INTRODUCTION

The course represents an attempt to introduce trainees to the main problems concerned with the methodology
of teaching English. It tries to be an instrument of work, which might help them with choosing and handling
different approaches/ methods/techniques, planning a lesson, teaching skills/vocabulary/grammar/literature and
cultural awareness, or, getting information about class management, evaluation, testing and error correction.
AIMS
1)to facilitate the trainees‘ understanding of the principles and practice of English language teaching, with
particular reference to the Communicative Approach
2)to familiarize the trainees with different aspects of the process of language learning and teaching, with
different methods, approaches, techniques and strategies of TEFL and make them understand the advantages
and disadvantages of using a certain method and technique
3)to help the trainees link theory to practice
4)to prepare the trainees for the teaching practice and help them get familiar with different schools, grades and
learners‘ needs
5)to develop trainees‘ ability to evaluate adapt and design teaching materials (tasks, exercises, lesson plans and
teaching aids) and testing materials
6)to teach the trainees how to organize different types of activities in the classroom
7)to help the trainees become aware of the teacher‘s and the learner‘s role, as well as the learner‘s needs and
problems, as necessary basis for effective teaching practice and theory
8)to encourage trainees‘ current and future professional development through reflection on their practices and
beliefs, self-evaluation and co-operative work with other teachers
OBJECTIVES
By the end of the course the trainees will be aware of the different approaches in ELT, the nature of
communication, the role and functions of language and their implications for teaching and will be able to:
1)demonstrate their understanding of the principles of ELT through lesson-planning, micro-teaching, selection
and adaptation and design of tasks
2)use English appropriately for classroom management
3)establish and apply appropriate criteria for the evaluation and selection of materials
4)exploit, adapt and create materials for different purposes and contexts
5)use appropriate techniques to evaluate and assess learner performance
6)self-evaluate through critical reflection, observation and analysis
7)develop awareness of the needs and interests of their learners
8)develop awareness of their own needs for self-development as language teachers
9)evaluate ELT materials
10)develop critical understanding of the rationale behind the existing materials and methods
CONTENTS
I.LANGUAGE LEARNING AND LANGUAGE TEACHING
I.1. Language learning
I.2. Learning theories and approaches
I.3. Language teaching
I.4. Teaching approaches and methods
II.TEACHING SKILLS
II.1. Teaching listening
1.1.Listening and its place in the context of teaching skills
1.2.Classroom activities
II.2.Teaching speaking
2.1.Speaking and its place in the context of teaching skills
2.2.Classroom activities
II.3.Teaching reading
3.1.Reading and its place in the context of teaching skills
3.2.Classroom activities
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II.4.Teaching writing
4.1.Writing and its place in the context of teaching skills
4.2.Classroom activities
4.3.Developing project work in English classes
III.TEACHING VOCABULARY
III.1.Teaching vocabulary in the context of language teaching
III.2.Classroom activities
III.3.Teaching pronunciation
IV.TEACHING GRAMMAR
IV.1.Grammar in the context of teaching English
IV.2.Classroom activities
V.TEACHING LITERATURE AND DEVELOPING CULTURAL AWARENESS
V.1.Literature and its place in the context of language teaching
V.2.Classroom activities
V.3.Developing cultural awareness
V.4.Classroom activities
VI. LESSON PLANNING
VI.1.General considerations
VI.2.Types of lesson plans
VII. CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
VII.1.Field of investigation
VIII.EVALUATION AND TESTING
VIII.1.Evaluation
VIII.2.Testing
VIII. Error correction
Appendix 1: Objectives for learners
Appendix 2: Activity types and procedures in the classroom
Appendix 3: Objectives of TP
Appendix 4: Classroom observation
I. LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING
Aims
1)to introduce to trainees the concepts of language learning and language teaching
2)to identify the theories and approaches in language learning and language teaching
Objectives
1)trainees will increase their awareness of the similarities and differences between L1 and L2
2)trainees will understand the way knowledge of language learning influences language teaching
3)trainees will be able to identify the appropriate needs of their students
4)trainees will be able to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each method according to the teaching
context they have been exposed to
Contents
I.1.Language learning
I.2.Learning theories and approaches
I.3.Language teaching
I.4.Teaching approaches and methods
I.1. Language learning
Language is a social phenomenon, a part of the culture of a people. Knowing a language means knowing the
items that make up the language, being able to supply these items when they are missing, or being able to do
without them. It also means the ability to produce an infinite number of sentences in response to an infinite
number of stimuli. Knowing a language means knowing its:
-pronunciation (knowledge of sounds, stress and intonation)

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-grammar (knowledge of the rules which help creating an infinite number of sentences = grammatical
competence)
-vocabulary (knowledge of what words mean both literally and metaphorically)
-discourse (knowledge of how language is used appropriately and how language is organized as discourse =
communicative competence)
-appropriacy (knowledge of how to use language appropriately: “how to get it to do what we want it to do in the
right circumstances”)1
-language skills (possession of the four basic skills: speaking, writing, listening and reading)
Learning a language is a step-by-step process proceeding from the simple to the more difficult. It is a
heterogeneous process, comprising lots of mechanisms, beginning with those of Pavlov‘s conditioning type, up
to the most complex ones, those of the type of problem solving. Language learning means the acquisition of
psychological habits closely related to the cultural and social background of a people. One is said to know a
second language when one‘s competence (knowledge of the grammar that determines an intrinsec connection of
sound and meaning of each sentence) is like that of a native speaker. It is not necessary that one‘s performance
(what the speaker/hearer actually does) be identical with the native language. One is said to know a language
even when one speaks hesitantly, with errors or a foreign accent. A good language learner finds his own way,
taking charge of his learning and experimenting with grammar and words; organizes information about the
language;
is creative; makes error work for him; uses linguistic knowledge, including knowledge of the first language, in
learning a second language; uses contextual cues to help his comprehension ; makes guesses; learns certain
strategies to keep conversation going; learns different styles of speech and writing, according to the formality of
the situation.
There are several learning styles; according to them, we distinguish between:
-visual learners – learn better by visual means (by reading and by looking at pictures or films); they remember
instructions best if they see them on the blackboard
-auditory learners – learn well by hearing things (lectures or tapes); they like teachers to give oral instructions
and they like making tape recordings of what they are learning and having discussions
-kinaesthetic learners – learn best when they have hands-on experience, when they are physically involved or
can actively participate; they like moving around when they learn and prefer a variety of classroom activities
I.2.Learning theories and approaches
Acquisition and learning. The distinction between these two processes was made by Stephen Krashen. 2
Acquisition is considered to be the “natural” way, paralleling first language development in children. It
represents a subconscious process which has as a result the language proficiency through understanding and
using language for meaningful communication. It is more successful and longer lasting than learning. Learning
refers to the process in which conscious rules about a language are developed; it result only in “knowing about”
the language, that is explicit knowledge about the forms of a language and the ability to verbalize this
knowledge. According to him, successful acquisition depends on the nature of the language input which the
students receive, that is, the language that students hear or read. The input should contain language that the
students already know and language they have not previously seen. He also considers that students are able to
acquire language on their own, provided that they get a great deal of comprehensible input. Krashen‘s merits
are:
-he stressed on the importance of input (students should receive much comprehensible input in speech or
writing
-his acquisition/learning theory raises the problem of transferability of language skills from the formal learning
situation to real life
-recommends taking care that the comprehensible input provided to the learner should slightly exceed the
learner‘s current competence
-recommends learning by communication
Despite the fact that many learning second language theories originate in studies of how people learn their
first language, they had a profound effect upon the practice of language teaching. Among the most well-known
hypotheses regarding language acquisition are:
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1) Behaviouristic– developed by Skinner, who applied the theory of conditioning (an animal can be trained to
learn something through a three-stage procedure: stimulus, response and reinforcement/ reward) to the way
humans acquire their first language. Language was considered as a form of behaviour. Language learning is
considered to be based on experience, imitation and selective conditioning and the language “habit” formed by
constant repetition. Mistakes were immediately criticized, while good results were immediately praised.
2) Nativistic– language acquisition is considered to be a more or less autonomous process based on an inborn
mechanism of language acquisition. Linguistic competence is the most important thing. The conception was
developed by Noam Chomsky, who considered that language was not a form of behaviour, but a rule-based
system. A large part of language acquisition means in fact the learning of the system. The language learner
acquires language competence (knowledge of the grammar rules present in the system) and he experiments it as
language user.
3) Cognition hypothesis – takes into account the relationship which exists between the developing cognitive and
intellectual abilities
4) The social constitution hypothesis – considers child‘s socialization and interaction very important
Other theories of learning a language include:
1) task-based learning – is based on the idea that attention should not be given too much to the nature of
language input, but to the learning tasks that students are involved in. Students should be asked to perform
communicative activities (tasks) in which they have to use the language. The more they do this, the better they
become at using the language; the tasks chosen, should: contribute to communicative goals; enhance learning;
have carefully designed elements and well specified objectives;
engage students in some form of genuine problem solving activity
2) cooperative learning – involves the learner-centered characteristics; it also refers to the collaborative efforts
of students and teachers working together to pursue goals and objectives
3) interactive learning – created for communicative purpose; the interactive classes are those which do group
and pair work; receive authentic language input in real-life contexts; produce language for meaningful
communication; produce oral communication; write to and for real audience; focus on the social aspect of
language; integrate the four skills.
4) self-directed learning. The theory is based on the idea that students have to be trained to be good learners;
their learning is better if they make most of their own resources, if they can take their own decisions about what
to do next, how best to study. A good language programme should be based on a mixture of class-work and self-
study.
5) humanistic approaches – based on the idea that the humanistic aspects of learning should be stressed. The
experience of the students is what counts. The development of the students‘ personality, as well as the
encouragement of positive feelings are considered to be as important as their learning of a language.
I.3.Language teaching
The teaching process is as complex as the learning process. Its main components are considered to be the acts
of:
-presenting and explaining the new material (in a clear, comprehensible and available for learning way)
-providing practice (in order to consolidate learning and improve performance)
-testing and evaluation (to check what has been mastered and what still needs to be learned or reviewed; to
evaluate both the students‘ and the teacher‘s work)
There can be mentioned some principles of teaching a foreign language:
1) the communicative principle – language as a means of communication is an activity, so foreign language
classes should be active; students should be encouraged to work throughout the whole course of a class; the
foreign language should be used almost exclusively during the classes; conversational practice is introduced
from the very first stage
2) the meaningful learning principle – asks for avoidance of too much grammatical explanation and mechanical
techniques; stress should be on students developing their power of making associations, on their capacity of
analysis and synthesis
3) the intrinsec motivation principle – stress should be on the students developing their intrinsec motivation,
which is concerned with what takes place in the classroom (as opposed to extrinsec motivation, which means
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concern with factors outside the classroom – learning a foreign language, understood as attraction to the culture
of the target language community or as an instrument of getting a better job or status, promotion or passing an
examination); intrinsec motivation plays an important role in the students‘ success or failure as language
learners, being influenced by such factors as: the physical condition in which learning takes place, the method
by which students are taught, the teacher and his teaching style, as well as the students‘ success in learning. The
teacher‘s task is to develop strategies so as to give students reasons to work, to motivate them to fully take part
in the process of learning
4) the risk-taking principle – students should be encouraged to take risks in their attempt to use the language;
the teacher should choose suitable techniques – from simple to complex and constantly affirm his belief in their
ability of solving tasks
5) the language–culture connection principle – students should develop a positive perception of the target
language and its people; teaching a language means teaching about the people speaking that language; their
culture and way of thinking
6) the affective principle – language learning and teaching should take place in a relaxed and supportive
atmosphere; the teacher should be patient and understanding; he should also encourage co-operative learning
I.4.Teaching approaches and methods
Pedagogical literature operates with such terms as: approach, method, procedure, technique, strategy and
tactics. An approach is a conception, a system, a point of view concerning the nature of the subject matter to be
taught. It involves commitment to a particular theory about language or learning, representing the level at which
assumptions and beliefs about language and language learning are specified. It determines the methods and
techniques. It includes many methods of teaching. A method is an orderly presentation of the material at a
given stage of the lesson; it is a set of techniques and procedures, representing the level at which theory is put
into practice and at which choices are made about the particular skills to be taught, the content to be taught and
the order in which this content will be presented. Within one method there may be several procedures. A
procedure is a part of a method; it encompasses the actual moment-to-moment teaching (drills, dialogues, the
feedback given to learners concerning the form or content of their utterances). A technique is a stratagem used
to accomplish an immediate objective in the lesson. There can be static techniques (illustration, explanation,
demonstration); dynamic techniques (dramatization, simulation) or integrated ones – consisting of both a
linguistic “object” and a related activity (e.g.: a song = an object; singing = the activity). The term strategy
refers to the way of dealing with the subject matter in the process of teaching. Strategies are specific methods
of approaching a problem, a task; they represent modes of operation for achieving a particular goal.
