Celta LESSON FRAMEWORKS
Receptive skills lesson (Reading or Listening)
STAGE AIM
Lead-in - ( could be visuals / discussions / To generate interest in the topic and sometimes
anagram / prediction / questions) develop oral fluency.
relating to the topic of lesson).
Set the context (reading / listening) To generate interest in the text, activate
(e.g. tell students about the text, e.g. the genre, schemata and to help students prepare to read
who’s speaking if it´s a listening text etc) or listen
Pre-teach vocabulary To pre-teach meaning/pronunciation/form of
any blocking words necessary for the task(s) to
be set.
Prediction Task (only if logical) To generate interest in the text, activate
(e.g. if the text is about a weekend sightseeing in schemata and to help students prepare to read
London, students can talk about which sights might or listen
be included in the text).
Reading for gist task (initial task) To orientate students to the general content of
(e.g. students read or listen to the text and decide the text ( idea / flavour) and to give them
on the best title for the text or read to check their practice in gist reading / listening.
predictions if a prediction task was included above).
Reading for detail task (second task) To give students practice at reading or listening
for detail to gain more understanding of the
text.
Follow on activity To exploit the text for speaking or writing to
(e.g. discussion on the text, role play, write a reply develop fluency.
etc)
Note that the order of the pre-teach vocabulary stage is flexible, e.g. it may be more logical/natural to
teach it in the lead in or before the reading for detail task as the vocabulary may naturally come up
here. It’s also possible to teach a couple of words before the gist task and then a few more before the
detail task. Ensure the students know why you’re teaching the vocabulary! E.g. say, ‘Before we listen
to the two friends talking, let me help you with some vocabulary’, to help you transition between those
stages.
Test-Teach-Test
STAGE AIM
Lead-in To generate interest in the topic of the lesson and
(e.g. students discuss questions relating to the topic of develop oral fluency.
lesson)
Test (diagnostic To ascertain what language students know and
(e.g. SS do gap-fill, definition-matching, categorising what they don’t know.
etc)
Teach / Feedback/ Language clarification To feedback on the first test and to teach problem
(e.g. do feedback to test and clarify and check meaning areas clarifying meaning, form and pronunciation
of problematic language, pronunciation and drill, of target language.
highlight form – students should be given a written
record of target language, e.g. copy from the board).
This is usually best done while checking answers to the
diagnostic test and not as a separate stage.
Test / Controlled practice of target language To provide students with controlled practice at
(e.g. students rank vocabulary, answer questions using using the target language (with a focus on
the vocabulary, do a gap fill, transform sentences, write accuracy) and to see what students now know and
true sentences about themselves, etc) help them with problems they still have.
Freer practice of target language To provide students with practice at using the
(e.g. discussion on topic, role-play etc) target language in a freer way with a focus on
meaningful communication.
Content feedback To let the students share in open class what
they’ve been talking about to develop fluency.
Language feedback To focus on good language heard, error correction
and upgrade with useful language.
Situational Presentation
STAGE AIM
Lead-in To generate interest in the topic of the lesson and
(e.g. students discuss questions relating to the topic of develop oral fluency.
lesson)
Present target language To present the target language in a context.
(e.g. through a story, anecdote etc) Elicit target
language.
Language clarification To clarify the meaning, form, pronunciation of target
(e.g. check meaning using your context, focus on language.
pronunciation by modelling and drilling, highlight form
and aspects of pronunciation on the board – to give
students a written record of target language)
Controlled practice of target language To provide students with practice at using target
(e.g. students rank vocabulary, answer questions using language in a controlled way with a focus on accuracy.
the vocabulary, do a gap fill, transform sentences etc)
Freer practice of target language To provide students with practice at using the target
(e.g. discussion on theme, role-play etc. This will often language in a freer way with a focus on meaningful
be personalised) communication.
To let the students share in open class what they’ve
Content feedback been talking about to develop fluency.
Language feedback To focus on good language heard, error correction and
upgrade with useful language.
LESSON FRAMEWORKS
Language from a Text/Text Based Presentation
STAGE AIM
Lead-in To generate interest in the topic of text/lesson and
(e.g. students discuss questions relating to the topic develop oral fluency.
of the lesson)
Orientate students to text To generate interest in the text, activate schemata and
(e.g. tell students about the text, students predict to help students prepare to read or listen
content etc).
