LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

Assignment 2 TASK 1 This essay would discuss on planning a communicative language course for a group of 20 recently arrived refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia, Iraq and Afghanistan who have come to New Zealand as part of the quota selected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHR). They intend to settle permanently in New Zealand. They are at intermediate level of English language proficiency, aged from 20 to 40 years. The classes would take place in Auckland, from Monday to Friday for three hours each day, for 6 weeks. The total hours of contact between teacher and learners would be 90 hours in total. They will be no prescribed text for the course, only access to the teacher library that has an extensive range of local and overseas material that could be used. The classroom would be equipped with a document camera, DVD and CD player, but with no computer or internet access. The learners would have access to the library of graded reader in the institution. The classroom would consist of learners with mixed ability, learning experience and nationality. This would pose a problem for the teacher to select the appropriate materials that would be suitable for all the learners. Since the learners did not share the same nationality, it would be hard for them to interact with each other. Some of the learners would be shy to involve in the activities as a group. However, since they are all mature adults who had contact to English language back in their home countries, it is expected for them to act professionally in the class. The learners at least are intermediate learners that could satisfy the routine of social situations of everyday

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Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

situations in undemanding vocational and academic context. The learners all plan to settle down in New Zealand permanently, so they would have a positive attitude towards English. The teacher would only have one week to plan the language course, which might not be enough since there is no prescribed text for this course. This is not enough time for the teacher to learn about the learners preferences and levels, as well as choosing the topics and materials that would be used throughout the course. The infrastructure available for the teacher and learners is also limited. Document camera, DVD and CD player are a good infrastructure for classroom setting, however, the learners aimed to settle down in New Zealand. It is important for them to learn in an authentic setting, with computers and internet playing an important role here. The graded reader library is a great amenity for the learners to utilize. There, they would be able to select reading materials that are suited to their level of abilities. This language course would not have formal summative assessment, therefore there is not much pressure being put on the learners. But the teacher should provide them with some summative assessment to monitor the learners progress throughout the duration of the course.

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

TASK 2 Part A Answer all questions in this part. 1. What language do you speak at home? _________________________________________________________ 2. Where do you come from? _________________________________________________________ 3. When do you start to learn English? _________________________________________________________ 4. Do you speak English at home? If yes, with who? _________________________________________________________ 5. What type of books do you like to read? (You could give examples) _________________________________________________________ 6. What type of movie do you like to watch? _________________________________________________________

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

Part B Answer all questions. Tick the type of activities/situations that you think you would need to use English. Situations Buying things in stores and supermarkets. Getting information about services and goods I want to buy. Ordering food in a restaurant/cafeteria/canteen. Taking a taxi. Taking other public transport like buses and trains. Asking for directions. Talking to friends at work place. Talking to your supervisor. Talking to your neighbors. Having casual conversations with people. Receiving telephone calls. Making telephone calls. Playing sports. Watching TV or movies. Listening to the radio. Listening to English songs. Visiting friends house. Making travel arrangement. Most likely Likely Not likely

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

Introduce myself to others. Write letters.

Part C Tick on the type of activities that you think important in English lessons. Activities
Very Important Important Not Important

Practicing dialogues from a book. Practicing drills on tones, sounds, and

grammar patterns Free conversation with native speakers. Free conversation with other learners of English. Memorizing English vocabulary lists. Studying the grammar of English. Doing pair work activities. Doing group work activities. Watching movies in English Listening to English songs.

1. Have you attended a language course before? If yes, please tell for how long.

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

Part D Circle the statement that you think apply to your level of ability in English languge. 1. Basic: know a few words and phrases in English, able to engage in simple conversation, little knowledge of the grammar rules of English, pronunciation heavily influenced by the first language. 2. Intermediate: being able to communicate in a limited range of topics, have little problems with grammar rules of English and pronunciation. 3. Advanced: able to converse fluently and naturally on most topics, no problems with grammar rules of English, good pronunciation of English words. END OF QUESTIONNAIRE Commentary The first part of the questionnaire is to get an overview of the learners background, of their hometown, first language, when do they started to get formal education of English and their involvement in the language in terms of communication, as well as movies and songs that they listen to in English. This is important as is to know what are the learners interest and their socio cultural background before conducting the lessons. The second part asked the learners of what type of situations would they need to use the language in the future; the reason why the learners would need the language and how the language will be used. The third part is to take a look at how the learners learn language and what type of activities would they deemed as important in language lessons. The last part is for the teacher to know how the learners would rate themselves, their self-esteem.