Rebecca Oxford (1990)3 mentions some different techniques and recommends the strategies:
-in order to lower inhibition: play guessing games, do role-play, sing songs, laugh with students
-to encourage risk-taking: praise students for their efforts to practise language
-in order to build self-confidence: tell students that you really believe in them
-to promote cooperative learning: direct students to share their knowledge; play down competition; encourage
students to ask questions
-to help students use their intuition: praise students for their guesses; correct only selected errors
There have been developed lots of theories and trends concerning language learning and teaching.
The earliest approach in foreign language teaching is considered to be Grammar Translation Method. Within it,
there could be distinguished two trends: the synthetical and the analytical method. The synthetical method was
grounded on the conception that language is a synthesis of words arranged in sentences according to different
rules. The students had to learn the rules and construct sentences based on them. The rules were memorized in a
strict traditional order. The analytical method started from the conception that teaching should start with the
written text and by its analysis, to come to teach its words and rules. Everything had to be taught by induction.
The main technique was translation into the target language. The advantage was that it paid great attention to
meaning. The drawbacks consisted in the fact that it was a very schematical and rigid system, unable to embrace
richness and variety of the spoken language (idioms and set phrases could not be learned according to rules and
lists).
The Direct Method – was introduced in the last decades of the 19 th century in Germany. In England it was used
for the first time by Sweet (The Practical Study of Language). The development of the method was linked with
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the introduction of phonetics. Its aim was to develop the students‘ capacity of thinking in a foreign language. It
stressed the importance of acquiring the spoken language, and excluded completely the use of the mother
tongue. The meaning of the words was explained by the direct presentation of objects, by direct intuition;
abstract notions were explained by means of paraphrases, synonyms, antonyms or by deducing the meaning
from the context. Pronunciation was considered to be important; little attention was given to the written
language. The teaching of grammar was considered secondary and was achieved by practice. The advantage of
the method was that it emphasized the spoken language and at the same time it replaced the learning of isolated
words and endless grammar rules and definitions with the learning of sentences, phrases and idioms. The
complete elimination of the mother tongue can be considered one of its drawbacks.
The Oral Method – was introduced by H.E. Palmer. Its aim was to develop the students‘ capacity of
memorizing and habit-forming. It excluded any form of writing, considered that should be no reading matter at
all, and provided methods of work meant to develop the students‘ power of unconscious assimilation.
The Audio-Visual Approach – was introduced in 1926 by Michael West. The method is based on
sociolinguistics; it stressed on the simultaneous use of auditory and visual stimuli: filmstrips, slides, films and
tapes. The idea was that the foreign language should be learned in its natural forms as speech, not as writing,
and helped by the modern technical aids. The advantage of the method is considered to be the fact that students
become familiar with everyday language and form the capacity to talk on general topics and read non-
specialized fiction.
The Audio-Lingual Approach – was a method of the 60‘s, whose description was given by Brooks (1960),
Roberto Lado (1964) and W. Rivers (1968). It meant the application of the structural linguistics to the teaching
of the foreign language; it was based on conditioning and on behaviourism. Its aim was the acquisition of a
practical set of communicative skills and to make language accessible to large groups. The main characteristics
were repetition and memorization, which led to the development of skills and habits. This is why drills
(structural exercises) became the main activity, followed by positive or negative reinforcement. Attention was
given to stress, intonation and rhythm. Dialogues were used as the main means of presenting language and
emphasis was on listening and speaking. The method brought two advantages: the first laboratory classes were
introduced and listening became a skill used for the first time. The drawback was that using such drills, students
could be in danger of becoming parrots.
The Situational Method - was also based on behaviourism and considered language as an established set of
habits, a set of responses conditioned to occur with certain stimuli (situations or words). It considered that
through the observation and imitation of language in realistic situations, students could master the rules
inductively, without needing to be conscious of them.
Suggestopedia – was a humanistic approach, introduced by Lozanov, who considered that the main aim of
teaching was understanding and creative solution of problems. The teacher‘s role was to create situations in
which the learner is most suggestible and then to present linguistic material in a way most likely to encourage
positive reception and retention by the learner. This is why the method insisted on students comfortably relaxed,
on comfortable furniture and music. In such a setting (bright and cheery appearance of the classroom, reclining
chairs arranged in circle, baroque music), students were given new names and listened to extended dialogues.
The idea was that the special setting, the general ease of the situation, the adoption of a new identity and the
dependence on listening to dialogues could help students to acquire the language. The students were expected to
give themselves over to activities and techniques designed to help them regain the self-confidence, spontaneity
and receptivity of a child.
The Silent Way – was a method devised by Caleb Gattegno. It was based on the idea that the teacher should be
silent as much as possible in the classroom and the learner should be encouraged to produce as much language
as possible; the teacher offers a very limited amount of input, he models the language to be learned once only,
and then indicates what students should do by pointing or other silent means. The method views learning as a
problem-solving, creative, discovering activity, in which the learner is the main actor. The teacher does not
praise; he does not criticize either; he simply indicates that the student should try again, until success is
achieved. Learning becomes a process of personal growth resulting from growing student awareness and self-
challenging. Successful learning involves commitment of the self to language acquisition through the use of
silent awareness and then active trial. Learners create their own utterances by putting together old and new
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information. They are expected to develop autonomy and responsibility, to interact with each other and suggest
alternatives to each other. Charts and other visual aids are used. Teacher is responsible for designing teaching
sequences, creating lesson elements and creating an environment that encourages students risk taking and that
facilitates learning; he writes the script. Chooses the props, sets the mood, models the action and designates the
players.
The Total Physical Response – was a method developed by James Archer. It is built around the coordination of
speech and action; it attempts to teach language through physical activity. Its ultimate aim is to teach basic
speaking skills. The teacher gives students instructions; students do not have to speak; they have to listen
carefully and then carry out the teacher‘s commands. They respond to these commands individually and
collectively. They have little influence over the content of learning, since content is determined by the teacher.
The teacher plays an active and direct role; he decides what to teach, models and presents the new material,
selects supportive material for classroom use. He emphasizes comprehension skills before students are taught to
speak. When students are ready for it, they give commands to other students; they are encouraged to speak only
when they feel ready to do it. Speaking abilities are developed in learners at their own natural pace. This way,
they learn language through actions, through physical response.
The Communicative Approach. This approach in language teaching starts from a theory of language as
communication; this is why the main goal of the approach is enabling students to communicate using the target
language appropriate to a given social context, that is, developing their communicative competence. Within this
approach, concentration is on use and appropriacy rather than on meaning and grammar; attention is given to
communicative tasks to be achieved through the language rather than exercises on the language and the
emphasis is on student initiative rather than on teacher-centered activity. The teacher evaluates not only
accuracy but also the students‘ fluency. The role of the teacher is not the same as in the traditional approaches;
the teacher is a facilitator of his students‘ learning; he is a manager of the classroom activities (modifies them
and adjusts them to the needs of his students); during the activities he is an advisor, answering the students‘
questions and monitoring their performance. He is the initiator of the activities, but does not always interact
with students; sometimes he is a co-communicator, but more often he establishes situations that prompt
communication between and among students. Students do not follow the lesson passively; they are actively
engaged in negotiating meaning; they try to learn to communicate by communicating. They become more
responsible for their learning; they use the language through several communicative activities: games, role-play,
simulation and problem solving tasks. The new types of activities: brainstorming, story-telling, info transfer,
recognition exercises, dialogues, mime, identification, give them freedom and responsibility, developing their
analytical and creative thinking. They put much more effort into these activities; they are offered large
possibilities to use the language and learn it both consciously and unconsciously. The four skills: listening,
speaking, reading, writing are integrated. The classroom procedures favor interaction among students, giving
them the chance to work individually, in pairs or in groups. The approach uses such concepts as forms,
meanings, functions (situations, likes, dislikes, agreeing, disagreeing, offering, accepting, refusing, arguing) and
notions (time, location, weight, etc.). Dialogues center round communicative functions; they are not normally
memorized; contextualization is a basic premise. Attempts to communicate are encouraged from the very
beginning and this is why errors are considered a normal part of learning. The students‘ native language has no
particular role in this approach; the target language should be used not only during communicative activities,
but also for examples, in explaining the activities to students or in assigning homework. The students learn from
classroom management exchanges. Teacher helps learners in any way that motivates them to work with the
language; any device which helps the learner is accepted.
In “Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing”(1980), Canale
and Swain established four dimensions of communicative competence:
-grammatical competence: the domain of grammatical and lexical capacity; the mastery of the language code;
knowledge about the language and the necessary skills required to understand and express the literal meaning of
utterances
-sociolinguistic competence: refers to the ability to understand the social context in which communication takes
place; the ability to produce and understand utterances in terms of the context in which they appear; it includes

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taking into consideration the status role of the speaker, his attitude, the shared information, the communicative
purpose, the degree of formality and social convention
-discourse competence: refers to the interpretation of individual message elements; the ability to combine
meanings with unified texts
-strategic competence: refers to the verbal or non-verbal strategies that communicators employ to initiate,
maintain, finish, repair and redirect communication
Another characteristic of this approach is the use of authentic materials. It is considered desirable to give
students an opportunity to develop strategies for understanding language as it is actually used by native
speakers.
