood or not.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Questioning techniques: Unit 2 b)

Key skill
Questions are a useful teaching tool in the English language classroom because
they increase student participation in the lesson. It can also mean that teachers
become less reliant on very long explanations, which can be difficult for
students to understand. Questions can be ‘open’ (i.e. the question begins with a
‘wh-‘ word like ‘what’ or ‘where’) or they can be closed (i.e. a question that you
can answer with ‘yes’ or ‘no’). Questions can also be ‘display’ (the teacher
knows the answer) or ‘referential’ (the teacher doesn’t know the answer).

Task 2 – The questions we use

Letters a to f are example teacher questions. Match them to the categories 1

to 6 below.

Teacher questions
a. Do we know exactly when the action happened in the past?
b. So are you going to talk to one student or many students?
c. What’s a word that means very, very tired?
d. Did anyone go to the movies at the weekend?
e. Who knows who invented the worldwide web?
f. So does a ‘burglar’ steal from banks or only from people’s homes?

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Questioning techniques: Unit 2 b)

Categories Teacher questions

1. eliciting language

2. eliciting information

3. checking classroom instructions

4. checking a vocabulary concept

5. checking a grammar concept

6. social or personal

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
There are many opportunities for teachers to use questions effectively during
different stages of a lesson. Used appropriately, questioning keeps the students
engaged and involved and helps to keep up the pace of the lesson.

Task 3 – Some problems with questions

In a to e below there is a description of problems that teachers can have

when asking their students questions. Match the problems to the
scenarios 1 to 5 below.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Questioning techniques: Unit 2 b)

Scenarios Problems

1. Teacher: So what kind of food do you eat for dinner in your family (2
seconds later) OK. Not sure? Not to worry.

2. Teacher: OK, so first of all student A runs outside the classroom and
reads a sentence and then comes back in. Student B then writes down
what student A says, then its student B’s turn to go outside. And they
do the same thing. All right? OK, so Paulo, what do you have to do?

3. Teacher: You might like to answer then and tell me where you’re
likely to find something like “rubbish”?

4. Teacher: So you see this diagram on the white board – the one at
the top with the little wiggly line. So do you think that’s the present
perfect, or is it this one with the little crosses on it?

5. Teacher: So are you going to do the exercise or are you going to

listen to the radio?

Problems
a. The answer to the question is too long and unmanageable for students.
b. The answer to the question is so obvious it is not worth asking the question.
c. The teacher does not wait long enough for the answer to the question.
d. The teacher uses unnecessary language. She could probably just point to what is on
the white board.
e. The teacher could simplify her language in the question.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Questioning techniques: Unit 2 b)

Key Skill
Just asking questions is not enough. Teachers need to think carefully about
what kinds of questions they ask and how they ask them. Questions should be
easy for students to understand and they should have short, manageable
answers. Teachers need to give students a little thinking time and not expect
them to answer questions immediately.

Task 4 – Asking questions about language

Letters a to h below are labels for different questions that can check students’
understanding of language. Some refer to vocabulary, while others refer to
grammar. Match the labels to the questions 1 to 8 below.

Labels
a. Checking the meaning of a new word.
b. Checking the register (level of formality) of a new word.
c. Checking the collocation of a word – the way it goes together with another word.
d. Checking the connotation of a word – whether it has a positive or negative
meaning.
e. Checking the time reference of a grammar structure.
f. Checking the probability of a grammar structure
g. Checking the duration of a grammar structure.
h. Checking the function (e.g. giving advice) of an utterance.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Questioning techniques: Unit 2 b)

Questions Labels

1. If we say someone is “pretentious” is that good or bad?

2. Can we say “make my homework”?

3. Is a “reward” something you buy or something that a person

gives you?

4. Is he saying that it’s necessary or only that it’s a good idea?

5. Did he do that once or more than once?

6. Can you use this word when you are talking to your boss?
What about your friends?

7. Are we sure it happened or do we only think it’s possible that it

happened?

8. Did the action happen at a definite time in the past?

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Questioning techniques: Unit 2 b)

Thinking about your teaching …

Record some of your lessons with a tape recorder and analyse how much time you
spend explaining things to students and how much time you spend questioning them.
Do you explain too much? How long does it take for students to answer your questions?
Are your questions easy to understand?

Note your observations in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Whenever you think you need to give your students a reasonably long explanation for
something, think about turning part of the explanation into a series of questions that
guide students to an understanding of whatever it is you are focusing on. It might help
to plan these questions until such time as you feel confident about asking them
spontaneously in the classroom.

Want to find out more … ?

In The Self-directed Teacher by David Nunan and Clarice Lamb (Cambridge University
Press, 1996), there is further reading on using questions in English language classrooms.

See also section 2 of Language Teaching Classroom Practice DVD & Workbook by
Heather Richards and Karen Wise (AUT University 2007).

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Questioning techniques: Unit 2 b)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
1. c
2. e
3. b
4. f
5. a
6. d

Task 3 – Feedback
1. Problem: c. The teacher does not wait long enough for the answer to the question.
2. Problem: a. The answer to the question is too long and unmanageable for students.
3. Problem: e. The teacher could simplify her language in the question.
4. Problem: d. The teacher uses unnecessary language. She could probably just point to what
is in the white board.
5. Problem: b. The answer to the question is so obvious it is not worth asking the question.

Task 4 – Feedback
1. d
2. c
3. a
4. h
5. g
6. b
7. f
8. e

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial Share
Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and perform the
work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as you credit the
author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Questioning techniques: Unit 2 b)

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Giving instructions: Unit 2 c)

When you set up activities, do your students sometimes look confused? This
lesson will help you sort this out.

Task 1 – Simon’s instructions

Simon is teaching a group of pre intermediate students.

Simon: ‘So what I would like you to do is this. First of all, I’d like you to imagine you’re a
waiter. Well, that’s student A. If you were the waiter what would you do? And student B if you
were the customer what would you say? Oh that’s right, guys, you’ll all need to look at the
menu. Actually you both will. OK, so you do that and talk together. All right? OK, so what do
you have to do?

Students: [silence]

Write answers to the questions below.

a. Do you think Simon’s instructions are clear and easy to understand?

b. Can you improve Simon’s instructions? Rewrite them on a piece of paper.
c. What grammar and vocabulary changes did you make to Simon’s instructions?

Then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
a. No, they are likely to be difficult for pre intermediate level learners. Simon
realises at the end he needs to check his instructions and this is a positive thing.
However, his way of checking is asking students to repeat the whole instruction
sequence and this is difficult.

b. There are many possible ways of rewriting Simon’s instructions. The

following example would be easier for students to understand:
Simon: OK, student A – you are all waiters. Student B – you are all customers. So
who are the waiters? [the A’s raise their hands] And who are the customers?
[the Bs raise their hands] Great! All the waiters and all the customers read the
menu. Customers - think about what you are going to say. Waiters, think about
what you will reply. Now, what will you do first, read the menu or speak?

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Giving instructions: Unit 2 c)

Task 1 Feedback (cont’d)

c. The example in answer b has no grammar and vocabulary associated with an

imaginary situation. For example, if you were the waiter …, …imagine … It also
has no unnecessary polite language I’d like you to … and it has no redundancies
such as I mean…, actually…, guys…

Key Skill
When teachers can give clear instructions, learners feel more secure in the
lesson. It also means learners can begin tasks more quickly, which increases
time for learning.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Giving instructions: Unit 2 c)

Task 2 – Hints for giving clear instructions

Look at each pair of sentences and choose the one that is TRUE.

Sentences
1. a) You should use polite language otherwise students will get offended.
b) You should use simple language so the instructions are clear.

2. a) You shouldn’t do a demonstration because it takes far too much time.

b) You should do a demonstration so students can see the activity in action.

3. a) You should use questions to check key aspects of the instructions.

b) You should use questions to check all aspects of the instructions.

4. a) You should hold up worksheets when giving instructions so that students look at
you.
b) You should hand out worksheets and then give instructions so students can
read what they have to do.

5. a) You shouldn’t use gesture as this will distract students from what you are
saying.
b) You should use gesture because visual information can support what you are
saying.

6. a) You should never use the OHP (overhead projector) to help you give
instructions because it is awkward and it is really a bit like cheating if you do.
b) You could sometimes use an OHP to help you give instructions because you
can show a transparency of a worksheet clearly to your learners.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
It is helpful for students if teachers plan their instructions. Good instructions
use simple language and are often supported by clear gestures or
demonstrations. The whiteboard or OHP may also be used to help give
instructions. Remember to ask questions to check your students have
understood the instructions correctly.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Giving instructions: Unit 2 c)

Task 3 – Getting instructions in the right order

Put the teacher actions a – f in the left-hand column in the correct order
1-6, so that you create a clear and logical instruction sequence.

Teacher actions Order [1- 6]

a. give instructions

b. hand out the work sheet

c. hold up the work sheet

d. gesture the interaction pattern to be used (e.g. work in pairs)

e. get the students’ attention

f. check the instructions

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
In class, before you begin giving your instructions, ensure that all the students
are looking at and listening to you. It’s important not give out the worksheet
too early otherwise you will lose your students attention. Only give out the
worksheet once you have finished giving and checking your instructions.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Giving instructions: Unit 2 c)

Task 4 – Checking instructions

Each number below 1 – 6 is a learning activity. After each activity, there

are 2 questions a) and b) that could be used to check the instructions.
One question is effective, but the other is not. Choose the question that
you think is most effective.

Learning activities Questions to check instructions

1. role play a) Are you going to write or speak together?

b) Who speaks first?

2. mingle a) Do you ask your partner or other students?

b) Do you mingle around?

3. gist reading a) Are you going to read or listen?

b) How much time have you got?

4. information gap activity a) Are you going to show your sheet to each other?
b) So what are you going to talk about?

5. gap fill a) Are you going to fill in the gap?

b) Do you use only one word or more than one word?

6. dictation a) How many times will I read the text?

b) Who is going to write down the words?

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Giving instructions: Unit 2 c)

Thinking about your teaching …

Think about the last time you gave instructions for a more complicated activity, for
example, a mingle activity or a split reading and feedback task. Did it go well? Did
your students begin the task promptly? Why or why not?

Make a list of ideas and record these in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

If you are interested in finding out if your instructions are effective, you can record
yourself during the lesson and transcribe your instruction sequences. It is interesting
to note what language you use and whether you can improve this or not.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 90 to 92 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there is further reading on giving instructions.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 2 a) Teacher language: Learn how teachers can use language in the
classroom that is clear and natural.
• Unit 2 b) Questioning techniques: Learn how teachers can effectively use
questions not only to check instructions, but also to check learning.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Giving instructions: Unit 2 c)

Answer Key
3. a
Task 2 – Feedback 4. d
5. f
1. b) You should use simple language so 6. b
the instructions are clear. - TRUE
Comment: If you are too polite, you may
end up using complicated language that is
Task 4 – Feedback
difficult to understand. 1. role play b) Who speaks first?
Comment: The first question is obvious.
2. b) You should do a demonstration so
The second question is useful because
students can see the activity in action. -
students often don’t know who should
TRUE
begin a conversation in a role play and
Comment: Doing an example is a very
this question is a good reminder.
concrete way of giving instructions.
3. a) You should use questions to check 2. mingle a) Do you ask your partner or
key aspects of the instructions. - TRUE other students?
Comment: If part of your instructions are Comment: The word ‘mingle’ may not be
obvious, for example, “work in pairs”, then understood by some students. The
it is not necessary to check this aspect of language in question a) is clearer.
the activity. Check aspects that are more
confusing for students. 3. gist reading b) How much time have
you got?
4. a) You should hold up worksheets when Comment: The first question is too
giving instructions so that students look at obvious. Question b) reminds students
you. - TRUE that they should read quickly for gist as
Comment: If you give out worksheets too they have a time limit.
soon, students start reading them and
stop listening to your instructions. 4. information gap activity a) Are you
going to show your sheet to each other?
5. b) You should use gesture because it is Comment: Question b) is too open-
visual information that supports what you ended. Question a) checks a key aspect
are saying. – TRUE of information gap activities.
Comment: Any visual information you can
add is always useful for students. 5. gap fill b) Do you use only one word or
6. b) You could use an OHP to help you more than one word?
Comment: Question a) is too obvious.
give instructions sometimes because you
Question b) can be an important
can show a transparency of a worksheet
instruction to check for a gap fill task as
clearly to your learners. – TRUE
Comment: Showing students a worksheet some of these tasks restrict the choice to
one word.
on an OHP can make the instructions
clearer. It also means that students look at
you and listen to you when you give the 6. dictation a) How many times will I read
instructions. the text?
Comment: Question b) is too obvious.
However, it is useful to remind students of
Task 3 – Feedback the number of times you will read a
dictation text.
1. e
2. c

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Giving instructions: Unit 2 c)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-
commercial Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute,
display and perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work
noncommercially, as long as you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the
identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Pace in the classroom: Unit 2 d)

Do you sometimes worry that your lesson might be too fast or too slow for
your students? This lesson can help you find out if that’s true and what you can
do about it.

Task 1 – Test yourself

Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the following questions:

Do you like to …
… wait for the last student to finish an activity before doing feedback? Yes / No
… explain language points in a good level of detail? Yes / No
… help as many students as much as possible when monitoring? Yes / No
… always do teacher-controlled feedback? Yes / No

Now check your answers in the key below.

Task 1 Feedback
If you answered ‘yes’ to 2 or more of the questions in task 1, you might have a
problem with pace in your lesson. It could be a bit slow and sometimes, your
students might get bored.

Key skill
Pace will vary according to different stages of the lesson. However, it is important
that teachers are aware of how variations in pace can affect their learners’
motivation and learning.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Pace in the classroom: Unit 2 d)

Task 2 – Bored or rushed students?

Look at teacher actions a to j. Some actions can make students feel

bored in a lesson, while other actions will make them feel rushed. Place
the actions into the correct column in the table below.

Teacher actions
a. You teach to the level of the weakest student in the class.
b. You often can’t find your plan and materials and get a bit lost in the lesson.
c. You stick rigidly to time limits you set. It doesn’t matter whether students have
finished the activity or not.
d. You immediately nominate a second student when the first student can’t answer
a question.
e. You like to use the same kind of materials in your lessons because you know
what works best.
f. You do really lively drills to keep students’ energy up.
g. You give instructions as you hand out worksheets.
h. You give students a lot of time to answer open class questions.
i. You don’t let students ask questions about activities after doing feedback.
j. You wait for students to read all of a worksheet and then give instructions for the
activity.

Bored students Rushed students

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key skill
Maintaining an appropriate learning pace for a group of students is a key part of
good classroom management. If students feel bored or rushed in any way, they
don’t learn as well as they could.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Pace in the classroom: Unit 2 d)

Task 3 – What else can affect pace?

Below are some other factors that can make the pace of a lesson feel
too slow. Why do you think they do this?

Jot down your answers on a note pad, then check the answer key.

Factors that can make the pace feel too slow

a. Monitoring students.
b. Teacher talk.
c. Dominant student.
d. Teacher’s personal style.
e. Student interaction patterns.

Key skill
The answers in task 3 show the degree to which the teacher often controls the
pace of a lesson. It might be useful to imagine that you are like the conductor of
an orchestra and be aware that your interventions will affect the rate of learning
in any lesson.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Pace in the classroom: Unit 2 d)

Task 4 – Ways to find a better pace

Letters a to j describe a problem associated with pace. Numbers 1 to 10 are

strategies that can help deal with these problems. They are not in the same
order. Match the strategies to a problem.

Problems with pace Strategies

a. You think you talk too much to students.

b. You let activities continue for too long.

c. You get stuck with students when monitoring.

d. You always get your students to work in the same pairs.

e. You let one student dominate the lesson.

f. You stick rigidly to time limits.

g. You teach to the weak learners in the class.

h. You think your personal style is too fast or slow.

i. Your open class feedback sometimes goes on for too long.

j. You think your materials are always the same.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Pace in the classroom: Unit 2 d)

Strategies that can help with pace

1. When planning lessons, think about using a variety of interaction patterns: pairs,
small groups, mingle activities. During the lesson, change pairs frequently.

2. Make a conscious effort to use alternative materials – once a week if teaching full-
time, once a month if teaching part-time.

3. Monitor student-centred activities more carefully. Do feedback when most, but not all,
students have finished.

4. Record yourself to see if it is true. If so, try using student-centred discovery tasks to
help you get ideas across to students.

5. You can give feedback on some answers to a task when monitoring. In open class
feedback, deal only with the questions students found more difficult.

6. If you think this is happening in the lesson, go immediately to whole group feedback.
What you were explaining to one pair might be useful to all students.

7. If you are worried about this, invite a colleague you trust to observe one of your
classes and give you feedback on this.

8. Monitor students carefully and check their real progress on a task. If it’s taking them
longer than you thought, be flexible and allow them more time.

9. Teach to a middle level of ability in your group. If necessary, deal with weaker
students’ questions when monitoring or after class.

10. Nominate other students and politely ask the enthusiastic student to let other
students contribute. If necessary, talk to the problem student after class.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Pace in the classroom: Unit 2 d)

Thinking about your teaching …

Sometimes the pace of the lesson can be created by the learners. Try keeping a
record of lessons that felt fast-paced to you and those that felt slower. Note the time
of day, day in the week and anything else that might have affected your students’
pace. Also make a note of what kind of materials you use. After about 10 or more
lessons, see if you can note any patterns in this information.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Try getting feedback on the pace of your lessons directly from your students. At the
end of each lesson ask them if the lesson was too slow, too fast or about right. If you
do this, you will need to expect some negative feedback, but it might help you to
keep your students happier in the long term.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 153 to 160 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is reading on problem behaviour of students
which looks at issues such as boredom and dominant students, and how to manage
these successfully.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Pace in the classroom: Unit 2 d)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback

bored students rushed students

a. You teach to the level of the weakest c. You stick rigidly to time limits you set. It
student in the class. doesn’t matter whether students have
finished the activity or not.
Comment: This will be too slow for the
majority of students in the class. Comment: Your estimated time limits
may not always be correct and students
might need extra time.

b. You often can’t find your plan and d. You immediately nominate a second
materials and get a bit lost in the lesson. student when the first student can’t
answer a question.
Comment: This can take time and it
makes you look disorganised to the Comment: You are perhaps not giving
students. the first student enough thinking time to
come up with an answer.

e. You like to use the same kind of f. You do really lively drills to keep
materials in your lessons because you students’ energy up.
know what works best.
Comment: The drills might be too lively
Comment: This can be very repetitive and weaker students can’t hear or
and students feel they are always doing understand the words or phrases they are
the same old thing. being asked to repeat.

h. You give students a lot of time to ask g. You give instructions as you hand out
open class questions. worksheets.
Comment: This can drag on and Comment: Students will probably feel
sometimes it is only the weak student(s) pressure because they are trying to
who asks(s) questions. understand your oral instructions and
make sense of the worksheet at the same
time.
j. You wait for students to read all of a i. You don’t let students ask questions
worksheet and then give instructions for about activities after doing feedback.
the activity.
Comment: The students’ questions could
Comment: Some students will be quite be important to their learning.
slow at reading and the faster readers will
often have to wait for them to finish.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Pace in the classroom: Unit 2 d)

Answer Key (Cont’d)

Task 3 - Feedback
a. Monitoring students
Answer: There are 2 possibilities here. First the teacher may not monitor enough in order to
find out students’ progress on a task. She may let tasks go on for too long. Secondly, the
teacher might spend too much time with one student or one group of students and the others
get bored waiting for her.

b. Teacher talk
Answer: If the teacher talks too much, the students might not understand what she is saying
and switch off. Students can only process a limited amount of explanation in a second
language. Often it is better to get them working on discovery tasks.

c. Dominant student
Answer: The student may demand a lot of the teacher’s attention and ask a lot of questions
that are not relevant to the group as a whole. This is boring and sometimes frustrating for the
other students.

d. Teacher’s personal style

Answer: Some teachers speak too slowly and do not vary their voice enough.

e. Student interaction patterns

Answer: If the teacher always uses the same interaction pattern (e.g. working in pairs) and
she never changes the pairs in a lesson, this can result in the students feeling the activities
are repetitive and boring.

Task 4 - Feedback
a) 4
b) 3
c) 6
d) 1
e) 10
f) 8
g) 9
h) 7
i) 5
j) 2

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.
Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]
 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Drilling techniques: Unit 2 e)

Do you often avoid drilling new language items with your students? Is this
because you don’t think it’s useful or is it because you are not sure how to go
about it? This lesson aims to get you thinking about the role of drilling in
language-focused lessons and demonstrate how to go about it.

Task 1 – To drill, or not to drill?

Two teachers are discussing drilling in the staffroom.

Mona: Then after I’ve done feedback on the matching tasks, I thought I’d drill the words.
Louise: Really?
Mona: Yeah – why not?
Louise: I never drill language – it’s so old-fashioned.
Mona: Do you think so? I was taught to drill on my training course and that was only last
year.
Louise: I’ve been teaching for just over ten years now and I’ve never drilled anything.
Mona: Interesting. What do your students say?
Louise: Nothing.
Mona: Mine never complain when I drill them.

Whose opinion do you agree with? Jot down your ideas / suggestions
on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
Drilling is a teaching skill that can sometimes be considered controversial.
Teachers who don’t like it see it as a relic of the audio-lingual approach to
language teaching. Other teachers think that drilling is useful because that is
how they like to learn a language. There is another group of teachers who avoid
drilling because they are not sure of how to drill. This lesson will work through
some of those issues associated with the skill and describe different drilling
procedures.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Drilling techniques: Unit 2 e)

Key Skill
What is drilling? In its most basic form drilling involves teachers asking students
to repeat individual words or utterances. The teacher gives a model of the
language and the students repeat it either in unison or individually or both.

Task 2 – What are some of the issues?

Below are some opinions about drilling. Sort them into two groups,
opinions ‘for’ drilling and those ‘against’.

NB. Two of the opinions are probably NOT true. Can you decide which two
they are?

1. Many students expect their teachers to drill new language.

2. Part of language learning is a physical skill. Drilling is like sending students’ speech
organs to the gym.
3. Drilling doesn’t involve real communication.
4. Drilling helps students to memorise new language.
5. Drilling can help students with pronunciation. It allows them to feel new sounds.
6. Drilling means that the teacher imposes new language on students and is unnatural.
7. Even if teachers don’t drill, students will often quietly drill themselves because the want
to have a go at saying new language items.
8. Drilling won’t necessarily lead to internalisation and acquisition of new language.
9. Drilling helps students to understand new language.

for against

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Drilling techniques: Unit 2 e)

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Drilling probably does not aid the acquisition or learning of new language items,
but it can help students with the pronunciation of language. It may not be a
natural and highly communicative classroom activity, but students seem to
want to be drilled nonetheless. It helps if students understand the language
that teachers drill. In other words, the meaning should be clarified first
otherwise drilling simply involves mindless repetition.

Task 3 – Ways of drilling

Match the five ways of drilling 1 to 5 with the definitions a to e and the
examples i to v.

Ways of drilling Definitions Examples

1. choral

2. individual

3. open pair

4. substitution

5. transformation

Definitions

a. Students repeat an utterance. The teacher says or holds up a new word or phrase.
Students repeat the first utterance, but replace a word or phrase from that utterance
with the new word or phrase.
b. The teacher drills one student in a question and a second student in an answer to
that question. The two students then repeat their question and answer exchange
with the rest of the class listening.
c. The teacher says a word or an utterance and the whole class repeats that word or
utterance together in unison.
d. The teacher says an utterance and the students say something similar to the
Languagesteacher’s
International – Auckland
utterance, but, &inChristchurch, New
doing so, they Zealand
change a [Link]
key structure.
e. The teacher says a word or utterance and then nominates a student to say that word
or utterance.
 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Drilling techniques: Unit 2 e)

Examples
i. Teacher: ‘He’s just gone home’. - Jin Yong.
Student: He’s just got home.
ii. Teacher: ‘He’s just gone home’
Students: He’d just gone home.
iii. Teacher: ‘Where’s he gone?’ - Yang.
Student: Where’s he gone?
Teacher: ‘He’s just gone home.’ - Sven.
Student: He’s just gone home.
Teacher: OK again. Question – Yang. Answer – Sven.
iv. Teacher: ‘He’s just gone home.’ - Everyone.
Students: He’s just gone home.
v. Students: He’s just gone home.
Teacher: ‘the bank.’
Students: He’s just gone to the bank.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Drilling does not have to always be repetitive and uncreative. Substitution and
transformation drills can provide students with a small degree of creativity and
cognitive effort.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Drilling techniques: Unit 2 e)

Task 4 – Five steps to drilling

Numbers 1 to 8 below are eight steps in the process of drilling a new

word or utterance. Put these steps in the correct order. Letters a to h give
a rational for each step. Once you have ordered the steps, match a
rationale to each step.

Eight steps of drilling Rationale

1. Once students give you the word or utterance, provide your own oral
model at a natural speed …

2. Students repeat the language together as a group …

3. Having broken down the oral model of the language, repeat it again
at a more natural speed

4. If the word or utterance you want to drill is on the white board, start
by wiping it off …

5. Re-elicit the language you want to drill using the prompts …

6. Nominate individual students and get them to repeat the word or

utterance …

7. Show students a prompt – a picture or some key words that relate to

the language you want to drill …

8. Highlight any key pronunciation features of the new language –

demonstrate these orally rather than using the white board …

Rationale for each step

a. … so that students have some visual representation of the language you want to drill.
b. … so that you can check the pronunciation of the new language by individual students.
c. … so that the first oral model that students hear is a natural one.
d. … so that students have to think a little bit about the language they are going to repeat.
e. … so that students focus on pronunciation features such as stress, weak forms and linking.
f. … so that all students have the opportunity to say the new language without being
heard by the rest of the class.
g. … so that students don’t just read the new language aloud and they have to listen
carefully in order to repeat.
h. … so that students will repeat the language with a more natural rhythm.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Drilling techniques: Unit 2 e)

Thinking about your teaching …

Find a colleague who speaks a second language that you don’t know at all. Ask your
colleague to give you two or three mini-lessons in that language and specifically ask
that person to drill you in the new language. After the lesson write down your
reactions to being drilled and think about why you had those reactions.

Note your reactions and thoughts in your Teaching log.

Taking it to the classroom …

If you don’t normally drill your students, try doing it over a period of about four or
five lessons. If you normally drill, trying not doing it over the same period of time.
After that, give your students a questionnaire about drilling – did they like it or did
they miss it? Why?

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 255 - 260 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there is further reading on drilling.

For some practical ideas on drilling options see pages 206-7 of The Practice of English
Language Teaching (4th edition) by Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007).

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 2 g) Correcting spoken errors: deals with error correction of students’ spoken
errors in the classroom.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Drilling techniques: Unit 2 e)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback

for against

1. Many students expect their teachers to 3. Drilling doesn’t involve real

drill new language. communication.
2. Part of language learning is a physical 6. Drilling means that the teacher imposes
skill. Drilling is like sending students’ new language on students and is unnatural.
speech organs to the gym.
8. Drilling won’t necessarily lead to
5. Drilling can help students with internalisation and acquisition of new
pronunciation. It allows them to feel new language.
sounds.
7. Even if teachers don’t drill, students
will often quietly drill themselves because
the want to have a go at saying new
language items.

