Full name: Nguyễn Thị Huyền Trang

ID: 237140231082

TEACHING ENGLISH: PLANNING LESSONS

I. KNOWLEDGE
Module 1: Engaging with lesson planning – models and
frameworks

1. Lesson models

- PPP: Presentation, Practice, Production

+ can be used for most isolated grammar points.

- TTT: Test, Teach, Test

+ learners recognise their own language gaps. However, they

may be hesitant to communicate without first knowing the target
language.

- TBL: Task-based language learning

+ it provides opportunities for meaningful communication.

However, it may contribute to fossilised errors if learners fail to notice
them.

2. Input – Output

- Comprehensible input: giving learners this kind of input helps them

acquire language naturally, rather than learn it consciously (Krashen)

+ Trying to understand language slightly above their level can

encourage learners to use natural learning strategies such as
guessing a word's meaning from context.
 + You need to know the level of your learners well in order to
select comprehensible input, and in a large class of mixed ability,
different learners might need different tasks – and possibly even
different reading or listening texts.

- Linking input and output: the key to teaching is to create effective

links between input and output, so that new language is recycled and
consolidated. (Michael Swan)

- The output is when the learners choose which words they want to
learn and then use them in a written exercise.

+ some ways:….

2. Planning skills lessons

- Receptive skills:

+ reading and listening

+ Reading and listening tasks should:

- create a desire for learners to read or listen

- allow learners to have expectations (for example, by asking
them to predict)
- get learners to read and listen for a purpose (for example,
to read and listen to find something out or to lead into a
discussion).

+ Reading: 3 stages:

- Pre-reading: To generate interest

- While-reading: To develop sub-skills, e.g. skimming,
scanning, detail
- Post-reading: To extend/exploit the topic of the text
- Productive skills:

+ speaking and writing

+ major difference between receptive vs. productive skills:

- Immediate feedback is possible.

- Sentences are often elliptical and ungrammatical.
- Stress, intonation, pitch and speed are important.
- Context can make meaning clear.

+ between speaking vs. writing skills:

- Speaking:
o Immediate feedback is possible.
o Sentences are often elliptical and ungrammatical.
o Stress, intonation, pitch and speed are important.
o Context can make meaning clear.
- Writing:
o Immediate feedback is sometimes not possible.
o Sentences are often carefully constructed.
o Meaning can be conveyed with punctuation.
o Meaning and purpose need to be more explicit.

+ stage of a productive lesson:

1. Generate interest and set context.

2. Provide mental preparation for speaking/writing in context.
3. Provide linguistic preparation for speaking/writing in
context.
4. Give learners time to prepare.
5. Learners do the activity.
6. Give feedback on content.
 7. Give feedback on language.

+ writing skills:

1. Generate interest and set context: Use visuals or discuss

the topic or experience.
2. To provide mental preparation for writing: Learners
brainstorm in pairs/as a group.
3. To provide linguistic preparation for writing: Use a model
text to identify features.
4. Give learners time to prepare: Make brief notes on content.
5. Learners do the activity: alone/pair
6. Give feedback on content: Learners comment on each
other's work.
7. Give feedback on language: Teacher marks writing or does
error correction.

+ 2 types of feedback: content feedback (discuss the conclusions

and outcome of the task itself) and language feedback (the focus
is on the language which learners used and can involve analysis
and correction.)

3. Approaching projects

a. Analysing project

- Project:

+ Roles of teachers:

- might set up frameworks for communication, provide

access to information or help with language where necessary, as
well as giving learners opportunities to produce a final product
or presentation
 - watches and listens to interaction (or monitors) but
doesn't usually interrupt, dealing with language problems later,
if necessary.

+ 05 stages:

1. Briefing: The teachers and learners debate the topic

2. Brainstorming ideas: Learners exchange ideas and
suggestions.
3. Information gathering: Learners research – online, at
home or in the library.
4. Planning the first draft: Learners decide what needs to
be done.
5. Drafting and editing: Learners do the project.
b. Pros and cons:
 Pros:
o increases motivation, learners can become personally
involved in the project and therefore are more engaged.
o The four skills – reading, writing, listening and speaking –
can be integrated.
o It's a break from routine and the chance to do something
different.
o Increased motivation – learners become personally
involved in the project
o There are learning outcomes – learners have an end
product.
o Interpersonal relations are developed through working as a
group.
o A context is established which balances the need for
fluency and accuracy.
  Cons: it isn't always practical, depending on the teaching
context.
o Learners using their own language  Fix: if monolingual -
> use praise or award points to encourage learners to use
English
o Some learners doing nothing  Fix: plan the project
carefully and roles are decided at an early stage.
o Groups working at different speeds  Fix: remind Ss: fill
the time allocated to project work, discuss ways to extend
the work if they have already completed.
c. Planning a project: 4 main stages
1. Knowledge and comprehension stage: activate prior knowledge,
feed in key vocabulary
2. Application stage: ask them to do some exercises regarding the
language
3. Analysis: compare and contrast
4. Actual project activity
Module 2: Engaging with lesson planning – introducing new
language