Harmer offers some criteria for evaluating how communicative classroom activities are:
-communicative purpose: the activity must involve the students in performing a real communicative purpose
-communicative desire: the activity must create a desire to communicate in students
-content, not form: the students must be concentrated on what they are saying and not on how they say it
-variety of language: the activity must involve students in using a variety of language; they should feel free to
improvise
-no teacher intervention: the students must work by themselves rather than with the teacher
-no materials control ; the activity should not be designed to control what language the students should use; the
choice of the language should rest with the students
A linguistic theory of communication favored in Communicative language teaching is Halliday`s functional
account of language use, developed in Language Structure and Language Function,1970). He mentioned a
number of seven functions that language performs for children learning their first language:
-the instrumental function: using language to get things
-the regulatory function: using language to control the behavior of others
-the interactional function: using language to create interaction with others
-the personal function: using language to express personal feelings and meaning
-the heuristic function: using language to learn and discover
-the imaginative function: using language to create a world of imagination
-the representational function: using language to communicate information (p.11-17)
The Natural Approach – has as its main representatives S.D. Krashen and Tracy Terrell. It is a communicative
approach, which focuses on teaching communicative abilities. Language is considered as a vehicle for
communicating meanings and messages. Techniques recommended are borrowed from other methods and
adapted to meet requirements. The learner is seen as a processor of comprehensible input. He acts out physical
commands, points to pictures, answers questions, fills in charts, involves himself in role-play, games;
participates in group problem solving or offers personal information and opinions. The teacher is the primary
source of comprehensible input; he creates an interesting and friendly classroom atmosphere, in which there
exists a low filter for learning; he chooses a rich mix of classroom activities, involving much group work or pair
work. The theory of learning is grounded on Krashen‘s acquisition theory. He made the distinction between
acquisition and learning; for him, acquisition means the knowledge leading to communicative performance,
while learning means knowledge leading to the ability to monitor. Krashen also established the main hypotheses
regarding language acquisition:
a)the acquisition – learning hypothesis (the difference between acquisition and learning mentioned above)
b)the monitor hypothesis - the basic idea is that the acquired linguistic system is said to initiate utterances when
we communicate in a second or foreign language; conscious learning acts as a monitor that checks and repairs
the output of the acquired system; conscious learning has the function to call upon learned knowledge to correct
ourselves when we communicate
c)the natural order hypothesis - according to this, the acquisition of grammatical structures proceeds in a
predictable order (the order is similar to that in the first language); errors are signs of naturalistic developmental
processes and during the acquisition process, similar developmental errors occur in learners no matter what their
mother tongue is
d)the input hypothesis - claims to explain the relationship between what the learner is exposed to (the input) and
language acquisition; the main ideas are that people acquire language best by understanding input that is beyond
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their current level of competence; if there is a sufficient quantity of comprehensible input, the stage following
the acquirer‘s level of competence will be provided automatically; the ability to speak fluently cannot be taught
directly- it emerges independently in time, after the acquirer has built up linguistic competence by
understanding input
e)the affective filter hypothesis - the learner‘s emotional state or attitudes are seen as an adjustable filter that
freely passes, impedes or blocks input necessary to acquisition; the main ideas are:
-a low affective filter is desirable, since it blocks less the necessary input
-acquirers with a low affective filter seek and receive more input, interact with confidence and are more
receptive to the input they receive
-anxious acquirers have a high affective filter, which prevents acquisition
-learners with high motivation generally do better
-learners with self-confidence and a good self- image tend to be more successful
-low personal anxiety and low classroom anxiety are more conducive to second language acquisition
-whatever helps comprehension is important
-as much comprehensible input as possible must be presented; input should be interesting
-in order to lower the affective filter, student work should center on meaningful communication rather than on
form
As a conclusion, there exist important differences between traditional approaches and new approaches in
teaching English.
The characteristics of the traditional approaches are:
-passive learner role
-cognitive domain emphasized
-extrinsec motivation
-mainly competitive
-regular testing
-teacher as instructor and imparter of knowledge
-mainly memory, practice and rote
-hierarchical and authoritarian structure
-little creative expression
The characteristics of new approaches are:
-active learner role
-learners and teachers see each other as equals
-cognitive and affective domains are given equal status
-intrinsec motivation
-teacher is considered as a guide and learner too
-learning is made by discovery
-accent is on creative expression
-little testing
-mainly co-operative group work
-learning is understood as a process and errors are seen as natural
Task
1)What do you understand by some concepts as teacher-centred approaches and student-centred approaches?
2)What are the advantages of the modern approaches in language learning and teaching?
II. TEACHING SKILLS
Aims
1)to introduce trainees to the main skills in language learning and teaching
2)to identify the main classroom activities for each of the language skills
3)to stimulate trainees‘ capacity of appreciation and critical thinking
Objectives
1)trainees will be able to distinguish between receptive and productive skills

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2)trainees will understand the necessity of choosing/devising the most appropriate types of activities in order to
teach skills and sub-skills
Contents
II.1.Teaching listening
II.1.1.Listening and its place in the context of teaching skills
II.1.2.Classroom activities
II.2.Teaching speaking
II.2.1.Speaking and its place in the context of teaching skills
II.2.2.Classroom activities
II.3.Teaching reading
II.3.1.Reading and its place in the context of teaching skills
II.3.2.Classroom activities
II.4.Teaching writing
II.4.1.Writing and its place in the context of teaching skills
II.4.2.Classroom activities
II.4.3.Developing project work in English classes
II.1.Teaching listening
II.1.1.Listening and its place in the context of teaching skills
Besides teaching pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, or literature, teaching a foreign language means
teaching skills such as: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Listening and reading involve reception in the
foreign language; this is why they are called receptive skills. Speaking and writing involve production; they are
called productive skills. The teaching of listening comprehension is somehow a recent innovation in language
teaching; listening was neglected in teaching, especially because the strategy of audio-lingualism had made
students listen and repeat rather than listen and understand.
Listening is an active process, which means the ability to identify and understand what other people are saying;
it also means recognizing speech sounds, dialects and speech rhythm. It is different from hearing. When we hear
someone/something, it is only perception of the sound; when we listen to someone/something, we usually pay
attention to the sound or message. The main aim is that of making students understand the foreign language
spoken at normal speed and in normal conditions. Other listening aims could be:
-listening for discriminating among the distinctive sounds of English
-recognizing reduced forms of words
-recognizing grammatical word classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives
-recognizing systems: tense, agreement plural forms
-listening for the main idea/gist
-listening for specific information
-distinguishing between literal and implied meaning
-inferring situations or participants
-listening to check if your answers are right or wrong
-listening to match pictures with descriptions
-listening to complete a picture
-listening to re-order a jumbled dialogue
-listening for dictation
-listening for identifying intention/attitudes
-listening for identifying relevant points and rejecting irrelevant ones
-listening for recognizing discourse markers (well/now/finally)
-listening for recognizing cohesive devices in spoken discourse (which/that)
-listening for guessing unknown words or phrases
-predicting outcomes
This skill is not acquired automatically. It involves students being able to concentrate upon the whole meaning
of the message, without paying conscious attention to the component elements which he can deduce out of the
conversational context. This skill is preliminary to oral proficiency. Listening can be divided into sub-skills:
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-ability to follow the general trend of what is said
-ability to understand specific details
-ability to check a specific piece of pre-knowledge against what is said
-ability to understand the speaker‘s intention
-ability to understand the speaker‘s attitude
Teachers must first teach sub-skills; they can:
-direct students listening, particularly if this is taped; teacher should provide them with preparation; this allows
students to use anticipation; the amount of preparation varies according to the class, the level of difficulty of the
material and the students‘ language level. The teacher should give them guidance on the structure of what they
are going to hear.
-let the students hear “the real thing” from early stages in the course
-tell students that they do not need to understand everything from the very beginning; the teacher must make
sure that students can notice the difference between different sounds and use a variety of listening and
responding activities
-students should be offered a first listening for a general idea and then segments of tape for detailed work
-students should be let to check answers together in pairs or groups before a feedback work
-the listening material should be graded according to the students‘ level
-the interest of the students should be encouraged
-students‘ should be provided with different types of input: lectures, radio news, films, TV plays,
announcements, everyday conversations, stories, English songs
-longer pieces of listening should be divided into shorter sections, each with its own listening task
-providing students with a variety of voices, accents and speaking styles
-listening should be integrated with oral or written activities
listening activities should be stopped once the students become restless or frustrated
II.1.2. Classroom activities
We have already stressed upon the idea that listening is an active process, an interactive one, which requires
much effort and practice on the part of the students. The process involves recognition/ identification (of sounds,
elements of meaning conveyed by stress, intonation and pitch, identification of words and phrases in their
structural relationships), selection (drawing out from communication those elements which seem to express the
purpose of the speaker) and then the use of correct punctuation, register and style. So, although the main focus
is on listening, the skill is frequently integrated with oral or written activities. The role of the teacher is very
important; he introduces the material, elicits, checks and manages the listening activities properly; he uses lots
of active listening strategies in order to develop in students abilities in listening comprehension. Among these
strategies there could be mentioned:
-inferring information about the speakers and the situation that is implied in what they hear
-matching what they hear against their own experience and knowledge of the world ant their preoccupations
-distinguishing the most important information from less important details
-trying to visualize elements of what is heard and form a mental picture that corresponds to that of the speaker
-making predictions about what the speaker is going to say
-responding intellectually or emotionally to the listening material: agreeing, disagreeing, approving,
disapproving, etc.
A listening activity class has three stages:
a) Pre-listening (meant to provide a context for listening, to activate the learner‘s background knowledge about
the topic and activate a vocabulary set associated with the topic). Most listening activities are done using a
cassette recorder, with no visual clues or context provided; in such a case, a pre-listening activity compensates
for this. The activities included in this stage could be:
-elicitation/discussion about the topic (to encourage students exchange ideas/opinions about the topic)
-brainstorming (students predict the words and expressions likely to appear in the passage, express hypotheses
about the content of the passage, based on previous knowledge)
-games (for warming-up relaxation and training in basic listening skills; e.g. miming words and expressions
heard; minimal-pair distinction)
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-guiding questions
During this stage, the new vocabulary is introduced to students and they are also offered a reason for listening.
The teacher may also assign a task to be completed by the students. The task must be always given before the
students do listening, and teacher must be sure that the task is one the students can do while they are listening.
b)While-listening
The students should be made to listen the first time for general comprehension; then, they listen the second
time. During their second-time listening, the teacher stops the cassette after meaningful “chunks” of language,
checking for comprehension and allowing time for completion of listening task. Then, there follows the last
listening; students confirm comprehension by responding in writing or orally. The stage may include activities
such as:
1)bottom-up exercises of the type:
-discriminating between phonemes
-obeying instructions – students perform actions or draw pictures in response to instructions
-ticking off items – students are given a list, text or picture and they are asked to tick off words or components
as they hear them within a spoken description, story or simple list of items
-word recognition (matching word with pictures; circling in a list the word they hear; pointing to a image or a
thing; pointing to a image or a thing)
answering questions – students are asked one/more questions in advance; they listen to the text which offers the
correct answer and detect it
-note-taking – students take brief notes from a short lecture or talk
-recognizing pertinent details
-comparing (to compare passages with prediction in pre-listening)
-obeying instructions (students show comprehension by physical movement, finishing a task, etc.)
-repetition of short phrases or complete utterances recorded
-detecting differences or mistakes – the teacher tells a story or describes something the class knows, including a
number of deliberate mistakes and students have to detect them
-true/false exercise – students tick or cross what they think is right or wrong
-cloze – the listening text has occasional brief gaps; students write down what they think might be the missing
word
2)top-down exercises:
-paraphrasing – students rewrite the listening text in different words
-summarizing – students write a short summary of the listening passage
-problem solving- a problem is described orally; students listen to it and discuss the solution
-getting the gist of the text
-recognizing the topic
-analysing discourse structure
-evaluating themes and motives
-finding main ideas and supporting details
-making inferences
-predicting outcomes
-information transfer (maps/plans/grids/lists/pictures)
-sequencing - students give the right order for a series of pictures
-information search - students listen to a passage and take notes on the segments that answer a particular
question
c) Post-listening
The stage may include activities such as:
-answering to show comprehension - students answer to multiple-choice or true/false questions
-problem solving - students are given all the information relevant to a particular problem and then set
themselves to solve it
-summarizing

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-jigsaw listening - different groups of students listen to different but connected passages, each of which supplies
some part of what they need to know; then, they come together to exchange information in order to complete a
story or perform a task
-writing as follow-up to listening activities
-speaking as follow-up to listening activities
II.2.Teaching speaking
II.2.1.Speaking and its place in the context of teaching skills
Speaking is a productive skill. Teaching speaking involves developing oral communicative competence, that
is the ability to use forms in appropriate ways operating within real language situations. It is one of the most
necessary language skills for displaying students‘ language proficiency. The principle of starting the teaching of
a foreign language with the spoken language is nowadays unanimously accepted; the spoken language is the
source of the literary language. The main condition for developing skill in speaking is practice, the opportunity
to hear and speak English as much as possible. Speaking is often integrated with the other language skills:
listening, reading and writing. Speaking competence must be built systematically, beginning with easy to more
demanding tasks. It is achieved successfully if the topics for speaking reflect real-life issues, the students‘
interests and age and if students are allowed to express their opinions freely. Students should be encouraged to
experiment with the language, be aware of variations in language use, express themselves, and use language for
real purposes. This means that students‘ speaking skills must be developed in close relationship with the
presentation and practice of functional language.
