3. Topics discussed in this presentation
Teaching skills and strategies
Classroom management
Materials and resources
4. 1. Presenting
Background
In recent years a lot of attention has
been given to the varying roles that a
language teacher has.
Increasing emphasis has been placed
on the less obtrusive roles such as
monitoring language use and facilitating
communication.
5. Procedure
Before the lesson
Watching the presentation phase of a lesson.
It may be of value to watch this in a number of
different lesson.
During the lesson
Record what happens in the classroom.
Record the chronological events in terms of what
the teacher does and what the students do.
Record the teacher’s movement in or around the
classroom.
6. Presentation Phase
What teacher does
Greet / chat with SS
Warm SS up by
reminding them of
yesterday’s lesson
What learners do
Greet / respond to T
Recall yesterday’s lesson
7. Procedure
After the lesson
Consider the teacher’s voice. A number
of qualities are relevant here.
Audibility
Projection
Speed
Clarity
Lack of distortion
8. 2. Eliciting
Background
Teachers elicit for a range of reasons:
To set students thinking in a certain direction.
To steer them towards a certain pre-planned topic.
To create a context; to warm a class up.
To generate peer interaction/correction.
To attract and focus attention.
To increase student talking time.
To engage students in the learning process.
9. Procedure
Before the lesson
Arrange to observe a lesson in which some eliciting is
planned. If possible, get a list of the possible
prompts that the teacher plans to use.
10. Procedure
During the lesson
What the teacher says in order to elicit a response.
How much time the teacher allows before re-
phrasing or re-directing or adding a prompt
What students offer as a response.
11. Eliciting: teacher prompts
Teacher prompts
Who can tell me where
the Amazon is?
Is it in Africa or South
America?
Note: (wait time) count
the time in seconds and
record it while you are
asking a question.
Student responses
In South America.
12. Procedure
After the lesson
is there any pattern in the language the teacher
used? For example, are the following used: open
questions (what do you think of…?); closed questions
(what’s the word for…?); directed questions (John, what can you
tell me about…?).
Is it possible to establish the link between:
The purpose of the question
The form of the question
The way the teacher responds to student responses
13. 3. Eliciting: teacher responses
Background
As important as the actual eliciting question
prompt, is the teacher’s response to what
students offer. This is especially the case
when the elicitation is designed to take the
lesson towards a pre-planned point.
14. Procedure
Before the lesson
Observe a lesson in which the teacher engages in
some eliciting.
During the lesson
Close attention to the eliciting prompts that the
teacher uses.
Record how the student responds.
Record the teacher’s response to the student’s
response.
15. Procedure
After the lesson
Consider the following:
How might the students have felt during or at the
end of the lesson?
What effect did the teacher’s behavior (verbal and non-
verbal) have on the students?
What do you notice about any accept or reject
responses?
16. 4. Giving instructions
Background
A key time in the lesson is the transition between
one activity and another, especially when this
entails the students moving from group, pair or
individual work.
17. Procedure
Before the lesson
Have a look at a lesson plan for the lesson you will
be observing. Consider the lesson plan from the
point of view of where you would expect instructions
to be given.
18. Procedure
During the lesson
Listen carefully for the teacher’s instructions.
Collect these by scripting them as acurately
as you can.
19. Procedure
After the lesson
To make a set of instructions more effective.
Voice qualities
Visual support
Cueing to aid memory
Concept questions
Attending behavior: teacher’s position, eye contact
movement.
20. 5. Managing error
Background
If teachers corrected every language error made in
their class, far too much classroom time would be
given over to correction. This has negative
implications in that it might reduce learner
willingness to take risks and experiments.
21. Procedure
Before the lesson
Arrange to see a lower-level lesson, preferably one
with an oral/aural objective.
During the lesson
Script the instance of learner error; this might be
inaccurate or inappropriate language.
Note whether the teacher responded and if so, a
brief note as to what was said or signalled.
22. Procedure
After the lesson
Was there a link between the amount of error
correction and the focus of the phase of the lesson?