1. Warmers and activities

a. Warmers and fillers

 Warmer: at the start of a lesson which warms up the learners; not
necessarily related to the lesson’s topic
 Filler: be used to change the lesson pace or give the learners a
break during a long lesson  flexible, can be used at any time
 Games for warmers/fillers: Fortunately, unfortunately; Buzz;
Change places; Fizz, boing, bounce
b. Games as warmers
  Benefits:
o wake learners up
o help learners use language in a more natural way.
o give cautious learners more confidence.
o motivate learners.
c. Lead-in activities
 Warmers get learners engaged in English and ready to learn
 Lead-ins are related to the topic of the lesson
 Activities for warmers: Stand in line; Stop the bus; Kim’s
game  general
 Activities for lead-ins: Magazine; Shops  topic-specific 
activate schemata, prior language/experience of the topic;
check input or pre-teach any language necessary
d. Choosing lead-ins
 Questions to discuss
 Quizzes: work in groups, teachers give descriptions of items 
Teams write down their answer
 Using picture and images: T puts pictures of different
technological items on the board, learners discuss the pictures
 Telling personal anecdotes: T tells about an experience, learners
listen, then discuss in pairs if sth similar has ever happened to
them
 Using realia: T asks Ss to take out their mobile phones and talk
to their partner about some of their favourite photos.
 Using media

2. Introducing language techniques

a. Introducing language
  Learner expectations: learn grammar/vocabulary in class
 Clear context helps teaching some ‘new grammar’: A good
context should meet the following criteria:
o show what the new language means and how it's used.
o be interesting, due to the importance of motivation for
learners of all ages
o be a context for a lot of language use  Ss can see
different examples of the new language
o be a relevant context for the learners (Ss might experience
this situation before)
b. Different techniques
 Grammar translation: a text with target language is translated
from English to the learners’ L1
 Total physical response (TPR): learners act out or respond to the
target words with their bodies, without speaking.
 Presentation, practice, production: introduce language through
presentation, followed by practice and production activities
 Test, teach, test: see what learners know and create a need for
the target language  introduce the language  learners
practise using the target language
 Task-based learning (TBL): learners focus on completing a task
rather than looking at a specific area of language first. The
completion of that communicative task comes first, with new
language 'introduced', when needed, by the teacher.
 Guided discovery: learners are working out the use of the
language themselves, with some guidance from the teacher.
c. Pros and cons:
 Pros Cons

 Memorable, good for

younger learners and
lower levels
 Fun
 Limited number of
 Multisensory approach:
words this can be
there's movement,
used for
1. Total visual input (through
 Some learners may
Physical the teacher's gestures)
find it embarrassing
Response and auditory input
 Not always suitable
(through the teacher's
for more advanced
words)
levels
 Can be used with large
classes
 Doesn't require a lot of
preparation

2. Grammar  Some learners respond  Not very meaningful,

Translation well to rules or enjoy some
grammatical analysis words/structures are
 Some learners respond difficult to translate
well to rules or enjoy accurately
grammatical analysis  Focuses on accuracy
at the expense of
fluency
 Learners read and
write a lot, but don't
get many
 opportunities to
speak the foreign
language or to use it
creatively

 Learners might not

be ready or need to
learn the language
 Language is presented
practised
3. in context
 It's very controlled
Presentatio  Language is practised in
and can be teacher-
n, practice, a safe environment
centred
production where it's harder to
 The production
make mistakes
stages don't
necessarily involve
real communication

4. Test,  Can be adapted to  Learners may feel

teach, test different types of frustrated
language  Activities may break
 Gives learners down in the first test
opportunities to try to stage if learner
work things out language knowledge
 Learners can identify is insufficient
what they need to learn  The lesson stages
 Teachers can identify may involve too much
what needs to be taught input
 Learners may not
have sufficient
opportunities to
 practise

 Doesn't suit all

 Learners can learn learning preferences,
language when needed and some learners
and use language may need more
experimentally structure and
 Learners can engage in guidance
real communication and  The technique may
5. Task- get good opportunities call for strong
based to communicate classroom
learning  Learners can depend on management skills
their own resources with some classes
 The contexts for  Teachers may feel
communication are uncomfortable in the
fairly natural role of observer,
 Language can arise monitor and
from learner needs language
diagnostician

6. Guided  Learners are active  Doesn't suit all

discovery  This technique promotes learning preferences,
learner independence and some learners
 This technique suits may want or need
learners who enjoy more structure and
reflecting and analysing guidance
 Can be time-
consuming, and so
may not suit
presentation of all
 new language items

3. Choosing techniques and lesson planning:

a. Choosing techniques: Every group of learners and every lesson is

different  the need of choosing suitable techniques
b. Planning a lesson
 Make some notes about:
1. Learners’ age
2. Learners’ level
3. Learners’ interests
4. Learners’ needs
5. What your learners already know
6. The time of day
7. The time of term
8. The materials and resources you have
9. The resources the learners have
10. How confident/ comfortable your learners might be
with you using a new technique
 Five steps to start your lesson planning
1. Language focus: What is the language point that you're
going to teach your class?
2. Technique: What technique do you think would be best to
present the language, taking into consideration the notes
you made? Is it better to do this in a way your learners
know already or can you try something new?
3. Context: The context will help you decide on the lead-in
activity and also how exactly you'll introduce the language.
 4. Planning main steps: After you've decided on the context,
you can choose the lead-in activity and the main stage:
introducing the new language.
5. Warmer: Finally, think of a warmer that you can use at the
beginning of the lesson.
Module 3: Engaging with learning outcomes

1. Writing outcomes well

a. What are learning outcomes?

