TEACHING LEARNING AND LANGUAGE SKILLS HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH TO CHILDREN (COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH UNIT 1) ****SUPPORTING TRANSFER OF LANGUAGE

LEARNING SKILLS FROM THE L1 TO THE L2. THERE ARE CERTAIN PRINCIPLES WHICH TEACHERS NEED TO BE AWARE OF AND MAKE USE OF WHEREVER POSSIBLE. SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES ARE SUMMARIZED BELOW.

CHILDREN ARE EXCELLENT OBSERVERS AND HAVE A NATURAL ABILITY TO GRASP MEANING IN THEIR L1 FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES: BODY LANGUAGE FACIAL EXPRESSION AND LANGUAGE ITSELF INTONATION GESTURE SOCIAL CONTEXT

INCORPORATING REPETITION, ESPECIALLY WITH VARIETY, IS IMPORTANT BUT WE NEED TO BE AWARE WHEN ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

3. TEACHERS NEED TO ENSURE THERE IS ENOUGH CONTEXTUALIZED, MOTIVATING LANGUAGE DATA FOR THEM TO WORK WITH.

4. CHILDREN ARE SKILLED AT GUESSING AND PREDICTING AND TEACHERS CAN USEFULLY DRAW ON THESE SKILLS AND THE OTHER THOUGHT PROCESSES OUTLINED AS PARTOF LEARNING TO LEARN.

5.-TEACHERS SHOULD TRY TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR MEANINGFUL COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES WHEREVER POSSIBLE. 6.-TEACHERS NEED TO CREATE A BALANCE IN THEIR CLASSROOMS BETWEEN PROVIDING SUPPORT AND PROVIDING A CHALLENGE. 7.-CHILDREN SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED, AND NOT DAMPENED TOO MUCH BY CONSTANT CORRECTION OR AN OVERLY STRICT ATMOSPHERE.

TASK ONE: CHOOSE THREE OF THE FOLLOWING ASPECTS AND DISCUSS ABOUT THEM. WHAT KIND OF INFLUENCE DO THESE ASPECTS HAVE ON YOUR TEACHING? 1.-THE STATUS AND ROLE OF ENGLISH IN OUR COUNTRY. 2. - THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER AND LEARNER 3. - THE GOALS AND SYLLABUS FOR ELT

4. - THE TYPE AND VARIETY OF MATERIALS AND RESOURCES AVAILABLE

5. - THE AMOUNT AND TYPE OF ASSESSMENT

6. - CLASS SIZE AND ABILITY OF THE CLASS

7. - THE AMOUNT OF TIME AVAILABLE

TEACHER-CENTRED OR LEARNING CENTRED? TEACHER-CENTRED TECHNIQUE MEANS THE TEACHER CONTROLS THE ACTIONS IN THE CLASSROOM, DOES A LOT OF THE TALKING BY EXPLAINING, GIVING DIRECTIONS AND ASKING LOTS OF QUESTIONS WHICH PUPILS ANSWER. WITH THIS TECHNIQUE, STUDENTS HAVE LITTLE CHANCE TO DO MORE THAN REPEAT WHAT THE TEACHER SAYS AND HAVE NO OPPORTUNITIES FOR REAL INTERACTION. LEARNING CENTRED OR INTERACTIONAL: HERE STUDENTS HAVE A CHANCE TO WORK ON TASKS IN ORDER TO ENGAGE IN ORGANIZED TALK WITH EACH OTHER USING LANGUAGE IN A LESS CONTROLLED, MORE CREATIVE WAY. SOME OF THESE MAY BE: EXPRESS OPINIONS, FIND OUT INFORMATION FROM TEXTS, ASK OTHER QUESTIONS OR MAKE SUGGESTIONS. TYPES OF LANGUAGE TEACHING APPROACH AUDIO LINGUAL TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH TASK-BASED LEARNING: IT IS AN ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE ON THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH BY TRYING TO BALANCE ACCURACY WITH FLUENCY AND BY ENCOURAGING MORE AUTHENTIC OUTPUT (SPEAKING OR WRITING FROM LEARNERS) STORY-BASED METHODOLOGY

CROSS-CURRICULAR TO THE ACTIVITY-: IT IS LINKED TO THE ACTIVITYBASED APPROACH AND TASK-BASED LEARNING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE L2 IS LINKED TO OTHER AREAS OF THE CURRICULUM, SUCH AS ART, PHYSICAL EDUCATION, MATHS OR NATURE STUDY. STAGES IN LEARNING

1.-MEETING NEW LANGUAGE: THE WAY A TEACHER PRESENTS NEW LANGUAGE DEPENDS ON THE RESOURCES HE/SHE HAS ACCESS TO. THESE COULD BE: THE TEACHER ON HIS OWN THE TEACHER AND BLACKBOARD, OVERHEAD PROJECT OR OTHER VISUALS SUCH AS FLASHCARDS, PUPPETS, PHOTOS, OR PICTURES. THE TEACHER AND A CASSETTE OR CD-ROM THIS STAGE IS CHARACTERIZED BY TRANSMISSION TEACHING, WHICH IS TEACHER-CENTREDAND TIGHTLY CONTROLLED