We must have in view that verbal communication always has a relation aspect and a content aspect. The
relation aspect can be achieved formally; students need to develop interactive strategies such as:
-starting up a conversation (initiating a content: greetings);
-maintaining and modifying a content (formal questions, exclamations, corrections; processing ideas and
expressing utterances)
-dealing with hesitations, embarrassing situations, hedges (avoidance of direct answers)
-interrupting conversation (interruption of an already existing relationship by joining in a conversation)
-ending a conversation (breaking off a content: leave taking)
It can also be achieved qualitatively, by expressing the personal attitude of the speaker to the listener (positive,
negative or neutral attitude).
The content aspect refers to communication as information; the speaker always means something by his verbal
utterances (has particular intentions). These intentions can include:
-requesting information (about a person, event, object)
-giving/offering information
-formulating a wish /invitation/warning/advice
-describing the facts
-judging facts
-adding information
-expressing feelings (happiness, surprise, regret, anger, depression)
-expressing agreement/disagreement, refusal
-clearing up misunderstandings
-contradicting
-raising objections
-justifying something
-making comments
A quick look at all these types of activities show us that they are communicative activities, which are considered
to have specific and clear purposes:
-they provide “whole-task practice”
-they improve motivation (the students‘ ultimate objective is to take part in communication)
-they allow natural learning
In fact, there can be distinguished two types of communicative activities (Littlewood)4:

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-functional activities (there may a problem which students must solve or information which they may exchange)
–the main purpose is that students use the language they know in order to get meanings as effectively as
possible; success is measured according to whether they cope with the communicative demands of the
immediate situation
-social interaction activities , which are based on the idea that students choose language which is not only
functionally effective, but also appropriate to the social situation they are in; success is now measured in terms
of the acceptability of the forms which are used.
In many of the communicative activities, the teacher creates the situation and sets an activity in motion, but it
is the students themselves who are responsible for conducting the interaction; the activities become student-
directed activities.
Having in view that conversational exchanges are governed by what Grice 5 called “Co-operative Principle”,
students need to learn how to handle and obey the four conversational maxims:
a)The Maxim of Quantity– refers to the quantity of information which should be offered; people can generally
assume that in conversation, in which, for example the exchange of information is primary, speakers will not
say more than is necessary to convey the information required; the two rules of the maxim being:
-your contribution must contain as much information as necessary;
-your contribution must not contain more information than necessary
b)The Maxim of Quality (truthfulness): Your contribution should be truthful.
-do not say what you think is false; do not assert what you cannot prove
c)The Maxim of Relation
-be relevant to the topic at hand
d)The Maxim of Manner – concerns the modality in which things are said:
-be perspicuous.; avoid ambiguity; speak briefly; be methodical
Students should become conscious of the fact that as participants in verbal exchanges, they play out different
roles that reveal a great deal about the social personae they are assigning to their interlocutors (E.Goffman) 6;
this is why they should learn how to handle various registers, their tone of voice (serious, jesting, sarcastic), the
way they take the floor, the feedback signals they give, the choice of lexical and grammatical structures, as well
as the distribution of their silence.
There are several things which must be taken into consideration when we define a good speaking class: the
teacher; the students; the atmosphere; correction and activities.
The teacher should exploit any opportunity for short spontaneous conversation and the features of natural
conversation should be incorporated into classroom activity he should generate a need to speak. The teacher
should not interfere too much, but assign topics which encourage students to speak. Encouragement can take
the form of a general question, an inquiry look, a smile, a pause, during which students have sufficient time to
formulate their thoughts and decide what they want to say and how they could say. The use of language for
informative purposes is the aspect of the spoken English that students most often have difficulty with. The need
to quickly plan and organize what they must say often results in an immediate drop in fluency and confidence.
To develop fluency teachers should generate a need to speak, make learners want to speak. Michael Lewis and
Jimmie Hill (Practical Techniques. For Language Teaching, London, l995) offer some techniques to be used by
the teacher:
-do not distort when offering a model
-the model should be given with proper accent, rhythm and intonation, and at proper speed
-make use of choral pronunciation (choral work brings the class together and refocuses their attention on the
teacher after some activity; teacher can control speed and pronunciation)
-do not talk simultaneously with the students; the teacher must conduct their discussion
-beware of setting an artificially high standard of correctness in the early stage; an insistent correction should be
replaced by a positive atmosphere and by encouragement
-resort to variety in working with the class
-use pair-work, as it is very efficient
-do not be explain intonation but demonstrate it

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The students must be convinced of the need to communicate to each other; they need to be tolerant of each
other, supportive and encouraging.
Classroom atmosphere should be relaxed, make students feel confident; it should be encouraging. It is wrong
for the teacher to jump on mistakes and discourage students‘ contribution. Both accuracy and fluency in
speaking have to be developed, but classroom activity should concentrate on fluency rather than on accuracy.
This is why, mistakes made while speaking, must be understood as a natural and necessary step towards
learning. Small errors may not be corrected while students are speaking. The proper time for correction should
be after the conversation , rather than interrupting it.
II.2.2.Classroom activities
As we have already seen, one characteristic of the communicative activities in the classroom is to have a
functional language. Other characteristics could be also mentioned:
-these activities involve student- student interaction (working in pairs or in groups, student have different
possibilities to exchange ideas, to ask questions, give answers, interpret, contradict each other, support and
encourage each other, process information and compare results; their talking time and activity time are
maximised);
-the activities are task-based (students are given a task which is to be achieved; they are motivated to work).
The main sources available to develop the students‘ skill of speaking under school conditions are the
interchange between teacher and students and the texts, as a source of developing skill in speaking.
Each stage of the lesson offers possibilities for teaching students everyday expressions:
-organization of the class: Who‘s absent?/Who‘s on duty?/Why is he absent?
-motivation and discipline: Attention please!/Stop talking!/Silence!
-checking the homework: What‘s the correct tense?/ Are there any mistakes?/Have you got another solution?
-at the blackboard: Go to the blackboard!/Use the sponge!
-reading and speaking: Read in chorus!/ Say it again!/Will you repeat?
-pictures: Look at the picture!/ What do you see in this picture?
-at the end of the lesson: There‘s the bell!/Stand up!
The texts contain the speech material which the students have to acquire within each form; the teacher is the
real key to the students‘ acquisition of this material. Activities that contribute to the achievement of this task
are:
-choral repetition of words, phrases and sentences
-individual repetition
-answering questions
-asking questions
-offering original sentences after given patterns
-engaging in oral drill activities
-engaging in a conversation
-learning by heart poems, songs, riddles
Exercises in speaking can be divided into two large categories:
a)receptive exercises – based on listening to and comprehending the teacher‘s voice:
-understanding and execution of certain commands, followed by the reproduction of what is being done:
Teacher: Tom, give the pencil to Mary. What are you doing?
Tom: I‘m giving the pencil to Mary.
-understanding and answering questions
-short communications
b)productive exercises – based on receptive work:
-imitation of what has been heard
-informal discussion and conversation
-reaching a consensus – students have to agree with each other after a certain amount of discussion
-dialogues and monologues
-reporting speech
-giving/having interviews
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-questions and answers
-moral dilemmas - students are given a situation and alternative suggestions for acting in such situation; they are
asked to reach a consensus on the issue; or, students are given a complex situation and are told to work out a
means of survival
-learning decisions - students establish together a correct answer/meaning/words or phrases
-word guessing game
-oral summary
-book report
-story-telling
-creative retelling (a story retold from different points of view)
-the debate/controversial topics /“in favour” or “against” exercise
-giving instructions
-poem/story reconstruction
-describing things/processes
-simple activities such as : Talk about yourself/ about your hobby/ your favourite movie star/ your favourite
pop/rock singer
-simulation and role-play - a decision-making activity where the participants, acting either as themselves or in
different social roles, discuss a problem/a series of related problems within a defined setting; students simulate
the real world in the classroom; the teacher may act either as a prompter or as a participant, helping students in
difficulty
-summary
-the personal interview
-comparing two or more things
-expressing opinions about a certain topic
Communicative games may include activities such as:
-describe and draw – one student is given a picture which the other students cannot see; he has to describe the
object in the picture and the others have to draw it, by listening to instructions
-find the similarities/differences – in pairs/groups, students are given pictures; through discussion, they have to
establish the similarities and differences between pictures.
All these activities provide a relaxed classroom environment; they offer students opportunities to practise most
of the aspects of the language: structures, functions, vocabulary and interpersonal skills. Pair-work and group
discussions are excellent means of increasing the students‘ involvement in the learning process, promote the
skill of cohesion, and provide students opportunities to express their own feelings, needs, interests, attitudes,
opinions. Supportive atmosphere is the key-word for such activities; students should encourage one another,
should be tolerant with their fellows and not jump on mistakes.
II.3.Teaching reading
II.3.1.Reading and its place in the context of teaching skills
Reading is a receptive skill, which means more than applying decoding conventions and grammatical
knowledge to the text. It represents an interactive process between what a reader already knows about a given
topic and what the writer knows; it is an active skill as it involves a lot of guessing, predicting, checking and
asking oneself questions. Reading must not be regarded as a passive activity; students must recognize sonorous
models represented by graphical symbols, their combinations as units of language; they must recognize
structural indices (of word classes, of persons, of tenses or category). Aukerman 7 divided the process of reading
into four major categories, talking about:
-perceptual learning- the ability to progress in perceptually discriminating first of gross shapes, objects, people,
places and then of finer shapes such as letters and words
-associative learning – as contrasted to rote memorization – influenced by the students‘ intelligence, past
experience, motivation (a student whose experiences are minimal will have little basis for the development of
associative learning in reading)
-cognitive learning – relating new experience to past experience and past learning; it involves comparing, being
aware of similarities, differences, values and truths ; it is essential to learning to read
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-affective learning – it is learning triggered by emotions; in reading, this takes place when the reader‘s emotions
(joy, delight, excitement, fury, disgust, envy) are aroused by the printed word
The reading passages activate the students‘ mental structures; develop their capacity for inference, anticipation,
deduction, analysis and synthesis; stimulate their capacity for appreciation and critical thinking by discussion
and reflection on the text; raise awareness of language use; foster confidence in reading and interpreting texts.
They also develop in students some micro-skills in reading comprehension:
-discrimination among orthographic patterns
-recognition of words at sight
-distinction between the main idea and the specific information
-understanding implied information and attitudes
-understanding layout and use of headings
-recognition of grammatical word classes (nouns, adjectives, verbs)
-recognition of systems (tenses, agreement between subject and predicate, sequence of tenses)
-recognition of the communicative functions of the written text
-deduction of causes and effects
-distinction between the literal and implied meaning
-development of reading strategies
-development of skills in reading silently and orally
-knowledge about how to use an index, a table of contents, a dictionary
-development of such skills as predicting, recognizing discourse markers.
The reading skill is closely related to all the other language skills and it also serves as a means of introducing
and practising the components of language: articulatory skills, intonations, vocabulary and grammatical
structures. There are several types of reading grouped in opposites: oral/mental; individual/chorus;
prepared/unprepared; controlled/independent; intensive/extensive.
Intensive reading is related to acquiring competence under the teacher‘s guidance; it is an accurate type of
reading, during which we often take notes, highlight the important parts, identify details; the activities focus on
comprehension. In such activity, the students focus on the linguistic or semantic details of a passage. The texts
fit to develop such reading are: letters, postcards, telegrams, notices, recipes, weather forecasts, instructions,
directions, rules and regulations, labels, menus, tickets, price lists, diagrams, charts, maps, time-tables, essays,
reviews, questionnaires, reports (especially functional texts).