Probably not true: 4. Drilling helps students to memorise new language.

Probably not true: 9. Drilling helps students to understand new language.

Task 3 – Feedback
1. choral c and iv
2. individual e and i
3. open pair b and iii
4. substitution a and v
5. transformation d and ii

Task 4 – Feedback
4. g
7. a
5. d
1. c
8. e
3. h
2. f
6. b.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Drilling techniques: Unit 2 e)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Conducting feedback on classroom activities: Unit 2 f)

Do you feel that you always do feedback on classroom activities in the same
way? This lesson will help you to gain an understanding of different types of
feedback and suggest ways that you can vary your approach.

Task 1 – Emily’s observation

The Director of Studies (DoS) at Emily’s school observed her teach a lesson a couple of
days ago. In the DoS’s written feedback, she made the comment: “you are sometimes
unclear during feedback stages”. Emily isn’t quite sure what the DoS means and she hasn’t
had a chance to have a tutorial with her as yet.

What do you think the DoS means? Jot down your answers on a note pad,
then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
Sometimes teachers want students to think carefully about their answers and
initially neither confirm nor deny whether the answer is correct. However, this
can sometimes go on for too long and get frustrating for students. At the end of
feedback, students can sometimes be unsure about whether their answers to a
task were correct or not.

Key Skill
Doing feedback on a task involves more than giving the right or wrong answers.
First, you need to think about whether you are doing language-focused
feedback or content-focused feedback. In content-focused feedback, teachers
are responding to ideas and information. However, in language-focused
feedback teachers are responding to the language that students produce.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Conducting feedback on classroom activities: Unit 2 f)

Task 2 – Different types of feedback

Numbers 1 to 8 describe different kinds of classroom activities. Put these

activities in the correct box in the table, thinking about whether the
feedback is language- or content-based, and whether or not there is a
right answer. Two of the activities can be placed in more than one box.

Type of feedback There is a right answer There is no right answer

Content-based

Language-based

Classroom activities
1. Reading comprehension task.
2. Matching new vocabulary to definitions.
3. Role play that is freer oral practice of a grammar point.
4. Completing a text that has missing words.
5. Listening comprehension task.
6. Problem-solving information gap activity.
7. Discussion that is a lead-in to a reading text.
8. Written grammar task where students choose the correct tense.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
When you give feedback on both content and language, it is usually more
motivating and interesting for students if you deal with content first. This shows
that you are responding to their ideas and not just focusing on how they said
something.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Conducting feedback on classroom activities: Unit 2 f)

Task 3 – Some example feedback procedures

Letters a to l describe different steps in two feedback procedures. One

is feedback on a discussion that students have been having; the other is
on a grammar activity where students had to choose a correct tense.

a) Decide which steps belong to the speaking activity and which

belong to the grammar activity.
b) Put the steps in the correct order for each activity.

Discussion Grammar activity

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

4. 4.

5. 5.

6. 6.

Steps
a. Nominate students randomly and put all suggested answers on the white board.
b. Praise students’ contributions and ideas.
c. Encourage other students to ask questions about or comment on what each group
says.
d. Confirm which answers are correct.
e. Ask students to check their answers in pairs.
f. Ask some follow up questions and make comments on what students have said
yourself.
g. Get pairs to look at the unresolved answers quickly for a second time.
h. If there is disagreement over the answers, accept both versions and write them on
the white board.
i. If you feel it is appropriate and useful, highlight a few errors you overheard in the
discussion.
j. Ask each group to decide what they will say in reporting their discussion.
k. Elicit the outcome of the second pair discussion.
l. Ask each group to tell the class what they have been talking about.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]
 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Conducting feedback on classroom activities: Unit 2 f)

Key Skill
You have to manage your student group carefully if you want to do feedback
well. Nominating students, encouraging peer interaction and praising students
are all key components of successful feedback.

Task 4 – Some good ideas

Numbers 1 to 6 are some good ideas for the management of feedback.

Letters a to f are rationales for each idea. Match the rationales to the
ideas.

It’s a good idea to... Because...

1. conduct feedback by nominating students randomly rather than in a

sequence …

2. ask students to justify their answers, particularly with reading and

listening comprehension tasks …

3. allow a certain amount of wait time when doing content-focused

feedback …

4. be clear about what answer is correct and what answer is not …

5. provide a written model answer for some tasks on the white board or
on an OHP …

6. occasionally avoid doing feedback at all …

Rationales
a. … it will avoid any frustration for students.
b. … it is not necessary if you can see that all students got all answers correct when
you monitored – you can just confirm that everything is correct and move on.
c. … it keep students involved in feedback.
d. … as it allows weaker students something concrete to check their answers against.
e. … sometimes students need to organise their ideas before replying.
f. … it makes students think a little harder and offers stronger students more
challenge.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Conducting feedback on classroom activities: Unit 2 f)

Thinking about your teaching …

Make notes over a week’s teaching. At the end of each lesson, think about what
feedback you did and how you did it. Taking into consideration some of the points
made in the tasks above, evaluate how effective you think your feedback was.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log

Taking it to the classroom …

An alternative approach to feedback is to let learners know that you will only confirm
the answers to 2 or 3 questions on a task. In groups they have to negotiate and
decide which answers they feel certain they have got right and which they are most
unsure of. This strategy makes them think harder and it also generates a lot of
groups discussion as they negotiate.

Want to find out more … ?

Pages 107 - 113 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by Jeremy
Harmer (Pearson 2007) contains reading on the teacher role of ‘organiser’ and also
discusses the role of feedback in lessons.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 2 d) Pace in the classroom: includes discussion of the idea that feedback can
affect pace, either positively or negatively.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Conducting feedback on classroom activities: Unit 2 f)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback

Type of feedback Right answer No right answer

1. Reading comprehension 3. Role play that is freer

task. oral practice of a grammar
point.
5. Listening comprehension
Content-based
task. 6. Problem-solving
information gap activity.
7. Discussion that is a lead
in to a reading text.

2. Matching new vocabulary 3. Role play that is freer

to definitions. oral practice of a grammar
point.*
4. Completing a text that
Language-based
has missing words. 6. Problem-solving
information gap activity.*
8. Written grammar task
where students choose the
correct tense.

* This kind of feedback would involve error correction. The answer is not ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ as
such as there was no expected answer and the teacher feeds back on what they have
heard.

Task 3 – Feedback
Speaking Activity
1) j Task 4 – Feedback
2) l
3) c 1) c
4) f 2) f
5) b 3) e
6) i 4) a
5) d
Grammar Activity 6) b
1) e
2) a
3) h
4) g
5) k
6) d

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Conducting feedback on classroom activities: Unit 2 f)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-
commercial Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute,
display and perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work
noncommercially, as long as you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the
identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Correcting spoken errors: Unit 2 g)

Are you sometimes unsure about when you should correct your students’
spoken language? Do you feel that you always correct them in the same way?
This lesson looks at the types of errors students make with oral language and it
outlines a procedure and some techniques for dealing with these.

Task 1 – Was that an error or a slip of the tongue?

Andy: “I corrected this student of mine in class the other day. She left out an article, so I
interrupted her and told her she needed to add ‘the’. She got quite annoyed with me and told
me that she knew all about articles. However, in the next breath she was telling me she
wants to be corrected more.”

Who has the problem – Andy or his student? Why do you think this? Jot
down your answers on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
The student does seem to be sending slightly contradictory messages to Andy.
However, Andy’s intervention may have been untimely and interrupted the
student’s flow of conversation. They key issue here is that knowing when to
correct is a sensitive judgment call for teachers. Students do want feedback on
their language, but they like to get it at the right time.

Key Skill
An important distinction to make is the one between systematic errors and
mistakes or slips. Systematic errors are indicative of a students’ lack of language
knowledge, while small mistakes or slips occur in language that students know,
but lack of concentration or tiredness can mean they make a mistake.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Correcting spoken errors: Unit 2 g)

Task 2 – Types of errors

Numbers 1 to 5 are examples of spoken errors. Letters a to e are

categories of errors. Number i to v indicate what the problem is. Match
the examples to the categories and problems.

Example Category Problem

1. “I will to the party go.”

2. “My sister is higher than my brother.”

3. “I went to a barty and danced all night.”

4. A: “Do you like wine?” B: “No thank you.”

5. Customer in a café: “Give me a coffee.”

Categories Problems
a. pronunciation i. collocation
b. pragmatic (language in context) ii. cohesion
c. grammar iii. register too informal
d. vocabulary iv. sound (phoneme)
e. discourse v. word order

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
The causes of error stem from the students’ lack of knowledge. This can be a
result of having learnt rules incorrectly or oversimplifying a rule they have
learnt. A student’s first language can play a role in the cause of error,
particularly with pronunciation errors. Some errors are the result of a student
being creative with the limited English they do have in order to communicate.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Correcting spoken errors: Unit 2 g)

Task 3 – A procedure for correcting errors

Letters a to j below outline ten steps in a procedure for correcting

students errors. Place the steps in the correct order.

Steps Order? [1-10]

a. If that’s not successful, other students can be asked to correct the

language.

b. Alternatively, the teacher may wait until the activity is finished then
correct errors.

c. Another approach is to record students as they carry out a speaking

activity and get them to correct themselves when they listen to the
recording.

d. The first decision the teacher has to make is whether to correct the
error, or just let it go by.

e. If no-one can help, then the teacher should give the correct version
of the language.

f. The teacher hears the error and categorizes it in their head.

g. However, the teacher may decide to correct the language after the
speaking activity by noting down errors and then writing them up on the
white board for the students to correct.

h. Either way, the error (or errors) needs to be pointed out to students.

i. If the teacher decides to, on-the-spot error correction could be done,

to deal with the error immediately.

j. When the teacher does on-the-spot correction, the student who made
the error needs to have the opportunity to self correct, first of all.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Teachers are more likely to do on-the-spot error correction during accuracy-
focused activities such as clarifying new language and controlled oral practice of
new language. Delayed feedback on errors is more likely to take place after
freer practice or spoken fluency activities.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Correcting spoken errors: Unit 2 g)

Task 4 – Correction techniques

Letters a to f below describe different correction techniques. Put them in

order from 1 least directive (i.e. the teacher does little to point out that an
error has been made and does not indicate where and what the problem
is) to 6 most directive (i.e. the teacher very clearly indicates the place and
nature of the error).

The student error is: ‘I have gone to the movies yesterday.’

Correction technique How directive? [1 – 6]

a. The teacher repeats the student’s error with a rising

intonation and perhaps a quizzical facial expression.

b. The teacher says: It was yesterday – exact time – what’s

correct?

c. The teacher says: So do we use present perfect or past

simple?

d. The teacher says: Think about the grammar – the verb.

e. The teacher spells out the utterance on their fingers,

highlights the fingers that represent ‘have gone’ and says the
word ‘tense’.

f. The teacher recasts the student’s utterance without

expression: Oh so you went to the movies yesterday.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Correcting spoken errors: Unit 2 g)

Thinking about your teaching …

Student errors are an interesting insight into learners’ interlanguage (the current
state of a learner’s language). This keeps changing and developing as their level of
ability increases. It can be interesting to do a detailed study of one learner’s
interlanguage. Collect as many samples as you can from the learner by listening
carefully to them in class and perhaps by asking permission to record them speaking.
You might be able to add written errors to your collection. What do these errors tell
you about this learner? What do they tell you about learners at this level? (i.e. are
some of the errors familiar?)

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

The best way of finding out if you are correcting enough is by asking your students.
You can do this directly or you can give them a simple survey. It might be interesting
to explore the idea of a ‘correction contract’. You and the students formally agree
when you should correct and what kinds of errors you correct.

Want to find out more … ?

Pages 137 to 138 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007) has an introduction to why learners make errors and
mistakes.

Pages 288 to 292 of Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom by Tricia
Hedge (Oxford University Press 2000) contains extra reading on errors and error
correction.

Pages 298 to 302 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005) contains extra reading on different kinds of errors and discussion of on-the-
spot correction techniques.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 2 h) Correcting written language: a useful follow-up to this lesson, dealing with
error correction of students’ writing.
• Unit 2 f) Conducting feedback on classroom activities: discusses a different ways to
approach feedback after tasks and activities.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Correcting spoken errors: Unit 2 g)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
Task 4 – Feedback
1) c, v
2) d, i 1. f. Comment: The teacher does almost
3) a, iv nothing to indicate that an error has been
4) e, ii made.
5) b, iii
2. a. Comment: The teacher indicates that
there is something wrong with the
Task 3 – Feedback utterance, but does not say what the
problems is.
1) f
2) d 3. d. Comment: The teacher is slightly
3) i more specific and indicates that the
4) b problem is grammar and not vocabulary or
5) h pronunciation.
6) j
7) a 4. b. Comment: The teacher clearly
8) e indicates that time reference is the
9) g problem and therefore the verb form
10) c needs correcting.

5. e. Comment: The teacher clearly points

out where the error is and explicitly states
that there is a problem with the verb form.

6. c. Comment: The teacher is specific

about the fact the verb form is incorrect
and tells the student how to correct it. This
approach assumes that the student knows
grammar terminology.

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Correcting written language: Unit 2 h)

Are you sometimes unsure about how to correct your students’ written work?
Should you just write in the correct version or maybe just underline errors?
This lesson looks at the areas you can give feedback on and looks at some
different ways of providing feedback on students’ written work.

Task 1 – A complaint about Andy

Andy’s Director of Studies pulled him aside and informed him that a lot of the students in his
academic writing class had made a complaint. They said that Andy never gave feedback on
their written work. Andy protested and said that he did. He indicated that he responded to
the ideas and in doing so reformulated many of the language errors in a correct version. He
thought the students and the Director of Studies were being unfair.

Is Andy’s opinion justified? What do you think and why? Jot down your
answers on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
Andy has some justification in his opinion. However, this kind of feedback might
have been too subtle for some of his learners. He may not have pointed out to
them that this is his way of providing feedback on writing and he could have
indicated that his reformulations contained useful suggestions on correct
language. If the students don’t know to look for this, they are unlikely to see it.

Key Skill
There are many different ways of providing feedback on students’ written work.
The key issue is that students need feedback not only on their language but also
on the ideas they include in their written work.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Correcting written language: Unit 2 h)

Task 2 – A procedure

Letters a to e outline steps in a typical procedure for the correction and

rewriting of students’ written work. Put these steps in a logical order.

Steps Order? [1- 5]

a. In pairs or small groups students help each other to make sense of

the corrections that the teacher has pointed out in their written work.

b. Students write the next draft of their text incorporating the feedback.

c. Students finish a draft of their text and exchange them to get

feedback from their peers.

d. The teacher collects in the students’ texts and indicates where there
are problems.

e. The teacher monitors and helps the pairs and groups, clarifying
anything that is unclear in the marking.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
The procedure above is not the only approach. For example, students could
take the marked texts home to work on and the teacher could set up one-to-
one tutorials with students. Another variation is the extent of the teacher’s
marking. How explicit are you about errors? The next task looks at different
approaches.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Correcting written language: Unit 2 h)

Task 3 – Different approaches

Numbers 1 to 6 in the grid are different approaches to providing feedback
on students’ written work. Letters a to f are strengths, while numbers i to
vi are weaknesses that can be associated with the different approaches.
Match the strengths and weaknesses to each approach.

Approaches to feedback on written work Strengths Weaknesses

1. The teacher corrects all mistakes and provides the

correct version.

2. The teacher underlines mistakes and uses a code to

indicate the nature of the error.

3. The teacher underlines errors, but gives no indication of

the nature of the error.

4. The teacher writes suggestions for improvement in the

margin.

5. The teacher takes 2 example texts and reformulates the

language in these texts. The reformulations are distributed
to the class as a whole to consider.

6. Students give peer correction without any feedback from

the teacher.

Strengths Weaknesses
a. This approach can combine i. This approach can be confusing for students
feedback on language and content. as they are not sure what the problem is.
b. This approach presents students ii. Students can feel that this approach lacks
with some challenge, but offers them any real certainty for them.
some degree of support.
iii. This approach can result in too much
c. This approach can provide students feedback and can become demotivating for
with useful models of language. students.
d. This approach is very comprehensive iv. In this approach the feedback on language
in its feedback on language. can be too vague for many learners.
e. This approach is very good at v. Strict adherence to this approach won’t
encouraging students to use each provide learners with feedback on the
other as a resource. content of their texts.
f. This approach provides students with vi. Learners may find this approach too general
a good sense of challenge. and not relate the feedback to their own
work.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]
 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Correcting written language: Unit 2 h)

Key Skill
It is a good idea to vary your approach to giving feedback. In doing so, you may
be able to develop student independence and encourage them to think about
accuracy and self-correct as much as possible.

Task 4 – Language Errors

Letters a to j are example errors. Numbers 1 to 10 below show typical

symbols used to point out language errors (commonly used in the
second approach described in task 3). Match the symbols to the errors.

Errors Symbols

a. Say goodbye, he left for the airport.

b. I am losing always my glasses.

c. They went the library after lunch.

d. I was very surprising to see him there.

e. He got lost in a Amazon jungle.

f. However it cannot be considered a perfect example.

g. He is the highest person in his family.

h. We have received your last message.

i. I have been to Fiji last year.

j. Sam has just finished recently.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Correcting written language: Unit 2 h)

Symbols

1. WF = wrong form 6. WO = wrong word order

2. WW = wrong word 7. P = wrong punctuation

3. T = wrong tense 8. V = wrong verb form

4. ٨ = something is missing 9. A = wrong article

5. Sp = wrong spelling 10. ø = extra word, not necessary

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Correcting written language: Unit 2 h)

Thinking about your teaching …

It would be interesting to trial two different approaches to giving feedback on
students’ written language that you have never used before. For example, where you
typically give feedback by means of symbols, you could spend a month
experimenting with reformulation and peer correction. (It is probably not a good
idea to do this with a group that has to sit an exam.) At the end of the trial period,
you could see whether there is any significant improvement in your students’ written
language. You can also ask them to give you feedback on the two approaches.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Often students will make similar errors. You can build up a collection of common
errors by having an “Error Box” in the class room. When learners make an error, it
can be written on a card and placed in the “Error Box”. The error cards can be used
as the basis of a revision activity when doing writing activities.

Want to find out more … ?

Pages 313 to 316 of Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom by Tricia
Hedge (Oxford University Press 2000), and pages 147 to 152 of The Practice of
English Language Teaching (4th edition) by Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), contain
extra reading on giving feedback on students’ written work.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 2 g) Correcting spoken errors: recommended as a precursor to this lesson,

dealing with error correction of students’ spoken errors in the classroom.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Correcting written language: Unit 2 h)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
Task 4 – Feedback
1) c
2) d 1. WF = wrong form
3) a d. I was very surprising to see him there.
4) e
5) b 2. WW = wrong word
g. He is the highest person in his family.

Task 3 – Feedback 3. T = wrong tense

i. I have been to Fiji last year.
1) d, iii
2) b, v 4. ٨ = something is missing
3) f, i c. They went ٨ the library after lunch.
4) a, iv
5) c, vi 5. Sp = wrong spelling
6) e, ii h. We have received your last message.

6. WO = a problem with the word order

b. I am losing always my glasses.

7. P = wrong punctuation
f. However, it cannot be considered a
perfect example.

8. V = wrong verb form

a. Say goodbye, he left for the airport.

9. A = wrong article
e. He got lost in a Amazon jungle.

10. ø = extra word, not necessary

j. Sam has just finished recently.

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Listening 1: Listening sub-skills and a typical lesson: Unit 3 a)

What are the different listening sub-skills and how do we practise them in the
classroom? This lesson will help you understand what different listening sub-
skills students need to practise. It will also give you an understanding of how to
order activities in a typical classroom lesson that aims to practise listening.

Task 1 – Is there another way?

Emily is explaining a problematic lesson to a colleague.

Emily: “Well, I was doing this listening lesson and I didn’t want the lesson to be too hard for
students. So I told them just to listen and try and understand what they could. But my
students just complained and said they couldn’t understand the words in the conversation,
so they’d never have a hope of understanding the whole conversation. In the end I just gave
up.”

It is not surprising that Emily’s lesson was problematic. What could she
have done? Jot down your ideas / suggestions on a note pad, then check
the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
Emily didn’t think about which listening sub-skills to practise and how to order
different listening activities in the lesson. This probably meant the students
immediately focused on a lot of detail and tried to understand individual words
rather than the main ideas in the conversation. There are more efficient and
supportive ways of conducting listening lessons. Read on.

Key skill
When people listen in their first language, they use a variety of strategies to get
both the main idea and the detail of what they listen to. By staging well planned
listening lessons in the classroom, we can help students to understand spoken
text more effectively.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Listening 1: Listening sub-skills and a typical lesson: Unit 3 a)

Task 2 – Listening and processing models

When learners listen to a stream of sound, they use both ‘top-down’ and
‘bottom-up’ processing. Match the processing models to the correct
definition. Two of the definitions are not correct:

Processing models Definition

1. ‘top-down’ processing

2. ‘bottom-up’ processing

Definitions
a. Listeners only listen to parts of a conversation and take small ‘rests’ from the
stream of sound.

b. Listeners try to make sense of the stream of sound by trying to understand words
or grammatical structures they are familiar with.

c. Listeners process what they hear in relation to their background knowledge of the
topic or the situation.

d. Listeners try to make sense of the stream of sound by following the logical order
of what they hear.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key skill
The way we process incoming language can affect the way we understand
information. In our first language we use both processing models and sometimes
in tandem. We do this automatically in response to the kind of text we are
listening to.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Listening 1: Listening sub-skills and a typical lesson: Unit 3 a)

Task 3 – Listening strategies and processing models

Letters a to g describe different listening strategies which are associated

with either top-down or bottom-up processing. Match the strategies to
the correct processing model.

Top-down processing Bottom-up processing

Listening strategies
a. Listening carefully to football results.
b. Listening to flight departure announcements in order to hear the departure gate.
c. Predicting the content of a lecture or short talk on a subject that the listener knows
something about.
d. Listening attentively to try and understand (or infer) a speaker’s attitude to
something because the speaker has not stated their opinion clearly.
e. Listening to get the general idea of the topic of a conversation.
f. Listening to a series of short conversations in order to understand where the
conversation is taking place.
g. Listening in order to do a dictation activity.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key skill
• When we use top-down processing, we tend to use “bigger picture” information
such as the context, the gist of the message, the tone of speakers’ voices to make
sense of what we are hearing.
• When we use bottom-up processing, we listen for the individual “blocks”

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Listening 1: Listening sub-skills and a typical lesson: Unit 3 a)

Task 4 – A typical listening lesson

Numbers 1 to 5 show a typical order for different steps in a listening

lesson. Imagine your students are listening to a conversation between a
tourist and someone who lives in your town – the local. The tourist is
asking the local for directions. Letters a to e are the different activities for
this lesson. Match the activities to the steps.

Steps in a listening lesson Activities

1. Pre-listening activity to activate students’ knowledge on the topic

of the text.

2. Listening for a general understanding (listening for gist).

3. Listening for a more detailed understanding of information in the

text.

4. Very detailed listening for language (vocabulary, grammar,

phonology) in the text.

5. Follow-on speaking activity.

Activities
a. Students listen and mark the route the local suggests on the map.
b. Students listen to find out where the tourist wants to go and why they want to go
there.
c. Students evaluate whether the route suggested by the local is the best one.
d. Students look at a map of the city and find different landmarks.
e. The teacher dictates two sentences from the local’s directions.

Additional question:
• In steps 2 and 3, should the teacher give students the task before or after they
listen? Why do you think this?

Jot down your ideas on a note pad, then check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Listening 1: Listening sub-skills and a typical lesson: Unit 3 a)

Thinking about your teaching …

When we listen to things in our daily life, we listen in different ways and we usually
have different reasons for listening. Think of a typical day (yesterday? last weekend?)
and make a note of all the things you listened to. Try to analyse why you listened to
these things and how you listened. What relevance does this have to getting your
students to listen in the classroom?

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

In general, students understand more of a listening text each time they listen to it. It
might pay to point this out to them, or you could elicit this idea from them and ask
them if they understood more or less the third time they listened to the text. It also
helps if you play the tape more than once, particularly during activities that require
students to listen in detail.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 178 to 183 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there is further reading on developing listening skills, and ideas for staging
listening lessons.

On pages 270 to 274 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is further reading on top-down and bottom-up
processing, and how these relate to the structure of receptive skills lessons (both
listening and reading).

See also section 7 of Language Teaching Classroom Practice DVD & Workbook by
Heather Richards and Karen Wise (AUT University 2007).

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL TaskBook series, which
also relate to this topic:

• Unit 3 b) Listening 2: Learner-friendly listening lessons (a follow up to this lesson)

• Unit 3 c) Reading 1: Knowing about strategies and sub-skills (a useful focus on
another receptive skill, highlighting the stages of a reading lesson)

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Listening 1: Listening sub-skills and a typical lesson: Unit 3 a)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback Task 4 - Feedback

1) c 1) d
2) b 2) b
3) a
4) e
Task 3 - Feedback 5) c

Top-down = c, e, f Additional question:

Bottom-up = a, b, d, g The teacher should give the task before
students listen, as this gives them a
reason for listening. If the task is not given
first, students may be unsure about what
they need to listen for and begin to focus
on irrelevant words or ideas.

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Listening 2: Learner-friendly listening lessons: Unit 3 b)

Do your listening lessons sometimes go badly? Do your students often look

anxious when you say that you are going to do listening practice in a lesson?
This lesson will help you understand why this is sometimes the case and will
give you strategies for making listening lessons more manageable for your
students. Before you complete this task, it may be helpful to have looked at
Listening 1: Listening sub-skills and a typical lesson.

Task 1 – Frank’s disastrous lesson

Frank’s listening lesson went really badly. Most of the things he did or
didn’t do in the lesson did not help the students. Look at all the things he
did. Only one of these actions was a good idea. Put X next to the good
idea. Then check your ideas in the answer key below.

The things Frank did/didn’t do

1. He didn’t cue the tape before the lesson and it took him some time to find the right
text on the tape.
2. He didn’t bother giving the students a gist task.
3. He wrote on the white board with a squeaky pen during the gist listening.
4. He handed out the detailed listening task after the tape had started.
5. He got students to check their answers in pairs before doing feedback.
6. He didn’t bother doing feedback on all the questions in the detailed task.

Task 1 Feedback
Action 5 was the only really good idea in Frank’s lesson.

Key Skill
For many students, listening is the most challenging of the four skills. Often
listening lessons are like tests for them and teachers need to find ways of
making these lessons more manageable and less threatening.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Listening 2: Learner-friendly listening lessons: Unit 3 b)

Task 2 – Advice for Frank

What advice can you give to Frank to help him improve his lesson? Write
some advice for each problem 1 – 5 below. Begin with the phrase “Make
sure” and give him a reason beginning with “because”. Look at the
example to help you.

Problem Make sure... Because...

1. The tape wasn’t cued at the eg ... you cue the tape before eg ... trying to find the correct
right place and it took him you go in the classroom place on a tape in class can
some time to find the right text wastes a lot of time and looks
on the tape. unprofessional.

2. He didn’t bother giving the

students a gist task.

3. He wrote on the white

board with a squeaky pen
during the gist listening.

