SAMPLE

Assignment 2 Focus on the learner

a. A profile of the learners

Maria do Carmo is in her early forties, she is Brazilian, she is majored in communications, she studied
English only in high school, she intends to be fluent in the language, she is learning English because
of her major as well as to use at work, and she thinks it is difficult to understand spoken English.

Willians is in his late twenties, he is Brazilian, he is a post graduate student, he has always studied
English online, he studies English because of his masters degree, he needs to understand written
texts, and he also thinks it is difficult to understand spoken English.

b. A description of their learning style

I strongly believe Maria do Carmo is thoroughly visual due to the fact that she responds better to
visual aids, and she takes notes whenever she can.

I have reasons to believe that Willians is more auditory (Howard Gardner) owing to the fact that he
listens carefully during the lessons and he barely takes notes.

c. Your perception of their attitude in class

Maria do Carmo seems to be interpersonal (Howard Gardner) provided that she gets really engaged
when she works in pairs as well as in groups. She is fully interested in the proposed topics, and she
is open to feedback as she takes notes from the board all the time. However, she sometimes relies
on L1 during pair and group work.

Willians seems to be the opposite of Maria, and he has intrapersonal (Howard Gardner)
characteristics provided that he does not interact actively when he works in pairs or in groups. Apart
from that, he is interested in the proposed topics as well as open to feedback.

d. Specific assessment of learners language weaknesses in Grammar, Vocabulary and

Pronunciation (see table below):

e. Analysis of students errors (see table below):

Grammatical Error Correction Reason for Error

1. Omission/inversion of
auxiliary verbs in questions.
e.g.
You live in Guarulhos?
You are a teacher?
Where you live?
Do you live in Guarulhos?
Are you a teacher?
Where do you live?
Brazilian learners are highly likely to
omit the auxiliary verbs (do, does, did)
as well as use other auxiliaries (will,
are, is) in the affirmative order when
asking questions. This happens due to
L1 transfer.
 2. Incorrect use of preposition. I like chocolate.
e.g. I like of chocolate.
Vocabulary Errors
Using the wrong word
e.g. I have 44 years old.
Pronunciation Errors
1. Reading/speaking as in L1.
e.g.
church /r/
chocolate /klt/
2. Mispronouncing short
vowels in English (minimal
pairs).
e.g.
I dont want to sit here. /sit/
I have a little dog. /litl/
In Portuguese, the use of a preposition
is mandatory for the verb like
(colligation error).
Correction Reason for Error
I am 44 years old. In Portuguese have is the word used
to say how old you are. Due to this
fact, there is always L1 interference
(L1 transfer)
Correction Reason for Error
church /r/ Brazilian learners are highly likely to
chocolate /klt/ mispronounce ch in English words
owing to the fact that in Portuguese
ch is pronounced as //; thus, L1
transfer frequently occurs.
I dont want to sit here. /st/ Brazilian learners are also highly likely
I have a little dog. /ltl/ to mispronounce the short vowel i in
English words due to the fact that in
Portuguese i is pronounced as /i/;
thus, L1 transfer frequently occurs.

f. Language Development

a. Grammar: Focusing on omission/inversion of auxiliary verbs in questions.

Aim: I decided to use this activity The Simple Present: Form Intermediate Grammar: From Form
to Meaning and Use (see attachments 1, 2 and 3) in order to increase this groups awareness of
question forms. It provides a challenging but suitable grammar activity taking into account the
students profile (they are already majored and, in Willianss case, he is doing a masters degree.)
as well as the Brazilians likelihood of asking questions without using auxiliaries. In Portuguese,
question forms are marked by intonation, and not by the use of auxiliaries (there is no equivalent of
auxiliary do) or (in yes/no questions) by changes of word order. (David Shepherd in Learner English:
A Teachers Guide to Interference and Other Problems by Michael Swan & Bernard Smith).
Furthermore, the chosen activity provides small conversations which contextualize the use of
questions making it more relevant for the students. I would focus more on exercise 1 Working on
Form on pages 3 and 4 as well as the page 2, which provides examples of sentences in the
affirmative, negative and interrogative forms (input page).

b. Pronunciation: Mispronounce short vowels in English.

Aim: I chose to use this activity Unit 2 // ship Ship or Sheep?: An Intermediate Pronunciation
Course (see attachment 4) in order to increase this groups awareness of the difference between
the minimal pairs /i/ and //. It provides a fairly suitable pronunciation activity taking into account
the students profile (they say it is difficult to understand spoken English.) as well as their language
level (elementary). Moreover, this activity contains not only the short vowel //, whose
pronunciation is most of the time made long by Brazilian learners, but also the long vowel /i/ put
side by side. I would focus more on exercise 2 Minimal pairs so that students could spot the
difference as well as repeat to drill the two sounds.

c. References:

Intermediate Grammar - From Form to Meaning and Use (Susan Kesner Bland)
Ship or Sheep?: An Intermediate Pronunciation Course (Ann Baker)
Learner English: A Teachers Guide to Interference and Other Problems 2nd Edition (Michael Swan
& Bernard Smith)
http://www.phonetizer.com/ui

Number of words: 828

Attachment 1
Attachment 2
Attachment 3
Attachment 4