Extensive reading has as its main purpose the direct and fluent reading for pleasure; its activities focus on
students‘ response to texts. For extensive reading, the following types of texts are generally used: diary pages,
extracts from novels, tales, stories, newspaper and magazine articles, biographical and autobiographical
passages, jokes, poems, comic strips (especially artistic texts).
The first step in teaching reading in a foreign language is to make students aware of what they do when they
read efficiently in their own language. The second step is to give them guidance and practice, help them
recognize and respond appropriately to the type of text in front of them by adopting a suitable attitude and
suitable tactics. The overall purpose in teaching reading is to develop in students the attitudes, abilities and
skills needed for obtaining information, developing interests and finally driving pleasure by reading through
understanding. Students must develop reading skills that lead to a thorough understanding of the text without
using translation in their mother tongue. This process must be slow, gradual and continuous. Reading is not
recommended with beginners without the help of the teacher. Reading must not be delayed too long as students
are tempted to take notes of what they seem to hear. The texts used for reading must contain the orally studied
material and symbols will continuously be associated with oral version.
At first, students will read and repeat after a reading model and they will correlate correct pronunciation with
printed sound-symbol combinations, together with accent and intonation. Once introduced, reading permits the
introduction of some writing exercises, carefully chosen.
The biggest problem in acquiring reading habits is to prevent the students from assigning Romanian values to
familiar letters. There are also some factors which may hinder reading in a foreign language and teachers must
be aware of them and always take them into account:

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-the eye movement – a good reader is considered the one who makes fewer eye movements (take in several
words at a time, has ability in noticing sense units – Nuttall 8 - do not make regressive eye movement, moving
their eyes back to check previous words)
-reading habits in the mother tongue - some students may not be efficient even when reading in their own
language
-faulty reading habits – some reader, while reading, do not completely eliminate moving their lips or saying the
words sub-vocally or mentally
II.3.2.Classroom activities
The three stages in the reading lesson are:
a)Pre-reading
The main aims of this stage are: to introduce students to the topic of the text they are about to read; to activate
their background knowledge about the topic and the vocabulary related to it; to stimulate students‘ interest and
encourage them to read more. Elicitation, brainstorming, guiding questions, listening to a passage on a related
topic, perhaps based on visuals are effective techniques. The teacher pre-teaches a few new key-words related to
the topic and write them on the blackboard in sentences. A task can be also assigned to be done as they are
reading. Such tasks can include: filling in a chart; matching pictures to paragraphs, answering true/false
questions, finding out specific words, etc.
b)While-reading
Reading activities can be of three types:
-conscious imitative reading- implies the imitation of the examples set by the teacher or the tape; it can be both
choral or individual; is especially useful with beginners
-semi-independent reading – implies work of the students with the help of the teacher; the model reading is not
considered important; the students read in class first silently and then aloud, individually; thy may also get some
texts to read at home and then read them in the class aloud during the next lesson
-independent reading – used with advanced students; the most important thing is comprehension
The way of actually reading the text involves four tactics/strategies:
a)skimming- running the eyes very quickly over the text in order to get a general impression of its character
and content; to get its main idea/the gist
b)scanning - reading the text very quickly in order to locate the information we need
c)sequential - reading the text from the beginning up to its end
d)focusing - intensive reading of the part of the text of special interest
Oral reading is fit for beginners; the intermediate and advanced students must use efficient silent reading
techniques for rapid comprehension. Silent reading can be intensive and extensive. Students also need to get
used to visualizing more than one word at a time and inferring meaning through context. Students should also
be encouraged to guess meanings.
c)Post-reading
Students are expected to extract from the text both its literal and implied meaning: the surface information; the
main idea/general meaning; specific information; details; information relationships not especially stated in the
text; deduced meaning. Besides this text-content information, they have to extract meta-content information,
including:
-the type of text (descriptive; narrative; argumentative; reflective; explanatory; comparison and contrast;
allegorical)
-the genre (novel; poem; newspaper article; advertisement)
-the theme of the text
-types of relationships within the text (cause and effect; consequences of actions; facts and opinions)
-the intention of the author (if he wants to shock, to amuse, to persuade, to warn, to impart information)
-the attitude of the author (subjective/objective; indifferent/involved; confident/detached)
-the point of view
-the setting
-the characters
-the atmosphere of the extract (gloomy; optimistic)
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-the tone of the writer (monotonous, optimistic, hopeful, pessimistic, ironic, humorous, enthusiastic)
-the rhetorical devices (cohesive devices; lexical linkers – repetitions, synonyms, pronominal references;
stylistic devices – metaphors, personification, types of images, etc.)
-the discourse markers in the text (enumerative: firstly/ secondly/ in the end; showing reinforcement: again and
again/ also/ above all; showing similarity: similarly/ likewise; showing transition: now/ by the way; illustrative:
for instance/ for example; contrastive: on the contrary/ by contrast)
They also have to find evidence in the text to support their answers and to give personal response to the text.
Comprehension can be checked in various ways:
-asking students to answer definite questions beginning with “who/ what/ when/ where/ why”
-asking students to answer to true/false questions
-multiple-choice exercise
-asking students to give responses based on their personal experience and opinions
-asking students to respond physically to a command
-asking students to extend/provide an ending to a story
As post-reading activities there can be also mentioned:
-asking them to follow specific directions (“find the words which show/describe/tell”)
-asking them to indicate sequence of ideas by rearranging sentence
-numbering sentences in the order they appear in reading
-activities based on charts
-dramatized dialogues
-eliciting a summary of the entire passage
-rewriting the story and changing the dialogue into indirect discourse
-selecting key sentences which illustrate certain characteristics of the ideas
-finding synonyms and antonyms of the new words
-finding other stories on the same theme
-completing sentences
-making use of the new words and sentences in original sentences
-a game, to practise vocabulary
-illustrating favourite events by drama or drawing
-engaging in a conversation that indicates appropriate processing of information
II.4.Teaching Writing
II.4.1.Writing and its place in the context of teaching skills
Writing is a productive skill. Traditional views of writing in English teaching methodology considered writing
as a means rather than as purpose for communication. More recent mehodologists stress on the idea that in
teaching a foreign language, importance should be given to all four skills. So, writing activities should be
designed to reinforce listening, speaking and reading abilities and give practice in the structural and lexical
items which have been introduced. There has been also noticed a shift from the traditional product-oriented
approach to a process-oriented one during the last decades. Writing is no longer understood as a product (essay,
report, story) but it is seen as a process that can be taught; a way of learning, as well as communicating. Writing
forces the learner to focus carefully on the language and be precise and attentive to details such as punctuation
and spelling. Students should be directed to understand their composing process; they should be trained
to develop their strategies of prewriting, drafting and rewriting. There must be in fact a balance between process
and product; the product is the ultimate goal; process is the means to the end. Spelling principles have to be
introduced gradually, practised intensively and examples of them given whenever possible.
The process should be viewed in two lights: firstly, as a language problem – a problem of assembling words to
form grammatical sentences; secondly, as a rhetorical problem – a problem of teaching students to organize
words and patterns so as to fulfil a given rhetorical aim. Emphasis should be given to the specific
communicative purposes of writing. The main aim should be to develop students‘ ability to convey information
through linking and developing ideas and arguments in whole pieces of written discourse, to develop accuracy
and fluency in writing, to raise their awareness of sentence, paragraph and whole text structure as well as their
awareness of sentence linkers and discourse markers.
19
Summarizing, students need to develop two types of micro-skills in writing: a)mechanical skills:
-correct spelling
-appropriate vocabulary
-knowledge of grammar (express a particular meaning in different grammatical forms)
-knowledge of punctuation
-knowledge of formats (letter format, memos, etc.)
-correct choice of register and style appropriate to the task and
b)composition skills:
-to choose an appropriate layout
-to achieve a high degree of accuracy (to avoid ambiguity)
-to use linkers (in order to achieve cohesion : However/In addition/First…/Finally)
-to get coherence of the text (paragraphing, introductions and conclusions)
-to use creativity and imagination
-to develop writing strategies: using prewriting devices, using paraphrasing and synonyms
Students should be encouraged to go through the process of selecting, planning and organizing and revising
their work systematically.
II.4.2.Classroom activities
The skill of correct writing is mainly attained by practice, by exercises. They go from a very controlled
activity up to a free one. The stages of the lesson include:
a) Pre-writing – has the role to stimulate and motivate students to generate materials to write on; it is a structural
experience that influences active student participation in thinking, talking, writing and working on the topic
under focus; usual activities include:
-oral group brainstorming - the use of leading questions to get students think about a topic or idea
-discussing a topic or question
-debating - orally presenting two sides of an argument/topic
-cubing - a quick consideration of the subject from six points of view: describe it; compare it; associate it;
analyse it; apply it; argue for/against it
-clustering - beginning with a key word, then adding other words, using free association
-reading - silent reading or extensive reading generate ideas for writing
-group discussion - students are guided to generate ideas about the topic
-meditating/mind transportation - require students to make a voyage into a fantasy world, thus providing a mood
which makes students want to write
-looping - non-stop writing on anything that comes to one‘s mind on a particular topic; thus, ideas or bits of
ideas for the proper writing stage are generated
b) While-writing
The most elementary type of exercise in spelling, introduced from the initial stage is copying. This type of
exercise is often boring and uninteresting for learners because it is a completely mechanical one. Copying can
be simple (word for word) or tasked (to underline letters or groups of letters which represent a sound; to mark
certain grammatical forms; to write only certain parts of the sentence; to copy an exercise and change the
subject, etc).
Another type of exercise is dictation. This exercise represents an intensive activity; it makes learners
concentrate; it helps developing listening as well as writing, but sometimes, can be quite mechanically done,
without real comprehension. According to the way it is carried out, dictation can be: auditive and visual. In the
case of auditive dictation, the teacher first reads the whole text and the students listen; then, the teacher reads
again sentence by sentence and the students write; once finished, the teacher reads the text for the third time,
while the students look over their writing, correcting the possible mistakes. The visual dictation consists in the
teacher writing a word, a phrase or a sentence on the blackboard and analyses it; he cleans the blackboard and
the students write the unit from memory.
Dicto-comp is a technique for practising composition; it is a type of controlled writing that combines text
dictation and text reconstruction. It requires students to write, but it also demands careful listening and the
retention of the material read aloud. The technique is the following: the teacher reads a passage to the class; the
20
students listen carefully; the teacher puts key words on the blackboard and the students write out what they
remember from the passage using the words on the blackboard. Besides listening, the exercise involves the
students‘ ability to summarize, to elaborate and use English in a particular context. Dicto-comp is a form of
controlled writing.
Once the students acquired basic skills of sentence writing, they can progress beyond very controlled writing
to free paragraph writing. The transition can be done by “guided writing”(Doff) 9. This means to give the
students a short text as a model, do some oral preparation for writing (with the whole class, students giving
suggestions; the teacher builds an outline or a list of key expressions on the board, expressions which are used
by students as a basis for writing).
The technique of a controlled/guided composition includes:
-asking the students to tell a given text by the help of main ideas indicating the beginning of sentence just to
avoid the repetition of “and”
-oral practice – that begins with the choice of the title, then the students answer the teacher‘s questions in order
to repeat the vocabulary or enrich it with new items
-written exercises – comprise structural exercises in relation to the chosen subject; students have to complete
sentences, to change the tense of the verbs or to combine sentences using conjunctions
-vocabulary study – the teacher teaches students the correct use of vocabulary
-student writing- the student starts to write the composition
-simple paragraph writing – the students are offered a paragraph as a model for their own
Paragraph writing can include: paragraph about a favourite subject/season/; paragraph about a
city/town/place; a narrative paragraph, etc.
