ICELT

2014-2015
Villahermosa

Assignment Title:
Language for Teachers 2

Name:

Jimena Paola Parrillat Figueroa

Candidate number: 008

Centre Number: MX005
Date of submission: February 4th 2015

Language for Teachers Task 2:

Evaluation of the learners spoken
language.
For this task, I was required to observe a lesson taught by a colleague and give my judgement on the
English Language ability of the class as a whole. I have included samples of the spoken language
used by a range of learners. The samples include accurate and inaccurate, appropriate and
inappropriate language from various aspects: language, grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary,
function, discourse and style.
CLASS DESCRIPTION:
The class observed for this task, consisted of 17 years old students B1 intermediate level according
Common European Framework. There are seven learners. Most of them have studied English for
fourteen years, since preschool. They have achieved the Cambridge Certifications: KET and PET.
At the moment, they are studying to present the FCE exam. Although they are currently in the last
year of high school, this group of students is a lower ability group.
The class observed was a Speaking Language Skill lesson. The aim of the lesson, as stated by my
colleague, was to Practice oral fluency. The topic of the lesson was: If I were famous. The
first stage was a reading, about famous people, which then elicit a discussion among the students.
To promote the discussion Teacher ask each learner, would you like to be famous?. This lead to
several other questions from the teacher and the students.

Sample 1
Grammar/ pronunciation
1.- He was *discover* by someone from the *TeAther* (/
Context: During a reading from the coursebook, which theme was about famous people.
Comments: The first error is grammar/ morphology example. The verb discover is in an incorrect
form. After the form of the verb to be, the following verb should be in participle form. This is when
used after the form of be-was. Second mistake is a mispronunciation of the word Theater-\ th-tr / .this word as for my experience can be a common issue for EFL students even more, when
reading the word. For L1 Spanish learners having vowels together can confuse them. In this sample,
the student pronounced as /t/. The student mispronunciation is a common mistake, although
this should not be the case since the pronunciation and phonetic form has been taught many times.

Sample 2
Grammar/ word collocation
2.- I *put* singer in the blank space.
Context: Students were answering a fill in the gap activity. Keywords were given to the students.
When asked what they believed the correct answer was; One student raised his arm and gave his
answer.
Comments: The item is inaccurate. The student made a literal transference of

meaning from L1 to L2 of the word put. The collocation put was used (to place
in a particular position) as derived from L1 Spanish to place the answer in the
space given in the exercise. Instead of write down. That is the correct verb for the
action of writing the answer.

Sample 3
Grammar/pronunciation
3.- I dont know like T. Russell *that* writes and produces *and* *daIrects* his movies.
Context: Teacher asked students to think of a person who they think is famous, and if they would
like to be like them.
Comments: This is an appropriate but inaccurate sample. The student shows trouble with fluency.
As she used, articles were they were not necessary. These are development mistakes that can be
corrected by practice. The error in pronunciation from the word */da rekts/* can become a
fossilisation due that the vocabulary had been pre-teach. This student had already been taught the
correct pronunciation of the word \d-rekt, d-\.

Sample 4
Grammar/Vocabulary.
4.- I would like to be famous, and be on the covers of magazines; like Forbes Magazine.
Context: Free controlled oral expression practice stage.
Comments: This learner was able to express his thoughts with clarity. With the statement used he
demonstrates exposure to the English language.The sample is similar to the song; Billionaire By
Bruno Mars. In which lyrics sings I wanna be on the cover of Forbes Magazine. It is also an
accurate sample of grammar. The student is capable of using the third conditional that is needed in
hypothetical situations.

Sample 5
Vocabulary
5.- Yes! To be famous and *be* on talk shows like Jimmie Kimmel and all that
Context: This sample is also part of the conversation task between students and teacher on the
subject of fame.
Comments: it is clear that the student has had exposure to L2 in pop culture context like songs,
T.V. shows, etc. On one side, the *be on talks shows* error did not hinder the student from

transmitting its message. A more suitable word would be to appear on the T.V. show. And this
kind of errors are to be watch. As fossilisation errors are likely to happen when the student can
express the message clearly enough. As suggested by W. Littlewood (1998).