4. He handed out the detailed

listening task after the tape
had started.

5. He didn’t bother doing

feedback on all the questions
in the detailed task.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Listening lessons need to be thoroughly prepared and planned. This means
thinking of suitable tasks and preparing all materials associated with the
listening in advance. During the lesson, tasks should be set before playing the
tape and teachers should maintain as low a profile as possible.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Listening 2: Learner-friendly listening lessons: Unit 3 b)

Task 3 – What makes listening difficult?

Listening in the classroom is harder than reading. Numbers 1 to 6 show

different reasons why this is so. Sort them into two categories,
according to whether the problem is related to the listening process
itself or to the nature of listening texts.

The process of listening Nature of listening texts

Reasons why listening in the classroom is harder than reading

1. Students have no control over the speed of the text.
2. Speakers in listening texts often have different accents that may not be familiar
to students.
3. Students have no time to pause and think about the content of the text.
4. There is often background noise in the recordings that is a distraction from the
voices of the speakers.
5. Sometimes the speakers in a dialogue speak very quickly.
6. Listening happens in real time.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Challenges associated with listening are largely beyond your students’ control.
However, it is possible to make sure that the nature of listening texts are
manageable for the level you are teaching, particularly lower levels. The next
task gets you to think of some ideas for how to achieve this.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Listening 2: Learner-friendly listening lessons: Unit 3 b)

Task 4 – Creating listening texts

When you create and use your own listening texts, there are things to
consider that can make the process of listening and the nature of
listening tasks more manageable. Think of a good idea for each
consideration. Look at the example to help you.

Consideration Good Idea

1. Number of speakers eg. Don’t include too many speakers in a taped conversation,
as it can be difficult to work out who is who.

2. Gender of speakers

3. Kinds of tasks

4. Speed of delivery

5. Pausing the tape

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Listening 2: Learner-friendly listening lessons: Unit 3 b)

Thinking about your teaching …

Keep a note of listening lessons that you give with one particular group of students
over an extended period of a month of more. Note down the topic of the text, the
number and type of speakers, the length of text and then rate it in terms of level of
difficulty. (You can create your own scale of difficulty.) The aim of doing this is to try
and establish whether there are any trends that you can note in terms of what
challenges your learners.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Look back at the ideas suggested in task 4. Have you tried all of these strategies at
some time in your teaching experience? If not, try them out over a period of time. If
you feel that there are problems with a listening text that will be too difficult for your
students (e.g. speed of delivery), you can try re-recording it using your colleagues.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 187 and 188 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is a useful discussion on alternative sources of
listening materials and formats for students and teachers.

On pages 181 - 184 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there are ideas for some alternative approaches to listening lessons.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 2 a) Listening 1: Listening sub-skills and a typical lesson (recommended as a

precursor to this lesson)
• Unit 3 d) Reading 2: Setting tasks for reading texts (a useful focus on another
receptive skill, highlighting the need for learner-friendly tasks to accompany reading
texts)

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Listening 2: Learner-friendly listening lessons: Unit 3 b)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback Task 4 – Feedback

2. Make sure you give students a simple 2. If you have 2 speakers, it is often easier
gist listening task because it gives them a if one is male and the other is female. For
reasons to listen and if it is easy, it gives students, this makes it easier to
them confidence. distinguish between the 2 speakers.

3. Make sure you don’t do anything to 3. Don’t give tasks that are too challenging
distract your students when the tape is or turn the listening practice into a test.
playing because they need to concentrate The aim of the task should be to give
as much as possible. students a reason to listen.

4. Make sure you hand out the task before 4. Make sure the speakers of a recorded
you play the tape because students need conversation speak at a natural speed, but
time to read the task before they listen to don’t let them speak too quickly,
the text. The task will also help them particularly for low level students.
understand ‘how’ to listen.
5. If the listening text is very long, it may
5. Make sure you do feedback on all help students if you pause the tape
questions in the task because students occasionally to give them a little bit of
often feel unsure if they have really thinking time.
understood and like confirmation of their
understanding.

Task 3 – Feedback
Process of Listening = 1, 3, 6
Nature of listening texts = 2, 4, 5

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Reading 1: Knowing about strategies and sub-skills: Unit 3 c)

Which different reading skills should students practise and when should they
practise them? This lesson will give you a clearer idea about how to find your
way around reading skills.

Task 1 – A short quiz.

How many questions can you answer?

1. Are skim and scan reading the same thing?

2. Are gist and skim reading more or less the same thing?
3. Can you infer meaning before you read?
4. Do you typically scan a bus timetable?
5. What kind of text do you typically read extensively?

Check your answers in the key below.

Task 1 Feedback
1. No 4. Yes
2. Yes 5. A novel
3. Not usually, no

If you got 2 or more answer wrong, or you are uncertain about some of the
terminology in this lesson, then this lesson will definitely help you!

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Reading 1: Knowing about strategies and sub-skills: Unit 3 c)

Task 2 – Defining the sub-skills

Look at different reading sub-skills and strategies 1 - 7.

Match the definitions a – g below with the correct sub-skill.

Reading sub-skills and strategies Definitions

1. prediction

2. skim reading

3. gist reading

4. scan reading

5. intensive reading

6. inferring meaning

7. extensive reading

Definitions
a. Reading to get detailed information from the text.
b. Reading a text to locate a specific piece of information such as a word or a
number or a time. It is not necessary to understand the whole text in order to do
this.
c. Either guessing the meaning of new vocabulary in a text or understanding
meaning or a message in the text that is not immediately obvious.
d. Reading to get a general but not detailed understanding of the text.
e. Also reading to get an overall but not detailed understanding of the text.
f. Reading longer texts frequently over a period of time. This is usually done
independently and not in the classroom.
g. Looking at headlines, pictures, typeface and layout to guess what you think a text
will be about.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Reading 1: Knowing about strategies and sub-skills: Unit 3 c)

Key skill
When we read in our first language, we read in different ways. When students
start reading in a second language they need to re-learn different ways of reading.
Teachers need to know about these different reading skills so they can develop
them in the classroom.

Task 3 – Which sub-skill for which text?

Read the description of the different texts and the motivations for reading
(a – h) below. Decide which reading sub-skills and strategies (1 – 7) you
would probably use to read each. Write the number of the sub-skill /
strategy in the second column. You will need to use some of the skills
more than once, and some texts may use more than one skill.

Texts and the motivations for reading Sub-skills /

Strategies

eg. A novel that you are really enjoying 7

a. A job advertisement for a job that you are really interested in.

b. A couple of unknown words in a text that is included in an exam you

are doing.

c. A telephone directory.

d. The editorial of a newspaper that you are not familiar with and whose
political viewpoint you would like to understand.

e. A series of articles, only some of which will be useful to you, for a

report you’re writing.

f. Instructions for kitset furniture you are assembling (you are usually
not very good at doing this!)

g. A travel brochure when you are trying to decide on a holiday

destination.

h. An armchair travel book about a country you have enjoyed visiting.

i. An online flight timetable.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]
 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Reading 1: Knowing about strategies and sub-skills: Unit 3 c)

Reading sub-skills and strategies

1. Prediction.
2. Skim reading.
3. Gist reading.
4. Scan reading.
5. Intensive reading.
6. Inferring meaning (of vocabulary in context, or of the writer’s point of view).
7. Extensive reading.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Task 4 – Which task type for which skill?

Letters a – h show some typical reading tasks or instructions for reading

texts in different ways. Match them with the reading sub-skills and
strategies from the previous exercise (1-7) above.
Reading
Typical reading tasks or instructions
sub-skills
a. Does John go overseas before or after finishing his degree?

b. Talk about the headline and pictures and decide what you think the
article will say.

c. Does this article discuss a problem and offer a solution, or does it

talk about 2 different points of view?

d. Look at the words immediately before and after and see if they can
help you guess the meaning.

e. The government will change the law in the near future TRUE/FALSE

f. Find the best times for leaving and returning.

g. Do you think the writer of the letter supports the City Council or not?
Why do you think so?

h. Complete the following table by making notes on all the advantages

and disadvantages of the proposal.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Reading 1: Knowing about strategies and sub-skills: Unit 3 c)

Thinking about your teaching …

It is useful to think about why you read different texts every day and how you read
them. Over a defined period of time such as a week, keep a list of different texts you
read and the way in which you read them.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Whenever you get students to read in the classroom, it is useful to ask yourself what
reading skills you are practising and developing. Sometimes at the end of a reading
lesson you can get students to reflect on the way they have read in class and suggest
they use the same skills and strategies outside the classroom.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 184 to 191 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there is further reading on practising and developing reading skills with
learners.

On pages 283 to 287 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is further reading on reading sub-skills and
strategies.

See also section 8 of Language Teaching Classroom Practice DVD & Workbook by
Heather Richards and Karen Wise (AUT University 2007).

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 3 d) Reading 2: Setting tasks for reading texts (a useful follow-up to this
lesson, on creating tasks to help learners with reading texts)
• Unit 3 a) Listening 1: Listening sub-skills and a typical lesson (a lesson on another
aspect of receptive skills)

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Reading 1: Knowing about strategies and sub-skills: Unit 3 c)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback e. A series of articles only some of

which will be useful to you for a report
1) g you’re writing.
2) d Skim or gist reading – not all the articles
3) e will be useful to you, so you do not want to
4) b waste time reading them all in detail.
5) a
6) c f. Instructions for kitset furniture you
7) f are assembling (you are usually not
very good at doing this!)
Detailed reading – if you are not good at
assembling kitsets, you will want to be
Task 3 - Feedback sure you follow the instructions carefully.
a. A job advertisement for a job that g. A travel brochure when you are
you are really interested in. trying to decide on a holiday
Detailed reading – your interest in the job destination.
means you will want to understand as Both skim and scan – you are likely to
much as possible. scan for destination names, prices, dates
etc. but you would also skim read
b. A couple of unknown words in a text descriptions of the destinations.
that is included in an exam you are
doing. h. An armchair travel book about a
Inferring meaning (guessing vocabulary in country you have enjoyed visiting.
context) – it is unlikely that you will have a Extensive reading – you are likely to read
dictionary in an exam and it is important this for pleasure as you would a novel.
that you try and understand these words.
i. An on-line flight timetable.
c. A telephone directory. Scan reading – you will try and locate the
Scan reading – you will only want to locate dates and times that suit you best.
the number or name that you are looking
for.

d. The editorial of a newspaper that you Task 4 - Feedback

are not familiar with and whose
political viewpoint you would like to a) 2
understand. b) 8
Inferring meaning (working out the c) 5
message) – the political opinion of the d) 1
editorial may not be immediately obvious. e) 4
f) 3
g) 9
h) 7
i) 6

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Reading 1: Knowing about strategies and sub-skills: Unit 3 c)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
Reading 2: Setting tasks for reading texts: Unit 3 d)

What kind of tasks should be used with different reading texts, and what
reading skills will they practise? This lesson will give you ideas on how to create
more focused reading tasks. Before you complete this task, it may be helpful to
have looked at Reading 1: Knowing about strategies and sub-skills.

Task 1 – What went wrong?

Chris gave his students a reading text about a lifesaver who rescued a young girl from the
sea. He made sure students had a task to go with the text. After students finished reading,
he asked them to do a role play – one person playing the lifesaver, the other person playing
a journalist who interviews the lifesaver. When he asked students to do the role play, they
told him they didn’t feel confident and couldn’t speak.

What went wrong?

Choose which of the following reasons is most likely to have made the
students feel unconfident about doing the role play.

a. The students are shy about speaking.

b. Chris’ instructions for the role play were unclear.
c. The students hadn’t understood the text well enough to do the role play.
d. Chris didn’t do a long enough lead in to the text.
e. The students can’t imagine what it’s like to be a lifesaver

Check your answers in the key below

Task 1 Feedback
All the answers are possible, but c is the most likely. Chris may have given his
students a reading task, but it might not have checked the information in the
text in enough detail and students do not feel they have understood the text
well enough to do the role play.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
Reading 2: Setting tasks for reading texts: Unit 3 d)

Task 2 – Some opinions about reading

Read the following statements about reading and decide if you think
these statements are True or False by writing ‘T’ or ‘F’ in the right hand
column below.

True or
Statements about reading
False?
a. It’s a good idea to get students to underline new vocabulary in the
text the very first time they read it.

b. It is not possible to create an intensive reading task for a bus

timetable.

c. True / False questions can only be used for detailed reading tasks.

d. You should set reading tasks before students begin reading.

e. It’s not a good idea to set time limits for reading because it makes
students panic.

f. The first time students read a text, it’s better that they don’t use a
dictionary.

g. Sometimes it’s a good idea to get students reading and not bother
about a task.

h. Lead in activities are mostly a waste of time.

i. It helps students to get the gist understanding of a text before reading

for detail.

j. Students should be able to understand a writer’s opinion about a

topic the very first time they read.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
Reading 2: Setting tasks for reading texts: Unit 3 d)

Task 3 – Matching tasks to texts

Numbers 1 to 3 show three different kinds of reading text. Letters a to i

are descriptions of reading tasks. Match them together with the
appropriate text, and then put them in the correct order (which task
would you do first?, second?, etc).

Texts Tasks

1. a job advertisement.

2. a letter to the editor of a newspaper.

3. an encyclopedia entry.

Reading tasks
a. scanning for numbers like hours, wage etc.
b. very detailed reading to understand the writer’s point of view
c. skim reading to locate relevant information
d. scan to locate the correct heading
e. detailed reading about the profile of the person they want and job description
f. skim reading to determine interest in topic under discussion
g. detailed reading to fully understand all the information related to this topic
h. skim reading for suitability
i. detailed reading to understand all points being made

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]
 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
Reading 2: Setting tasks for reading texts: Unit 3 d)

Key skill
When we ask students to read texts it is a good idea to give them a task with the
text. Reading tasks should aim to do 2 things: make sure students practise a
reading sub-skill and make sure students understand the text. Which skills
students practice and how much detail they need to understand will depend on
the kind of text students are reading and whether they are reading the text for the
first, second or third time.

Task 4 – Evaluating reading tasks

In the box below is a short reading text followed by 3 reading tasks aimed
at pre intermediate students. On the next page there are 3 statements (a to
c) with two options (I and ii) that ask you to evaluate the reading tasks. Tick
the option that you think is correct to complete each statement.

Popular TESOL Course

Our current TESOL Course has proved to be very popular with students from all around the
world. We are running two groups this month and there is a very good mix of people from
many different countries: China, the Czech Republic, Japan, Italy, Korea, Saudi Arabia,
Switzerland and Tahiti.

Paola Cavalcante is the first Italian teacher to attend the TESOL Course since it began 8
years ago. She has taught English and French in her home town of Florence for a total of
12 years, but has focused almost exclusively on teaching English for the last 6 years.

She says there is great demand for English teachers in Italy. “Most people want to speak a
foreign language for their jobs, for travelling, for study abroad and so on.” The TESOL
Course is the first methodology course that Paola has studied overseas. “At home when
there was ever anything interesting about methodology I always liked to go – usually in the
evening or weekends – in my free time.”

Task 1 (first reading)

What countries are talked about in the text?

Task 2 (second reading)

Which answer is correct? This text is …
a) a report? b) an article c) a story

Task
Languages 3 (third reading)
International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]
What does the word “exclusively” mean? (see line 7)
 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
Reading 2: Setting tasks for reading texts: Unit 3 d)

Tick the statement you think is correct.

a. Task 1 is …
i. appropriate for a first reading because it is easy for students to do.
ii. not appropriate for a first reading because scanning the country names does not give
a general idea of what the text is about.

b. Task 2 is …
i. appropriate for a second reading because it makes students think about the text type.
ii. not appropriate for a second reading because it does not check understanding of the
text in enough detail

c. Task 3 is …
i. appropriate for a third reading because by a third reading students should be able to
work out the meaning of new words from the context.
ii. not appropriate for a third reading because it is too hard

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
Reading 2: Setting tasks for reading texts: Unit 3 d)

 Thinking about your teaching …

Many course books do not provide appropriate reading tasks. They either require
students to understand too much detail too soon, or they do not check
understanding of texts in enough detail. Look at the course book or teaching
materials you are currently using. Look at the reading texts and evaluate the tasks.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

 Taking it to the classroom …

Whenever you get students to read in the classroom, it is useful to ask yourself what
reading skills you are practising and developing. Sometimes at the end of a reading
lesson you can get students to reflect on the way they have read in class and suggest
they use the same skills and strategies outside the classroom.

 Want to find out more … ?

On pages 205 to 212 of Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom by Tricia
Hedge (OUP 2000), there is further reading on teaching reading and task design.

On pages 184 to 191 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there is further reading on teaching reading and task design, including a
section on extensive reading.

On pages 283 to 302 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is further reading on teaching reading and task
design, including a section on how to sequence a reading lesson.

See also section 1 of Language Teaching Classroom Practice DVD & Workbook by
Heather Richards and Karen Wise (AUT University 2007).

 Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 3 a) Reading 1: Knowing about strategies and sub-skills (recommended as a

precursor to this lesson)

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
Reading 2: Setting tasks for reading texts: Unit 3 d)

Answer Key

Task 2 feedback Task 3 feedback

a. False – this means that students focus 1) h, a and e
immediately on what they don’t know, 2) f, I and b
rather than focusing on what they do 3) d, c and g
know.
b. False – it is only worth scanning a bus
timetable for specific information. It is not
necessary to read the whole timetable in Task 4 feedback
detail.
c. False – True/ False questions could be a) Task 1 is …ii. … not appropriate for a
used to check gist understanding of the first reading because scanning the country
text. It depends how you word the names does not give a general idea of
question. what the text is about.
Task 1 should aim to provide a gist
d. True – this provides students with a understanding of the text as a whole.
reason to read.
e. False – sometimes it is necessary to b) Task 2 is …ii. … not appropriate for a
set time limits for reading to make sure second reading because it does not check
students practise skim or scan reading understanding of the text in enough detail
skills. Task 2 should aim to give students a more
thorough understanding of the information
f. True – students need practice in
in the text.
reading as fluently as possible and
stopping to use a dictionary every time
c) Task 3 is …i. … appropriate for a third
they don’t understand a word inhibits this
reading because by a third reading
process.
students should be able to work out the
g. False – students need a reason for meaning of new words from the context.
reading, particularly in the classroom But note: for task 3 to work, tasks 1 and 2
where their motivation to read some texts will need to be changed so they check
may not be very high. information in the text more thoroughly.
h. False – lead in activities can help raise
a student’s interest in reading a text and
they can often provide useful background
information on the content of a text.
i. True - a global understanding of the text
will allow students to process the details
more easily on the second reading.
j. False – to understand a writer’s opinion
more often than not requires a very
detailed understanding of a text. This is
too difficult to pick up in a first reading.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
Reading 2: Setting tasks for reading texts: Unit 3 d)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-
commercial Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute,
display and perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work
noncommercially, as long as you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the
identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 1: Fluency: Unit 3 e)

Do you sometimes have trouble getting your students to speak? Are they
sometimes reluctant just to have a go at speaking? This lesson will help you to
understand how you can use different types of speaking activities to get your
students talking. It will also give you an indication of a good way to set up
these activities.

Task 1 – Jim’s confusion

Jim: Sometimes I get students to do a role play because I want them to practise a particular
grammar point. Other times I get them to do a role play because I want them to act out a
situation they have just read about in a newspaper article. I know my overall aim is to get
students to speak, but I’m sometimes not sure if I should also be doing some kind of
grammar practice as well. The question is this: is it OK to do the kind of role play where
students are just acting out a situation? And if it is OK, why is it OK?

What advice would you give Jim?

Jot down your advice on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
Jim is right. The two kinds of role play are slightly different. In the first
situation, the aim is to give students freer oral practice of a grammar
point. However, in the second situation, there may not be a grammar
practice aim at all. However, it is useful for students to have this kind of
practice with the aim of developing students’ spoken fluency”. The rest of
this lesson will look at ways of developing spoken fluency practice.

Key Skill
Students often lack the confidence to just speak and not worry about making
mistakes. Spending time in the classroom helping them to develop some degree
of oral fluency can go some way towards giving them confidence to speak freely
and not be overly concerned with accuracy.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 1: Fluency: Unit 3 e)

Task 2 – Different kinds of speaking activities

Below is a list of different kinds of speaking activities (1 - 8). Match these

to the descriptions of the activities (a – h).

Speaking activities

1. discussion 2. questionnaire

3. ranking activity 4. jigsaw activity

5. role-play 6. simulation

7. communication game 8. problem solving activity

Descriptions
a. Students read brief restaurant reviews then discuss an order for a list of
restaurants from the best to worst.
b. Students are given a logic puzzle and talk about possible answers in pairs or
small groups.
c. In groups students pretend they are having a city council meeting to decide if
some trees in the main street should be cut down or not. Each student has a
different role to play, but they use their own names.
d. In small groups, students put forward their ideas about global warming and what
should be done about it.
e. Students work in pairs, each with a picture. Both pictures are very similar, but
there are some small differences. Without showing each other their pictures, they
describe their pictures in order to spot the differences.
f. Students move around the class asking each other about their last holiday
destination as well as their ideal holiday destination.
g. Different students read different information about a murder mystery. They form
a group and share their information in order to try and solve the mystery.
h. In pairs, students pretend to be neighbours. One neighbour thinks his partner a
bit too noisy

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 1: Fluency: Unit 3 e)

Key Skill
There is a great variety of activities available to get students speaking. Some of
the activities above can belong to more than one category. For example, g the
jigsaw activity can also be seen as a problem solving activity. A key component
of successful speaking activities is an information gap where one speaker knows
something that the other speaker doesn’t and there is a real reason to
communicate.

Task 3 – A typical speaking lesson

Below are some steps in a typical lesson that aims to develop spoken
fluency. Put these steps in the most logical order.

Typical lessons Order

a. The teacher elicits or gives feedback either on the content or the

performance of the speaking activity.

b. The students spend some time planning the content of the speaking
activity.

c. The teacher introduces the speaking activity and perhaps provides

some information input that will help students carry out the activity.

d. The teacher gives feedback on the language that students used in

the activity and might highlight and correct mistakes that learners
made during the activity.

e. The teacher gives instructions for the activity. This might mean that
the students read some instructions or perhaps role cards.

f. The students do the speaking activity and the teacher monitors and
listens in on their progress.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 1: Fluency: Unit 3 e)

Key Skill
Speaking lessons like any other lesson need careful setting up. If you hand out
role cards for a role play and expect students to start speaking immediately, you
will probably be disappointed. Students need to understand the context, the
instructions on the role card and have a little time to think about what they
want to say and how they are going to say it.

The order of the final 2 steps could be reversed. However, it pays to focus on
content before rushing to do error correction, which could send a slightly
negative message to students.

Task 4 – Managing speaking activities

Decide if the following ideas for speaking activities are “useful or “not so
useful”. Jot down why you think so.

Ideas for managing speaking activities

1. It pays to give students some thinking time before they speak.

Useful Not so useful

2. It’s useful to do as much error correction as possible while students are talking.
Useful Not so useful

3. You need to think carefully about grouping and pairing students for speaking activities.
Useful Not so useful

4. It doesn’t really matter what topic you choose for speaking activities. Students can talk
about anything.
Useful Not so useful

5. It’s a good idea to encourage students to think about their speaking speed to make
them sound more fluent.
Useful Not so useful

6. It is sometimes helpful to base a speaking lesson on a reading or a listening lesson.

Useful Not so useful

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 1: Fluency: Unit 3 e)

Thinking about your teaching …

Over a period of time, monitor and record your students’ reactions to different
speaking activities. Decide how motivated they were to speak and how quickly they
began speaking once you had set the activity up. Finally, evaluate how much
language the activity generates. Did students speak for a long or a short amount of
time? If you feel the speaking lesson was not successful, try to work out why this was
the case, using the “useful” and “not very useful” ideas in task 4.

Note your observations in your Teaching log.

Taking it to the classroom …

To help you plan speaking lessons that your learners enjoy, try doing some
evaluation of each speaking activity you do once it is over. Ask students what they
feel they got out of the activity and how much it motivated them. Perhaps get them
to discuss these ideas in small groups then give your own feedback. It will also give
them further speaking fluency practice.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 146 - 163 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there is further reading on spoken fluency practice, including teaching ideas.

On pages 343 - 363 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is further reading on spoken fluency practice,
including classroom speaking activities and speaking lesson sequences.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 3 f) Speaking strategies: Discusses useful skills and strategies associated

with successful oral communication.
• Unit 5 g) Using drama activities: Discusses how adding an element of drama
to activities may help motivate students to speak in English.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 1: Fluency: Unit 3 e)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
1. d (discussion)
2. f (questionnaire)
3. a (ranking activity)
4. g (jigsaw activity)
5. h (role play)
6. c (simulation)
7. e (communication game)
8. b (problem solving activity)

Task 3 – Feedback
1. c
2. e
3. b
4. f
5. a
6. d

Task 4 – Feedback
1. Useful - students need time to organise not only their ideas, but also their language.

2. Not so useful - this might interrupt the flow of speech or inhibit students in some way,
particularly at lower levels when learners tend to have less confidence.

3. Useful - putting students together who have very different abilities or who do not get on
can mean that students will be reluctant to speak.

4. Not so useful - if a topic is not familiar or interesting to learners, they won’t want to speak
about it. You need to think carefully about learners’ interests and needs.

5. Not so useful as this might put unnecessary pressure on them and inhibit their speaking.
Fluency and speed is not the same thing.

6. Useful - the content of a reading or listening text will give learners something to talk about
and may provide useful background information for the speaking.

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 2: Strategies: Unit 3 f)

Do you sometimes feel that your students speak English well enough, but you
are not sure of their ability to communicate effectively with native speakers?
This lesson will help you to understand skills and strategies associated with oral
communication that can be useful for your students. It will give you ideas on
how to highlight these aspects of oral interaction with your students.

Task 1 – Jenny’s exam students

Jenny: I’ve got two students who are going to be doing an important speaking test next
month. We did a practice test today. The students’ grammar is fairly correct, they have good
vocabulary and their pronunciation is clear enough. The problem is I still sometimes have
problems following what they’re trying to say. For example, at one stage in the practice test I
suddenly noticed that they had changed the topic of the conversation without me realising it!
I feel there’s something I should be teaching them, but I am not quite sure what that is.

Have you got any ideas of how you can help Jenny?
Jot down your advice on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
Jenny could help her students communicate more clearly by getting them
to focus on some core speaking skills and strategies. The following tasks
will help you understand what these are.

Key Skill
The teaching of speaking involves more than just providing students with
speaking fluency practice. Teachers need to focus on skills and strategies that
will help students negotiate meaning and communicate effectively with other
people.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 2: Strategies: Unit 3 f)

Task 2 – Identifying skills and strategies

1 to 6 below are speaking skills and strategies. a – f are definitions of

these strategies, and i to vi are examples. Match the speaking skills and
strategies with the definitions and examples.