Pre-teach vocabulary To pre-teach meaning/pronunciation/form of any
blocking words necessary for the task(s) to be set.
Present text (listening or reading) with a gist To orientate students to the overall content of the text
task and/or /detail reading task.
Brief follow on To exploit the text for speaking.
(e.g. students respond personally to what they’ve
just read or talk further on the topic).
Focus on language from text To clarify the meaning, form, pronunciation of target
(e.g. clarify and check meaning of target language language.
in the text using the context, pronunciation and
drill, highlight form and aspects of pronunciation on
the board).
Controlled practice of target language To provide students with practice at using target
(e.g. students rank vocabulary, answer questions language in a controlled way with a focus on accuracy.
using the vocabulary, do a gap fill, transform
sentences, write true sentences about themselves,
etc)
Freer practice of target language To provide students with practice at using target
(e.g. discussion on topic, role-play etc) language in a freer way with a focus on meaningful
communication.
Content feedback To let the students share in open class what they’ve
been talking about to develop fluency.
Language feedback To focus on good language heard, error correction and
upgrade with useful language.
LESSON FRAMEWORKS
Guided discovery
STAGE AIM
Lead-in To generate interest in the theme of target language
Present the language – usually in a written text and To orientate students to the overall content of the text
with a gist/detail reading task.
Guided discovery stage To guide students to the meaning, form and
(e.g. students work through a handout with questions pronunciation of target language using an inductive
relating to meaning, form and (sometimes) pronunciation approach.
of target language). Students can do this individually/pairs
and it’s student-centred rather than teacher led. Teacher
monitors and notices problematic areas to focus on in the
next stage.
Feedback / Language clarification To elicit and confirm answers and clarify problem areas
on meaning, form and pronunciation where necessary.
Here, be careful that you don’t then do a full board
presentation of the language as that means double
clarification!
Controlled practice of target language To provide students with practice at using target
(e.g. students rank vocabulary, answer questions using the language in a controlled way with a focus on accuracy.
vocabulary, do a gap fill, transform sentences, write true
sentences about themselves, etc)
Freer practice of target language To provide students with practice at using target
(e.g. discussion on topic, role-play etc) language in a freer way with a focus on meaningful
communication.
Content feedback To let the students share in open class what they’ve
been talking about.
To focus on good language heard, error correction and
Language feedback upgrade with useful language.
Guided discovery/student centred-clarification isn’t really a framework for a complete lesson, but
rather a student-centred clarification stage. So, students work with examples of the language
themselves/in pairs and answer Qs about the language from a handout, rather than the teacher
focussing on the target language at the board. It’s possible to do a guided discovery section for just
parts of the MPF. It’s important that Ss have sufficient examples of the target language to be able to
see patterns (for form) and to be able to work out the meaning from the context. That’s why a
reading text is especially useful for this kind of clarification. It’s more useful for tenses/structures
than vocabulary.
LESSON FRAMEWORKS
Writing (using a modal text)
STAGE AIM
Lead-in To generate interest in the topic of the writing text or
something related.
Presentation of model text with a gist task To orientate students to model text and to provide a
(e.g. Provide an extract from a blog and students model of text type. The gist reading allows Ss to read first
decide if the writer is describing a good holiday or a for meaning before focussing on language.
bad holiday and where it’s from).
Focus on sub-skills To focus on sub-skills of writing.
(e.g. layout, vocabulary, fixed expressions). Focus on
anything here that will help students when they come
to write a similar text themselves.
Brainstorming / Preparation for writing To generate ideas and to help students prepare to write.
(e.g. help students generate ideas about what to
write. Use the model text here to help, a visualisation
etc)
Writing Stage To give students practice at writing with a focus on
Depending on what kind of writing task this is, the meaningful communication.
students can do this individually or in pairs. Teacher
monitors to provide help during this task.
Content feedback To provide content feedback to writing to make it
(e.g. students read each other’s work and comment on communicative.
the content( ideas) of the written work, e.g. if students
read each other’s blog, they decide whose holiday
sounds the most interesting).
Language feedback To provide language feedback to writing. (On the CELTA
course the language feedback is given during monitoring
while SS are writing and then in OC FB, when you might
highlight a few common errors).
After the CELTA, you might correct the Ss’ writing out of
class (as well as helping in class)