Methods of Teaching English

Assignment III

Ans.II.a. Thinking critically, understanding global and local comprehension, making

prediction and guessing actions, analysing characters, understanding discourse markers,
understanding skimming and scanning, guessing the meanings of unfamiliar words,
understanding vocabulary and grammar, and understanding the progression of the story are
some of the sub-skills that are being developed in the lesson. These skills are developing
factual and inferential skills. Sub-questions from a to g under A.1 are based on both factual
and inferential skills. For instance, questions a, c, e and f focus on factual skills
whereas inferential skills are developed through questions b, d and g.

Furthermore, all the questions i.e. from a to g are based on the local and global
comprehension of the story. Similarly, question A.2 is based on local as well as global
comprehension.

Question B-Working with Words helps develop the sub-skills of understanding grammar
and vocabulary along with other sub-skills such as guessing the meanings of unfamiliar
words. Scanning as a sub-skill is strengthened through a question like B.1. Readers
unconsciously practise scanning while locating answers of the questions asked. Section C,
which contains a few questions, again stresses upon the sub-skill of understanding grammar
and vocabulary.

Ans.II.b. Following are the sub-skills, I identified in the lesson:

i. Organising and sequencing ideas.

ii. Putting thoughts and imagination into words.

iii. Narrating an event.

iv. Putting so many ideas together.

v. Using words commensurate with feeling and emotions.

vi. Giving ideas coherence and logics.

vii. Bringing cohesion to the thoughts.

viii. Concluding a write up intelligently.

According to me, further activities may be suggested here. Students might be asked to write
what would have they done, had they been experiencing the same situation? Would they have
left lion-ant to eat other ants? They also might be asked to write a letter to their friends
sharing their experience of an ant-lion. Moreover, character sketches of Morvenna and
Max might also be written. Such activities will help the students strengthen their critical
thinking along with their ability to express what they feel about animals and humans.
Moreover, such activities will also increase their evaluative power. Their imagination may
also be given a chance to get activated if such activities are included. Students may also be
encouraged to notice the contracted forms used in the lesson. It will help them realise the
situation where contracted forms can be used and where can be neglected. To conclude,
including an exercise in the name Writing would be very lucrative for the students overall
skills learning.

Ans.III.a. According to me, firstly it is the length of the story that does not fit for developing
listening skills. The sort of exercises at the end of the lesson demand comprehension that is
done through the reading of the lesson itself. Once, the students have gone through the text
itself, there is no point to provide exercises for listening. Also, subject-matter plays an
important role in making the write up fit for the said language skill. The story is such that it
demands to focus on every action and detail that unfolds. On this account, for the students of
standard VIII, it would be difficult to comprehend the meaning while it is read for them by
their teacher.

As far as speaking skill is concerned, I believe some exercises could have been included. For
instance, the pronunciation of some difficult words used in the story could be practiced and
students could be asked to summarise the story orally in their own words. However,
stretching a lesson by providing so many exercises makes it tiresome for the students and
students become bore by spending so much time on the same lesson. Therefore, for this
reason also, exercises for speaking skills might not have been included.
Ans.III.b. I firmly believe that listening should be a part of instructed language learning.
Pointed by Mr. Kumar in Unit 2, listening is as important as any other language skill but it is
neglected the most in the classroom. This is done on its being thought to be developed
automatically while other skills are practised. However, this is not the case. Many a times it
happens that students do not respond to teachers questions readily and they ask to repeat.
They equate hearing with listening. They do not know what are the key words in any
conversation and what are the points to which they must take notice. They skip words and
phrases if they are pronounced correctly. They make a misconception that the native speakers
of English do not use grammar. Such thinking is developed because they have never paid
attention to listening as an important skill. Their ears are not sensitive to pick the correct
accent, stress, intonation, tone, pitch and rhythm. Nevertheless, all these issues can be put to
cease if listening is practised and instructed like other three language skills.
Ans.III.c. I would certainly agree that it is easy to develop speaking skills in a classroom. I
agree because I think a classroom is a best place to get the exposure of the language in its
diverse form. If a student is asked to get himself/herself exposed to language, there is no
guarantee that he/ she would certainly do this. However, in classroom this is not the case. If a
learner speaks in a classroom, the teacher will always be there to give feedback and thus the
chances of improvement are optimum. Moreover, the teacher in the class knows the level of
his/ her students and he/she will probably create the situations for speaking accordingly.
Furthermore, a classroom is the place where so many speakers are found under one roof.
Also, the speakers whom you see daily, you are well acquainted with and you know they also
have come with a purpose of learning language like you. Therefore, developing speaking
skills in a classroom will be much easier than developing outside the classroom where talking
to strangers in English can easily make you hesitant and shy, and the fear of being laughed at
for your errors is quite higher.