Speaking skills and strategies Definitions Examples

1. Turn taking

2. Repair

3. Seeking clarification

4. Feedback

5. Boundary or transition marking

6. Paralinguistic devices

Definitions
a. Asking the person you are speaking to explain something they have said
b. Using things like body language, gesture and eye contact to send a message to
the person you are speaking to
c. Signalling that you have finished speaking or knowing when and how to get into a
conversation
d. Indicating that you have finished talking about a topic and perhaps also showing
that you are about to introduce a new topic into the conversation.
e. Correcting yourself when you speak, or rephrasing something when you feel the
person you are talking to hasn’t understood.
f. Using small words or sounds to indicate to the speaker that you are listening to
what they are saying.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 2: Strategies: Unit 3 f)

Examples
i. A: I suppose I was feeling depressed … no, what I really mean is … I was feeling sad.
ii. A: What was that you said about using the washing machine?
B: Oh – you can use it whenever you like.
A: Oh so I don’t need to book a time.
B: No.
iii. A: Ok … now let’s move on to …
iv. After making her point, Ann sat back in the chair and looked at her colleagues to see if
anyone would disagree with her.
v. A: … and the weather was fantastic
B: Great
A: It didn’t rain once
vi. A: .. and I think that’s all we can say about it.
B: OK, but I think another point worth considering is …

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
These micro skills do not necessarily generate spoken language, but they do
ease spoken communication between two speakers. Many of these micro skills
are realised in very different ways in different languages and cultures. For
example, many native speakers of English find there are cultures where people
stand too close to them during a conversation, or they may find that the person
they speak to is not giving them enough feedback. For this reason, it is
important to focus on these skills. They can avoid misunderstandings and break
downs in communication.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 2: Strategies: Unit 3 f)

Task 3 – Spoken genre and speaking skills and strategies

Letters a to e below are different spoken genre. Decide which 2 of the

following 5 speaking skills and strategies are most likely to be used in
each spoken genre. You need to think about both the speaker and the
listener.

NB. Paralinguistic devices are not included here because they are likely
to be used with all the genres.

Speaking skills and strategies

1. Turn taking 2. Repair

3. Seeking clarification 4. Feedback

5. Boundary or transition marking

Spoken genre Speaking skills and strategies

a. Telling a story to a friend. i. ii.

b. Giving instructions of how to

download pictures from a i. ii.
digital camera to a computer.

c. A business meeting. i. ii.

d. Social chatting with friends. i. ii.

e. Explaining a medical problem i. ii.

to a doctor.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 2: Strategies: Unit 3 f)

Key Skill
Many of these micro skills are more typically found in some spoken genre as
opposed to others. When preparing speaking lessons, it is a good idea to ask
yourself if there are any typical micro skills associated with that genre then aim
to highlight these during the lesson.

Task 4 – Teaching ideas for speaking skills and strategies

Numbers 1 to 5 describe different tasks that can help develop students’

awareness of speaking skills and strategies. Letters a to e describe
activities that can be included with these tasks. Match the tasks to
activities.

Tasks Activities

1. Students analyse a transcript of some authentic native speaker

interaction.

2. Students watch an authentic video or DVD of native speakers

performing specific spoken genre.

3. Students perform a speaking task in small groups. One of the

students takes the role of observer.

4. The teacher films students performing a specific spoken genre.

5. The teacher gives students invented words or phrases to use in

a conversation.

Activities

a. The filmed item is played back to students who evaluate their ability to use
speaking strategies and communicate clearly.
b. The excerpt is played without sound and the teacher asks students to focus on
the body language and eye contact that native speakers use.
c. The students try to drop the word or expression into the conversation thereby
forcing the other student to seek clarification.
d. The teacher asks students to find and underline specific words or expressions
that are used as speaking strategies.
Check e.
your
Theideas in the
observer answer
is asked [Link] two or three speaking strategies and
to focus
evaluate the group’s effectiveness. After the activity the observer gives feedback
to the group on these strategies.
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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 2: Strategies: Unit 3 f)

Thinking about your teaching …

Many published teaching materials see speaking either as freer practice of language
or as spoken fluency. Study the course book or materials you are currently using and
see if there is any explicit focus on speaking skills and strategies. If there is, could
you add any more? If there are not, can you think how you can add a focus on skills
and strategies to a fluency activity. Try to create a speaking skills and strategies mini-
syllabus that matches other speaking activities in your teaching programme.

Write up your mini-syllabus in your Teaching log.

Taking it to the classroom …

After doing a lesson that focus on speaking skills and strategies, ask your students to
evaluate it. Give them some questions to talk about (for example, what was useful in
this lesson? What was easy / difficult for you? What do you think you need more
practice in?). You can ask the questions in an open class situation or students can talk
about them in small groups and give you feedback on their discussion.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 27 - 31 of How to Teach Speaking by Scott Thornbury (Pearson 2005), there
is further reading on speaking skills and communication strategies.

On pages 163 - 169 of Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan 2005), there is
further reading on speaking skills and genre.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 3 e) Speaking fluency: Discusses how different kinds of speaking activities

can help get your students talking.
• Unit 5 g) Using drama activities: Discusses how adding an element of drama
to activities may help motivate students to speak in English.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 2: Strategies: Unit 3 f)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
1. Turning taking c. and vi.
2. Repair e. and i.
3. Seeking clarification a. and ii.
4. Feedback f. and v.
5. Boundary or transition marking d. and iii.
6. Paralinguistic devices b. and iv.

Task 3 – Feedback
a. Telling a story to a friend.
i. Boundary or transition marking ii. Feedback
Comment: The speaker will signal transitions from one stage in the story to the next. The
listener will give feedback to indicate that he or she is listening.
b. Giving instructions of how to download pictures from a digital camera to a
computer.
i. Repair ii. Seeking clarification
Comment: The speaker is likely to rephrase more complex instructions if he or she feels the
listener has not understood (perhaps because they do something wrong). The listener may
also ask for certain points to be clarified.
c. A business meeting.
i. Turn taking ii. Seeking clarification
Comment: All speakers will need to be aware when other participants in a meeting have
finished speaking, or they may want to interrupt. Different ideas will be put forward at the
meeting by individual speakers and other participants may want more detail or further
explanation of those ideas.
d. Social chatting with friends.
i. Turn taking ii. Boundary or transition marking
Comment: All participants in the conversation will need to be aware of when they can enter
the conversation. Social chatting can often cover a large range of topics, so transitions will
need to be clearly signalled.
e. Explaining a medical problem to a doctor.
i. Repair ii. Seeking clarification
Comment: The patient may need to repair what they say to the doctor to make sure he or
she understands the symptoms. The doctor is likely to ask for more information about the
symptoms from the patient.

Task 4 – Feedback
1. d.
2. b.
3. e.
4. a.
5. c.
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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Speaking 2: Strategies: Unit 3 f)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 1: A product approach and features of written language: Unit 3 g)

Do you sometimes worry that your writing lessons are nothing more than
practice? Are there features of written language that you feel that you are not
focusing on? This lesson looks at some of those features and outlines a typical
procedure for writing lessons.

Task 1 – Cassie’s exam class

Cassie: “I am teaching a Cambridge First Certificate class at the moment. I’ve never taught
an exam class like this before. I’ve been giving my students lots of writing practice using old
exam papers. However, they have told me that they want more on writing. We’re doing two
practice writing tasks each week. I’m not sure what they mean.”

Can you help Cassie? What do you think her students mean? Jot down
your ideas and suggestions on a note pad, then look at the answer key
below.

Task 1 Feedback
The students may be voicing their frustration at only practising writing and
might want some kind of analysis of the genres they have to focus on in the FCE
exam. While providing practice opportunities is important, this alone will not
necessarily develop students’ skills in these areas, in the same way as merely
practising grammar without providing any kind of clarification will not
necessarily develop students’ grammar accuracy.

Key Skill
Written language has its own specific features and conventions. These will often
differ from one language to another. It is useful for learners if you focus on
these features in an explicit way when doing writing lessons.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 1: A product approach and features of written language: Unit 3 g)

Task 2 – Differences between written and spoken language

Numbers 1 to 6 below are typical features of spoken language. Letters a

to f are their counterparts in written language. Match the spoken and
written features.

Written
Spoken features
features
1. When we speak, we use stress, intonation and pausing to highlight specific
pieces of information and to help listeners understand what we are saying.

2. Spoken language is spontaneous and is usually not recorded in any way.

3. When people speak there is usually someone who is listening and can give
feedback to the speaker.

4. When people speak, their sentences are sometimes incomplete and they
change their mind about how they will say something in the middle of a
sentence.

5. Speakers often use facial expression, gesture and body language to add
meaning to what they are saying.

6. When people speak, they plan and organise their language as they go and
not a long time in advance.

Features of Written Language

a. In written language there is a greater expectation of accuracy in language features
such as grammar, vocabulary and spelling.
b. Writers tend to think about what they are going to write and how they are going to
write it before they begin writing.
c. Written language is usually fixed on the page so that people can return to the text as
often as they like.
d. When we write, we use punctuation to help signpost the message of written texts.
e. Writers often never find out what readers think of their text. However, e-mail and
texting are kinds of writing where writers will receive some response to their
message.
f. Paragraphing and layout are used in written language to make the message clearer.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 1: A product approach and features of written language: Unit 3 g)

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
While it is true that writing requires more accurate use of language than
speaking, grammatical accuracy is not the only feature of written language to
focus on in the classroom. Nor is it a good idea to see written language as a
collection of correct sentences. It is a good idea to see a piece of writing as a
whole text with its own conventions.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 1: A product approach and features of written language: Unit 3 g)

Task 3 – Steps in a typical writing lesson

Letters a to i below show steps in a typical writing lesson. Put these

steps into what you think is an appropriate order.

Steps in a Writing Lesson Order

a. Students brainstorm ideas for their own text.

b. The teacher checks understanding of the model text using some

kind of comprehension task.

c. Students write their final draft of the text.

d. Students do an activity that aims to practise the highlighted written

feature.

e. The teacher provides a lead in to the topic of the model text.

f. Students get feedback on the first draft from their peers or from the
teacher.

g. The teacher hands out the model text.

h. Students write the first draft of their text.

i. The teacher highlights one or two features of the model text (e.g.
paragraphing, linking devices) by means of a discovery task.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
The suggested procedure above follows what is generally understood to be a
‘product approach’ to writing, in that the teacher aims to get the students to
produce a piece of written text. This is not the only approach (see the related
lesson on process writing), but it can be useful when teaching exam classes
where students need to be able to deploy specific genres.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 1: A product approach and features of written language: Unit 3 g)

Task 4 – Specific activities

Numbers 1 to 8 below describe some specific activities that teachers can

use in the classroom to focus on features of written language. Sort these
activities into the two categories in the box below, thinking about
whether they focus on language accuracy, or on the text as a whole.

Focus on language accuracy Focus on the text as a whole

Activities
1. Ask students to make a more complex sentence from two simple sentences using a
linking device.
2. Get students to organise cut up parts of a model text so that it follows the correct
format and layout.
3. Get students to think very clearly about who will read the text.
4. Ask students to organise a continuous stream of text into paragraphs.
5. Give students a text with spelling mistakes and ask them to identify and correct
these. Set a time limit and allow limited dictionary support.
6. Ask students to think about why they are writing a particular text – what is its
purpose?
7. Give students a text with no punctuation and ask them to add full stops, capital
letters, commas etc.
8. Ask students to find out what different pronouns refer back or forward to in a text.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 1: A product approach and features of written language: Unit 3 g)

Thinking about your teaching …

It is easy to think of the kind of texts that students need to be able to write when
they are studying in exam classes. However, what about when they are studying
general English at a lower level? Over a period of time, conduct an on-going needs
analysis with students who are not in exam classes. Get them to tell you what kind of
texts they feel they would like to write.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

The approach described in task 3 is only a suggested approach. It is also possible to
start with the product and work backwards. You can ask your students to write a text
without having read a model or example. Having done this, students could look at a
model and notice differences between their first drafts and the model text. They
could then re-write the first draft incorporating features they have noticed. This
approach is similar to a task-based model of teaching and learning.

Want to find out more … ?

Pages 323 - 342 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by Jeremy
Harmer (Pearson 2007) contain more ideas for focusing on both language accuracy
and the whole text in writing lessons.

Pages 192 – 205 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan 2005)
include further reading on staging successful writing lessons.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to writing lessons:

• Unit 3 h) Writing 2: a Process approach (a useful follow-up to this lesson)

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 1: A product approach and features of written language: Unit 3 g)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
1) d Task 4 – Feedback
2) c
3) e Language accuracy: 1, 5, 7, 8
4) a
5) f Whole text: 2, 3, 4, 6
6) b

Task 3 – Feedback
1) e
2) g
3) b
4) i
5) d
6) a
7) h
8) f
9) c

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 2: A process approach: Unit 3 h)

Do you sometimes wonder what people mean when they talk about ‘process
writing’? This lesson looks at a process approach to writing and shows how it
differs from a very strictly product approach. It describes a procedure for
process writing and gives some teaching ideas. Before you complete this
lesson, it may be useful to have looked at Writing 1: A product approach and
features of written language.

Task 1 – A process quiz

What are your beliefs about how we structure and manage writing
lessons? Take this short quiz to find out. Write ‘yes’ or ‘no’ next to each
statement, then check your ideas with the answer key below.

Statements Yes/No?

1. Students should learn to write correct sentences and build them up into a text.

2. In writing classes, there is a strong emphasis on correct grammar.

3. In writing classes, you should focus on what the student produces at the end
of the lesson.

4. Classroom writing is by its nature ‘inauthentic’ and it is impossible to make it

real.

5. Writing in the classroom takes a lot of time and is often a waste of time.

6. Students have to work alone on writing activities.

7. Teachers should mark all the grammar mistakes that students make.

8. All written language can be considered formal language.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 2: A process approach: Unit 3 h)

Task 1 Feedback
• If you answered all these questions with ‘yes’, then your view of developing
writing skills is strongly product-orientated, and it might be interesting for you
to explore the different approach outlined in this lesson.
• If you had a lot of ‘no’ answers, then you probably already have some
awareness of a process approach, but it might be useful for you to look at the
ideas in this lesson and see if you can develop techniques further.

Key Skill
A central idea in process writing is to move away from the view that written
texts are a collection of grammatically correct sentences. Process writing is
connected with the different sub skills that first language writers of English use
when they write.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 2: A process approach: Unit 3 h)

Task 2 – Some alternatives

Numbers 1 to 8 repeat the descriptions of a product approach to writing in

task 1. Letters a to h describe some alternatives to this view that are
usually associated with the process approach. Match the alternatives to the
descriptions.
Process
Descriptions of a product approach
approach
1. Students should learn to write correct sentences and build them up into
a text.

2. In writing classes, there is a strong emphasis on correct grammar.

3. In writing classes, you should focus on what the student produces at the
end of the lesson.

4. Classroom writing is by its nature ‘inauthentic’ and it is impossible to

make it real.

5. Writing in the classroom takes a lot of time and is often a waste of time.

6. Students have to work alone on writing activities.

7. Teachers should mark all the grammar mistakes that students make.

8. All written language can be considered formal language.

Alternatives associated with the process approach

a. In class, students can write a letter or e-mail message to an organisation or publication that
exists and send the letter or message.
b. Teachers’ feedback should refer to the ideas expressed in a text and the way in which
they are organised.
c. When students brainstorm and plan written work, they also get useful speaking practice.
d. It helps students to look at an example model text of what they are writing so they can
understand how this works as a whole.
e. Teachers should expose students to a range of different written genres because they
will be writing using different registers.
f. From the outset, teachers should encourage students to think of a piece of writing as a
piece of communication that gets a message across.
g. A lot of writing activities such as brainstorming, planning and revising can be done in
pairs or small groups.

h. An important part of writing lessons is to get students to understand that the writing process
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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 2: A process approach: Unit 3 h)

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
The process approach means that students begin to see writing as a
communication tool. This means it is important to think about why the text is
being written and who is likely to read it. It also shows that the writing of a text
is not a one-off event, but a process made up of several steps.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 2: A process approach: Unit 3 h)

Task 3 – A procedure for process writing

Letters a to h show typical stages or steps in a process writing lesson.

Place these in a logical order.

Stages in a Process Writing Lesson Order

a. Students get feedback from their peers or from the teacher on what
they have written.

b. Students reformulate some of the language in the text.

c. The teacher asks students to talk about the purpose of the text they
will write.

d. Students brainstorm ideas and/or, if necessary, do some research

on the topic of the text.

e. Students write a first draft of the text.

f. Students write a final draft of the text.

g. Students reconsider some of the ideas in the text and revise their
organisation.

h. Students think about and discuss how their ideas can most effectively
be organised.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
The procedure outlined in task 3 could take place over an extended period of
time rather than in the course of one individual lesson. For example, students
might do brainstorming and discussion of the purpose and organisation of the
text in class and then write the first draft as homework. The revising and
reformulating might take place two or three days after that.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 2: A process approach: Unit 3 h)

Task 4 – Individual tasks

Numbers 1 to 8 repeat the steps in a process writing lesson, but this time
they are in the correct order. Letters a to h provide examples of a
classroom activities. Match the activities to the steps.

Steps in a process writing lesson Activities

1. Students brainstorm ideas and/or, if necessary, do some research on

the topic of the text.

2. The teacher asks students to talk about the purpose of the text they
will write.

3. Students think about and discuss how their ideas can be organised.

4. Students write a first draft of the text.

5. Students get feedback from their peers, or from the teacher, on what
they have written.

6. Students reconsider some of the ideas in the text and revise their
organisation.

7. Students reformulate some of the language in the text.

8. Students write a final draft of the text.

Classroom activities
a. In pairs or small groups, students look at their notes and discuss how they can be
organised into paragraphs.
b. Students decide whether they need to cut or add information to their text and review
the paragraphing.
c. If the topic of the text voices a personal opinion, students should write alone.
However, if the topic is not personal, students could write in pairs or small groups.
d. Students look at the teacher’s language feedback and change the grammar and
vocabulary if necessary.
e. The teacher encourages the students to use mind maps and provides articles that
might be of use.
f. This can be word processed for the sake of final presentation.
g. The teacher asks the students to discuss and note down who will read the text and
what the reader will need to do as a result of reading the text.
h. One pair should exchange their draft with another pair. The teacher can monitor and
make suggestions.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 2: A process approach: Unit 3 h)

Thinking about your teaching …

Try doing some writing lessons that follow a process approach to developing writing
skills. As you work through these lessons, note students’ reactions to different parts
of the process. Where do they have strengths? Where do they have weaknesses?
Why do you think this is the case?

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

The one step that students (and teachers) tend to forget about in this process is the
second one where students should think of the audience of the text and the outcome
(if there is one). Try and make this a standard feature of any writing lesson that you
do.

Want to find out more … ?

Pages 300 to 312 of Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom by Tricia
Hedge (Oxford University Press 2000) contain extra reading on process writing.

Pages 325 - 326 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by Jeremy
Harmer (Pearson 2007) discuss the differences between a product and a process
approach.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to writing lessons:

• Unit 3 g) Writing 1: a product approach and features of written language

(a useful precursor to this lesson)

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Writing 2: A process approach: Unit 3 h)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback Task 4 – Feedback

1) d 1) e
2) f 2) g
3) h 3) a
4) a 4) c
5) c 5) h
6) g 6) b
7) b 7) d
8) e 8) f

Task 3 – Feedback
1) d
2) c
3) h
4) e
5) a
6) g
7) b
8) f

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you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Literacy: Unit 3 i)

Do some of your low level learners seem to have problems with reading and
writing? This lesson looks at kinds of literacy problems that students can have
and makes some suggestions on how you can deal with these.

Task 1 – An unusual student

Joshua has a student called Tony in his pre intermediate class. Tony is very communicative
and, for his level, speaks English well. However, Joshua has noted that Tony is reluctant to
copy examples of new language from the white board. He sometimes seems to struggle with
reading, but can often give answers to tasks after student-centred feedback. Joshua
wonders whether Tony might have literacy problems.

What do you think?

Jot down your ideas on a notepad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
It is quite possible that Tony does have literacy issues. Students who find
reading and writing difficult can often be good at listening and speaking and can
hide their literacy problems with a series of coping strategies. For example,
Tony might not be able to read texts at all, but is able to pick up answers to
reading tasks from his partner during student-centred feedback.

Key Skill
In English language classrooms, literacy problems can arise because a student’s
first language does not have a Roman script and they need to learn this.
However, in other cases, students may have literacy issues in their first
language and learning English may mean they are having to deal with written
and spoken language for the first time.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Literacy: Unit 3 i)

Task 2 – What kind of problem is it?

Numbers 1 to 8 describe typical literacy problems for students. Sort the

problems into ones primarily associated with reading and ones
associated writing.

Reading problems Writing problems

Typical literacy problems

1. Students can’t spell words.
2. Students have problems dealing with left to right orientation of texts.
3. A word written in cursive and the same word written in italics seem like two different
words.
4. Students find it difficult to hold a pen correctly.
5. Students are unsure whether they should use upper or lower case for certain words.
6. Students cannot see where a word begins and ends when it is placed in continuous
text.
7. Students are unable to form letters in Roman script.
8. Students find it difficult to work out where sentences begin and end in continuous text.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
While the problems described above seem very basic, it is useful to consider
how well native English speakers would cope with a non-Roman script that is
not familiar to them, for example, Arabic. In this situation, being able to
perform simple tasks such as recognising the correct number on a bus becomes
extremely difficult.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Literacy: Unit 3 i)

Task 3 – Getting started

Below are some general ideas for when you get started with helping
students with literacy problems. Choose the best alternative a) or b) for
each idea.

Ideas to help students with literacy problems

1. a. You should use small fonts for words and texts

b. You should focus on large fonts for words and texts.

2. a. You should begin with listening and speaking then lead to reading and writing.
b. You should begin with reading and writing then lead to listening and speaking.

3. a. Start out by focusing on individual words.

b. Start our by focusing on short and simple sentences.

4. a. You should try and use visuals together with words and text as much as possible.
b. You should try and avoid using visuals with words and texts.

5. a. It helps to use a published picture dictionary.

b. It helps for students to build up and create their own dictionary.

6. a. When it’s time to deal with sentences, students should try and create their own.
b. When it’s time to deal with sentences, students should copy examples.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
A general principle when teaching literacy is to move from reading and writing
to listening and speaking, and to begin with letters and words. It is difficult to
get students to reproduce what they cannot perceive. Secondly, it is not a good
idea to expect creativity too soon in the literacy development process.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Literacy: Unit 3 i)

Task 4 – Some specific activities

Below is a list of some specific activities to help develop literacy (1-12).

Decide if each activity will help develop reading skills or writing skills.

Reading skills Writing skills

Activities to help develop literacy

1. Give regular spelling tests.
2. Students do dot joining and tracing tasks to create letters.
3. Students match the same word written in two different fonts.
4. Students recognise and/or match letters words written on flashcards.
5. Students match words to pictures.
6. Students copy written work that has been rewritten and reformulated by the teacher.
7. Students are given words from a simple sentence to order.
8. Students are asked to identify very simple texts such as a bank deposit slip or a bus
timetable.
9. Students complete simple gapped sentences.
10. The teacher highlights core spelling rules and patterns.
11. Students labels pictures and diagrams.
12. Students complete simple forms.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Literacy: Unit 3 i)

Thinking about your teaching …

Try learning the alphabet (or characters) and some words in a language that has a
script that you are not familiar with. What frustrations do you experience? How does
this experience inform the way you can deal with students who have literacy
problems.

Note your observations in your Teaching log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Often learners with literacy problems are placed in classes with students who do not
have these problems. This will mean adapting materials that you use and providing
these students with a bit of extra support. For example, rather than getting them to
do a controlled written practice task, you could ask them to copy the correct
answers.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 323 - 325 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there is further reading on literacy.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Literacy: Unit 3 i)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
Reading problems: 2, 3, 6 and 8
Writing problems: 1, 4, 5 and 7

Task 3 – Feedback
1. b. You should focus on large fonts for words and texts.
Comment: Larger typeface is clearer and easier to read.
2. a. You should begin with listening and speaking then lead to reading and writing.
Comment: This means you move from what students can already do to what is new
for them.
3. a. Start out by focusing on individual words.
Comment: Students needs to become familiar with words first so they can then
begin to recognise word boundaries in a sentence.
4. a. You should try and use visuals together with words and text as much as possible.
Comment: Visuals are a very straightforward and concrete way of conveying the
meaning of new language items.
5. b. It helps for students to build up and create their own dictionary.
Comment: Words students have collected are likely to be more meaningful for them.
6. b. When it’s time to deal with sentences, students should copy examples.
Comment: For students to create their own sentences puts pressure on the
grammatical ability when they are still trying to deal with the way in which we record
language in a written form.

Task 4 – Feedback
Reading skills: 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10
Writing skills: 1, 2, 6, 9, 11, and 12

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you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching pronunciation: Unit 4 a)

Do you sometimes feel unsure about teaching pronunciation? Do you wonder

when you should teach it and how to go about it? This lesson aims to explore
these issues by investigating general principles associated with the teaching of
pronunciation and then looking at ideas of when and what to teach.

Task 1 – A difference of opinion.

The following discussion took place in the staffroom between Tom and Liz:
Tom: I was doing a pronunciation lesson and most of my students just couldn’t get it.
Liz: Couldn’t get what?
Tom: Just the right sound.
Liz: How right did you want them to sound?
Tom: As near as possible to a native speaker.
Liz: Why bother? So long as they can be understood.
Tom: But they just sound so foreign.
Liz: I don’t agree.

Whose opinion do you agree with, and why? Jot down your answer on a
note pad, then check the answer in the key below.

Task 1 Feedback
Tom seems to want his students to sound like native speakers of English, while
Liz thinks that intelligibility is a more acceptable standard. Many students find it
hard achieving a native-speaker like sound, and many have no wish to lose their
accent. Current thinking on this topic suggests that Liz’s point of view is
preferable because it is more realistic and takes into account learners’ wants
and needs to a larger degree.

Key Skill
While aiming to get students sounding like native speakers may be an
unrealistic goal, ensuring that you have some explicit focus on pronunciation is
a key (and often neglected) aspect of an English language programme. Areas to
focus on are: sounds, word stress, sentence stress, connected speech and
intonation.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching pronunciation: Unit 4 a)

Task 2 – Some general principles

Numbers 1 to 6 outline some general principles associated with the

teaching of pronunciation. Letters a to f are a series of rationales for the
principles. Match the rationales to the principles.

General Principles Rationales

1. In a pronunciation lesson it is a good idea to get students listening

before they speak.

2. Teachers need to model pronunciation features clearly before they

ask students to repeat.

3. It helps students if you provide a white board model of the features

that you have practised.

4. Sometimes it is a good idea to get learners to analyse the

pronunciation of an utterance in pairs.

5. Having heard or analysed a pronunciation feature, students need

plenty of oral practice.

6. Teachers need to give students plenty of feedback on their

pronunciation.

Rationales
a. This might lead to students being able to work out a rule that is applicable to other
language.

b. This encourages students to listen carefully to sounds.

c. This means that you are able to target very specific problems that individual learners
of different nationalities have.

d. Some learners need this kind of visual support because they do not have an ‘aural
memory’.

e. Pronunciation is something that learners need to actively do rather than passively

study.

f. At low levels there are some sounds and intonation patterns that non-native
speakers cannot hear so they need plenty of exposure to them.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching pronunciation: Unit 4 a)

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Pronunciation is something that students need to experience rather than think
about too much. Teachers can help them do this by ensuring that they focus
strongly on listening and speaking skills in pronunciation lessons. Some written
analysis is useful, but it should always lead to productive practice.