2.-MANIPULATING NEW LANGUAGE: IT IS ALSO ORGANIZED BY THE TEACHER, AT FIRST IN A CONTROLLED WAY AND THEN IN A MORE GUIDED WAY.THE STUDENTS BECOME MORE AND MORE RESPONSIBLE FOR REMEMBERING THE LANGUAGE, BUT ALWAYS WITH SOME SUPPORT SUCH AS TAPES, CHARTS, PICTURES, AND SO ON. AT THIS POINT THE CLASS IS LIKELY TO BE DIVIDED INTO TEAMS, GROUPS OR PAIRS.

3.-MAKING THE LANGUAGE YOUR OWN: THE STUDENTS ARE LIKELY TO USE PAIR OR GROUP WORK FOR ACTIVITIES WITH A CLEAR PURPOSE SO THEY NEED TO COMMUNICATE.

THIS STAGE IS IMPORTANT FOR DEVELOPING STUDENTS INTERACTIONAL, LISTENING AND SPEAKING AS WELL AS LITERACY SKILLS, READING AND WRITING. IN THIS WAY, COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE ALSO REFERS TO DEVELOPING THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE IN SIMPLE WRITING AS WELL AS SPEECH. CHILDREN SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO REVIEW WHAT THEY HAVE DONE AND LEARNED AND BE GIVEN PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES TO RECYCLE LANGUAGE THROUGH A VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES. TASK DESIGN IT IS USEFUL TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN TASKS AND ACTIVITIES CHARACTERISTICS OF ACTIVITIES 1. - FOCUS ON LANGUAGE PRACTICE 2. - THEY ARE COGNITIVELY SIMPLE 3.-THEY ARE NOT PUPILSINTERESTS ALWAYS PERSONALIZED ACCORDING TO

4. - THEY ARE NOT A MEANINGFUL END IN THEMSELVES 5. - THEY PROVIDE A SMALL DEGREE OF PUPIL FREEDOM AND CHOICE 6. - THEY PROVIDE CONTROLLED GUIDED PRACTICE. 7. - THEY REHEARSE STRATEGIES. SPECIFIC LANGUAGE ITEMS, SKILLS OR

8. - THEY SUPPORT THE LINGUISTIC AND COGNITIVE DEMANDS OF TASKS IN A STRUCTURED WAY.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TASKS. 1. - THEY HAVE A CLEAR GOAL 2. - THEY HAVE A CLEAR OUTCOME 3. - THEY ARE CONTEXTUALIZED WITH A REAL PURPOSE AND AUDIENCE.4. - THEY ENCOURAGE PRODUCTION AND CREATIVE USE OF LANGUAGE.5. - THEY PROVIDE MORE PUPIL INDEPENDENCE AND CHOICE. 6. - THEY ARE MORE COGNITIVE DEMANDING.7. - THEY CAN BE PERSONALIZED ACCORDING TO PUPILSINTERESTS. 8. - THEY PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES TO DEVELOP INTERACTION AND FLUENCY.TASKS, LIKE THE FINAL LANGUAGE OUTCOMES, EMERGE AFTER PUPILS HAVE STUDIED A PARTICULAR SET OF LANGUAGE AND HELP TO PROVIDE A CONTEXT TO ENSURE THAT LEARNING HAS TAKEN PLACE. TASKS CAN BE DONE INDIVIDUALLY, IN PAIRS OR IN GROUPS. SOME OF THESE TASKS CAN BE: 1. DRAWING/WRITING/PERFORMING A NEW VERSION OF A STORY WHICH HAS BEEN USED IN CLASS 2. - WRITING AND PERFORMING A SIMPLE PLAY 3. - MAKING AND PLAYING A BOARD GAME 4. - PLANNING AND CREATING OBJECTS SUCH AS MODELS, MASKS, ETC

5. - DEVISING A SURVEY, CARRYING IN IT OUT AND PRESENTING THE RESULTS IN SOME FORM (SPOKEN OR WRITTEN) 6.-CREATIVE SPEAKING OR WRITING SUCH AS POSTERS,STORIES,RADIO PROGRAMMES,CLASS MAGAZINES,POETRY,LETTERS OR RECORDINGS TO IMAGINARY CHARACTERS IN A STORY. 7. - INVESTIGATING A TOPIC SUCH AS BEARS AND PRESENTING THE INFORMATION.

TASKS MAY ALSO BE DIFFERENTIATED SO THAT THEY ARE SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN WITH MIXED OR DIFFERENT LEVELS AND ABILITIES. THIS CAN BE DONE BY ALTERING THE KIND OF INPUT, THE AMOUNT OF VISUAL SUPPORT, THE KINDS OF THINKING INVOLVED IN DOING THE TASK AND THE KIND OF OUTPUT OR PRODUCT WHICH IT DEMANDS