Ali Pravda

11081138 alp993

March 9, 2015

Teaching English as a Second Language 34:

TESL for Aboriginal People

Assignment 2 (a)

Joan Dunn
 Video: English Class with Award Winning Teacher (Full Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNJbzv7b7D8

Dialogue Analysis

T: Okay who can guess what were Asking students for deductive
going to study today? reasoning.
S: Restaurants.
T: Very good, we are going to be
speak about going to a restaurant. Motivating opening set/hook. Relating
When will we go to a restaurant? to students lives and/or experiences.
S: Special days. Level C questioning.
T: Very good, on special days, such
as? Clarifying and looking for more
S: Holidays. detailed information. Level D
T: Holidays. questioning.
S: Birthdays.
Repeats students answer.
T: Birthdays.
S: Or Christmas. Repeats students answer.

T: Christmas, very good. When you Repeats and positively affirms

go to a restaurant what do you
receive?
S: Menu.
T: Good, a menu, so in the menu
there are listed? Whats in the
menu?
S: Food.
T: Food. Ok lets look at some of
the things in the menu. First we get
appetizer, everybody say
appetizer.
S: Appetizer.
T: Do you know what an appetizer
is?
S: Before your meal.
T: Good, before your meal. So give
me examples of appetizers.
S: Salads.
T: Salads.
S: Bread.
T: Bread. Very good. These are
examples of appetizers. Then we
get entrees.
answer.
Looking for student to critically think
about topic. Level C questioning.
Positively affirms answer. Variety of
questioning techniques and
repetition. Level C questioning.
Repeats students answer.
States vocabulary word (i.e.
appetizer) with proper pronunciation.
Asks students to repeat.
Looking for clarification and student
understanding. Level C questioning
using what. Positively affirms
answer.
Repeats students answer.
Repeats students answer.
States new vocabulary word with
S: Entrees. proper pronunciation.
T: Whats an entre?
S: Main meal. Level C questioning.
T: Very good, the main meal. Give
me examples of main meals. Positively affirms answer by repeating
S: Steak. it.
T: Steak.
S: Pasta.
T: Pasta. Positively affirms answer by repeating
S: Chicken. it.
T: Chicken; very good. These are
examples of main meals. Last, we Positively affirms answer by repeating
get, dessert. it.
S: Dessert.
T: What is dessert? Positively affirms answer by repeating
S: After a meal. it. States new vocabulary word with
T: It comes after a meal. It is proper pronunciation.
usually something
Level C questioning.
S: Sweet
T: sweet, so this is our favorite part Positively affirms answer by repeating
of the meal, give me examples of it.
dessert.
S: Ice cream.
T: Ice cream. Pie. Cookies. All the Positively affirms answer by repeating
delicious desserts. Lets look at it.
some people at the restaurant
Oh, drinks. What drinks do we get?
S: Juice
Positively affirms answer by repeating
T: Juice. Wine. These are examples it.
of drinks. Why do we order a drink
at a restaurant? We get thirsty Level C questioning.
when we eat. Ok, lets look at
people at the restaurant. The
person who cooks the food?
S: Chef. Positively affirms answer by repeating
T: Chef or the it.
S: cook. Level C questioning.
T: The person who serves the food. Level C questioning by implying
S: Waiter. who.
T: Waiter or a waitress. Who is the
waitress?
S: Woman.

T: Good, the woman; and the Level C questioning.

person who eats the food?

S: Customer.
T: Very good, the customer. So
today our main lesson is about
ordering food at a restaurant. So
lets look at some key words when
we order food. Repeat after me
Can I take your order?
Positively affirms answer by repeating
it.
Level C questioning.
Gives positive affirmation and
positively affirms answer by repeating
it. Level C questioning.

S: Can I take your order? Gives positive affirmation and

positively affirms answer by repeating
T: One more time. it.

S: Can I take your order? Asks for repetition.

States new phrase with proper
T: Good job. Ill have pronunciation.

S: Ill have Asks for repetition.

T: Again.
Positively affirms speaking. States
S: Ill have new phrase with proper
pronunciation.
T: Very good. Id like
S: Id like Asks for repetition.

T: Again. Positively affirms speaking. States

new phrase with proper
S: Id like pronunciation.

T: Excellent. Anything else? Asks for repetition.

S: Anything else?
Positively affirms answer. States new
T: One more time. phrase with proper pronunciation.

S: Anything else? Asks for repetition.

T: Good. May I have

Positively affirms answer. States
S: May I have phrase with proper pronunciation.

T: One more time.

Asks for repetition.
S: May I have
T: Please. States phrase with proper
S: Please. pronunciation.
T: Again.
Asks for repetition.
S: Please.