Task 3 – When to teach pronunciation

Numbers 1 to 5 describe different situations in which teachers can focus

on pronunciation. Letters a to e briefly describe classroom activities
associated with the teaching of pronunciation. Match the activities to the
situations.

Situations Activities

1. The teacher includes a separate pronunciation spot within a normal lesson.

2. The teacher focuses on pronunciation at the same time as they are

teaching grammar or vocabulary.

3. The teacher gets students to focus on a feature of pronunciation in a text

after doing listening skills practice.

4. The teacher devotes an entire lesson to some aspect of pronunciation.

5. The teacher gives feedback on some language that students have

produced.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching pronunciation: Unit 4 a)

Classroom activities
a. Students read and listen to a short excerpt and mark features of connected speech
on the audio script.
b. After a freer communication activity the teacher notes pronunciation problems on the
white board for students to correct.
c. The teacher does a 20-minute warmer activity that focuses on the difference
between two sounds e.g. /i:/ vs. /Ι/.
d. The teacher uses prompts to elicit, model and drill the target structure.
e. Students listen to, analyse and do a variety of practice activities, focusing on different
intonation patterns.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
The different situations outlined in task 3 can be summarised under two
headings – whether pronunciation should be taught in isolation or whether it
should be integrated into other lessons. Ideally teachers should try to include
both approaches in their teaching programmes.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching pronunciation: Unit 4 a)

Task 4 – Specific activities

Numbers 1 to 5 in the box are features of pronunciation. Letters a to j are

specific activities. Match the activities to the features. Each feature has
two activities.

Features of Pronunciation Activities

1. sounds

2. word stress

3. utterance or sentence stress

4. connected speech

5. intonation

Activities
a. Drilling students in ways of making requests and ensuring that they sound polite.
b. A student gives another student an incorrect piece of information. The second
student corrects the first student by repeating the initial sentence with the correct
information.
c. The teacher shows students a diagram of the mouth and different positions for
the speech organs.
d. The teacher asks students to listen to three sentences from a listening text and
count the number of weak forms /ə/ they hear.
e. The teacher models and drills new vocabulary.
f. The teacher gives students a series of messages in note form. Students have to
practise saying these as fully formed utterances.
g. Students have to listen for the difference between minimal pairs of words, for
example, ‘ship’ versus ‘sheep’.
h. The teacher asks the students to listen for the speaker’s attitude in a dialogue.
i. The teacher models and drills a new utterance, highlighting sounds that disappear
and run into each other.
j. The teacher asks students to sort vocabulary into different categories according to
their pronunciation.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching pronunciation: Unit 4 a)

Thinking about your teaching …

Over the course of a term, note how often you focus on teaching pronunciation. Also
consider whether your focus on pronunciation is mostly integrated into language
lessons or whether it is isolated. Evaluate whether you think you are doing enough
pronunciation. Do you need to integrate more? Or, do you need to do more one-off
pronunciation lessons?

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Often teachers forget to analyse the pronunciation of new grammar structures or
functions that they teach. Try doing this on a regular basis. Look at your example
sentences and work out the main stresses, look for features of connected speech and
decide whether intonation is important or not. It sometimes helps to do this together
with a colleague. It might make your drilling more effective.

Want to find out more … ?

Pages 248 to 264 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by Jeremy
Harmer (Pearson 2007) contain extra reading on teaching pronunciation.

Pages 284 to 297 of Learning Teaching (2nd Edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005) also contain extra reading on teaching pronunciation.

See also section 5 of Language Teaching Classroom Practice DVD & Workbook by
Heather Richards and Karen Wise (AUT University 2007).

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching pronunciation: Unit 4 a)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback Task 4 – Feedback

1) f 1) c and g
2) b 2) e and j
3) d 3) b and f
4) a 4) d and i
5) e 5) a and h
6) c

Task 3 – Feedback
1) c
2) d
3) a
4) e
5) b

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Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 1: Different approaches: Unit 4 b)

Are you sometimes unsure about the best way to deal with vocabulary in
different kinds of lessons? This lesson will help you make better decisions on
different approaches.

Task 1 – Emily’s pace

Student feedback
Emily prepared her vocabulary lesson thoroughly. She taught 12 new words associated with
the topic of ecology and prepared good questions to elicit words and check their meaning.
During the lesson, she felt things dragged a little bit. After the lesson, one of the students
told her in the nicest possible way that it seemed to take a long time to learn the new words.

How could Emily have made the vocabulary lesson more interesting for
her students and improved the pace? Jot down your answers on a note
pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
It seems that Emily elicited each word individually. Twelve is quite a large
number of words with which to do this and it probably meant she had a very
long teacher-fronted stage in her lesson. Because all the words were on the
same topic it might have been better to use a student-centred worksheet for
the vocabulary. For example, students could have matched words to definitions
or labelled a diagram or something similar. This means that learners would be
more actively engaged in learning the words and would determine their own
learning rate rather than being fully dependent on the teacher.

Key Skill
There are 3 key ways of teaching vocabulary to students: 1) by means of
teacher-fronted elicitation or explanation; 2) by means of a student-centred
vocabulary task; 3) by getting students to work out the meaning of new words
they find in a text using the context to help them.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 1: Different approaches: Unit 4 b)

Task 2 – What’s the best way?

Letters a to h describe different teaching or learning situations that

involve vocabulary. Decide which of the following approaches is the
most suitable, and circle the correct letter.

Approaches
T = teacher fronted explanation or elicitation
S = student-centred task
C = use the context to work out the meaning

Teaching / Learning Situations for vocabulary Approaches

a. 2 new words before a speaking activity. T S C

b. 4 words in a reading text that are not important for an understanding T S C

of the text.

c. 8 words from a listening text that are important to an understanding T S C

of the text.

d. A set of about 10 words based around a topic or theme (e.g. crime T S C

words).

e. A couple of words that crop up unexpectedly in the lesson. T S C

f. 3 words that are included in a grammar practice activity. T S C

g. A list of verbs and nouns that go together (collocation) e.g. nouns T S C

that go with ‘make and ‘do’.

h. 4 words that are specific to a particular kind of written language e.g. T S C

legal words.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Your approach to teaching vocabulary will vary depending on the type of lesson
you are teaching. Course books often use student-centred tasks before reading
or listening texts. Using the context to work out meaning is often done after
reading or listening tasks.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 1: Different approaches: Unit 4 b)

Task 3 – Teacher-fronted vocabulary teaching

A teacher fronted approach is often used when the main lesson aim is to
clarify a lexical set of vocabulary. Letters a to f are steps in the
procedure for eliciting a word. Numbers i to vi give a rationale for each
step. Put the steps in their correct order in the table below, then find the
rationale that matches each step.

Steps for eliciting a word Rationale for each step

a. Check that students understand i. Students need to learn the spelling and
the meaning of the word by part of speech of the word.
asking a concept question.
ii. It is easier for students to start with the
concept rather than the word itself.
b. Write up the word on the white
board and provide grammar iii. If the students clearly do not know the
information. word, then the teacher has to give it.

c. Drill the word. iv. This allows students to contribute the

word if they know it.
d. Provide the word, if students do v. It is a good idea to ensure students are
not know it sure about the meaning of the word
before you ask them to say it.
e. Elicit the word
vi. Because English spelling is often strange,
f. Convey the meaning using a it is better for students to learn the sound
picture or an oral definition. of the new word before they see how it is
written.

Steps Rationale

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 1: Different approaches: Unit 4 b)

Key Skill
There is often more than one way to convey the meaning of any given word.
It’s the teacher’s job to choose the most effective method for each word.

Task 4 – Getting the meaning across

There are different ways that the teacher can convey the meaning of a
word in order to try and elicit it. In the left-hand column below there are 8
words. Letters a to h describe different methods of getting the meaning
of words across. Choose the best method for each word.

Words Methods

1. hop (v)

2. viability (n)

3. exhausted (adj)

4. kiwifruit (n)

5. bitter (adj)

6. imitate (v)

7. skyscraper (n)

8. rarely (adv)

Method for getting meaning across

a. Showing students a physical object of some kind – sometimes called ‘realia’.
b. Doing a mime or action.
c. Explaining the meaning by giving an oral definition of the word.
d. Asking students to think about the opposite meaning of a word they already know.
e. Using a cline or diagram.
f. Using a picture of something.
g. Telling a short, personal story to give an example of the meaning.
h. Getting students to read a short written text that acts as a context for the word.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 1: Different approaches: Unit 4 b)

Thinking about your teaching …

Try different approaches to teaching vocabulary in the classroom and note how your
students respond to the different approaches. Try to evaluate each approach in
terms of the clarity for students and their motivation to learn.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Choose one of the approaches described in the tasks above that you are less familiar
with. Try using this approach with your students and evaluate its effectiveness.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 226 to 236 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there is reading on vocabulary (called ‘lexis’ in the text) and how to deal with
it in the classroom.

On pages 229 to 234 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is further reading on introducing vocabulary.

See also section 4 of Language Teaching Classroom Practice DVD & Workbook by
Heather Richards and Karen Wise (AUT University 2007).

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 4 c) Teaching vocabulary 2: Concept checking (recommended as a

follow-up to this lesson, focusing on clarifying meaning of new lexis in
more depth for learners)

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 1: Different approaches: Unit 4 b)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback Task 4 – Feedback

a) T 1) b
b) C 2) h
c) S 3) g
d) S 4) a
e) T 5) d
f) T 6) c
g) S 7) f
h) C 8) e

Task 3 – Feedback
1) f and ii
2) e and iv
3) d and iii
4) a and v
5) c and vi
6) b and i

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 2: Concept checking: Unit 4 c)

Do you feel that sometimes you should check that students have understood
new vocabulary more systematically? Do you sometimes forget to ask concept
questions? If that’s the case, this lesson will give you some useful pointers for
writing effective concept questions for vocabulary. It will also give you some
practice. Before you complete this task, it may be helpful to have looked at
Teaching Vocabulary 1: Different approaches.

Task 1 – Was matching enough?

Pat: “I did a reading lesson with my students the other day. There were some difficult words
in the text, so I made a task where students had to match the words to the definitions.
Students got one or two words wrong, but during feedback, they mostly had correct answers.
However, when they came to read the text, they still had problems with the words in the task.
I don’t understand why.”

Can you help Pat? Jot down your ideas / suggestions on a note pad,
then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
Matching a new word to a definition will not always check students’
understanding of that word in enough detail. Beyond the matching task, it is a
good idea to use concept questions to make sure students have a firm grasp of
the meaning.

Key Skill
Concept questions are questions that focus on the meaning of a new word or
phrase, for example, all aspects of the definition, the level of formality and
sometimes the context in which you can use a word. They help students to
consider words in more depth.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 2: Concept checking: Unit 4 c)

Task 2 – Advice on concept questions

Numbers 1 to 8 show advice on concept questions. Decide whether you

think the advice is good or bad, then give a reason for your decision.

Advice Good or Bad? Reason

1. “Do you understand?” is not an effective

concept question and should be avoided.

2. If you explain words in a lot of detail, it is often

possible not to ask concept questions.

3. Whenever possible it pays to prepare concept

questions in advance.

4. It’s not a good idea to use a dictionary when

preparing concept questions as the definitions
can be confusing.

5. When students repeat the word back to you,

it’s an indication that they have understood the
meaning.

6. Concept questions need to be simple and

specific rather than being very general.

7. It is efficient to check all meanings of a word at

the same time.

8. The answers to concept questions need to be

as short as possible.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Concept questions need to be clear and easy for students to understand. They
should have short, simple answers. It pays to check just one concept at a time.
Good concept questions are difficult to think of on the spot so it’s a good idea
to prepare your questions in advance.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 2: Concept checking: Unit 4 c)

Task 3 – Relevant concept questions

Below are 8 words, each is followed by 4 concept questions and their

anticipated answers in brackets. One of the concept questions in each
set of 4 is not really relevant or necessary to checking the meaning of
the word. Decide which concept question can be deleted from each set.

Words and concept questions

1. fade (adj)
a) If something fades, does it become more or less clear? (less clear)
b) Does this usually happen quickly or slowly? (usually slowly)
c) Can colours in clothes fade? (yes)
d) Do clothes designers like colours that fade? (not usually)

2. shuffle (v)
a) Is this a way of walking? (yes)
b) Do you wear special shoes when you shuffle? (no)
c) Do you walk quickly or slowly? (slowly)
d) Do you lift your feet when you shuffle? (no)

3. make off (phr v.)

a) Do you leave quickly or slowly? (quickly)
b) Is it because you did something wrong? (yes)
c) Did you have another appointment to go to? (no)
d) Did you do something wrong before or after leaving? (before)

4. critique (n)
a) Do you give your opinion? (yes)
b) Do you write your opinion down? (not necessarily)
c) Is your opinion always negative? (no)
d) Is this a more formal word? (yes)

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 2: Concept checking: Unit 4 c)

5. despondent (adj)
a) Do you feel happy or unhappy? (unhappy)
b) Does your present situation make you feel unhappy? (yes)
c) Do you think the situation will improve? (no)
d) Are you worried about money? (perhaps)

6. stand off (n)

a) Is a stand off between 2 people or 2 groups of people (could be either)
b) Do people stand up when they disagree? (not always)
c) Do people sometimes have a fight before a stand off? (yes)
d) Can either person do anything to win? (no)

7. incoherent (adj)
a) Did the writer think about the text carefully before writing it? (probably not)
b) Is the text well written? (no)
c) Is it easy to understand? (no)
d) Is it badly organised (yes)

8. mope (v)
a) Do you feel bored and perhaps unhappy? (yes)
b) Do you show that you are interested in things? (no)
c) Do you want to do things when you mope? (no)
d) Do dogs mope? (they could)

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
It is important to focus on core meaning of words when writing concept
questions and not introduce unnecessary questions that could confuse
students. Using examples of how the word is used can be useful, but the
examples do need to relevant to the context in which the word is being
presented.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 2: Concept checking: Unit 4 c)

Task 4 – Writing concept questions

Write concept questions and answers for the vocabulary items a – h

below. For each item no more than four concept questions.

Vocabulary items
a. embarrassed (adj)
b. put up with (v)
c. barracks (n)
d. justify (v)
e. substitute (n)
f. mercenary (adj)
g. reclaim (v)
h. let the side down (idiom)

The feedback provides suggested answers and variation is possible.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 2: Concept checking: Unit 4 c)

Thinking about your teaching …

It is interesting to work out whether concept checking leads to passive recognition
only or productive use of new vocabulary items. Try teaching 5 or 6 words then an
hour or so later, see if students can remember the meanings when they encounter
those words in a text. A few days later, teach a different set of words and then an
hour later give them a gap fill task in which students needs to be able to use these
words (e.g. a gapped text). Which is easier for students?

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

With students from intermediate level upwards, it could be an interesting exercise to
get them to teach each other vocabulary and use concept questions. You will need to
provide them with mono-lingual dictionaries and allow them plenty of time.
However, it means that students will deal with the meaning of the words they teach
in a lot of detail.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 246 - 251 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there is further reading on dealing with the meaning of new vocabulary and
the full extent to which this needs to be considered. This will help in the writing of
concept questions.

See also section 4 of Language Teaching Classroom Practice DVD & Workbook by
Heather Richards and Karen Wise (AUT University 2007).

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 4 b) Vocabulary 1: Different Approaches

(recommended as a precursor to this lesson)
• Unit 4 g) Teaching Grammar 4: Concept-checking grammar
(looks at how to check meaning of grammar with learners by using
oral concept questions)

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 2: Concept checking: Unit 4 c)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
1. Good advice.
Reason: Students will usually answer this question with the word ‘yes’ in order to save
face or avoid any further complications even if they don’t understand the word.
2. Bad advice.
Reason: Students will often not understand the detailed explanation, so there is no
guarantee that this will make things clearer for learners. Detailed explanations do not
check understanding of new language.

3. Good advice.
Reason: Concept questions are not always straight-forward and easy to create. If you
know you have got new vocabulary items in a lesson, then it makes sense to prepare
concept questions for these words in advance. It makes life easier in the classroom.
Clearly, it is not possible to pre-prepare for words that crop up in a lesson. You need to do
those spontaneously as well as you possibly can.

4. Bad advice.
Reason: Dictionaries are really useful tools when preparing concept questions because
they help you see all aspects of a definition that need to be checked.
5. Bad advice.
Reason: This involves repetition of the sound of the word and is not an indication that
students know what the word means.
6. Good advice.
Reason: The language of the question needs to be easy for students to understand and it
pays to focus on the specific meaning of a word in one particular context.
7. Bad advice.
Reason: This is likely to confuse the students and it pays to check one meaning at a time.
8. Good advice.
Reason: They should be words or phrases that students can say quickly and easily.
Long-winded answers are difficult for students to formulate, even when they do
understand the meaning of the word.

Task 3 – Feedback
1) d
2) b
3) c
4) b
5) d
6) b
7) a
8) d

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 2: Concept checking: Unit 4 c)

Task 4 – Feedback
a. embarrassed (adj)
question 1: Is this a good feeling? (no)
question 2: Are you worried about what other people will think? (yes)
question 3: Does your face sometimes go red? (yes)

b. put up with (v)

question 1: Do you ‘put up with’ with a thing or a person or both? (both)
question 2: Do you like this thing or person (no)
question 3: Do you accept the thing or person (yes)
question 4: Are you patient or impatient? (patient)

c. barracks (n)
question 1: Are ‘barracks’ one building or a group of buildings? (a group of buildings)
question 2: Who lives in ‘barracks’? (soldiers, people from armed forces)
question 3: Do they work there too? (yes)

d. justify (v)
question 1: If you ‘justify’ something, do you think some people have the wrong idea
about that thing? (yes)
question 2: Do you believe there is a good reason why your idea is better? (yes)
question 3: Do you say or do something directly or indirectly? (directly)
question 4: Do you use examples? (possibly)

e. substitute (n)
question 1: If you need a ‘substitute’, can you use what you normally use? (no)
question 2: Do you use something new and different? (yes)
question 3: Is it the same as the original? (no)
question 4: Can a person be a substitute as well as a thing ? (yes)

f. mercenary (adj)
question 1: Does this word describe people or things? (people)
question 2: Do ‘mercenary’ people have a positive attitude? (no)
question 3: Are they interested in money they can get? (yes very)
question 4: Do they also want other advantages for themselves from a situation? (yes)

g. reclaim (v)
question 1: Did someone take something from you in the past? (yes)
question 2: When you ‘reclaim’ some thing, do you want to get it back? (yes)
question 3: Can you ‘reclaim’ something that someone borrowed? (yes)
question 4: Can you reclaim land? (yes)

h. let the side down (idiom)

question 1: Do we say this about people or things or both? (both, but most often people)
question 2: If you ‘let the side down’, do you work less hard and make mistakes? (yes)
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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Vocabulary 2: Concept checking: Unit 4 c)
question 3: Does this affect other people? (yes)
question 4: Do we use this more in speaking than writing? (yes)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 1: Different Approaches: Unit 4 d)

Do you sometimes feel you teach grammar in the same old way? This lesson
will gives you some ideas for new ways to deal with grammar in the classroom.

Task 1 – Jessica’s Lesson

Jessica spent a lot of time preparing a grammar lesson on how to use articles (definite,
indefinite and zero) with her intermediate level students. She used a variety of sentences
that provided examples of different rules and explained these to students. They then
completed some gap-fill sentences, which they all got correct. A few days later, Jessica
collected in some essays from her students. This work contained a lot of mistakes,
particularly mistakes in the way her students used articles. Jessica felt a bit frustrated
because her carefully prepared lesson hadn’t seemed to be of any use.

How could you help Jessica? What do you think was wrong with her
lesson? Jot down your ideas on a note pad, then check the answer key.

Task 1 Feedback
First of all, it should be noted that teaching the article system in English can be
very complicated and Jessica’s expectations might be a little unrealistic.
However, it is also worth noting that Jessica used sentence level examples when
she taught the lesson, but then found that students had problems using articles
correctly in continuous texts. This suggests that Jessica perhaps needed to use
extended texts and not just sentences as her context for teaching articles. This
context is a closer match to how she expects students to be able to use articles
correctly.

Key Skill
There are many different ways of teaching grammar. No one individual method
suits all grammar points and all students. It is good to vary your approach to
teaching grammar as it gives your students more variety and is likely to cater for
different learning styles.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 1: Different Approaches: Unit 4 d)

Task 2 – What contexts can you teach grammar from?

Numbers 1 – 4 are descriptions of four different ways of giving students

examples of grammar points. Letters a – d describe the benefits of these
different sources, while numbers i – iv mention possible drawbacks.
Match the benefits and the drawbacks to their sources.

Sources of Grammar Benefits Drawbacks

1. Using texts as a source for a grammar point.

2. Using examples of (in)correct student language

produced during a speaking activity.

3. Using examples that arise from a context (e.g. a

picture story) together with students.

4. Using sentences that are examples of the grammar

point.

Benefits Drawbacks
a. A freer practice activity will tell you how i. It can be hard finding a situation that
well students know the grammar point generates the language naturally and
and provide you with many examples of easily.
their language that you can use to
correct and clarify the grammar. ii. You need to be sure that what you use
is either authentic or close to natural
b. These are easy to create and are often authentic language.
simple and clear for students.
iii. This approach can mean that the
c. Often these situations can involve context is not rich enough and the
pictures and this helps students with a isolation of examples can make some
visual learning style. The stories you grammar rules difficult to understand.
can create can also be entertaining.
iv. The context of the activity needs to be
d. Using reading or listening as a basis for communicative to be sure that it allows
clarifying a grammar point should students to speak and produce a lot of
provide you with plenty of examples. language examples.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 1: Different Approaches: Unit 4 d)

Key Skill
A key consideration for all approaches is that the examples come from a
context that is as authentic and as communicative as possible. In other words,
try and avoid examples and contexts that native speakers themselves would
not use.

Task 3 – Which approach can you use?

Numbers 1 and 2 are two approaches to clarifying a grammar point: an

inductive versus a deductive approach. Letters a and b are definitions of
these approaches, while i to vi are examples of these approaches. Match
the definitions and the examples to the correct approach.

Two Approaches Definitions Examples

1. Inductive approach.

2. Deductive approach.

Definitions
a. The teacher gives the rules of the grammar point.
b. The student works out the rules of the grammar point.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 1: Different Approaches: Unit 4 d)

Examples
i. The teacher asks oral questions that check students’ understanding of the meaning
of the grammar point and its form.
ii. The teacher provides students with written examples of their errors together with
some questions that get students to correct the errors and work out the meaning
and the form of the grammar point.
iii. The teacher provides a translation of the grammar point into the students’ first
language. This is only possible in a monolingual situation.
iv. The teacher asks students to read some grammar reference materials in order to
understand the meaning and form of the grammar point.
v. The teacher provides the students with a written task that guides students to
understanding the meaning and the form of the grammar point.
vi. The teachers gives an oral explanation of the meaning and the form of the grammar
point.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Whether you use one approach or another will depend on your students’
learning style, their needs, the nature of the language point itself and the need
for variety in a language programme. Current methodology has a preference for
a more inductive / guided discovery approach as it tends to be more student-
centred.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 1: Different Approaches: Unit 4 d)

Task 4 – Evaluating approaches

Below are a series of statements that highlight the strengths of both the
inductive and the deductive approaches to clarifying a grammar point
with students. Read the statements and decide which approach they are
talking about. Write ‘I’ for inductive (student works out the rules) and ‘D’
for deductive (teacher gives the rules).

Strengths I or D?

a. It can give students a sense of security.

b. It encourages the students to refer more often to the context of the

grammar point.

c. Students can learn at their own rate, rather than that of the class.

d. The teacher can get straight to the point.

e. It is more student-centred.

f. It allows the students to take a more gradual step-by-step approach to

different aspects of the grammar point.

g. It suits students who have a strongly accuracy-focused learning style.

h. It gives students time to think about the grammar point.

i. It can mean that students get extra speaking practice when they
discuss the grammar with each other or with their teacher.

j. It gives the teacher a clear sense of having taught something.

k. It can help make students more independent in their learning.

l. It means a bit more mental effort for students and this can have the
result that they engage more fully with the language.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 1: Different Approaches: Unit 4 d)

Thinking about your teaching …

Over the next few weeks, make a note of different ways you use to teach a grammar
point. After each lesson, think about how successful it was from the students’ point
of view. You could ask them to give you feedback on the approach.

Make a note of this record in your Teaching Log and decide whether you need to
vary your approach to teaching grammar.

Taking it to the classroom …

Try experimenting with a new approach to teaching grammar with your students. If
you need to read up on a different approach in more detail see Want to find out
more …? below. Aim to build up an extensive repertoire of approaches to teaching
grammar.

Want to find out more … ?

Chapters 3 and 4 of How To Teach Grammar by Scott Thornbury (Longman Pearson
1999) contain clear practical examples of different approaches to teaching grammar
that you can try out.

See also section 6 of Language Teaching Classroom Practice DVD & Workbook by
Heather Richards and Karen Wise (AUT University 2007).

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to the teaching of grammar:

• Unit 4 e) Teaching Grammar 2: Grammar from texts

(outlines a procedure for a text-based approach to grammar lessons)
• Unit 4 f) Teaching Grammar 3: Using communicative activities
(looks at how to use communicative activities to focus on grammar)
• Unit 4 g) Teaching Grammar 4: Concept-checking grammar
(looks at how to check meaning of grammar with learners by using
oral concept questions)

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 1: Different Approaches: Unit 4 d)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback Task 4 – Feedback

1) d and ii a) D
2) a and iv b) I
3) c and i c) I
4) b and iii d) D
e) I
Task 3 – Feedback f) I
g) D
1) b - i, ii and v h) I
2) a - iii, iv and vi i) I
j) D
k) I
l) I

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 2: Grammar from texts: Unit 4 e)

How easy do you find it to teach grammar from texts? Do you feel that your
lessons sometimes get bogged down by the course book material? This lesson
outlines a procedure that may help motivate your students in text-based
grammar lessons.

]
Task 1 – Andy’s frustration

Andy: “I was teaching the past perfect the other day. I found this really good reading text full
of lots of examples. I pointed out the examples and then explained the use of the past
perfect. I asked students if they had understood my explanation and they all said they did.
However, when I gave them a practice activity to do, very few of them could use the past
perfect correctly. It was very frustrating. I felt like I’d been wasting my time.”

Can you help Andy? Think of possible reasons why Andy’s students
didn’t understand. Jot down your answers on a note pad, then check the
answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
It is possible that Andy’s approach to teaching his grammar point didn’t
motivate his students. His explanation could have been quite long-winded and
perhaps students didn’t understand. When he asked students if they
understood the grammar, they may have said “yes” to save face, when in fact
they didn’t really understand.

Key Skill
When teaching grammar from text, it is a good idea to engage learners as much
as possible by getting them to discover the language and think about what it
means, how it is used and how it is formed. Teacher explanations can often be
ineffective at doing this because the teacher talks too much and the learners
switch off.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 2: Grammar from texts: Unit 4 e)

Task 2 – Steps in a text-based grammar lesson

Letters a to f outline key steps in a text-based grammar lesson. Numbers

i to vi are aims that match each stage. Put the steps in their correct order
into the table below, then find the aim that matches each step.