Sample 6
Fluency/grammar
6.- *eeeeeh* I dont play *the* instrument.
Context: a student said that he would like to be famous as a musician. Teacher then comment;
thats interestingand what instrument would you like to play?
Comments: *eh* is a Spanish expression. It is a performance error. Hesitation markers in English
are usually mm or um. The second is a grammatical wrong article. The student should have use
any or an. The student used present tense, and the teachers question was hypothetical. The
student should have used the third conditional. This student shows a lack of comprehension of
grammatical structures.

Sample 7
Grammar
7.- I would like to learn how to play the piano.
Context: the sample is a continuation of the dialogue previously shown. As the Teacher encourage
her to the possibility of learning an instrument. There was a brief conversation while the student
could not remember the instrument name.
Comments: The student was fluent enough and did not pay much attention to accuracy, as she
carried on speaking; even when she got lost in words. She expressed herself in a different form of
communication (mimics).

Sample 8
Lexical/vocabulary.
8.- I would like to be famous in other *things*
Context: the student was expressing his preference for profession. During the hypothetical topic If
I were famous.
Comments: This mistake is common in Spanish, the speakers tend to generalize and they use the
word things to group all sort of nouns. This could be a slip of the tongue error. But given that the

teacher had previously taught vocabulary of the topic, she even elicited the student to use the proper
word. She asked him; things?. The student was able to self-correct and rephrased the word with
professions.

Sample 9.
Grammar
9.- I *dont* like to be a singer.
Context: conversation of the If I were famous topic.
Comments: This sample is inaccurate. The tense was wrong as it was said in the present tense. It is a
hypothetical topic. For this reason, the tense should have been third conditional. This as many of the
former samples shows that the learners have not grasped the use of third conditional in hypothetical
contexts.

Sample 10
Grammar/lexical
10.- I would prefer to be famous as a soccer player because I like playing soccer.
Context: Students were on the free controlled stage of production, they were speaking voluntarily.
Still on the topic of if I were famous.
Comments: the student demonstrates knowledge of the tenses. He conjugates both tenses that were
needed correctly. Also, the student was fluent.

5.

Steps to Follow

In sum, a single observation does not offer a complete picture of the class total language
performance. Many of the samples above could be considered, as developmental errors. Irrespective
of erroneous as well as ill-formed utterances, Ss were keen to speak English.
Most of the errors were grammar related to the use of third conditional specifically. While others
were lexical vocabulary or pronunciation. Before the lesson, I would do a warm up activity about
the vocabulary to get Ss background vocabulary and its pronunciation. I would also continue with
follow up lesson about the third conditional so that Ss can use the accurate grammatical structure. I
would complement the practice part with some fill-in-the-blank third-conditional drill worksheets
where Ss could hypothetically reflect on the possibilities of fame. I would also teach the students
the difference in meaning between hypothetical and the real situations. Cause Ss, at times continued
to speak as if it was a real situation Recapitulating, our main focus is that the Ss can communicate
effectively without being misunderstood.
Overall the Ss were successful in pronunciation and intonation was good. The vocabulary is in the
standards of the class. I also was able to observe many teaching techniques. Therefore, I would say
this task was meaningful for me in more than one way.
Word count: 1,455.

References
Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English Language Teaching (4th ed.). Essex: Pearson
Education Limited.
Littlewood, W. (1984). Foreign and second language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Richards, J. (2008). Teaching Listening and Speaking From Theory to Practice (1st ed., p.
www.cambridge.org). New York: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from
http://www.cambridge.org/other_files/downloads/esl/booklets/Richards-TeachingListening-Speaking.pdf
Thornbury, S. (1999). How to teach grammar. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Thornbury, S. (2002). How to teach vocabulary. Harlow: Longman.

ICELT
In-Service Certificate in English Language Teaching
Language for Teachers Task 2

Declaration

I Beatriz Eugenia Sol Rosas, declare that

Jimena Paola Parrillat Figueroa observed one of my
classes for study purposes.

Signature:

Date: October 14th, 2014.

ICELT

In-Service Certificate in English Language Teaching

Declaration

I, Jimena Paola Parrillat Figueroa, declare that the following Language for Teachers Task
No. 2: Evaluation of the learners spoken language is entirely my own work and that it is
written in my own words and not those copied directly from any other source, except for
those properly acknowledged.

Signature:

Date: February 4th, 2015.