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

TASK 3 Teaching principles are important in shaping up the type of curriculum that a teacher would employ in his or her lessons. There are two approaches to second language learning. The first one is from communication to language where the lessons would be conducted inductively. The focus of this approach is on the communication ability. Learners would usually learn the grammar rules of the language from examples of sentences used in communication situations. This approach develops independence and fluency by promoting real world usage of the language. Accuracy, however, is not seen as important within this approach. Another approach is a deductive type of lessons. The learners would be provided with a model of the target language that they need to know, and required to imitate and practice the forms given. Grammar rules are introduced during the lessons. This approach would let the learners know their progress and importance of learning the language, however, this approach is deemed as less authentic by most researchers. A good language course would offer the most exposure of the language use throughout the lessons. The frequency of the lessons is important to make sure that the learners would have the opportunity to practice what they had learned previously. It is also important for the teacher to introduce the learners with the most frequent vocabulary of the English language. When the learners know and understand the frequent words, they would develop sight vocabulary. Sight vocabulary is important in making sure the learners could read texts with ease, not having to decode each and every word they encounter. This would make them fluent readers and motivate them to read outside of classroom context.

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

The language items that are going to be teach is also important. It is important for the teacher to teach items that are simple first before moving on to the complex items. This is aligned with the concept of scaffolding and zone of proximal of development (ZPD) by Bruner and Vygotsky. Learners learn best when they are given tasks that are in their ZPD, which are not too easy and not too hard that it would demotivate the learners. The idea of scaffolding also helps the teacher to keep the learners on the right track of completing their tasks. It is important for the teacher to make sure that the learners master one topic before moving on to the next one. Learners would understand a concept more when they are ready to learn them. Motivation is another important aspect of teaching principles that should be in a good language course. Learners should be interested in the topics introduced in the lessons, and eager about their learning to ensure successful learning lessons. There are two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. One would argue that intrinsic motivation, within the learners, is the best type of motivation. However, in learning, both types of motivation play important roles. Motivation could be fostered by knowing what are the learners background and experience with the target language as well as their expectations of the lessons. This way, the teacher could plan a course that would cater to the learners need and level of ability. Language course should also cover the four basic skills in language learning, listening, speaking, reading and writing. These skills are important in order to build a strong foundation of the language acquisition. It is essential for the teacher to balance out these four skills throughout the language course, covering them all. Listening and

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

Reading are passive skills that are hard to assess, while speaking and writing could easily be assessed with the end product that the learners produce. Lastly, feedbacks are also important in language learning. The teacher should provide the learners with instructive feedbacks throughout the course. This will enable the learners to improve on their works and language use. Other than feedbacks from the teacher, it is also good use peer feedback and self monitoring as well. This will give the learners confidence and autonomy with their own learning. What important is for both the teacher and learners to know that feedbacks should be clear, specific, forward looking and not heavily evaluative.

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

TASK 4 Goal 1: to develop learners writing skills Teaching Objectives: 1. Able to write with correct punctuation. 2. Able to write cohesively. 3. Able to write with little spelling mistakes.

Goal 2: to develop learners speaking skills Teaching Objectives: 1. Able to speak with clear pronunciation. 2. Able to talk in front of an audience confidently. 3. Able to talk about given topics with ease. 4. Able to engage in discussions.

Goal 3: to develop learners reading skills Teaching Objectives: 1. Able to read and understand a range of English texts. 2. Able to read and enjoy creative piece of writing. 3. Able to read independently.