Steps Aims
a. Students check the form of the i. To focus students on the grammar that is
target grammar. to be clarified.
b. Students highlight the target ii. To provide opportunities for the students
grammar in the text. to use the new language in a variety of
contexts.
c. The teacher provides controlled
to freer practice of the target iii. To check students’ understanding of the
grammar. context that the target grammar comes
from.
d. Students read (or listen to) the
text that contains the target iv. To give very controlled oral practice of
grammar. phonological features of the grammar.
e. The teacher highlights the v. To ensure students understand concepts
pronunciation of the target associated with the grammar (e.g. time
grammar (if it is typically used for reference, intention etc.) and the way it is
oral communication). used in native speaker language.
f. Students check the meaning of vi. To ensure students understand the
the target grammar . component parts of the grammar and how
it is put together.

Steps Aims

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 2: Grammar from texts: Unit 4 e)

Key Skill
It is important that students understand the context of the target grammar
because this will help them understand the meaning. It is better to study the
meaning of the grammar before looking at the form because examining how
something is made without understanding what it means can be frustrating.

Task 3 – How to achieve the aims

Numbers 1 to 6 below repeat the stages in a text-based grammar lesson.

However, this time they are in the correct order. Letters a to f describe
activities for each stage. They are in a different order. Match the
activities to the stages.

Stages Activities

1. Students read (or listen to) the text that contain the target
grammar.

2. Students highlight the target grammar in the text.

3. Students check the meaning of the target grammar.

4. Students check the form of the target grammar.

5. The teacher highlights the pronunciation of the target grammar

(if it is typically used for oral communication).

6. The teacher provides controlled to freer practice of the target

grammar.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 2: Grammar from texts: Unit 4 e)

Activities
a. The teacher provides an oral model of the target grammar point and then drills
students chorally and individually.
b. The teacher gives comprehension questions that check the information in the
text.
c. The teacher elicits information about how the target grammar is made using the
white board. Alternatively, students can work on a student-centred task.
d. The teacher sets up a variety of activities, both spoken and written, that allow
students to use the target grammar.
e. Students are asked to underline examples of the target grammar or the teacher
might point them out. If using a listening text, you can isolate examples of the target
grammar on the tape.
f. The teacher gives learners a student-centred task that guides them towards an
understanding of the use of the target grammar. The task might include questions,
or clines, or grids. An alternative is for the teacher to ask oral concept questions
about the target grammar.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Whenever possible, it is worth considering providing a student-centred task to
clarify key aspects of grammar: meaning and form. These tasks should guide
students to an understanding of the target grammar and should mean the
teacher does not need to use long-winded explanation.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 2: Grammar from texts: Unit 4 e)

Task 4 – Evaluating text-based grammar lessons

Decide if the following statements are a correct or an incorrect evaluation

of text-based grammar lessons. Write ‘C’ for correct and ‘I’ for incorrect
in the right-hand column of the table.

Statements C or I?

1. Text-based grammar lessons allow you to focus on all uses of a

particular grammar point.

2. Text-based grammar lessons follow a guided discovery approach and

students are able to find out about the language themselves.

3. The use of texts means that students can see examples of target
grammar points in context.

4. When planning text-based grammar lessons, teachers should create

as many of their own texts as possible.

5. Text-based grammar lessons are likely to appeal to students who like

a clearly structured approach to learning grammar.

6. Student-centred meaning and form tasks give students useful thinking

time and allow them to process information about the language.

7. The lack of teacher explanation might mean that some students

switch off or get distracted.

8. The approach is suited to working with course books as they often

present new language in texts.

9. The fact that the language is presented in a reading text means you
shouldn’t drill it.

10. A text-based approach may help some students to think about texts
they find outside the classroom as a source of grammar.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 2: Grammar from texts: Unit 4 e)

Thinking about your teaching …

How does a text-based approach to teaching grammar compare with other
approaches you have used? Consider the pluses and minuses of this approach from
the teacher’s point view.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

An alternative approach to feedback is to let learners know that you will only confirm
the answers to 2 or 3 questions in a task. In groups they have to negotiate and decide
which answers they feel certain they have got right and which they are most unsure
of. This strategy makes them think harder and it also generates a lot of group
discussion as they negotiate.

Want to find out more … ?

Chapter 5 of How To Teach Grammar by Scott Thornbury (Longman Pearson 1999)
contains further ideas on how to teach grammar by using texts.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to the teaching of grammar:

• Unit 4 d) Teaching Grammar 1: Different approaches

(looks at a variety of approaches to teaching grammar)
• Unit 4 f) Teaching Grammar 3: Using communicative activities
(looks at how to use communicative activities to focus on grammar)
• Unit 4 g) Teaching Grammar 4: Concept-checking grammar
(looks at how to check meaning of grammar with learners by using
oral concept questions)

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 2: Grammar from texts: Unit 4 e)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
4. Incorrect
1) d and iii Comment: It is far easier to use texts in
2) b and i published materials or authentic texts.
3) f and v
4) a and vi 5. Correct
5) e and iv Comment: It gives students the feeling
6) c and ii that they are working through a step-by-
step process. Other more communicative
learners might get frustrated by too much
of this.
Task 3 – Feedback
6. Correct
1) b Comment: As a result of this thinking
2) e time, students often have questions. The
3) f teacher can deal with these questions
4) c during monitoring, when students are
5) a working on the meaning and form tasks.
6) d
7. Incorrect
Comment: The reverse is more likely to
Task 4 – Feedback be true.

1. Incorrect 8. Correct
Comment: Usually texts will focus on only Comment: Some course books will also
one use of a grammar point. Texts that try provide meaning and form tasks that you
to include a large variety of uses can seen can use.
contrived and unnatural.
9. Incorrect
2. Correct Comment: Whether you drill or not should
Comment: It is the design of the tasks depend on whether the target language is
that ‘guides’ students to an understanding typically used in oral communication by
of the target grammar point. native speakers.

3. Correct 10. Correct

Comment: This is a key strength of this Comment: But the teacher may need to
approach. point this out to students.

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 3: Using communicative activities: Unit 4 f)

Do you sometimes feel that you are teaching students grammar they already
know? This lesson looks at how you can use communication activities as a
springboard to focusing on grammar. It examines the aims and stages of such a
lesson and looks at issues and options surrounding this approach to teaching
grammar.

Task 1 – What your students say and do

Below are five statements about what students sometimes say and do.
Are any true for you?

1. Students often complain that they know all the grammar, but they are still incorrect
when they speak.
2. Students often don’t see the relevance of learning grammar.
3. Students say they want more feedback on the language they produce.
4. Students say they want to do more speaking in your classes.
5. Students can often do very controlled oral practice activities correctly. However,
when they are given a freer practice activity, they will often get the target grammar
wrong.

Jot down your answers on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
If only one of these statements is true for your current teaching situation, then
using communication activities for teaching grammar could be a useful skill to
learn. If none of the statements are true, then your students must be extremely
happy – well done! The following lesson may still be of use to you all the same.

Key Skill
Using communication activities to teach grammar can offer variety to your
students and cater to the needs of learners who are keen to develop their
ability to use English. It also provides opportunities for teachers to give
systematic feedback on students’ errors.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 3: Using communicative activities: Unit 4 f)

Task 2 – What are the different steps?

Letters a to e outline key stages in a lesson that teaches grammar by

means of a communicative activity. Numbers i to v are aims that match
each stage. Put the steps in their correct order in the table below, then
match the correct aim to each step.

Stages Aims

a. Teacher-led error correction of i. To determine whether students are able to

student language. use the target language point and to listen
for their accuracy with other language.
b. Students do a second
communication activity. ii. To clarify how the target language point is
used and made.
c. Teacher evaluation of student
language. iii. To provide an initial opportunity for
students to use the target grammar point
d. Students do a communication and to provide speaking practice.
activity that requires use of a
specific grammar point. iv. To provide students with an opportunity to
further practise and consolidate the target
e. Checking of meaning and form language point.
by teacher.
v. To give students feedback on the language
they produced and to focus on the target
grammar point.

Stages Aims

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 3: Using communicative activities: Unit 4 f)

Key Skill
The point of departure of this lesson is a communication task that involves
speaking. This gives teachers an opportunity to hear if students can use the
target grammar point. If students are using the language perfectly well, the
teacher should give feedback on other errors and not worry about checking the
meaning and form of the target grammar point. If students can use this
language, they clearly don’t need any more work on it.

Task 3 – How to achieve the aims

Numbers 1 to 5 below repeat the stages of a lesson that teaches

grammar by means of a communication activity. However, this time they
are in the correct order. Letters a to e describe activities for each stage.
They are in a different order. Match the activities to the stages.

Stages Activities

1. Students do a communication activity that requires use of a

specific grammar point.

2. Teacher evaluation of student language.

3. Teacher-led error correction of student language.

4. Checking of meaning and form by teacher.

5. Students do a second communication activity.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 3: Using communicative activities: Unit 4 f)

Activities
a. The teacher writes up the collected errors on the white board. Corrections can
either be elicited from learners, or students can be put in pairs or small groups to
correct the language and conduct feedback.

b. The teacher gives students another communication activity that practises the
target language point and asks them to do this activity and concentrate on using
the target grammar point correctly. Alternatively, students could re-do the original
activity.

c. Having elicited corrections of student language, the teacher uses oral concept
questions to check the meaning of the target grammar point, afterwards checking
the form by eliciting it and then writing it up on the white board.

d. The teacher monitors and listens carefully to the language that students are
producing, particularly for the target grammar point, or its absence and finds out
what incorrect forms students are using in its place. The teacher also notes other
examples of incorrect language, noting these down on a piece of paper.

e. The teacher sets up the communication activity, but makes a point of not
mentioning the target grammar point nor asking that students use it.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
In terms of the focus on grammar, stages 3 and 4 are key in this approach. They
may not always be completely separate stages. When eliciting the correct
version of the white board language, the teacher might check meaning and
form at the same time. A variation for the third stage is to put up a mixture of
correct and incorrect examples of the target language and get students to
decide which versions are the correct ones.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 3: Using communicative activities: Unit 4 f)

Task 4 – Strengths and challenges

The following statements are about different aspects of lessons that

teach grammar from a communicative activity. Some of them indicate
strengths of this approach, while others describe challenges. Sort them
into the appropriate categories below.

Strengths Challenges

Statements
1. This approach heightens the relevance of the target grammar point during the
meaning and form stages. If students have had problems with the point, they can
see the need to clarify it. They are less likely to complain about having studied
the point already.
2. It creates a very natural connection between speaking and communication and
grammar, rather than viewing these as separate entities.
3. The teacher needs to listen very carefully when monitoring. This may be a little
difficult because of the noise level in the classroom and quietly spoken students
may be harder to hear.
4. The teacher needs to be able to respond to unexpected language issues that can
arise. These issues may not be connected with the target language point.
5. There is the opportunity to cover more grammar in a lesson. Apart from the target
grammar point, the teacher can also deal with other points that arise during the
correction stage.
6. If the students do the first activity well and produce the target language, the
teacher needs to have an alternative activity ready to use in place of the meaning
and form stages.
7. Because the lesson involves a lot of speaking, some students may not feel they
are learning grammar in a concrete and tangible way. The teacher may need to
point out to them that the error feedback and meaning and form stages do involve
an explicit focus on grammar.
8. This approach means that students are getting consistent feedback on the
language that they produce. This is likely to appeal to learners who want more
error correction from their teacher.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]
 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 3: Using communicative activities: Unit 4 f)

Thinking about your teaching …

Think about this approach to teaching grammar from the students’ point of view.
Imagine you are learning a second language and being taught grammar using this
approach. What aspects of the approach would you find frustrating, what other
aspects would you enjoy? Make a list and then work out whether you would
experiment with slight alterations to the approach described above.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Often this approach does not match published teaching materials. The grammar
clarification materials might use texts or examples. However, these books often
include communication activities that aim to practise grammar points. These are
often placed towards the end of a lesson, or at the back of the book. Teachers can
use these as their point of departure for teaching grammar, in line with the approach
outlined in this lesson.

Want to find out more … ?

Chapter 7 of How To Teach Grammar by Scott Thornbury (Longman Pearson 1999)
contains further ideas on using students’ errors to teach grammar.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to the teaching of grammar:

• Unit 4 d) Teaching Grammar 1: Different approaches

(looks at a variety of approaches to teaching grammar)
• Unit 4 e) Teaching Grammar 2: Grammar from texts
(outlines a procedure for a text-based approach to grammar lessons)
• Unit 4 g) Teaching Grammar 4: Concept-checking grammar
(looks at how to check meaning of grammar with learners by using
oral concept questions)

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 3: Using communicative activities: Unit 4 f)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback Task 4 – Feedback

1) d, iii Strengths = 1, 2, 5, 8
2) c, i Challenges = 3, 4, 6, 7
3) a, v
4) e, ii
5) b, iv

Task 3 – Feedback
1) e
2) d
3) a
4) c
5) b

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 4: Concept-checking grammar: Unit 4 g)

How can you know if students have understood the meaning of grammar
during a lesson? Is asking them if they understand enough? This lesson gives
you ideas on how to check grammatical meaning effectively by using clearly
focused oral questions.

Task 1 – Susannah’s explanation

Susannah: “I was teaching the difference between the past simple and the past perfect. I
explained as clearly as I could and did lots of examples with them on the white board. They
were nodding their heads in agreement and it seemed like they were getting it. Then I gave
them this practice activity – a text gap fill – and they got everything wrong. At that point, a
few students admitted that they hadn’t really understood the grammar.”

How could Susannah have checked students’ understanding more

thoroughly before students beginning the practice activity? Jot down
your ideas on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
Susannah’s approach is to give an explanation and look and see if students have
understood. She may also have asked students directly if they had understood
the difference in meaning between the two verb forms. However, for a teacher
to make sure that students have genuinely understood, they need to ask more
searching questions that focus explicitly on grammatical meaning.

Key Skill
Oral concept questions that focus on grammatical meaning are an effective way
of checking students’ understanding of new grammar items. They aim to
‘unpack’ the core concepts associated with grammar structures in such a way
that students can gradually develop a deeper understand of grammatical
meaning.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 4: Concept-checking grammar: Unit 4 g)

Task 2 – Some core concepts

Numbers 1 to 8 outline some core concepts associated with different

verb forms in English. Letters a to h give the names of these verb
phrases, with an example sentence. Match the concepts to the verb
phrases.

Core concepts of verb forms Verb phrases

1. time reference

2. degrees of obligation

3. relationship between actions and periods of time

4. intention

5. degrees of possibility

6. identifying the ‘agent’ (or ‘do-er’) of an action

7. duration

8. reality versus hypothetically

Names of verb phrases & example sentences

a. modal auxiliary verbs may, might etc. e.g. It looks like it might rain tomorrow.
b. future forms e.g. We’re going to meet up with them after dinner.
c. present and past tenses e.g. He left school five years ago.
d. conditional structures e.g. If I were the Prime Minister, I’d pay more attention to ecology.
e. passive forms e.g. The book was written by an unknown writer.
f. perfect verb forms e.g. I’ve had this car for about three years now.
g. modal auxiliary verbs must, should etc. e.g. You should really see a doctor.
h. continuous (or progressive) verb forms e.g. I was waiting at the bus stop when he
drove by.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 4: Concept-checking grammar: Unit 4 g)

Key Skill
Grammar concept questions focus on key ideas of grammatical meaning. Some
grammar forms have different uses and when checking grammatical meaning
you should check only one use at a time. Normally this will be related to the
context you have used to teach the grammar.

Task 3 – Which questions?

Numbers 1 to 5 are example structures from the previous task. Letters a

to o are concept questions (and answers) that relate only to the
underlined grammar structures in the example sentences. Each
structure needs 3 concept questions.
a) Match the concept questions (and answers) to the example structures.
b) Put the concept questions in the best order.

Example structures Concept questions

1. I’ve had this car for about three years now.

2. We’re going to meet up with them after dinner.

3. I was waiting at the bus stop when he drove by.

4. You should really see a doctor.

5. It looks like it might rain tomorrow.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 4: Concept-checking grammar: Unit 4 g)

Concept questions with answers (in brackets)

a. Did you decide to do this before speaking or when you were speaking? (before)
b. Is it only a possibility? (yes)
c. Do you want the other person to do this? (yes)
d. When did you buy it? (3 years ago)
e. Did the action happen in the past? (yes)
f. Is the speaker talking about now or the future? (now)
g. Did you own it all that time? (yes)
h. Is the action in the present or the future? (future)
i. Did it begin before or after the second action? (before)
j. Will it definitely happen? (no)
k. Do you think this is a good idea? (yes)
l. Do you still have it? (yes)
m. Did it continue after the second action? (yes)
n. Is the speaker sure about the action? (yes)
o. Do you feel very strongly that the other person do this? (no)

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Most structures need at least 3 questions in order to pinpoint the concept.
More complex structures may need more than 3 questions. The language
should be simple and avoid as much grammar terminology as possible. When
you write a concept question, you should also write what answer you expect
students to give you.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 4: Concept-checking grammar: Unit 4 g)

Task 4 – Writing concept questions

Below are 5 sentences with underlined grammar structures. Write

concept questions and their answers for each structure. Write a
maximum of three questions for each structure. Jot down your answers
on a note pad. The feedback provides suggested answers and variation
is possible.

Sentences
a. I’m sorry but I’ve lost my student card. Can I get another one?
b. When I was a child, I used to play the piano.
c. He’s working part-time at the moment and won’t be here until later.
d. I wish I had an iPod.
e. It can’t be John at the door – he’s gone overseas.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 4: Concept-checking grammar: Unit 4 g)

Thinking about your teaching …

Some grammatical concepts will be more difficult to check for some students than
others. The students’ first language may play a role in the degree of challenge they
find with some concepts, or your questions may be too difficult. Make a note of any
concepts students seemed to find very challenging. Discuss this with your colleagues
and see if they have had similar problems. If you fear that your concept questions are
too difficult, give them to a colleague to review and see if they can make suggestions
to make them easier to understand.

Taking it to the classroom …

When concept checking structures that you think your students will find particularly
difficult, you could try giving them written concept questions that they can think
about and discuss the answers to in pairs, followed by feedback. This will give
students a bit more thinking time.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 219 - 221 of Learning Teaching (2nd Edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there is further reading on concept questions for grammar.

See also section 6 of Language Teaching Classroom Practice DVD & Workbook by
Heather Richards and Karen Wise (AUT University 2007).

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to the teaching of grammar:

• Unit 4 d) Teaching Grammar 1: Different approaches

(looks at a variety of approaches to teaching grammar)
• Unit 4 e) Teaching Grammar 2: Grammar from texts
(outlines a procedure for a text-based approach to grammar lessons)
• Unit 4 f) Teaching Grammar 3: Grammar through communicative activities
(looks at how to use communicative activities to focus on grammar)

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 4: Concept-checking grammar: Unit 4 g)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback b. When I was a child, I used to play the

piano.
1) c
2) g question 1. Are you talking about the past
3) f or the present? (the past)
4) b question 2. Did you play piano once or
5) a often? (often)
6) e question 3. Do you play the piano now?
7) h (probably not)
8) d
c. He’s working part-time at the moment
and won’t be here until later.
Task 3 – Feedback question 1. Does he usually work part-
time? (no)
1) d, l and g question 2. Is working part-time
2) h, a and n something temporary? (no)
3) e, i and m question 3. Is he working as we speak?
4) k, c and o (no)
5) f, j and b
d. I wish I had an iPod.
Task 4 – Feedback question 1. Do you want an iPod? (yes)
question 2. Do you want it very much?
(yes)
a. I’m sorry but I’ve lost my student card.
question 3. Do you want it now or did you
Can I get another one?
want it in the past? (now)
question 1. Did you lose the card in the
past or the present? (the past)
e. It can’t be John at the door – he’s gone
question 2. Do we know exactly when?
overseas.
(no)
question 3. Is the result in the present? question 1. Is the speaker talking about
(yes) now or the future? (now)
question 2. Is the speaker certain or does
he think it’s a possibility? (certain)
question 3. Is he 100% certain or more
like 95%? (more like 95%)

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching Grammar 4: Concept-checking grammar: Unit 4 g)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-
commercial Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute,
display and perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work
noncommercially, as long as you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the
identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Task-based language learning: Unit 4 h)

Do you sometimes feel like you need to teach more language that is relevant to
your students’ needs? This lesson helps you do this by exploring an approach to
learning language through tasks.

Task 1 – Alison’s doubts.

Alison is a little unsure about how task-based learning works. Here are 3
questions that she has:

Question 1: What exactly is task-based learning?

Question 2: Can you focus on grammar in a task-based lesson?

Question 3: Is it true that the way students learn is by just picking up language from
each other?

Can you answer any of these questions for Alison?

Jot down your answers on a note pad, then check the answer key.

Task 1 Feedback
Question 1: What exactly is task-based learning?
Answer: In general, it is an approach to English- language learning in which
students learn by doing tasks. However, it is not as straightforward as just doing
one task after another.

Question 2: Can you focus on grammar in a task-based lesson?

Answer: Yes, you can. The way that you do so is a little different from other
approaches, but it is fine to focus on grammar in task-based lessons.

Question 3: Is it true that the way students learn is by just picking up language
from each other?
Answer: This is one way in which students can learn when working on tasks.
However, task-based learning also involves other learning opportunities for
students.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Task-based language learning: Unit 4 h)

Key skill
Task-based learning provides an alternative approach to focusing on language.
It has the key benefit of allowing students some degree of choice in terms of
what language they learn while working on tasks. However, it does not mean
that grammar and vocabulary are totally ignored.

Task 2 – Who does what?

Numbers 1 to 6 show teacher activity during the stages of a typical task-

based lesson. They are in the correct order. Letters a to f describe student
activities during these stages. They are not in the correct order. Match the
student activity to the teacher activity.

Teacher Activity Student activity

1. Pre task: The teacher provides information or vocabulary that will

help students with the task.

2. Task: The teacher asks students to perform a task in pairs or

small groups with some kind of tangible outcome.

3. Reporting: The teacher asks each pair or group to prepare and

give a report on the outcome of the task.

4. Model: The teacher provides students with a model of proficient

speakers performing the task.

5. Language noticing: The teacher asks students to study

language features in the proficient speaker model.

6. Practice: The teacher provides students with activities that

practise some of the language features in the proficient speaker
model.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Task-based language learning: Unit 4 h)

Student activity
a. Students speak or write or both – individually or in pairs.
b. Students speak in groups and perhaps make notes, then one student speaks alone.
c. Students read or listen or study new words.
d. Students study the text.
e. Students read or listen.
f. Students speak together and perhaps do some writing or note taking.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key skill
The introduction of the proficient speaker model is an opportunity to focus on
language. The general principle is that having done the task themselves, students
are usually very interested in seeing how proficient speakers performed the task
and what language they used.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Task-based language learning: Unit 4 h)

Task 3 – What is the rationale for each step?

Numbers 1 to 6 are the correct stages for teacher activity, as in task 2.

Letters a to f provide a commentary on each stage. However, they are not
in the correct order. Match the commentary to the correct stages.

Stages of teacher activity Commentary

1. Pre task: The teacher provides information or vocabulary that will

help students with the task.

2. Task: The teacher asks students to perform a task in pairs or small

groups with some mind of tangible outcome.

3. Reporting: The teacher asks each pair or group to prepare and

give a report on the outcome of the task.

4. Model: The teacher provides students with a model of proficient

speakers performing the task.

5. Language noticing: The teacher asks students to study language

features in the proficient speaker model.

6. Practice: The teacher provides students with activities that practise

some of the language features in the proficient speaker model.

Commentary
a. This stage should ideally include some kind of problem-solving element that gives
students a reason to speak.
b. The teacher can provide a task during this stage that either focuses students’ attention on
a language point, or the teacher can let students choose what they want to focus on.
c. This stage is often optional. It depends on what students have done in the previous stage.
d. These materials shouldn’t be too long or detailed or students will lose time before getting
on to the following, key stage.
e. This can either be a recording or a tape script or both.
f. The teacher should avoid correcting students’ language at this stage and focus on the
content of what they have to say.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Task-based language learning: Unit 4 h)

Key skill
Both the first and the last stage are optional. It depends on the nature of the task
and the language that appears in the proficient speaker model. Teachers may take
in a variety of practice activities for the final stage and let students decide which
language point they want more practice in.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Task 4 – How to prepare a task-based lesson (1)

Letters a to f are some suggested steps in how to plan and prepare a task-
based lesson, but they are not in the correct order. Put the steps in the correct
order.

Suggested steps for planning a task-based lesson Order

a. Decide whether you will let students notice the language they want to or
whether you will ask them to focus on specific vocabulary or grammar.

b. Look for reading or listening texts that might be useful at the pre-task
stage.

c. Record a model of the task being done by proficient speakers.

d. Find a task that has tangible outcomes.

e. Transcribe the proficient speaker model (or part of it) and look for useful
language points.

f. If you have focused on a specific language point, look for some

activities that will provide practice of that language.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Task-based language learning: Unit 4 h)

Task 5 – How to prepare a task-based lesson (2)

Letters a to f are pieces of advice that match the planning steps from the
previous task. Match the advice to each step in the planning process.

Advice Steps

a. Not only will this provide you with a useful language sample, it will also
show you if there are any problems with the task design that need to be
fixed before you give it to students.

b. If there is a particular language point you want to draw students’

attention to, your task can focus on any or all aspects of meaning and
form associated with that language.

c. It’s best to do this first because this is the cornerstone to the whole
approach.

d. This is usually (but not always) the last step because it can be a useful
extra activity rather than an essential one.

e. These can be a mix of written and spoken tasks. One possibility is to

ask students to repeat the original task in different groups.

f. Your choice here is likely to depend on the language that you find in the
proficient speaker model. If there is a language form that occurs
consistently in the model, it makes sense to create a language noticing
task that focuses on this language point.

Planning steps
1. Find a task that has tangible outcomes.
2. Record a model of the task with proficient speakers.
3. Transcribe the proficient speaker model (or part of it) and look for useful language points.
4. Decide whether you will let students notice the language they want to or whether you will
ask them to focus on specific vocabulary or grammar.
5. If you have focused on a specific language point, look for some activities that will provide
practice of that language.
6. Look for reading or listening texts that might be useful at the pre-task stage.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Task-based language learning: Unit 4 h)

Thinking about your teaching …

In task-based lessons where students choose the language they wish to focus on, it is
interesting to note which language items students want to study. Keep a note of the
vocabulary and grammar points they choose and see if it tells you anything about your
students’ language development. For example, are these language points that students
often produce incorrectly?

Note your observations in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Some learner groups may want you to give feedback on their language use after the
reporting phase. Try lessons where you do this and try lessons where you don’t. Then
ask learners which approach they prefer.

Want to find out more … ?