How did other students respond to a student’s error
and to the teacher’s response?
Were there any opportunities for the students to
self-correct?
23. Classroom management
1.managing classroom communication:
Patterns of interaction
Background
How communications take place in a classroom
setting.
Procedure
Before the lesson
Arrange to observe a lesson, preferably one with a
focus on oral/aural skills.
24. Procedure
During the lesson
Draw up a seating plan including student’s names.
Lines are drawn between the names of the people
who are speaking to each other.
26. 2. Managing pair and group work
Background
Many classrooms these days involve a range of
interactive patterns, using teacher-led activities, pair
work and group work to varying degrees, depending
on learning needs, purposes and contexts.
27. Procedure
Before the lesson
Arrange to observe a lesson that will contain a
range of interactive patterns.
During the lesson
Organizing the groups and seating
Giving instructions, including modeling and checking
Appointing and briefing group leaders
How the teacher monitors
In what circumstances she/he speaks to a group
28. Procedure
After the lesson
Consider the ease with which members of the pair
or group were able to:
Communicate
Relax, be comfortable
Concentrate on the activity
See the board
See/hear the teacher
Work silently / be included as an equal member
29. 3. Teaching and learning roles
Background
In a classic example of a focused instrumental cycle
(Gibbons 1989) such as the presentation-practice-
production style of lesson. The size of the teacher’s
face per stage corresponds to the relative central
focus of the teacher.
31. Procedure
Before the lesson
Copy of the teacher’s lesson plan.
study the plan and try to predict the kind of role the
teacher will assume at each stage during the
lesson.
32. Procedure
After the lesson
Based on the lesson you observed, as well as your
own experience as a teacher, what do you consider
to be the major roles of teachers and learners?
Obj. 3.7 & 4.1
33. 4. Timing and pace
Background
The basic unit of teaching is ‘the lesson’. This may
vary in length depending on any number of factors,
like the age of the learners, the intensity of the
learning program, other subjects being taught,
timetable constraints within the school or learning
context, etc.
34. Procedure
Before the lesson
Asking the teacher about how the time has been
planned, and how much time is expected per phase
of the lesson?
Obj. 3.7 & 4.1
35. Procedure
After the lesson
How closely did the actual lesson match the
predicted one?
Discuss with the teacher the predicted versus the
actual lesson timing.
36. 5. Classroom power
Background
Traditionally people think of the classroom as the
place where the teacher ‘knows’ and the students
‘don’t know’ and their reason for being there is to
‘find out’.
37. Procedure
Before the lesson
Speak to the teacher before the lesson and discuss
with the teacher the plan for the lesson, the aims
and any tasks or material that are going to be used.
During the lesson
Observe the lesson from the point of view of the
questions in the list.
Who chose the aims?
Who chose the language and/or skills focus?
Who chose the topics and activities?
38. 7. Materials and resources
1.The board as resource
Background
Board is usually an integral part of the language
classroom.
Before the lesson
What you think the board might be used for?
How the board might be used?
During the lesson
Copy the board’s contents and layout exactly.
39. Procedure
A system often recommended for board use
classifies things into three categories.
Obj. 3.9 & 4.2
40. 2. The learner as resource
The greatest resource the teacher has is the
learners themselves.
During the lesson
Observe the lesson from the point of view of the
learner’s involvement.
Using the chart, record the times in the lesson when
the learner is used as a resource, with details of the
phase of the lesson.
41.
42. 3. ‘whole-learner’ materials
Stevicks believes that the adult language learner
has to be treated as a complete person, not seen in
exclusively cognitive terms.
The materials should be expressed in language that
has some currency outside the classroom.
The materials should treat the world and reality as
the learners know them to be.
The design of the materials should contribute to the
learner’s sense of safety or security in the learning
context.
43. 4. Task design and evaluation
Good learning tasks should:
1. Involve learners in risk-taking.
2. Involve learners in problem-solving or resolution.
3. Offer learners choice.
4. Provide an opportunity for learners to rehearse
communicative skills they will need in the real world.