Beginning composition work may be developed in different ways:
-the teacher gives a list of words within one social or cultural situation and asks the students to use them in short
dialogues, paragraphs or letters
-the teacher may give the students a model of a short composition which is read and discussed and then they are
asked to write a similar one, changing the name of the characters
-the teacher may ask students about an experience they have had or answer a series of sequential questions on a
story they have read in class; the students may be asked to write a summary.
Free writing has advantages. From the very beginning the students become aware that, like their first language,
the second language is creative, varied and personal; it can be used to express perceptions, realities and points
of view. An exercise in free writing, which is very much used in schools now is essay writing. The stages for
writing an essay are:
-brainstorming - getting ideas together (by help of mind-maps, discussions, pictures information is collected; the
source is personal experience, imagination, reading; students discuss the main ideas and support details)
-grouping the ideas into units with common themes - this means finding the topic for each paragraph
-organizing the paragraphs (depending on the type of essay)
-planning the essay (a plan of the essay with the ordered paragraphs and an introduction and conclusion)
-writing the essay (sometimes this process may include writing of first/second draft before writing the final
essay)
Complete essay writing can be preceded by essay questions, an exercise which requires students to give
response to the story as a whole or to focus their attention only on one particular aspect of it: its meaning, the
type of character, the structure of the plot, the setting, etc. This exercise may use either open questions which
invite students to relate some experience of their own to similar experience in the story they have read, or
critical questions which invite students give their personal comments on the theme, character or certain issues
about those in the text they have read.
Paraphrasing is an aid to writing. It means working on someone else‘s piece of writing. The teacher should
know how to introduce paraphrasing to students; he should dictate and discuss the text. The first model
paraphrase should be thoroughly discussed in class. Paraphrasing implies certain transformations in the text:
-subordinate clauses are replaced by gerund constructions
-passive voice is replaced by active voice; or active by passive
-long sentences can be split into short ones
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-short sentences can be linked to form long ones
Other written communicative activities may include:
-substitution exercises - based on a model and then personalized
-giving directions – students write down directions which other students have to follow
-writing commands – students write each other messages which contain commands
-writing broadcasts – students write items for news broadcasts which they organize for “transmission”
-the tourist brochure – students can be asked to write together a brochure about the place they live in, are
studying in or are about to visit
-letter writing – to their friends in the country and abroad; to their favourite pop stars or film actors; formal and
informal letters, with their specific layout
-summary of a song/poem or novel (used especially for lower-intermediate students, and will help them prepare
for comprehension and discussion questions )
-writing reports (book/film/play /interview report)
-writing advertisements (to advertise food, clothing, books, places)
-writing journals or diary pages
-fairy tale writing - in groups, students may invent a fairy story
-story reconstruction – students are shown pictures from a story sequence and are asked to write sentences about
them, reconstructing the story
-warnings or notices
-list of advice for keeping fit
-resolutions for the future
-instructions for using different objects
-descriptions of places, people and processes
-writing postcards
-writing recipes
-opinion paragraphs; contrasting opinion paragraph,
-autobiographical writing
-profile of a person
-newspaper/magazine articles
-rules for a game or sport
-filling in an application form for a job
-argumentative essay
-e-mail/fax messages
-letter of reference
Steps to improve writing include:
-constant and systematic use of reading material to introduce the main rhetorical features of English
-use of written exercises that require the students to connect sentences by means of the proper linking devices
-rearrangement of scrambled sentences into a proper paragraph
-use of a non- paragraphed text that can be studied and broken into 2-3 paragraphs
-training in order to distinguish between different registers an d styles, level of formality, modes of address and
use of lexical items
Feedback is necessary after each new step in writing. One way of giving feedback is to involve the students in
the process of evaluating their own work. The idea is to improve without discouraging.
c) Post writing activities
It is a revising stage which besides drafting represents the core of the process of writing.
The following is a list of some of the factors which may be considered in grading, a piece of written work:
-length
-correct grammar
-originality of ideas
-range of vocabulary used
-range and complexity of structures used
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-appropriateness of style
-spelling
-handwriting
-punctuation
-organization of ideas
-relevance to the title
II.4.3.Developing project work in the English classes
Project work is rather a practical than theoretical means of teaching English. It means any work on a specific
subject which has a concrete result a product: charts, maps, articles, letters, posters, albums, etc. Its main
characteristics are that students have a task to complete and have the option of completing the task in a variety
of ways. Most of the new textbooks offer much project work, an activity which might help bridge the gap
between the classroom (language study) and real-life situations (language use in formal or informal situations);
it provides solution to the problem of students‘ autonomy, teaching them to cope and take initiative by
themselves. This activity allows students to be responsible for their own learning and encourages co-operation.
It helps students attain communicative competence (something that recent approaches to language learning and
teaching emphasize), encourages their spontaneous expression, helps students use English both orally and in
writing, mainly in group work. Pair and group work allow students to use the language in a practical way; it
represents an opportunity for personal involvement, both effectively and affectively, which is nothing but a step
towards discovering and learning team spirit and team work. The group work gives students opportunity to
participate actively in discussions, share opinions, agreeing, disagreeing with each other, simulating real- life
situations, contradicting or pleading for something.
Among the most obvious advantages of such activity there could be mentioned: variety to the range of
learning situations; increase of student-student communication (social interaction occurs); change of the role of
the teacher from formal instructor and imparter of information, to member of the group (becomes a participant,
a coordinator the one who evaluates and checks the language used in the activity at the same time); affective
learning is increased; stimulus towards self- analysis and self-knowledge; opportunities to reinforce the material
previously studied.
Among the most common projects students can be asked to do, there are:
-planning a holiday/a trip
-planning and setting up an English event (a party; a festival)
-magazine writing – including the most important news of the school, information on sports, music, fashion,
new books, songs, poems, riddles, jokes
-interviews on different topics
-a tourist guidebook of the town where the students live
-a tourist itinerary
-designing cards for Christmas, New Year or Valentine‘s Day
-preparing a menu for birthdays or other important events
-making list of things for their holiday trip, holiday camp
-drawing posters
-advertising singers/musical groups
-designing albums
-looking into areas of the life of the English people: the press, homes and gardens, important events, etc.
Each project work generally consists of three stages:
-a setting up stage – students are given input of factual or non-factual information to read, think over, discuss
and process; establish the objectives, the sources of information that can be used; establish the linguistic support
the students might need; establish the dead-line for the project work
-production stage – implies brainstorming and creativity: the output of the project lesson (the teacher offers
help)
-presentation stage
-evaluation

23
Project work can be short-term (completed in one or two lessons) or long-term (taking a large part of the
semester or the year)
Evaluation is a necessary component; the teacher should evaluate the entire process: the activities and tasks
the students perform, the working methods, attitude, critical sense, responsibility and group interaction.
The results of the project work can be presented in different ways: a poster, a completed product, a report, a
radio programme, etc..
Task
1)How does pre-listening help learners understand better?
2)What advantages and disadvantages are there for teachers and learners of using the model pre- while- post
listening activities to teach a listening lesson?
3)What makes listening comprehension successful?
4)What are five possible ways to motivate students to read English and to enjoy reading ?
5)What are the main reasons for doing a pre-reading activity?
6)List five solutions a teacher must have at hand in order to get efficient communicative classes.
III.TEACHING VOCABULARY
Aims:
1)to teach trainees how to select the vocabulary to be taught
2)to offer trainees different techniques and procedures of introducing and explaining the meaning of new
vocabulary items
3)to offer trainees guidance in devising exercises/activities meant to consolidate (new) vocabulary items
Objectives
1)the trainees will be able to introduce and explain the meaning of new vocabulary items
2) trainees will be able to handle procedures for reinforcing vocabulary items
Contents
III.1.Teaching vocabulary in the context of language teaching
III.2.Classroom activities
III.3.Teaching pronunciation
III.1. Teaching vocabulary in the context of language teaching
Vocabulary represents the potentially infinite number of words existing in a language. It usually divided into
active vocabulary (vocabulary for productive use) – including the words which students have been taught /the
students have learned, and which they use, or are expected to use – and passive vocabulary (vocabulary for
“receptive” recognition)10 – including words which students know, can recognize whenever they meet them, but
which they do not use. The recent accent on functionality and communication in language learning and
teaching (words understood as vehicles for relaying information and ideas; for communication) made linguists
and methodologists turn their attention to vocabulary and stress its importance in language teaching. Thus,
acquisition of vocabulary has become as important as the acquisition of grammar. Teaching a word means
several things: teaching its form/shape/spelling; teaching its pronunciation; teaching its meaning; teaching that
form and meaning go together.
Students should know that one word has usually more than one meaning, that the meaning can be changed,
stretched or limited by how it is used. Decoding the meaning means attention given to the context (the entire
non-verbal environment which is linguistically relevant for communication purposes) and the co-text (the
linguistic environment proper; the items in the text which play a role in specifying the meaning of a given
lexical item) in which the word is used. “Knowing a word –as Jeremy Harmer explains – means knowing the
meaning, the word use, the word information and the word grammar” 11; this is why the study of vocabulary
cannot be separated from the study of phonetics and grammar. So, knowing a word means in fact being aware of
the following features:
-the correct pronunciation and spelling
-the denotative meaning – “the objective, impersonal and intellective meaning of a word” 12 ; the nucleus of a
word; the meaning which has been fixed in the language of the whole people, implying the possibility to be
understood in the process of linguistic communication; the cognitive or communicative aspect of meaning; it
conveys the informational load carried by a word and is neutral as far as the attitude of the speaker is concerned
24
-connotations – “the subjective, personal and emotive <extra-meaning> of a word”13; the emotional overtones
the speaker usually associates with each individual use of words; the field of associations, implications,
suggestions which surround the word
-the appropriate grammatical forms
-the style – formal/informal
-the transfer of meaning
-the lexical sets - if the word relates to other words within a common topic/ situation/ theme
-the relations of synonymy/antonymy/homonymy/hyponymy
-collocations – in what way it can combine with other words
-idioms
The students‘ native language, their previous language experience, transfer effects and learning strategies are
among the factors which affect their abilities to learn new vocabulary.
In teaching vocabulary the following considerations are highly important: the students must be interested and
must make an effort to understand; it is the teacher‘s responsibility to provide a variety of activities that will
keep the students interested and will help them understand; the teacher should also provide frequent repetition,
to reinforce the learning process and fix the new vocabulary firmly in the minds of the students; students should
be exposed to different kinds of contexts in which a word may be used, to ensure its proper usage; to learn new
words, students have to work with them actively, regularly and systematically; learning of words should be
meaningful (words should be learned through comprehension, association and integration of the new material
with the one which has already been learned).
Research into memory has proved that people do not store words in their brain in alphabetical order; words
that are somehow related, join together in groups, called lexical sets; this means it is better to teach students
lexical sets, in which words are related in several ways:
-by topic: animals, family relationships, jobs
-by similarity of meaning: monkey, ape, gorilla
-in pairs – synonyms: journey/trip; margin/edge
-in pairs – opposites: hot/cold; old/new
-in a series or a scale: boiling, hot, warm, cool, cold, freezing
-by super-ordinates and hyponyms: furniture: bed, table, chair, armchair
-by activity or process: steps in making a coffee or building a house
-word families: paint, painter, painting, paint work
III.2.Classroom activities
Generally speaking, the main approaches to teaching vocabulary are : system-oriented; topic-oriented;
strategic- oriented (using contextual clues; using knowledge of related forms; analysing internal structure; using
knowledge of cognates) or discourse-oriented. There are several possibilities of introducing the new vocabulary
into the lesson: during the introductory conversation, during the proper work with the text under study or during
the students‘ individual work with the dictionary.