Pages 71 – 73 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by Jeremy
Harmer (Pearson 2007) contain further reading on task-based learning.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to the teaching of grammar:

• Unit 4 d) Teaching Grammar 1: Different approaches

(looks at a variety of approaches to teaching grammar)
• Unit 4 e) Teaching Grammar 2: Grammar from texts
(outlines a procedure for a text-based approach to grammar lessons)
• Unit 4 f) Teaching Grammar 3: Grammar through communicative activities
(looks at how to use communicative activities to focus on grammar)

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Task-based language learning: Unit 4 h)

Answer Key

Task 1 - Feedback Task 3 – Feedback

Question 1: What exactly is task-based 1) d
learning? 2) a
Answer: In general, it is an approach to 3) f
English- language learning in which 4) e
students learn by doing tasks. However, it is 5) b
not as straightforward as just doing one task 6) c
after another.
Task 4 – Feedback
Question 2: Can you focus on grammar
in a task-based lesson? 1) d
Answer: Yes, you can. The way that you do 2) c
so is a little different from other approaches, 3) e
but it is fine to focus on grammar in task- 4) a
based lessons. 5) f
6) b
Question 3: Is it true that the way
students learn is by just picking up
language from each other? Task 5 – Feedback
Answer: This is one way in which students
can learn when working on tasks. However, 1) c
task-based learning also involves other 2) a
learning opportunities for students. 3) f
4) b
5) e
Task 2 – Feedback 6) d

1) c
2) f
3) b
4) e
5) d
6) a

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-
commercial Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute,
display and perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work
noncommercially, as long as you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the
identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching functional language: Unit 4 i)

Do you feel that your language lessons are overly focused on grammar and
vocabulary? Do you find that students sometimes struggle to communicate
effectively in some social situations? The answer may be to teach your
students more functional language. This lesson outlines some common
functions, their characteristics and ways of teaching them.

Task 1 – What’s the real meaning?

Look at the two-line dialogue below and the following exchange between
the student and teacher.

John: I can hear the phone.

Sue: I’m having my lunch.

Student: Why does Sue say “I’m having my lunch”?

Teacher: Because she’s is doing it now – at the moment of speaking.
Student: But John is there – he can see she is having her lunch.
Teacher: Exactly. It’s happening now.
Student: But why?

What is the teacher not making clear?

Jot down your answers on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
The teacher is not focusing on the functional meaning of Sue’s utterance. In this
context, Sue is making an excuse – “I’m not going to answer the phone because
I’m having my lunch”. Focusing only on the grammatical meaning of the
structure Sue uses does not make this clear.

Key Skill
Understanding the underlying social meaning of certain utterances is at the
heart of functional language. We often use language because we want to
perform some kind of communicative act like make a request or offer advice.
The expressions that we use to achieve this are known as functional exponents.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching functional language: Unit 4 i)

Task 2 – Some typical functions

Numbers 1 to 10 list some common functions. Letters a to j provide

examples of functional exponents (ways of expressing each function).
Match the functions to the exponents.

Functions

1. making suggestion 2. inviting

3. giving advice 4. requesting

5. making apologies 6. refusing

7. agreeing 8. regretting

9. offering 10. complaining

Exponents
a. I can’t make it tonight – sorry.
b. I’m afraid I was disappointed by the service.
c. I should have left earlier.
d. We could order in a pizza.
e. It’d pay to talk to the boss.
f. I’d go along with that.
g. I’m really sorry about the vase.
h. Why don’t you come over tonight?
i. Any chance of a coffee?
j. I’ll pay.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
The examples in task 2 are not in any way comprehensive. There are many
other functions in English, and there is a wide variety of exponents that can be
used to express each one.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching functional language: Unit 4 i)
Numbers 1 to 5 below outline some key principles associated with
functional language. Letters a to e describe the consequences of these
principles in terms of classroom practice. Match the principles with the
consequences

Principles
1. One structure can have more than one functional meaning …
2. The kind of functional exponent that you use changes depending on how well you
know the person that you are speaking to …
3. Pronunciation, in particular sentence stress and intonation, has a key role to play in
functional language …
4. Functional exponents can often vary greatly in terms of their structure …
5. Some functions can be indirect and subtle …

Consequences
a. … so you sometimes need to highlight the grammatical form.
b. … so you need to check their meaning very thoroughly.
c. … so in the classroom it is important to establish the relationship between the
speakers in examples and practice activities.
d. … so it is important that the teacher makes the context clear to students.
e. … so it is important to provide students with plenty of controlled oral practice.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Many language structures have more than one meaning. The meaning of an
utterance is often difficult to understand out of context. For students to
understand the functional meaning of an utterance it is essential that both the
context and the relationship between the speakers are made explicit to them.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching functional language: Unit 4 i)

Task 4 – Activities and aims

Numbers 1 to 8 describe different activities that can be used to teach

aspects of functional language. Letters a to h are aims associated with
these activities. Match the aims to the activities.

Activities Aims

1. The teacher plays a dialogue and asks students to think about

where they think it is taking place.

2. The teacher asks students to read a dialogue and decide on the

relationship between the two speakers.

3. The teacher asks students to read a series of short excerpts from

dialogues and decide on possible meanings of certain utterances.

4. The teacher underlines key words in examples on the white board.

5. The teacher drills from prompts focusing on stress and intonation.

6. The teacher uses prompts to elicit a four-line dialogue that

exemplifies a functional exponent and gets students to practise it
in pairs.

7. The teacher asks students to rewrite a scrambled dialogue

containing functional language so that it is in the correct order.

8. The teacher asks students to perform a role play that offers an

opportunity to use functional exponents.

Aims
a. To provide pronunciation practice.
b. To highlight the form.
c. To provide controlled written practice.
d. To check language appropriateness.
e. To provide freer oral practice.
f. To check understanding of the context.
g. To check functional meaning.
h. To provide controlled oral practice.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching functional language: Unit 4 i)

Thinking about your teaching …

Over a period of two or three weeks, listen to friends and colleagues and try and
tune in to the way they use language. Listen for examples of functional language and
think about how clear the meaning would be to a non-native speaker.

Note your observations in your Teaching log.

Taking it to the classroom …

When focusing on dialogues that contain functional language, there are three useful
questions that will help students to think about and analyse the target language:

• Where is the conversation taking place?

• What is the relationship between the speakers?
• What does speaker A / B want to do / say?

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 221 to 225 of Learning Teaching (2nd Edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005) there is further reading on teaching functional language.

On pages 231 and 232 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th Edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007) there is a description of a functions lesson focusing
on the function of ‘inviting’.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Teaching functional language: Unit 4 i)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
1. d
2. h
3. e
4. i
5. g
6. a
7. f
8. c
9. j
10. b

Task 3 – Feedback
1. d
2. c
3. e
4. a
5. b

Task 4 – Feedback
1. f
2. d
3. g
4. b
5. a
6. h
7. c
8. e

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using authentic material: Unit 5 a)

Do you sometimes feel that you use course books as a crutch rather than a
point of departure for learning? If that’s the case, you may need to include
more lessons based around authentic material in your teaching programme.
This lesson looks at the pros and cons of this kind of material and outlines a
procedure of how to exploit authentic materials for classroom use.

Task 1 – Jan’s mixed feedback

Jan used an authentic newspaper article with her learners. Some students said they really
enjoyed reading some “real English”. However, others said they found the text too hard and
indicated they would like to stick to the course book in future.

Can you help Jan? What should she do? Jot down your ideas and
suggestions on a note pad, then look at the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
Sticking to the course book is the easy option. Trying to use authentic material
again is going to be more challenging as many students will be resistant to it. It
is possible that the task that Jan used with the article was too challenging and
she may need to consider making the task more straightforward for weaker
students. It might also pay to let students know why she is using authentic
material. In other words, she might need to “sell” it to some degree to the
students in the class who felt challenged by the text she used.

Key Skill
Using authentic material with learners can add variety to a teaching
programme. However, if students are not used to working with material of this
nature, it needs to be introduced gradually and carefully. The next task will give
you ideas on how you can “sell” authentic material to your students.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using authentic material: Unit 5 a)
Task 2 – The pros and cons
Numbers 1 to 4 below are features of authentic material. Letters a to h are
pros and cons that match the features. For each feature there is one pro
and one con. Match the pros and cons to the features.

Features Pros Cons

1. Authentic texts often contain cultural information.

2. Authentic texts are often quite long.

3. Authentic texts can be very topical.

4. Authentic texts can be used regularly in the classroom.

Pros & cons

a. It can be difficult to fit them into the timeframe of a 90 or 120 minute lesson.
b. It can make the teaching programme appear ‘bitsy’ and students don’t get a feeling they
are working through a coherent syllabus.
c. Students are often very interested in this kind of information and they find it very
motivating.
d. This means the material can date very quickly.
e. This kind of background information can sometimes be more difficult to understand than
the language.
f. It can make a good break from the course book.
g. This means students can get good extensive reading or listening practice.
h. This can make your classroom material very relevant to students.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
There are arguments against using authentic material, certainly if you use too
much of it. However, teachers can often anticipate problems and deal with
these when they plan authentic materials. For example, difficult cultural
information can be dealt with when leading in to an authentic text and longer
texts can be edited to accommodate lesson time. One issue not indicated in
task 2 is that of copyright. This differs from country to country and from one
institution to another. However, it is important to ensure you have copyright
clearance on a piece of material before you use it.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using authentic material: Unit 5 a)

Task 3 – Authentic texts and their uses

Numbers 1 to 8 describe different kinds of authentic text. Letters a to h

describe aims that relate to these texts. Match the aims to the texts.

Authentic texts Aims

1. A TV guide for one day’s viewing.

2. An e-mail message between friends.

3. A radio weather forecast.

4. A series of magazine advertisements.

5. An editorial from a newspaper.

6. A recording of someone speaking about a childhood memory.

7. A reality TV show.

8. A timetable for a package holiday.

Aims
a. To provide practice in inferring meaning from a discursive text.
b. To provide practice in listening for narrative gist.
c. To clarify and practise the first conditional used for making promises.
d. To highlight the way in which body language and gesture supports oral communication.
e. To clarify some key features of informal written communication.
f. To provide less controlled oral practice of the present simple used to talk about future
itineraries.
g. To provide practice in scan reading.
h. To provide practice in scan listening.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using authentic material: Unit 5 a)

Key Skill
Authentic texts can be used to practise a variety of reading and listening skills.
In these kinds of lessons, it is a good idea to include a stage in the lesson that
gets learners to reflect on the skills they have practised and think about how
they can transfer these skills when reading and listening to texts outside the
classroom. It is also a good idea to remember that authentic texts can provide
good examples of language in real contexts.

Task 4 – An approach to planning lessons with authentic material

Letters a to g below describe a series of steps that can be followed when

planning a lesson based around authentic materials. Place these steps in
a logical order.

Planning Steps Order

a. decide how you will focus on the language.

b. create reading/listening tasks for receptive skills practice and to

ensure comprehension of the task.

c. edit the text, if necessary – this might mean cutting out some
difficult vocabulary or deciding to use only part of the text.

d. read the text carefully and decide if it is about the right language
level for your learners.

e. think of a follow-on speaking activity you could do after reading

the text.

f. read the text and decide if it will be of interest to your students.

g. look for useful vocabulary and/or grammar that you can highlight
in this text.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using authentic material: Unit 5 a)

Thinking about your teaching …

Over a period of a term, try using different kinds of authentic material. Each time you
use it ask your students to evaluate the material in terms of level of difficulty and
interest. Keep a record of their comments and at the end of the term, see if you can
determine any patterns in their feedback.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

A lot of authentic material produced by teachers is based around magazine or
newspaper articles. Try creating a lesson based around something very different. And
remember that authentic material can include listening material.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 67 to 69 of Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom by Tricia
Hedge (Oxford University Press 2000) there is extra reading on authentic materials.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to the use of authentic material:

• Unit 3 a) Listening 1: Listening sub-skills and a typical lesson (looks at different

listening sub-skills and how to practise them)
• Unit 3 b) Listening 2: Learner-friendly listening lessons (looks at how to make
listening lessons more manageable for your learners)
• Unit 3 c) Reading 1: Knowing about strategies and sub-skills (provides an
introduction to different reading sub-skills and strategies)
• Unit 3 d) Reading 2: Setting tasks for reading texts (looks at creating tasks to
help learners develop and practice different reading sub-skills)
• Unit 5 c) Using Songs: Songs are a rich source of authentic material and this
lesson looks at how songs can be integrated into your lessons.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using authentic material: Unit 5 a)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback Task 4 – Feedback

1) c and e 1) f
2) g and a 2) d
3) h and d 3) g
4) f and b 4) c
5) b
Task 3 – Feedback 6) a
7) e
1) g
2) e
3) h
4) c
5) a
6) b
7) d
8) f

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Timetabling a sequence of lessons: Unit 5 b)

Do you create weekly or monthly plans for your classes? This lesson looks at
some of the reasons why this can be useful for you and your students and gives
you an idea of what to look for when you plan over longer stretches of time.

Task 1 – A questionnaire

Look at the different ways of planning on a day-to-day basis and decide

which approach is closest to your own.

1. I arrive at school and spend a long time working out what I’m going to teach
each day – nothing seems quite right.
2. I just do whatever is next in the course book.
3. I don’t really bother planning at all – I just go into the classroom and see what
happens.
4. I use the same lessons from the last time I taught the level I am teaching now.
5. I grab an authentic text - usually something in the newspaper - and use that.
6. Nothing here reflects the way I plan.

Then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
1. If you chose this approach, you could save yourself a lot of time and trouble
on a day-to-day basis by working out an overview for each class and decide, in a
general sense, what you plan to cover each day.

2. This can get a bit boring and predictable. It also raises the question of
whether everything in the course book is suitable for your students.

3. While you could argue that you are very responsive to your students, are you
sure that you are providing them with balance and variety?

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Timetabling a sequence of lessons: Unit 5 b)

Task 1 Feedback (cont’d)

4. This makes your planning easier to manage on a daily basis, but is every
group of students the same? Don’t some things need to change with a new
group?

5. This probably means that your teaching programme contains a lot of topical
material, but you perhaps run the risk of overemphasising reading skills.

6. Perhaps you have a more varied approach to planning, which is a good thing.
However, do you plan on a day-to-day basis? Could you benefit from creating
an overview of what you want to cover over a longer stretch of time.

Key Skill
The skill of planning an overview of lessons (sometimes known as “a scheme of
work”) that you will teach over a longer stretch of time (e.g. a week on an
intensive course, or a month on a part-time course) is often known as
timetabling. If you can train yourself to timetable, your day to day planning is
very likely to become easier.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Timetabling a sequence of lessons: Unit 5 b)

Task 2 – Why should I bother timetabling?

Numbers 1 to 8 are a series of verbs associated with timetabling. Letters

a to h are ideas. Match the ideas to the verbs to create a list of reasons
that outline the value of timetabling.

Verbs Ideas

1. motivates …

2. allows you to achieve a …

3. makes you think about …

4. encourages …

5. provides …

6. looks …

7. ensures …

8. saves …

Ideas
a. ... continuity for students if you are away for a day or two
b. … a sense of direction for students
c. … professional to students and colleagues
d. … students if they know where they’re going on a weekly or monthly basis
e. … a critical evaluation of the course book as you use it
f. … lesson planning time on a day-to-day basis
g. … having a variety of materials and topics
h. … balance of language input in relation to language skills practice

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Timetabling a sequence of lessons: Unit 5 b)

Key Skill
While there are many administrative reasons for timetabling which benefit
teachers and their colleagues, the main benefactors are the students. Giving
more thought to the overall shape of their programme is likely to result in
better learning opportunities and, as a result, increased student motivation.

Task 3 – What you should keep in mind?

Numbers 1 to 8 are points you should keep in mind when you are
creating a timetable. Letters a to h are questions that go together with
these points. Match the questions to the points.

Points to keep in mind Questions

1. students’ learning pace

2. the length of the lesson

3. the time of day of your lessons

4. the course book

5. materials that can supplement the course book

6. sequencing of activities

7. balance of materials

8. topics

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Timetabling a sequence of lessons: Unit 5 b)

Questions
a. What kinds of activities should you do first in the lesson if students are likely to be tired?
b. Do the lessons have the same theme running through them?
c. Is there a logical progression from one activity to the next?
d. How much material can your students cope with?
e. Have you got enough or too much language input in relation to skills work?
f. What are achievable aims in the allocated time?
g. Is there something you can substitute or add to increase student motivation?
h. If students have paid for it (or it is included in the fees), can you reject it out of hand?

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
Task 3 could be summarised in one phrase: as you timetable, keep the students
in mind. You need to think about them in their learning context and think about
how you can exploit the teaching materials you have available to you so that
you motivate your students to lean as much as possible.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Timetabling a sequence of lessons: Unit 5 b)

Task 4 – Evaluating a timetable

Below is an example three-day timetable for a pre intermediate level

class. They are studying on an intensive part-time course in the evening
from 6.00pm until 8.00pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The
page numbers refer to the course book students are using. There are
some problems with this timetable.

Look at it carefully and write your evaluation on a note pad. Say what the
problems are and what changes you might make. Check your ideas in
the answer key.

Monday Wednesday Friday

Reading Grammar Vocabulary / Speaking

MP3 Revolution ‘will’ for spontaneous decisions Talking about your
(deciding about food) favourite food

p. 61
p. 64 p. 65

Speaking Functional Language / Listening

Restaurant Pronunciation People describe
role play Requests: different food
e.g. ‘Could / Can I have …?’

p. 63
p.63 p. 65

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Timetabling a sequence of lessons: Unit 5 b)

Thinking about your teaching …

You can sometimes timetable together with one or two other colleagues. Your
students are likely to be different, but often they are similar enough to make this
feasible. It is a good way of brainstorming and sharing ideas. Try setting this up and
see what benefits and insights you gain from working collaboratively.

Note your conclusions in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Not all teachers give their students a copy of their weekly or monthly timetables.
However, students usually appreciate it if you do. At the end of each week or month,
you can ask them to evaluate the timetable. You can talk about what you have and
haven’t done (it’s not always possible to do everything!) and ask them for feedback
on what they would like more or less of the following week or month.

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 109 - 145 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there is further reading on planning lessons and courses.

Pages 375 to 378 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by Jeremy
Harmer (Pearson 2007) contains extra reading on timetabling (here referred to as
“planning a sequence of lessons”).

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Timetabling a sequence of lessons: Unit 5 b)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback • On Monday, the reading and the

speaking seem to have no thematic
1) d connection with each other. Perhaps
2) h the reading comes from one unit and
3) g the speaking from the next unit. It
4) e would be a good idea to think of a
5) b speaking activity that relates to the
6) c reading; for example, students could
7) a create and conduct a questionnaire on
8) f MP3 use.

• On Wednesday, there is a lot of

Task 3 – Feedback language input: grammar, functional
language, pronunciation. Most of this
1) d language seems to be related to
2) f Mondays’ speaking activity. One
3) a approach would be to do the speaking
4) h activity on Wednesday and in the
5) g second hour , the teacher could focus
6) c on either ‘will’ or the functional
7) e language, depending on what students
8) b found most difficult when doing the
role play.

• If, for example, the teacher does the

restaurant speaking and the ‘will’
grammar input on Wednesday, they
could then focus on the functional
Task 4 – Feedback language on Friday and find another
speaking activity that gave practice of
Across the 3 days, there is a good range this language in another context.
of language input and skills practice. At
first glance, the timetable seems quite • If the teacher decides to keep Friday
varied. However, closer inspection reveals as a speaking and listening lesson, it
the following issues: might be a good idea to think about
doing the listening in the first hour.
• The teacher seems very stuck in the Students will be quite tired by 7.00pm
course book, and, with one exception on Friday evening and listening
(Wednesday) seems to follow the page requires a lot of concentration and
order of the book. effort.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Timetabling a sequence of lessons: Unit 5 b)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using songs: Unit 5 c)

Have you ever tried using a song with your students? Would you like to use
songs more often, but are unsure about the different activities you can do with
them? This lesson looks at how songs can be a welcome addition to your
teaching programme. It outlines what language and skills practice they can
provide and suggests some activities that work well for most songs.

Task 1 – A questionnaire

Which description best describes the frequency with which you use
songs with your students? Choose the one(s) that are closest to what
you do, then look at the answer key below.

1. Never. 5. Only at the end of the week.

2. Once every three or four months. 6. Two or three times a week.
3. Once a month. 7. Every day.
4. Once a week.

Task 1 Feedback
There is no right or wrong answer to the frequency with which you should use
songs in the classroom. It depends on how often you see students and it
depends on their interests and their needs. Overuse can make students feel
jaded about them, while never using songs can mean that you are not offering
variety in your teaching programme and not appealing to students who are very
motivated by popular music and popular culture.

Key Skill
Judicious use of songs with a group of learners can greatly enhance motivation
and offer learning opportunities not always found in course books. However, it
is interesting to note that some course books now include songs as part of their
syllabus. This is perhaps a sign that students expect lessons based around songs
at some stage in their course.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using songs: Unit 5 c)

Task 2 – What are the issues?

Numbers 1 to 5 outline some supporting ideas for using songs. Letters a

to e outline contrary ideas that balance the supporting ideas. Match the
contrary ideas to the supporting ideas.

Supporting ideas Contrary ideas

1. Most students find popular songs very motivating, but...

2. Songs generally lighten the mood of a class, but...

3. Music appeals to the senses and is always perceived as

enjoyable, but...

4. Songs are a great source of popular culture, but...

5. Songs provide many examples of colloquial language that

many students are keen to learn, but...

Contrary Ideas
a. … some students might think it will lead to singing and for them, this is less enjoyable.
b. … in some contexts this might be seen as invasive or inappropriate.
c. … this can depend very much on musical taste and more mature learners might not be
so keen to learn from songs.
d. … this idiomatic language is often difficult to understand.
e. … some students may perceive them as being superficial and not concerned with real
learning.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
On balance, the advantages probably outweigh the disadvantages. However, it
is a good idea to be aware of different issues that surround the use of songs and
not assume that all students will love working on a song. Also don’t assume that
students will have your taste in music. What you perceive as “boring folk music”
they might find not only melodious, but also easy to understand, and vice versa!

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using songs: Unit 5 c)

Task 3 – What are the aims?

Numbers 1 to 9 outline very broad language and skill aims for using
songs. Letters a to i provide more detail for these aims. Match the detail
to the aims.

Aims Detail

1. To practise listening …

2. To practise listening …

3. To practise reading …

4. To practise reading …

5. To practise speaking …

6. To practise writing …

7. To clarify or highlight vocabulary …

8. To clarify or highlight grammar …

9. To clarify or highlight pronunciation ...

Detail
a. … by scanning for specific words in the lyrics of the song.
b. … by focusing on idiomatic language in the song.
c. … by focusing on example structures in the song.
d. … for a gist understanding of the song.
e. … by creating new lyrics for the melody of the song.
f. … for a more detailed understanding of the song.
g. … by discussing the content of the song.
h. … by matching together words from the song that rhyme.
i. … for an implied message in the lyrics of the song.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using songs: Unit 5 c)

Key Skill
In effect, a song is just another text and can be used in exactly the same way as
you would any other text. However, there are some specific activities that go
well with songs. Task 4 looks at some examples.

Task 4 – Example activities

Numbers 1 to 16 are example activities that can be used with most songs.
Sort them into the following categories that match the stages of a lesson:
first listening, subsequent listening(s) and post listening.

First listening Subsequent listening(s) Post listening

Activities
1. Students listen and order the lines of the song that have been mixed up.
2. Students listen and decide what kind of song it is – romantic? song with a
message?
3. Students listen and select the best of 3 possible titles for the song.
4. Students listen and complete a copy of the lyrics with gaps.
5. Students find and underline examples of a particular grammar point in a song.
6. Students study two or three unfamiliar idioms from a song and try to work out
what they mean.
7. Students listen and decide which one of three pictures best represents the song.
8. Students listen and answer True/ False or multi-choice questions.
9. Students rewrite the lyrics of a song, trying to fit their words to the melody.
10. Students listen and select the best of 3 one-sentence summaries of the song.
11. Students listen to confirm their predictions about the content of a song based on
having looked at 5 key vocabulary items from the lyrics.
12. Students listen and answer comprehension questions about the song.
13. Students do a role play based on characters or a situation from the song.
14. Students sing the song together as the CD plays.
15. Students listen in order to identify and correct a wrong word in each line of the
song.
Languages International
16. Students – Auckland
are given a list of&words
Christchurch, New
from the Zealand
song. [Link]
match together the words
that rhyme, then listen and complete a gap-fill of the lyrics using those words.
 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using songs: Unit 5 c)

Thinking about your teaching …

A line from a song will often get stuck in your memory. It is possible to compare it
with a set lexical phrase. How much do you think learning these sets phrases (sung or
spoken) help with language learning?

Note your thoughts in your Teaching Log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Try out one of the activities in task 4 that is new to you.

Want to find out more … ?

The following book is an excellent source of ideas for using songs: Music & Song by
Tim Murphey (Oxford University Press 1992).

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to the use of songs:

• Unit 3 a) Listening 1: Listening sub-skills and a typical lesson (looks at the

different listening sub-skills that students need to practise).
• Unit 3 b) Listening 2: Learner-friendly listening lessons (looks at strategies for
making listening lessons more manageable for your students).
• Unit 5 a) Using authentic materials: Looks at the pros and cons of using authentic
materials and outlines a procedure of how to exploit them in the classroom.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using songs: Unit 5 c)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
1) c
Task 4 – Feedback
2) e First listening: 2, 3, 7, 10, 11
3) a
4) b Subsequent
5) d listenings: 1, 4, 8, 12, 15, 16

Task 3 – Feedback Post listening: 5, 6, 9, 13, 14

1) d
2) f
3) a
4) i
5) g
6) e
7) b
8) c
9) h

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
CALL: Computer Assisted Language Learning: Unit 5 d)

Do you sometimes shy away from using computers with your learners? Are you
not sure what to do with them? This lesson gives an introductory overview of
materials and activities that are central to using computers with English
language students.

Task 1 – Melissa and the computer suite.

Melissa: I took my students into the computer suite the other day for the first time. I
suggested that they do some writing, but all they ended up doing was logging on to their e-
mail and sending messages to friends. And they weren’t in English. I think it’s probably
better just to keep them in the classroom.

Do you agree with Melissa?

Jot down your answers on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
The situation that Melissa describes is typical. During class time, students will
often use computers for personal activities rather than learning activities.
However, part of the problem is perhaps that Melissa didn’t provide her
students with a specific aim or learning outcome, which means they weren’t
motivated to do any kind of learning activity. If students want to use e-mail, she
could perhaps suggest that students e-mail each other in English. However, she
would need to set this up carefully in the classroom before going to the
computer suite.

Key skill
There is no doubt that computers are a useful learning tool in the English
language classroom. However, as with any learning tool, teachers need to think
carefully about how to use computers effectively so that students get benefit
from them. Classroom activities using computers need to have a specific focus.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
CALL: Computer Assisted Language Learning: Unit 5 d)

Task 2 – What does it take?

Below is a list of resources that it is useful to have available to students

for the purposes of computer assisted language learning. Sort them into
two groups: IT resources and learning resources.

