English module 1 summary
English language core-elements (skills)
English language core elements are also called language skills
There are six English language core elements
i. Listening
ii. Speaking
iii. Reading
iv. Writing
v. Structure and use of language
vi. Critical thinking and reasoning
Listening
It is the process of paying attention, analyzing and critically understanding a given speech.
A good listener:
Closely follows a speaker’s line of thought
Poses questions
Takes sides for or against the speaker’s point of view
The teacher should therefore ensure that learners pay desired attention through use of a
variety of techniques and activities that gain learners’ attention.
Importance of listening skill
Trains learners to listen attentively (give an example)
Arouses learners’ interest through listening to stories (demonstrate)
Promotes self-expression as learners retell stories, poems and speeches
Trains learners to think critically and logically
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Teaching of a dialogue
A dialogue is a conversation between two people or parties.
Topics for teaching a dialogue are:
Asking for and giving information
Introducing oneself and others
Giving and following commands
Characteristics/qualities of good dialogue are:
Should be brief and easy to memorise
Flow logically
Be based on learners’ real life experiences
Able to arouse learners’ interest
Procedure for teaching a dialogue
Write the dialogue on the chalkboard or flip chart
Engage learners to identify characters
Select some vocabulary that might hinder understanding and discuss their meanings
Demonstrate reading aloud the dialogue
Ask different pairs of learners to practice reading the dialogue
Ask oral questions to check learners understanding of the language being practiced
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Classroom discourse
Classroom discourse refers to the language that teachers and learners use to
communicate with each other in the classroom
It is also defined as the language of teaching And learning
Importance of classroom discourse
It assists in class time management
It facilitates learning
It ensures gradual language learning
Various situations in which teachers can use classroom discourse and classroom discourse
are:
Situation Example of classroom discourse
Getting into classroom Get in please
Getting out of the classroom It’s time for break
Getting into pairs/groups Work in groups
Organising a demonstration Class look at me
Giving instructions Use red pens
Maintaining discipline Silence please
Requesting for oral response Say after me
Showing disapproval Try again
Organizing a reading activity Open your books at page 20
Praising Well done, excellent
Concluding a stage in a lesson Close your books
Asking for permission Can I it here madam?
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Teaching of pre-reading activities
These are activities that learners do before they start actual reading
Importance of pre-reading activities
They arouse learners’ interest
Help learners realize that print is meaningful and that it follows a particular direction
They motivate learners to begin to seek meaning in what they see or hear being read
to them.
They prepare learners for actual reading
Examples of pre-reading activities and how they are done are:
Shape matching: Teachers asks learners to select shapes that are the same and
put them together
Picture matching: Teachers asks learners to select pictures that are the same and
put them together
Colour matching: Teachers asks learners to select colours that are the same and
put them together
Jigsaw puzzle: Teacher asks learners to get back to the original picture by
putting back the pieces of the same picture
Matching shapes with numbers: The teacher asks learners to match quantities of
the shapes with the actual numbers
Etc
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Teaching of reading
Main approaches to the teaching reading
1. Phonics approach:
Teaching of reading of words by splitting them into sounds.
2. Whole word approach/look and say
Teaching reading of words as whole units
Five components in the teaching of reading are:
1. Phonological awareness
It is the ability to hear identify and manipulate sounds and sound segments in spoken
words.
Also defined as the ability to recognize that words are made up of discrete set of sounds
and to manipulate those sounds
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Techniques for developing phonological awareness in learners are:
Sound identification eg cake starts with /k/
Sound differentiation eg initial sound of back is different from the initial sound of pack
Sound blending: eg /s/ + /e/ + /t/ make the word set
Segmentation eg put has /p/, /u/ and /t/ as its sounds
Sound deletion eg if we delete p in the word pat we have at
Etc
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Phonological awareness songs and games
Song: I will make you fishers of men if you follow me
Game: say a sound not a letter name
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How to assess phonological awareness
Phoneme segmentation: breaking a word into individual phonemes/sounds eg mat
has /m/ /a/ /t/
Blending phonemes into whole words eg /f/ /a/ /t/ to make fat
Phoneme matching: identifying words that begin with the same sound eg pin and pick
begin with /p/
Phoneme isolation: isolate a single phoneme from within a word; at the beginning, in
the middle or at the end eg in sat the first sound is /s/
Phoneme manipulation: deleting or adding a phoneme to make a new word eg in pin if
you take away /p/ the new word is in.
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2. Alphabetic principle
Ability to associate sounds with letters and use those sounds to read and spell words.
A learner who understands the alphabetic principle knows that words are made up of
letters that represent speech sounds.
Consonant:
The letters that stop or limit the flow of air from the throat in speech eg
/k/ /m/
Vowel: A sound made by the relatively free movement of air through the
mouth, usually forming the main sound of a syllable eg /a/ /e/ /i/
Blends: Two or more letters appearing together and you hear each sound that
each consonant would normally make eg driver /d/ and /r/ are heard separately.