T: Good. Thank you. Positively affirms speaking. States

S: Thank you. new phrase with proper
pronunciation.
T: One more time.
Asks for repetition.
S: Thank you.
Positively affirms speaking.
T: Good job.
Analysis:

The population of the class appeared to be 100% Korean and at

approximately the same proficiency level (i.e. beginner-intermediate).

Students were in stage three: full two-way communication, as they were

responding effectivelyusing words and phrases that were not previously

statedalthough not necessarily using full grammar (unless following a laid

out dialogue) (232, Law). The instructor was a proficient English language

speaker who spoke at a decent pace and at a decent level of English as to be

both generally understood and to aid the students in learning a wider range

of the English language. The lesson included numerous class activities

related to ordering food at a restaurant, including a PowerPoint presentation,

repeating common phrases, group dialogue, personal dialoguewhile still

involving the class in observation, and a class game, similar to Jeopardy. It

appeared that this lesson was not necessarily at the beginning of a unit as

the class knew general terms, like menu, and specific kinds of food, like steak

and ice cream. She supplied ample affirmation to her class as a whole,

stating good and very good continuously after students answers; each of

which were single word responses, as required, which categorizes her when

and what questions as level C questioning (234, Law).

While her lesson was to the point and filled with dynamic activities, and

her instruction was supportive, friendly, and encouraging of student

interaction, there were still many things that could be improved. As stated,

the instructor uses level C questioning throughout her lesson but does not
falter to have a student answer the question; with the exception of when she

asks in the menu there are listed?, but this lack of response was a result

of inadequate response time, not a level of questioning, as she was quick to

rephrase her question more directly with Whats in the menu?). It is

possible that her students would have been fully capable of answering level

D questions (234, Law) or even open-ended questions. As there was a lack of

open-ended questions the instructor had instead limited her students

participation to providing choral responses [and] answering predictable

questions (29, Fassler), which does not allow them to practice true

conversation, rather only speech. Conversing is necessary while learning a

new language, which is why it was beneficial for the students to be

independent while creating their dialogues for the role play, but less so since

they had already been given the skeleton of the conversation and only had to

fill in a few pieces of information. Further conversing, such as students

having a conversation about the topic, would have also aided their

comprehension (240, Law).

The instructor was making the lesson relatable by using a motivational

set that was leaning towards students experiences and using common

vocabulary words, but she did not leave room for creativity and exploratory

talk. Although the lesson was not simply student worksheets (231, Law) it

was often based around constricted phrases and pre-made dialogue which

left the role of talk not being used effectively. The beginning of the lesson

may have been more motivational if students were asked to tell a story about
the last time they were at a restaurant; while an activity could have further

enhanced their language development if they were asked to participate in a

drama (247, Law) that included a scene of a group of friends arguing if they

would like to try out a new restaurant in town or an old favorite, for example.

As students were asked to respond consistently, using one word answers,

they were not given a chance to elaborate or use language freelyneither

speaking nor writing. The majority of the lesson was teacher led, which

allowed students to develop their listening skills, but reading and writing

could have had a greater portion as well.

The students in this class were able to respond without noticeable

mistakes which meant that the teacher did not need to deal directly with

errors, rather, since students were not raising their hands but calling out the

answers, if a student said something that may have not be considered

correct she may have been able to wait until another student answered

correctly. Although pronunciation did not seem to be an issue she did not

stress any pronunciation specifically to her students but rather used the

technique of restating what the student said. While doing this enforcement it

may have benefited her students further by elaborating their responses

instead of simply restating the one word answer and praising with good. If

the teacher used the students answer to speak of the topic further then she

would be clarifying what the student meant while also giving the class more

content information and extend their knowledge in doing so, both in the

English language and in the subject matter (9-10, Upper).

 As her lecture was thoroughly planned, segmented correctly, flowed

sufficiently, kept the students involved, and taught the subject matter, then

the fast pace was more so on purpose; with a time constraint and specific

content to cover, it is likely that each skill (i.e. reading, writing, speaking, and

listening) was unable to be taught with a range of teacher-led, collaboration,

and independent activities. It is suspected that lessons to follow will fulfill

these skills and the unit.

Works Cited:

Fassler, Rebekah. Snow Fighting with Spring: Building on young English

Language Learners Thinking

Law, B. Eckes, M. (2010, 3rd ed) The More Than Just Surviving Handbook: ESL
for Every Classroom Teacher. Portland Main Press. Online Textbook.

Red Dragon Diaries. 2012, Nov. 20. English Class with Award Winning Teacher
(Full Video) Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=bNJbzv7b7D8 on March 5, 2015.

Upper, Mary. Teaching English as a Second Language 34: TESL for Aboriginal
People. Module 9, page 10.