List of resources
1. computer work stations 2. headphones
3. CD-Rom dictionaries 4. microphones
5. language learning software 6. a word processing programme
7. an e-mail programme 8. a printer
9. fast access band width 10. a projector
11. DVDs 12. internet web sites

IT resources Learning resources

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key skill
Different institutions will have different resources. Many schools have a computer
suite, while others might have one or two stand alone computers in each
classroom. Providing internet access is a good idea, but, if you only want the
computers used for learning activities, it might pay to block some sites, for
example, sites that allow students to access personal e-mail.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
CALL: Computer Assisted Language Learning: Unit 5 d)

Task 3 – Evaluating computer learning materials

Numbers 1 to 8 below are a series of questions that teachers need to ask

themselves when they are thinking about preparing lesson using
computer-based materials (e.g. language learning software, web-based
tasks). Letters a to h are example answers to the questions.

Questions

1. Is the material-learner interface appealing?

2. Can I do a whole class demonstration of the material?
3. Will students find this material motivating?
4. Is the language level of this material appropriate for my students?
5. Are my learning objectives clear in using this material?
6. Is this material good for individual study?
7. Does the material include some kind of guided discovery activity?
8. Do students get feedback on their work?

Example answers
a. Yes, this material will help students revise the simple past.
b. Yes, the design of the material makes it feel like a game where they score points.
c. Yes, there are language problems for students to think about and solve.
d. Yes, the programme is colourful, clear and easy to navigate.
e. Yes, there are probably only three or four words they won’t know in the material.
f. Yes, I can use the projector to show everyone the screen and show them how to use
Checkthe
your ideas in the answer key.
material.
g. Yes, they can click on the ‘answers’ icon which tells them what is correct and makes
a useful suggestion if they get an answer wrong.
h. Yes, there’s even a practical on-line help facility if students have a problem
navigating the material.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
CALL: Computer Assisted Language Learning: Unit 5 d)

Key skill
There are many different answers to these questions. The core issue here is that
teachers need to ensure that students engage with materials with the same
degree of motivation that we hope they engage with paper-based learning
materials. Clearly, if a teacher is using computer for word processing or for some
kind of internet research many of the questions in task 3 won’t apply.

Task 4 – Some teaching ideas for the Internet

Letters a to d describe 4 teaching ideas that use the internet. Numbers 1 to

12 are specific tasks that go together with these teaching ideas. Match the
tasks to the ideas.

Teaching ideas

a. Students are directed to the web site of a newspaper (for example, The Guardian)

b. Students work on a project of planning a holiday in an English speaking country. They

are given a budget and have to find out how they can get around, where they will stay
and what they will do.

c. Students are directed to the students’ pages of an English language teaching

publisher’s web site.

d. Students create their own web page to put on a school intranet.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
CALL: Computer Assisted Language Learning: Unit 5 d)

Tasks
1. Students scan and skim read different sites looking for the information they need.
2. Students do an on-line exercise that focuses on some up-to-date idioms.
3. Students get fluency speaking practice discussing the results of their research.
4. Students get gist and detailed reading practice of a variety of texts.
5. Students write short articles and news items.
6. Students can download language practice worksheets in PDF format.
7. Students can listen to podcasts on recent events.
8. Students get speaking practice discussing the content of the page.
9. Students get writing practice by adding a comment to a blog.
10. Students get writing practice by writing e-mail messages to request detailed
information on things such as prices.
11. Students get speaking practice recording audio files to be uploaded.
12. Students can find language puzzles and quizzes that they can download.

Teaching ideas Tasks

a. newspaper

b. holiday project

c. publisher web site

d. creating a class web page

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
CALL: Computer Assisted Language Learning: Unit 5 d)

Thinking about your teaching …

Conduct a survey and review of English language teaching web sites. Try to focus on
materials that are available for students or to use with students, rather than those
with teaching tips. Decide how motivating these materials are and how effective they
would be in terms of student learning. Does the material make students think or do
they mindlessly click on icons?

Note your findings in your Teaching log.

Taking it to the classroom …

When you go into a computer suite, students often need to interact in different ways
(alone, pairs, small groups). Just as you would with a normal lesson, make sure you
plan these different interactions and think carefully about the physical space you
have to work in. See the Related Taskbook lessons below

Want to find out more … ?

On pages 187 - 199 of Learning Teaching (2nd edition) by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan
2005), there is further reading on using computers and the Internet with English
language learners.

On pages 354 - 357 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there is further reading on using computers with
English language learners.

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 1 b) Student Interaction patterns and teacher roles: Describes different

ways of arranging students in your learning space and what roles a teacher plays
within different arrangements.
• Unit 5 a) Using authentic materials: Looks at the pros and cons of using authentic
materials and outlines a procedure of how to exploit them in the classroom.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
CALL: Computer Assisted Language Learning: Unit 5 d)

Answer Key
Task 2 feedback

IT resources Learning resources

1. computer work stations 3. CD-Rom dictionaries

2. headphones 5. language learning software
4. microphones 6. a word processing programme
8. a printer 7. an e-mail programme
9. fast access band width 11. DVDs
10. a projector 12. internet web sites

Task 3 feedback
1. d 2. f 3. b 4. e 5. a 6. h 7. c 8. g

Task 4 feedback

Teaching ideas Tasks

4. Students get gist and detailed reading practice of a variety of texts.

a. newspaper
7. Students can listen to podcasts on recent events.

9. Students get writing practice by adding a comment to a blog.

1. Students scan and skim read different sites looking for the information
they need.
b. holiday project
3. Students get fluency speaking practice discussing the results of their
research.
10. Students get writing practice by writing e-mail messages to request
detailed information on things such as prices.
2. Students do an on-line exercise that focuses on some up-to-date
idioms.
c. publisher
website 6. Students can download language practice worksheets in PDF format.

12. Students can find language puzzles and quizzes that they can
download.
5. Students write short articles and news items.
d. creating a class
8. Students get speaking practice discussing the content of the page.
web page
11. Students get speaking practice recording audio files to be uploaded.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills Taskbook
CALL: Computer Assisted Language Learning: Unit 5 d)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using DVD or video: Unit 5 e)

Are you keen to use DVD or video in your lessons? This lesson highlights some
of the benefits of supplementing your teaching programme with this type of
material. It also lets you know what you have to think about in order to get
started, and then gives some ideas for activities.

Task 1 – Rose’s DVD lesson

Rose: Everyone told me that using DVD was a fun way of learning. I showed my
intermediate class a film last Friday. I thought it’d be a nice end-of-week activity. However,
afterwards the students said they’d rather use the course book, so I am not sure if using
DVD is a good idea after all.

What do you think?

Jot down your answers on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
It seems as though Rose merely let students watch a whole film. This use of
DVD is quite passive and a whole film could be difficult for intermediate
learners to understand. If the students are studying in an English speaking
country, they could go and watch a film at a cinema. If they are not, they could
probably have hired their own English-language DVD and watched it at home.
As a result, the students may not have found this a motivating classroom
experience.

Key Skill
Teachers can sometimes approach the use of DVDs or videos as having a kind of
“babysitting” function. In other words, it is something that requires minimum
preparation that easily kills 90 minutes of classroom time. This tends to put the
students in a very passive role. The successful use of DVDs or videos requires
much more active participation from both the teacher and students.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using DVD or video: Unit 5 e)

Task 2 – Why use DVDs or videos?

Numbers 1 to 6 provide one word reasons for using this kind of material
with students. Letters a to f give more detailed explanations of these
reasons. Match the explanations to the reasons.

Reasons Explanations

1. variety

2. culture

3. motivation

4. speaking

5. language

6. visuals

Explanations
a. Watching TV programmes or films can motivate students to discuss what they see and
therefore generate a lot of oral language.
b. We now live in a world of sophisticated images and students expectations are that this world
can also be found inside the classroom.
c. Using DVDs and videos makes a change from the course book and is an opportunity to
include some authentic material in the teaching programme.
d. Excerpts from TV programmes or films can provide an authentic and rich context for
grammar and vocabulary. Some commercially produced ELT videos are created to target
specific language structures.
e. DVDs and videos have an association with the word ‘entertainment’ which means that
students are often keen to work hard in lessons based around this kind of material.
f. Excerpts from films and TV programmes can bring the real world into the classroom and can
illustrate background information associated with language and English-speaking life.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using DVD or video: Unit 5 e)

Key Skill
Used well, DVDs and videos can be highly motivating and useful learning tools
in the classroom. The visual support provided in this kind of material can help
learners understand spoken language more easily than listening to dialogues on
CDs or tapes.

Task 3 – Getting started

Before you begin using DVDs or video, there are some important
questions you should ask yourself. Sort questions 1 to 8 below into one
of the two categories: equipment or materials.

Questions
1. Will I be infringing on any kind of broadcast copyright by showing this material in the
classroom?
2. Am I able to freeze the frame to focus on one image?
3. Does the DVD or video player work and can I operate the machine efficiently?
4. Is this topic or genre motivating for the students I am teaching?
5. Is there a trouble shooting guide to help me get out of any problems?
6. Is the level and the speed of the language manageable for my learners?
7. Is there a counter on the DVD or video player cue the segment I want to use?
8. Is the excerpt about the right length when I take into account the activities I want to do
and the time I have available?

Equipment Materials

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using DVD or video: Unit 5 e)

Key Skill
It is surprising how little DVD or video material you need for a lesson. It is
possible to plan an hour long lesson around a 1 minute excerpt from a film or
TV programme. The key to using this kind of material as actively as possible is
exploiting what you use as fully as possible. DVD and video have far more
potential than “listening-with-pictures”. They are often a very useful source of
language and can be used as a stimulus for developing speaking skills.

Task 4 – Some teaching ideas

Numbers 1 to 4 below describe some DVD or video materials that you can
use. Letters a to d describe key techniques for working with video, while
number i. to iv. are suggested activities. Match the techniques and
activities to the materials.

Material Technique Activity

1. An excerpt from a TV
discussion or debate
programme.

2. A short excerpt from a

crime story that includes
dramatic music.

3. The same day’s TV news

broadcast on different
channels.

4. An excerpt from a film.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using DVD or video: Unit 5 e)

Techniques Activities
a. Divide the class into 2 groups for i. Students get practise at listening for gist
split viewing and listening. and following the main narrative of a story.

ii. Students listen and view trying to infer any

b. Viewing with no sound. bias in what they see, then report this to
another student.

c. Extensive viewing and listening. iii. Students describe the screen they imagine
to each other then compare their ideas with
the excerpt.
d. Listening first with the images
covered, then again with the iv. The teacher asks students to focus on body
images revealed. language and gesture and what this tells
them about the people they see.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using DVD or video: Unit 5 e)

Thinking about your teaching …

Find a film or TV programme in a language that you are not familiar with, or have
very limited understanding of. Cover or turn off any on-screen subtitles and see what
you can infer about the people, the situation and the story of an excerpt from this
material. How much could you understand? How successful were you at extracting
some kind of meaning?

Note your findings in your Teaching log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Try one of the techniques from task 4 that is new to you.

Want to find out more … ?

The following book is full of good ideas on using DVD or video material: Using
Authentic Video in the Language Classroom by Jane Sherman (Cambridge University
Press 2003).

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 3 a) Listening 1: Listening sub-skills and a typical lesson (looks at different

listening sub-skills and how to practise them).
• Unit 3 b) Listening 2: Learner-friendly listening lessons (looks at how to make
listening lessons more manageable for your learners).
• Unit 5 a) Using authentic materials: (looks at the pros and cons of using authentic
materials and outlines a procedure of how to exploit them in the classroom).

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using DVD or video: Unit 5 e)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
1. c
2. f
3. e
4. a
5. d
6. b

Task 3 – Feedback
Equipment: 2, 3, 5 and 7
Materials: 1, 4, 6 and 8

Task 4 – Feedback
]

material technique activity

1. An excerpt from a TV b. Viewing with no sound. iv. The teacher asks students
discussion or debate to focus on body language and
programme. gesture and what this tells them
about the people they see.

2. A short excerpt from a d. Listening first with the iii. Students describe the
crime story that includes images covered, then again screen they imagine to each
dramatic music. with the images revealed. other then compare their ideas
with the excerpt.

3. The same day’s TV news a. Divide the class into 2 ii. Students listen and view
broadcast on different groups for split viewing and trying to infer any bias in what
channels. listening. they see, then report this to
another student.

4. An excerpt from a film. c. Extensive viewing and i. Students get practise at

listening. listening for gist and following
the main narrative of a story.

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using games: Unit 5 f)

Do you think you need to include more fun activities in your lessons? Or do you
think you use too many? This lesson outlines the aims of using games in English
language learning and examines the strengths and weaknesses of these kinds
of activities.

Task 1 – Andrew’s unhappy student

Andrew is a popular teacher in his school. He has a great repertoire of games and his
lessons are always a lot of fun. He was quite surprised when a couple of his students asked
to move out of his class. They said they didn’t feel like they were making progress.

Why do you think this is the case?

Jot down your answers on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
It seems that Andrew uses games a lot. They can often have a beneficial effect
on lessons in terms of upping the enjoyment factor. However, if games are used
too often, they can make the lesson appear like a collection of practice activities
without clear aims.

Key Skill
Language games offer students interesting and motivating ways of practising
grammar and vocabulary. It is important for teachers to use these games
judiciously and have a clear idea of their aims for using these kinds of activities.

Languages International – Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand [Link]

 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using games: Unit 5 f)

Task 2 – When and why to use language games

Numbers 1 to 5 in the box below are planning decisions. Letters a to e are

activity types and numbers i to v are aims. Match the planning decisions
with the correct game and aim using the grid below.

Planning decisions Activity types Aim

The game is placed at… The game is used as… The game aims to…

1. … the beginning of a new

course.

2. … the beginning of a
lesson.

3. … the beginning of a
lesson.

4. … a midway point in the

lesson.

5. … the end of a lesson.

Activity types Aims

a. a language practice activity. i. provide motivation for the next
lesson.
b. revision of previously taught
ii. foster a good class dynamic.
language.
iii. add variety to the lesson.
c. a winding down, “cooler” activity.
iv. consolidate prior learning.
d. “getting to know you” activity.
v. motivate students for the lesson.
e. as a warm up activity.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using games: Unit 5 f)

Key Skill
Sometimes aims for using language games are linguistic, but at other times they
are more motivational. It is a good idea to stagger the use of these games over
a period of time. It would probably not be a good idea to do the following in
one lesson: begin with a game to warm students up, then do another game as a
revision activity, then do a third game as a language practice activity, then finish
with a fourth cooling down game. In order for games to appear special to
learners, they need to be used occasionally rather than all the time.

Task 3 – Student perceptions and what you can do

Numbers 1 to 6 below describe negative perceptions that students can

have of language games. Letters a to f are actions teachers can take to
help change the perceptions. Match the actions to the negative
perceptions.

Negative student perceptions Actions

1. Students can feel foolish or ridiculous as a result of playing the

game.

2. Students can feel that the game is too competitive and creates a bad
atmosphere in the classroom.

3. Students can feel lost because the rules of the game seem more
complicated than the language it aims to practise.

4. Students might feel that the teacher’s reliance on games means he

or she is unprepared or lazy.

5. Students might get bored midway through a game because it goes

on for too long.

6. Students feel that they don’t learn anything from playing language
games.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using games: Unit 5 f)

Teacher actions
a. Make sure you set up the game clearly by giving clear instructions and perhaps
doing an example with a strong student.
b. If you give feedback on the language that students used while playing the game,
they are more likely to see games as being of value.
c. If this is the case, it is probably better to abandon the game all together.
d. Make sure that you monitor learners carefully during the game and manage the
activity efficiently so that it keeps moving forward.
e. In this case, it pays to clearly outline the linguistic aims of the game so that
students can see it is of value.
f. Look for games that are played in groups and involve students co-operating with
each other.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
The kinds of games you can play and the frequency with which you can play
them will differ from one group of students to another. Some groups respond
to them well, while others are less motivated by them. It is always a good idea
to briefly outline what linguistic benefit students get from the game, for
example, skills practice or practice of some target language.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using games: Unit 5 f)

Task 4 – Planning a game

A popular ELT game is “backs to the board”. The teacher divides the class into
two or more teams. One team member sits with his or her back to the white
board. The teacher writes up a word. The rest of the team (who can see the
word) give definitions. The first student with his or her back to the board who
says the correct word wins a point. Each team member takes a turn at sitting
with their back to the board. The team with the most points wins.

Question 1-4 below can help teachers to analyse games. Fill in the
missing words in the answers to the questions. Use one word from the
box for each gap.

meaning organiser make vocabulary two

time provider same communication teams
students monitor sure taught competitive
winning cannot different

Analysing a game

1. What are the aims?

To revise _______________ that students have been recently ______________ ;
to practise _______________ strategies of conveying _________________.

2. What makes this game motivating?

Having ________________ _______________ provides a _______________
element that students enjoy.

3. What is important about the management of the game?

It is important that the ________________ ________________ with their backs
to the board ________________ see the word.
The teacher also needs to ______________ _______________ that the word is
revealed at the _______________ _______________ to all teams.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using games: Unit 5 f)

4. What roles does the teacher take during the game?

She is the ________________ of vocabulary. She is the ________________ of
both teams and she is the ________________ who observes both teams closely
to make sure she spots the ________________ team.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using games: Unit 5 f)

Thinking about your teaching …

Have you ever used the questions like the ones in task 4 to analyse a game? Try
doing this with some games that you already play or with some new language games.
Does this help you to manage the game in the classroom more effectively?

Note your observations in your Teaching log.

Taking it to the classroom …

When you use a game, make a point of getting feedback on it from students. Ask
them if they enjoyed it and see if they have any suggestions for improving the game.
You can also get feedback from students about how often they would like to play
language games.

Want to find out more … ?

The following book has many ideas for games: Games for Language Learning (3rd
edition) by Andrew Wright, David Betteridge and Michael Buckby (Cambridge
University Press 2006).

On pages 223 & 224 of The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition) by
Jeremy Harmer (Pearson 2007), there are some examples of grammar games and on
pages 349 and 350 there is some discussion of communication games, with examples
on pages 353-4, 355 and 356.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using games: Unit 5 f)

Answer Key
Task 2 – Feedback
Planning Activity Aim
The game is placed at … The games is used as … The games aims to …
1. … the beginning of a d. … “getting to know you” ii. … foster a good class
new course. activity. dynamic.

2. … the beginning of a e. … as a warm up activity. v. … motivate students for

lesson. the lesson.

3. … the beginning of a b. … revision of previously iv. … consolidate prior

lesson. taught language. learning.

4. … a midway point in the a. … a language practice iii. … add variety to the

lesson. activity. lesson.

5. … the end of a lesson. c. … a winding down, i. … provide motivation for

“cooler” activity. the next lesson.

Task 3 – Feedback
1. c 2. f. 3. a 4. e 5. d 6. b.

Task 4 – Feedback

Analysing a game

1. What are the aims?

To revise vocabulary that students have been recently taught; to practise
communication strategies of conveying meaning.

2. What makes this game motivating?

Having different teams provides a competitive element that students enjoy.

3. What is important about the management of the game?

It is important that the two students with their backs to the board cannot see the
word. The teacher also needs to make sure that the word is revealed at the same
time to all teams.

4. What roles does the teacher take during the game?

She is the provider of vocabulary. She is the organiser of both teams and she is
the monitor who observes both teams closely to make sure she spots the winning
team.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using games: Unit 5 f)

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using drama activities: Unit 5 g)

Do you sometimes feel that the speaking tasks you do with learners are not as
interesting as they could be? This might mean you need to introduce an
element of drama into these activities. This lesson lets you know what extra
qualities drama can provide for students while outlining some key ingredients
and ideas for using drama successfully in the classroom.

Task 1 – Bad memories

Harry and Lee are talking in the staffroom.

Harry: I need some new ideas for speaking.

Lee: What about using some drama activities?
Harry: Drama? You mean like putting on plays?
Lee: No.
Harry: And lying on the floor imagining that you’re a rock or something?
Lee: It doesn’t have to be like that.
Harry: I had to do all that at high school – I hated it.

Do you agree with Harry? Why (not)?

Jot down your thoughts on a note pad, then check the answer key below.

Task 1 Feedback
A lot of teachers have very negative associations with the word ‘drama’ and
Harry’s attitude is quite typical. However, drama can encompass a wide range
of activities beginning with role play, which even a teacher like Harry won’t find
too threatening!

Key Skill
Two core concepts lie at the heart of successful drama activities: character and
conflict. It is useful to apply these concepts to many speaking activities.
Students need to know who they are when they do a speaking activity – they
need a sense of character; and they need to have a reason to speak to one or
more students and conflict will provide this.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using drama activities: Unit 5 g)

Task 2 – What does drama offer?

Numbers 1 to 6 below are all opportunities that drama provides students

with. Letters a to f gives a reason why drama does this. Match the reason
to the opportunities.

Opportunities Reasons

1. Motivation and confidence

2. Appropriate language use

3. Meaningful pronunciation practice.

4. Speaking fluency practice.

5. Receptive skills practice.

6. Writing practice.

Reasons
a. Drama activities connect language to emotions and feelings. These are often
expressed by means of stress and intonation.

b. A majority of drama activities involve oral interaction of some kind so they ensure
that practice in this skill is very much to the fore.

c. Sometimes students will script a scene before they perform it and focus a little
more on the accuracy of the communication.

d. Drama is an opportunity for shy students to hide behind the mask of another
character. They often enjoy this and feel more comfortable speaking than they do
when asked to personalise language.

e. If students are playing different characters, there is a chance the characters will
have different social status. Students will need to choose the right language items
to reflect their character’s status.

f. Reading or listening texts can provide a stimulus for ideas and act as a good
jumping off point for drama activities.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using drama activities: Unit 5 g)

Key Skill
In summary, it is possible to say that drama activities are very focused on
meaningful oral communication. They can be process orientated and involve
role plays and games that are threaded through a teaching programme.
Alternatively, they can be more product orientated which means work on the
activities can lead to some kind of performance in front of peers or other
students in your institution.

Task 3 – What does it take?

Letters 1 to 8 outline some of the ingredients that go into making an

effective drama-based session for students. Letters a to h provide more
detail on these ingredients. Match the details to the ingredients, then
sort them into two categories: ingredients that are essential or
ingredients that will probably be required.

Ingredients

1. Some kind of visual stimulus 2. Student willingness to take part

3. Some silent times during the session 4. Group trust

5. An appropriate space 6. Some non-verbal interaction

7. A change in the teacher’s role 8. Physical touching

Detail
a. Drama often involves what is not said and looks, reactions and gestures are
important.
b. This may be awkward or uncomfortable for people from some cultures.
c. You might need to move all the chairs and tables in your classroom to the side of the
room.
d. This can help generate ideas as can music.
e. He or she should be more of a “facilitator/participant” and less of a “knower”.
f. Drama activities are not things that can be forced on students.
g. Individuals
Languages can
International find some
– Auckland of these activities
& Christchurch, a bit threatening,
New Zealand so it helps to provide a
[Link]
secure environment.
h. Students need time to prepare their ideas as well as their language.
 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using drama activities: Unit 5 g)

Essential ingredients and detail Ingredients probably required and detail

Check your ideas in the answer key.

Key Skill
A common theme amongst the essential requirements for successful drama
activities is that care is taken with interpersonal relationships and roles.
Students need to be active and involved in the activities, but respectful and
supportive of each other. The teacher has a core role in setting the tone and
making the learning environment a constructive one. However, it is also worth
noting that this should be the case with any lesson.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using drama activities: Unit 5 g)

Task 4 – A selection of activities

Numbers 1 to 8 are brief descriptions of some typical drama activities

(this is an extremely limited selection – refer to the “Find out more”
section to get more ideas). Letters a to h are broad aims that can be
matched to the activity ideas.

Descriptions Aims

1. One student is blindfolded and another student guides the blindfolded student
through a simple obstacle course of upturned chairs and tables. The leading
student may or may not take the blindfolded student’s hand.

2. Students read a newspaper article that tells some kind of story (e.g. a bank
robbery, a wedding ceremony that goes wrong). Students re-enact the story
each assuming the role of one of the characters. The re-enactment should be
improvised.

3. Students choose a photograph of a person and build up a character for that

person thinking of a background and something that the character wants. The
teacher describes a place and students assume the role of their character to
improvise a scene with one or two other students.

4. Students watch a scene from a TV drama or soap opera that they are not
familiar with. The sound is turned off. Students work on writing the dialogue
for the scene, then they can act it out before listening to the original version.

5. Two students stand opposite each other. One is nominated as the “leader”
He or she begins moving. The other student follows the leader’s movement.
Both students should ensure they maintain eye contact.

6. Students work in small groups. One student mimes a story (her own or one
provided by the teacher) and the other students in the group tell the story.
The student who mimes only accepts a correct version of her story.

7. Students are given a script of a scene – either from a play or something the
teacher has written. They rehearse the scene for presentation. If time allows,
they could try and memorise the lines of the scene.

8. Students improvise some kind or role play “in tune” with different pieces of
music. Their interaction should alter in reaction to the rhythm and melody of
each piece of music.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using drama activities: Unit 5 g)

Aims
a. To provide practice in developing a character and his/her motivation in a scene.
b. To develop spatial and physical awareness in students.
c. To provide opportunities to work on pronunciation, in particular stress and
intonation, and link it clearly to meaning.
d. To develop awareness of dramatic light, shade and texture.
e. To build trust between students for other drama activities.
f. To provide practice in multi-character dramatic story telling.
g. To develop awareness of gesture, expression and body language as a means of
communication.
h. To provide practice in creating dramatic structure through language.

Check your ideas in the answer key.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using drama activities: Unit 5 g)

Thinking about your teaching …

Think over different speaking activities you have done over the past few months. Did
some of them involve some element of drama, for example, a role play of some
kind? Think about some of the ideas you have explored in this lesson and work out if
there is any way you could have increased the sense of drama in these activities.

Note your observations in your Teaching log.

Taking it to the classroom …

Try out one of the activities in task 4 that is new to you.

Want to find out more … ?

The following book is an excellent source of ideas for drama activities: Drama
Techniques: A Resource Book of Communication Activities for Language Teachers (3rd
edition) by Alan Maley and Alan Duff (Cambridge University Press 2005).

Related TaskBook lessons...

You may be interested in the following lessons in the ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
series, relating to this topic:

• Unit 3 e) Speaking 1: Fluency: Discusses how different kinds of speaking

activities can help get your students talking.
• Unit 3 f) Speaking 2: Strategies: Discusses useful skills and strategies
associated with successful oral communication.

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using drama activities: Unit 5 g)

Answer Key

Task 2 – Feedback
1. d
2. e
3. a
4. b
5. f
6. c

Task 3 – Feedback

essential ingredients and detail ingredients probably required and detail

2. Student willingness to take part 1. Some kind of visual stimulus

f. Drama activities are not things that d. This can help generate ideas as
can be forced on students. can music.

4. Group trust 3. Some silent times during the session

g. Individuals can find some of these h. Students need time to prepare
activities a bit threatening, so it helps their ideas as well as their language.
to provide a secure environment.

5. An appropriate space 6. Some non-verbal interaction

c. You might need to move all the a. Drama often involves what is not
chairs and tables in your classroom said and looks, reactions and
to the side of the room. gestures are important.

7. A change in the teacher’s role 8. Physical touching

e. He or she should be more of a b. This may be awkward or

“facilitator/participant” and less of a uncomfortable for people from some
“knower”. cultures.

Task 4 – Feedback
1. e
2. f
3. a
4. h
5. b
6. g

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 ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook
Using drama activities: Unit 5 g)
7. c
8. d

This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial
Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as
you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.

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