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

TASK 5 Lesson Plan Template Current unit of work: Food Topic and language focus of previous lesson: Adjectives on foods and discussion on the learners favourite food. Lesson objectives: 1. The learners should be able to read and understand the menus. 2. The learners should be able to order their own choice of food at a restaurant. 3. The learners should be able to take orders from a customer in a restaurant. Course goals: To make sure the learners know how place an order in a restaurant. Materials and resources required: Menus Handout with ordering food conversation Anticipated difficulties: The learners might be a little bit shy to participate in the lessons activities. Lesson stages:

Introduction (20 minutes) Teacher would ask the learners to remember the words that they had learned from the previous lesson. Teacher then asked the learners to create a menu for their restaurant according to the template given.

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

Presentation (40 minutes) The teacher displays the conversation on the document camera. The teacher reads it together with the class. Teacher explains the vocabulary in the handout. Check and practice pronunciation.

Practice (40 minutes) The learners would be divided into several groups. Then practice the conversation in the handout within their own group. The learners are required to come up with a new conversation, using the handout as an example, with their own menus that they created earlier in the lesson. Summary (20 minutes) The teacher would ask a few groups to present their new conversation in front of the class. Homework : The learners would be given a gap-filling worksheet to finish at home.

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

TASK 6 Example of Menu

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

Example of conversation in a restaurant. Waiter: Welcome to Anticos. Here are your menus. Todays special is grilled salmon. Ill be back to take your order in a minute. ... Waiter: Are you ready to order? Jane: Id like the seafood spaghetti. Waiter: And you? Adam: Ill have a hamburger and fries. Waiter: Would you like anything to drink? Jane: Ill have a coke, please. Waiter: And for you? Adam: Just water, please. Waiter: OK. So thats one seafood spaghetti, one hamburger and fries, one coke, and one water. Ill take your menus. ... Waiter: Here is your food. Enjoy your meal. ... Waiter: How was everything? Adam: Delicious, thanks. Waiter: Would you like anything for dessert? Jane: No, just the bill please.

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

Harmer, J. (2003). Popular culture, methods & context. ELT Journal 57(3): 288-294. The article discussed on the debate revolves around communicative language teaching. The author started by explaining the changes that communicative language teaching had undergone over the years. A conventional ways of communicative is where the teaching and learning would purely based on communication, but a current communicative language teaching is by using task based activities in the lessons. A research done by Milton in 2000 found that despites the cultural differences among the teachers, they all wanted the same thing; that is to provide a conducive environment in the classroom for the learners. Teachers often made generalization about the learners based on their ethnicity group, failing to recognize that there are individuals first with their own styles of learning. It is common in a classroom when teachers learning beliefs clashes with the learners. And when this happen, it is best to go for the win -win situation by meeting each other halfway, instead of choosing one over another. Personally, I agree with the authors point of view on the modern communicative language teaching, which is to use task based activities in the classroom. This is because I think that task based activities would make the learning more interesting and stimulates the learners creative minds. Creating a conducive environment for the learners to study is also something that I shared with the other teachers. I believe that it is vital to provide support and safe environment for the learners to explore the language in the classroom. The learners would learn a lot more by making their own discoveries of the language. Each learner is unique and they bring different experiences and learning styles to the classroom. It is important for teachers to accommodate to all their learners need and level of ability.

LANGTCHG 301

Nordin, Nur Khairunnisa Akmar

1384579

Hutchinson, T., & Torres, E. (1994). The textbook as agent of change. ELT Journal 48(4), 315 328. The article talked about the use of textbooks in language courses. Textbooks have always been viewed as bad for language courses because they were deemed as restricting. Textbooks are seen as bounding the teachers hand in making decision of the content and methodology to be used in the classroom. From the article it is obvious that the authors are in the group that prefers the use of textbook in language classroom. Textbooks provide an outline for the teachers to manage learning. It also gives the other stakeholders of learning some sense of security and stability. Yes, the trend in the education system is changing, but textbooks also act as catalyst to this change. Changes would cause some burdens on both the teacher and learners. And here, textbooks supply for some support to the teacher and learners. It also helps in introducing the changes slowly. I could not agree more with the arguments in favor of the usage of textbooks in language classroom. I myself learned English as my second language with the help of textbooks. The textbooks allow my parents and I to monitor my learning. I know what are expected of me, what I need to know. My teachers also fully utilize the textbooks by giving us exercises and homework from the textbooks. As a new teacher, textbooks would be a great help as it gives me a framework to work with in the classroom.