 Are statements that identify and describe significant learning
that a learner will be able to achieve or accomplish at the end of
a lesson or course
 Are desired outcomes and refer to demonstrations of the end
stage of performance.
 don't give an indication of the types of activities or
methodologies that will be used by a teacher to teach the subject
matter to the learners.
 Teachers should write down learning outcomes in the form of
verbs that are measurable, so as to avoid any confusion or
misinterpretation.
 An objective describes what a teacher will cover in a lesson or
course  not necessarily suggest that the behaviour has been
demonstrated.
b. Focus on the learner
 Learning outcomes are what the learners will do
 Learning outcomes are observable, so learners need to
demonstrate them
 Evidence is important, so learning outcomes need to be
measurable
  Outcomes are written in the form of measurable verbs
c. Effective learning outcomes
 Try to avoid these types of structure: I will, we will…
 Instead: By the end of the lesson/course + the learners + will be
able to [verb]
 The learning outcome needs to be: learner-centred, time-bound,
clear and concise, contextualised, measurable
 It’s good to use words like: identify, describe, explain and
demonstrate

2. Integrating thinking skills in outcomes

a. Verbs for outcomes

 Verbs: list, describe, plan, select, discuss, predict, explain,
choose, organise, tell.
 Avoid: know, appreciate, understand, perceive, think about, see,
comprehend, learn, memorise, become familiar with, become
aware of
 It's very important to include higher levels of thinking when
writing your learning outcomes
b. Thinking skills
 Lower-order thinking skills:
o Remembering (Recalling information: recognising, listing,
describing, retrieving, listing, finding)
o Understanding (Explaining ideas or concepts:
interpreting, summarising, paraphrasing, classifying,
explaining)
o Applying (Using information in another familiar situation:
implementing, carrying out, using, executing)
  High-order thinking skills:
o Analysing (Breaking information into parts to explore
understandings and relationships: comparing, organising,
deconstructing, interrogating, finding)
o Evaluating (Justifying a decision or course of action:
checking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting,
judging)
o Creating (Generating new ideas, products or ways of doing
things: designing, constructing, planning, producing,
inventing)
c. Analysing a lesson

3. Measuring outcomes

a. Learning outcomes and assessment

 Summative assessment: evaluates a learner’s progress up to that
point and provides a summary of where they are. It often
happens at the end of a unit of learning or at the end of term,
often in the form of a test.
 Formative assessment: is the use of assessment to give the
learner and the teacher information about how well they're
learning something, so that they can decide what to do next. It
normally happens during a unit of learning or during term (not
at the end).
b. Components of outcomes: What? When? Who?
c. Measuring outcomes: The learning outcome:
 Describes who is expected to achieve the outcome
 Describes what learners will be able to do
 Is clear
 Is measurable
  Describes when the outcome should be achieved
d. Reflecting on learning outcomes: Good learning outcomes are:
observable, measurable, achievable, realistic

II. REFLECTION

Working through the three modules has helped me develop a

more structured and learner-centred view of lesson planning. This
course has answered all of my questions when designing a lesson
plan. Here are some key learning points from the program that I find
particularly meaningful.

The 1st module bridged my knowledge gap about planning skills

lessons. I realise that the receptive and productive skills have their
own teaching stages, but both highlighted the importance of setting
purpose, building interest, and sequencing tasks logically. I also found
the distinction between speaking and writing particularly useful, as it
explains why feedback timing and focus need to differ. Moreover, the
way of teaching project work illustrated how projects can integrate
skills, increase motivation and promote collaboration, but also
reminded me that careful planning and clear role assignment are
necessary to avoid common problems.

Module 2 broadened my understanding by showing the approach

to introducing new language effectively. This made it clear that
warmers, lead-ins, and presentation techniques are not optional
extras but key tools for motivation and context-building. In addition,
comparing methods such as PPP, TTT, TBL, TPR, grammar translation
and guided discovery helped me recognise that teaching techniques
should always be selected based on learners’ needs, preferences, and
the specific classroom context.

Finally, Module 3 changed my perception strongly towards

learning outcomes. Writing clear, measurable, learner-centred
outcomes and linking them to thinking skills and assessment has
made me more aware of the purpose behind each lesson.

In conclusion, these modules have helped me plan lessons more

well-designed, with clearer links between aims, activities, and
outcomes.