When the new vocabulary is introduced during the introductory conversation, the teacher has the role of
selecting those words which should be acquired by students in an active manner; each uttered sentence should
include only one word with a definite meaning in the given context, in a familiar grammatical structure, which
needs to be simple and natural. The teacher utters a sentence related to the text and explains the new word by
means of a technique of word interpretation. This implies ostensive ways of teaching:
-demonstration- by showing an object or a cutout figure;
-using realia – different objects brought into the classroom
-using pictures – using photographs, blackboard drawings, illustrations from magazines or newspapers
-using pictograms – the teacher draws the word to represent its meaning
-using flash-cards, handouts, OHP, tape recorder, cassette recorder
-miming - by gestures or by performing an action
-using explanations – by description; by giving synonyms or opposites for the words students already know; by
putting the word into a defining context; by paraphrasing or by translating; giving the definition; giving
examples; resorting to the semantic field the word belongs to
25
-translation
Other techniques of presentation and discovery might include: word-building (use parts of words to help
students build new words or guess their meaning); matching (students match words to words, or sentences or
pictures); using songs; using familiar or famous names words (well-known words from song titles, books or
people).
The new words can be also introduced during the work with the text. Textbooks are open; the text is read and
students are asked to relate what they have understood. The new words are introduced in different possible
ways:
-guessing from the context – interpretation by means of contextual inference from meaningful sentences, in
which students understand almost all words, except the one in question
-the definition of the new word by other words in the foreign language
-word analysis technique – from a known stem to a new word
-the use of synonyms or opposites
-substitution
-matching words with their definitions –students are asked to find words in the text after having read their
definitions
-word lists – students list words under appropriate headings
-word charts – students are asked to bring to mind what certain words can be associated with
detailed descriptions – students connect the words in column A and B to make sentences connected with a
certain topic
-word webs – words are topic-related
-finding out differences between related words
-identification of false friends
-work with collocations, phrasal verbs
-the use of affixes to construct new words
-the use of translation
Introducing new vocabulary during the students‘ work with the dictionary is a good exercise especially
beginning with the third year of study; it is a step forward in training students to work independently. Students
need to be trained to isolate the unknown word, trace it back to its root form, read the word again in the context,
in order to grasp the meaning of the whole sentence, so that the appropriate meaning of the word should be
looked up in the end. Dictionaries are important tools in most vocabulary-building exercises and activities. A
monolingual dictionary is the best to be used, because it offers information about pronunciation, spelling word
formation metaphorical and idiomatic use. The ability of students to use a dictionary should be practised in the
classroom.
Exercises in teaching vocabulary are of three types:
1)exercises of understanding vocabulary – based on the teacher‘s explanation
2)exercises of recognition:
-copying the text and underlying the new words
-analysis of the word or lexical unit as to form: root, stem, affixes
-analysis of word according to semantic peculiarities: synonyms, homonyms, antonyms
-picking up words from the text and then grouping them according to different criteria
3)exercises of use:
-filling in the blanks with new words
-substitution of drills and known structures
-answering questions
-translations from Romanian into English
-retelling
-description of pictures
-composition on a given topic previously prepared
-questions referring to the text under study
-classification of words according to certain topic
26
-correction of statements not true to facts
-completion of certain unfinished sentences
-replacement of certain words by others making all the other necessary changes
-rearrangement f words in the correct order
-crossword puzzles
-games
III.3.Teaching pronunciation
Pronunciation is an integral part of language learning. Any learner with a goal for learning English for
communicative purposes needs to learn the rhythm and intonation of English. Yet, it is not only important for
oral communication; it is closely connected with the other aspects of language use. Learning about
pronunciation develops learners‘ abilities to comprehend the spoken language; it also helps learners with the
spelling system of English. Pronunciation can convey grammatical information (rhythm and intonation can
perform grammatical functions) and a lack of knowledge in pronunciation can easily affect reading. Teaching
pronunciation goes hand in hand with teaching vocabulary. Some methodological considerations must be
observed:
-the teaching of pronunciation should start in the early stages of the language course
-the teacher should be consistent in correcting the errors
-the correction should be done on the spot
-the teacher should stimulate the students to notice the mistakes made by their classmates and ask them to offer
the correct forms
-the teacher‘s explanations concerning pronunciation should be illustrated by many examples and exercises
-the teacher must avoid to repeat the students‘ errors in the form of question of reproach
-the teacher is not allowed to make fun of the mistakes
-classroom atmosphere should be relaxed
-much attention should be given to intonation and stress
-the first lessons are of great importance; it is the stage where correct pronunciation should be acquired
Generally, there are three ways in teaching pronunciation: imitation, articulatory description and comparison.
Teachers should not make an extensive use of the last two ways, without asking the students to imitate the
correct pronunciation of sounds. Articulatory description is made use of especially when the students find it
difficult to pronounce a sound (usually because this does not exist in their mother tongue). Comparison is used
especially when the students confuse two sounds which are similar. Pronunciation practice should not include
only sounds, clusters and words, but also sentences. The use of audio-visual aids, tapes, cassettes, radio or TV
together with many exercises of recognition and production ensure the learning and mastering of correct
pronunciation.
Task
Make a list of ten elements which constitute for you an effective presentation of new vocabulary.
IV.TEACHING GRAMMAR
Aims
1)to help trainees understand the importance grammar plays in the context of language teaching
2)to help trainees identify different methods and techniques appropriate to grammar teaching
3)to give trainees hints regarding the types of exercises and other different activities which ensure much
practice in grammar
Objectives
1)the trainees will be the trainees will become aware and show understanding of the use of different techniques
in teaching grammar
2)the trainees will become confident in their ability of choosing and devising the best types of exercises in
grammar
Contents
IV.1.Grammar in the context of teaching English
IV.2.Classroom activities
IV.1. Grammar in the context of teaching English
27
 Anyone using a language must use its grammar. Grammar is the way a language manipulates and combines
words or bits of words in order to form longer units of meaning. It is a systematization and codification of a
bulk of data which thus become relevant. It is a system of rules governing the conventional arrangement and
relationship of words in a sentence. Knowing a language involves knowing the items that make up that
language; it also involves being able to supply these items when they are missing, or being able to do without
them, as well as the ability to produce an infinite number of sentences in response to an infinite number of
stimuli. One is said to know a foreign language when one‘s competence (knowledge of the grammar that
determines an intrinsec connection of sound and meaning for each sentence) is like that of a native speaker. The
ability to handle new sentences is evidence of knowing the rules that are needed to generate them. What does
teaching of grammar involve?
Our aim in teaching grammar should be to ensure that students are communicatively efficient with the
grammar they have at their level. Language awareness is also very important. It means that students have to be
aware of language and how it is used. Some methodological considerations include:
-grammar should never be taught and learned for its sake; it is expected to form new habits in the correct use of
the foreign language
-the students should use the language and not talk about it
-grammatical explanations given to the students should be brief and to the point;
-grammar teaching should avoid excess of abstract theory;
-the problems beyond the students‘ power of assimilation should not be theoretically learned, but as structures
to be learned by heart
-grammar should always be dealt with in relation to the text under study;
-any grammatical item must not be explained before the analysis of the text under study
-in teaching any problem of grammar; it is necessary to establish the connection with the chapters previously
learned by students
-it is important to establish connections between grammar and phonetics, spelling, vocabulary and oral
expression
-teaching of grammar should be very natural
-the study of grammar should be turned into an interesting and attractive activity in the classroom
-the teacher should make use of tables, charts, schemes, drawings and other auxiliary materials
-students must be encouraged to speak, offer their own examples
-most of the time devoted to the study of grammar should be spent on the practical application of theoretical
knowledge
-learning is from known to the unknown, from the simple to the complex, from proximate to more distant
-the students‘ interest must be kept alive during the whole lesson; this means the lesson must be dynamic
-students must learn through performing tasks or group activities, so that they are using the language as much as
possible
-any classroom activity should be introduced by means of some brief comments
The choice of the method to be used is not a simple problem, if we have in view the fact that each method has
its own advantages and disadvantages.
So, The Grammar Translation method stressed upon the fact that the students have to learn words and
grammatical rules and construct sentences based on rules; rules were memorized in a strict traditional order,
related to different parts of speech. The text was the starting point and grammar came after it. The drawback of
the method consisted in the fact that it stressed the role of the mother tongue and in its incapability of
understanding that phrases and idioms could not be learned according to rules and lists.
On the contrary, the Direct Method eliminated completely the mother tongue, considering that the patterns of
the first language influence the acquisition of the second one. The advantage of the method consisted in the fact
that it replaced the learning of isolated words and endless grammatical rules and definitions with the learning of
sentences, phrases and idioms, developing the students‘ power of analysis and synthesis. The students were
given coherent texts, and not unconnected sentences to prove and illustrate certain grammatical rule. The
teaching of grammar is considered secondly and achieved by practice.

28
The Audio-Visual Approach, as well the Audio-Lingual Approach stressed upon the structures that are drilled.
The study of grammar is not a waste of time and students are introduced to language. Repetition of structures
leads to fluency and correct usage in speaking a foreign language. Once the students are sure of the structure,
they use it willingly and unhesitatingly, their language becoming disciplined. They become aware of their
mistakes and are able to correct them.
The advantage of the Cognitive Code Approach is that it stressed upon understanding of structures; their
understanding precede their use and drill. In developing language ability, the teacher proceeds from competence
to performance. The learner must know the system, the rules of the language, before being asked to apply them.
The Grammar Explanation Method involves a systematic attempt to provide students with conscious knowledge
of the rules. It finds a justification for this: some items appear to be taught more efficiently if we appeal to the
students‘ power of reasoning rather than depend exclusively on pattern practice or memorization.
The Functional Approach does not deny the importance of mastering the grammatical system of the language.
Grammatical form is taught, not as an end in itself, but as means of carrying out communicative intention. This
approach is often lost in the concentration on grammatical form. Students often master form without ever
mastering how the form is used to perform a communicative act. It is a student-centered approach to language
learning. The students are given the opportunity to discover the answers for themselves, in groups, in pairs or
individually. At the same time we must have in view that grammar gives us the form or the structures of a
language, but these forms are literally meaningless without a second dimension, that of meaning/semantics, and
a third dimension, pragmatics. So, grammar tells us how to construct a sentence (word order, verb and noun
systems, modifiers, phrases, clauses); semantics tells us about the meaning of words and pragmatics tells us
which of several meanings to assign in a given context.
The experience of the last decades which is strictly connected with communicative teaching considers that
grammatical techniques should be embedded into general language courses, rather than treating grammar as a
separate “skill”.
IV.2.Classroom activities
Communicative teaching has demonstrated the fact that appropriate grammar focusing techniques have the
following characteristics:
a)are embedded in meaningful, communicative contexts
b)contribute passively to communicative goals
c)promote accuracy within fluent, communicative language
d)do not overwhelm students with linguistic terminology
e)are as lively and motivating as possible
There are two ways that lead to the understanding of the phenomena of grammar; induction and deduction.
The inductive approach offers various language forms to be practised and lets the learner discover/induce rules
and generalizations on their own. Induction helps students to develop their own judgement; the rule or
definition is arrived at little by little.
It has some advantages: addresses learning-style needs of students who work better using an inductive
approach; it is in keeping with natural language acquisition; it serves as a pre-test to identify what students
already know and what they need to practise and gets students more actively involved in the learning process.
Besides this, the method adds variety to the classroom routine, teaches students to be more independent
learners, demonstrates to them that they do not need the teacher for all the answers. It also teaches them a new
learning strategy and builds more intrinsec motivation
Induction is not sufficient; it must be followed by deduction, that is the rule must be applied in examples, must
be practised. So, we must choose the example which seems to be the most suitable and write it on the
blackboard; this becomes the “attention pointer”, that calls the students‘ attention to the problem. A good
example must illustrate and confirm the structure unambiguously and must have a familiar and simple
vocabulary.
There are four stages to be followed or, as Penny Ur defines them – four stages in the organization of
grammar teaching, that represent a general framework into which a variety of teaching techniques will fit. In
Grammar Practice Activities, Penny Ur identifies these stages as being: presentation, isolation and
exemplification, practice and test.