Diagraphs: Single sound/phoneme which is represented by two letters eg /p/
and /h/ in the word phone make one sound /f/
Diphthongs: Complex sound made by gliding/sliding from one vowel sound to
another within the same syllable eg out /a/ and /u/
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Some factors that teachers can consider when teaching alphabetic principle
Teach letter sound relationships clearly and in isolation
First teach the commonly used letter-sound relationship
Provide primary school learners opportunity to practice letter-sound relationships in
daily lessons
The blending lesson must use words that contain letter-sound relation that children
have learnt
Etc
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Assessment of alphabetic principle
Ask learners to:
Name letters
Separate a pile of letters d=from numbers and symbols
Group letters by capital and small letters
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3. Teaching of vocabulary
Techniques for teaching meanings of word
Demonstrating/acting
Miming
Showing real objects
Showing a picture/drawing or model
Using senses
Using context
Defining
Etc
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Assessment of vocabulary.
By checking learners’ accuracy in saying the names of real objects, or pictures shown to
them
The teacher should record any mistakes that the learner makes and analyse them to
determine what instruction is needed.
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Factors to consider when choosing techniques for teaching meanings of words
Nature of the words eg some words like aeroplane may not need using real object
because it may not be available.
Nature of the techniques in relation to the resource
Ability of learners eg some techniques may not be useful for slow learners
Physical ability of learners eg demonstration may not work for learners who don’t see
etc
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4. Teaching of fluency
Fluency is reading with accuracy, speed and prosody.
i. Accuracy is the reader’s ability to identify words correctly
ii. Speed is the ability of the reader to read quickly with automaticity
iii. Prosody is the ability to read with suitable expression observing punctuation signals
and varying voice tone to convey meaning
Learners understand meaning and have pleasure to continue reading the text when they
read fluently.
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Strategies that help to develop fluency in learners
Model fluent reading: This is when the teacher models to learners the best reading.
Word chanting: It is a quick activity in which learners chant new words and write them.
Simultaneous assisted reading: The teacher simply reads along with learners at a
reasonable speed without being influenced by slow readers.
Echo reading: The teacher models reading and learners imitate him/her
Choral reading: A group of learners practice orally reading a text together
Readers’ theatre: Reading like in a real life situation in which facial expressions, body
movement and specific actions can be observed.
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Assessment tools for reading fluency
1. Fluency rubric,
2. 2 running record
3.
Fluency rubric: It assesses whether the reader is fluent or not by assigning levels such as:
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Levels 1 and 2 indicate that a reader is non-fluent
Level 3 and 4 indicate that the reader is fluent
Running record: It is used to assess the reading level of a learner in order to decide the
appropriate books for the learner to be reading.
It helps the teacher to decide the complexity of texts that and individual learner can read
comfortably.
Some abbreviations used in running records are:
SC: self-correction: When the learner is able to correct himself/herself when reading
M : meaning
S: structure
V: visual
Etc
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Some of the things a teacher can do when using running records to assess reading fluency
in learners
Have the assessment materials ready: (the text, watch, text writing material)
Select a conducive environment for conducting the assessment
Welcome the learner so that he/she relaxes
Give clear instructions
Share the materials ask the learner to start reading
Tell the learner to start reading
Be recording how the learner is reading
Analyze all the observation made
Rate the reading level of the learner in percentage
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Errors in running records
When a learners omits words
When a learners mispronounces words
When a learners makes substitution
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What is not counted as an error in running records
Self-corrections
Repetition
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5. Teaching of comprehension
It is the process of thinking about and responding to information
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Comprehension strategies are:
Predicting
Activating background knowledge
Retelling
Making inferences
Summarizing
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Comprehension strategies that can be used:
Strategies used before reading:
Predicting: This helps learners to connect what they already know to the text to be
read.
Activating background knowledge: The teacher asks learners to mention anything they
know about the text before they read it.
Strategies used after reading
Retelling: The teacher reads the text to learners and allows them to retell the story to
the whole class, groups or pairs afterwards
Summarizing: Writing the text in their own words
Strategies used before and after reading
Self-questioning: Learners are told to create questions about the story they wish to
know eg Who is the main character? What is the setting of the story?
Making inferences: These are conclusions that learners make about the text,
characters or events before they finish reading it.
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Assessment of comprehension can be done by:
Reading a passage and answering questions
Filing in missing words from a passage
Retelling the story in their own words
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Topic 12: Teaching of pre-writing activities
Importance of pre-writing activities
They help learners:
know how to hold writing materials
develop eye and hand coordination
develop hand muscle flexibility
write neatly
have desire for writing
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How to identify a learner who is not yet ready for independent writing
Has disorganized handwriting
Unable to control a pencil when drawing or coloring
Holds a pencil with a strange grasp/touch.
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Examples of prewriting activities
Making letters and numbers with sticks
Modeling letters and numbers
Making numbers and letters with their bodies
Drawing patterns
Tracing letters and numbers
Drawing objects, animals using lines and circles.
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Stages of developing writing in learners
Preliterate/ drawing and scribbling: This is when children hold pencil or crayon
with a full fist
Early emergent/letter-like forms: This is when children start to display their
understanding that writing involves the use of symbols to convey meaning
Emergent/random letters or letter strings: This is when children begin with
consonants especially those in their names. There is usually no spacing or direction
when writing.
Transitional writing via invented spelling: This is when children begin to match
spoken words and print
Fluency/conventional spelling: This is when children spell most words correctly with
reliance on phonics to spell longer words