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 The aim of presentation is to get the students to perceive the structure, its form and meaning in both speech
and writing and to take it into short-term memory. When the structure is a very simple, easily perceived one, the
presentation text may be no more than a sample sentence or two, which serve as a model for immediate
practice. In such a case, the teacher gives the model of utterance for each pattern with the appropriate
intonation, stress and rhythm and the students repeat it. Some of the grammar presentation techniques might
include:
-using a song/poem text - the teacher finds a song/poem which contains –let`s say – a lot of present continuous
examples, the teacher makes a worksheet where some of the verbs are in brackets; as the students listen to the
song/poem, they try to fill in the gaps; the teacher then asks questions concerning the way in which the tense
was formed, the adverbs accompanying it, and so on
-using a time line - the teacher draws a time line on the blackboard and points to the place the particular tense
occupies on it
-using a picture - to introduce Present Tense continuous, for example, the teacher shows students a picture
representing people doing several things; the teacher makes a statement pointing to one person in the picture
and then asks students to do the same for all the other examples
-using realia - in order to practice Present Perfect, the teacher puts some objects on the teacher`s desk and asks
the students to close their eyes; the teacher removes one of the objects and when the students open their eyes he
asks: What have I taken? He helps students formulate the answer: You have taken…; the examples are written
on the blackboard and then commented upon
-personalising - the teacher asks one student to go to the blackboard and while this one is performing the
activity, he says: Look, Tom is going to the blackboard. What exactly is he doing? The students answer, using
the model; the teacher then asks another student to perform another action, and repeats the procedure
-explaining directly
-comparing L-1 and L-2
-eliciting - in order to teach present Perfect, for example, the teacher tells the class what he has done this
morning: I have had breakfast; I have left the house at 8; I have taken a bus to come to school; he writes on the
blackboard: What have I done this morning? And asks individual students to answer the question, thus eliciting
the answers from them; correction of wrong forms are corrected gently; he then offers the necessary
explanations concerning the tense
The objective of the second step– isolation and exemplification- is that students should understand the various
aspects of the structure. We move away from the context now and focus on the grammatical items themselves:
their meaning, their function, the rules that govern them. By a careful process of questions and answers,
inductively, the teacher helps the students to observe and make the necessary generalisations. Sometimes, in
some classes we may make extensive use of the students‘ native language. They are asked to concentrate on the
comparison with their native language pattern. Where the structure is very simple or very close to a parallel in
the native language, or when the students tend to learn the language inductively rather than intellectually, this
step may take only a few minutes.
It is assumed that after the first two stages, the students will have memorized the models and understood the
problem. They can pass now to the third stage, that is practice. The aim of this to cause the students to absorb
the structure thoroughly and to transfer what they know from short-term to long-term memory. This is the most
important stage. The students are given the opportunity to use the patterns with different vocabulary and to draw
their attention away from the structure being taught, so that its use become a matter of conscious habit. A great
variety of exercises can be used. There are several principles to be observed:
a)not too much time should be devoted to written exercises; most exercises should be oral
b)students should apply the rules
c)we must make use of a great number of exercises from colloquial speech
-individual exercises should be chosen for the students with certain gaps and deficiencies
There are several types of activities that students may make extensive use in the classroom. Harmer considers
that these activities may be based either on discovery techniques, or o practice techniques.

30
 Discovery techniques are those where students are given examples of language and told to find out how they
work; they have to discover the grammar rules rather than be told the rules. In order to do this, several
procedures can be used:
-using conscious-raising questions – the teacher addresses “concept questions” in connection with a certain
language point, to make sure they become aware of its form and meaning; students are helped by these
questions to notice/observe a new grammar point; this way, the teacher elicits the right answer and explanation
for it; this way, students are involved in their own learning
-text study – students are asked to discover new grammar by concentrating on its use in a text
-matching techniques – the students are asked to match parts of sentences and phrases; this exercise allows
students to make choices, thus discovering correct grammar facts
-rephrasing – by complex transformations they make, students can prove a sound knowledge of grammar; by
rephrasing, students show clear understanding of the sentence to be rephrased and knowledge of the way in
which language works.
The so-called practice techniques offer students the possibility to practise grammar items. Among such types
of exercises there are:
-drills
-interaction activities – make controlled language more meaningful and enjoyable; such exercises involve the
students‘ personality, help them interact actively
According to different authors who recommend them , the exercises can be of different types:
-repetition- the students repeat an utterance aloud as they have heard it, without looking at a printed text
-inflexion – one word in an utterance appears in another form when repeated ( I lost that pencil – I lost those
pencils)
-simple substitution – one word or some words in the pattern are exchanged for others of the same class (a noun
instead of another noun; a verb, instead of another verb)
-replacement –one word in an utterance is replaced by another. It is made in any part of the sentence; the
students listen carefully , determine where it will fit in the sentence and then include it in the right place (Mary
comes early/late - Mary comes late)
-restatement – the students rephrase the utterance and address it to someone else, according to instruction (Tell
him to open the book - Open the book!)
-completion –the students hear an utterance that is complete except for one word, then repeat it in completed
form (I‘ll do my homework, you‘ll do…homework becomes I‘ll do my homework, you‘ll do your homework)
-transformation – the pattern given as stimulus is transformed into another pattern in the response (present –
past; affirmative – interrogative; active- passive)
-expansion /pyramid – starting with a short sentence, the students expand it by adding additional units and
making the necessary agreements (This new hat is mine.- can become This new red hat is mine. -or This new
hat on the table is mine.)
-drilling position of adverbs of frequency
-transposition – when a word is added it takes a certain place in the sentence (I am very busy now. – can become
So am I.)
-contraction – a simple word stands for a phrase or for a clause (Put your pen on the desk – can become Put
your pen there.)
-integration – two or more sentences are integrated into one
-rejoinder – the student makes an appropriate rejoinder to a given utterance; he is told in advance to respond in a
certain way (to be polite, to agree, to disagree, to express surprise, etc)
-translation – in the case of some problems where the contrast between the native language and the second
language pattern produce interference, translation is advisable as the last stage of drilling. It is always the
teacher who gives the translation, never the students.
Success-orientation is a principle with wide pedagogical implications. A learner whose performance is
consistently successful, will develop a positive self-image as a language learner. It contributes to a positive
classroom climate of relaxation, confidence and motivation. A part of their success is ensured by the teacher‘s
careful choice of the drills. Good drills have the following characteristics:
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-teaching new grammatical structures and not testing the already known ones
each drill has in view one structural model, one given problem
-the structural characteristics to be practised should be already familiar to -the student, from dialogues or known
fragments
-repetition of the same drill
-minimal changes in the new item
-short items, easily memorizable
-each item should be a complete pattern that could appear in oral communications
-the drill should induce the production of a single answer, regarding only one aspect of the language
-limited vocabulary (when teaching grammar)
-the drills have to be orally guided by the teacher
-drills should also involve creative participation on the part of the student
variation of drills to avoid boredom
-the series of teaching drills should be followed by a testing series
-final application of drills in a dialogue, in a series of questions and answers, a game, etc.
The teacher‘s activity in the course of practice should be largely directed towards supporting and assisting the
students in their production of acceptable responses, rather than towards assessing and correcting. Among the
examples of assistance there can be mentioned:
-giving extra time to reveal and think
-repeating or simplifying a text
-approving the beginning of an utterance in order to encourage production of the whole
-suggestions, hints, prompts
Task
Write two advantages and two possible problems for each of the grammar presentation techniques presented
above.
V. TEACHING LITERATURE AND DEVELOPING CULTURAL AWARENESS
Aims
1)to introduce trainees in the techniques of approaching a literary text
2)to help trainees develop critical thinking
Objectives
Students will be able to
1)demonstrate their abilities in planning and presentation of literary texts, using an appropriate terminology and
language register
2)handle techniques (recognition, guided discovery, awareness and response) which will allow their students
understand, interpret and respond to literary texts
3)handle techniques in text analysis (recognize and discuss elements of the plot and plot-building; discuss any
literary character/theme/point of view/ setting/symbol/language and style)
Contents
V.1.Literature and its place in the context of language teaching
V.2.Classroom activities
V.3.Developing cultural awareness
V.4.Classroom activities
V.1. Literature and its place in the context of language teaching
In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in the use of literature in the language classroom. The
literary texts are considered to represent the basis for imaginative interactive and discussion activities,
developing the students‘ character, helping them build emotional maturity and critical faculties. Literature
represents a valuable authentic material, valuable source of civilization knowledge. Literature provides students
with a rich storehouse to explore; it ca provide a stimulus for expressing different opinions; it facilitates content-
based classes; it represents a basis for student conversation, group work, writing and problem solving activities.
The literature class helps students to get information, thus improving their cultural awareness; it can also help
students to form their artistic taste, refine their thinking and feelings, form new moral attitudes, stimulate their
32
creativity, improve their language skills. Meeting a literary text in a right way, will give students an emotional
and personal experience and give room for reflection. This emotional appeal will involve students in the
learning process, encouraging extensive reading. Literature is also useful in reinforcing language points,
exhibiting a wide range of vocabulary and developing all four language skills: listening, reading, writing and
speaking. The main aim of teaching literature is to communicate aesthetic values and stimulate a sense of
personal involvement and reaction that will enrich the students‘ life experience. Extracting, appreciating and
creating beauty should be the main objectives for studying literature.
The teacher‘s role involves imparting and developing notions of taste, assessing validity, recognizing beauty.
The textbooks offer texts of literature already carefully chosen; they also offer more or less supplementary
information about the author‘s life and literary activity. The students must be able to appreciate and respond to
the text‘s coding of its cultural and emotional experience. The teacher‘s role is to guide and assist students in
generalizing from the given text, in exploring relationships between literary texts and everyday life and between
types of literary texts. The literary text must be considered a closed structure (it tells about a certain experience;
it was written at a certain time, written in a certain language and it belongs to a certain literary genre) and an
open structure (it has the meaning each reader finds in it) at the same time. Readers interpret the text, thus
becoming co-authors of it.
Teaching literature methodology implies taking into consideration that
-the study of literature should be stimulating and enjoyable
-students should be taught how to think and how to interpret a literary text
-students should be encouraged to personalize literary texts (students should be helped to bridge the gap
between the text which was written a long time ago and their own time)
-a balance should be reached between the traditional attitude in teaching literature (the teacher seen as the only
source of input) and the modern attitude (the student is encouraged to become the only source of input)
V.2. Classroom activities
Classroom activities must have in view to teach students how to think and how to interpret the text; how to
use concepts of literary theory. Attention should be given to the need of having a balance between an overload
of information and the extreme subjectivity of interpretation. Any literary text should be presented in the
context of the culture and civilization of their time; so, cultural awareness is very important (maybe as
important as the understanding of the fact that literature and language cannot be separated; literature is language
in use; it cannot be separable from language; it provides students with an abundance of examples of grammar
and vocabulary of English.) Students should be also helped to establish a link between the text under study and
their own time, in point of values, attitudes, mentalities, etc.
The activities in the classroom include:
a)pre activity- a time for students to guess and predict
The teacher builds up the students‘ interest by offering them information about the writer, the literary trend he
belongs to, his literary activity, characteristics of his works, themes and characters. He also builds up interest in
the work and gets students to anticipate what they will read about or listen to.
b)factual analysis
The student can read the text silently or listen to a recording of it. A model reading (if the text is not too long)
can be offered, too. This is followed by some questions on the surface level. The stage provides a means for
checking whether the students have understood the basic plot.
c)deep meaning analysis
It is a stage of interpretation and evaluation. The aim is for the students to react to the work, construct
meaning from it or discuss their ideas with each other. The most important stages in the activity with the text
are: recognition, interpretation and personal response.
In order to talk meaningfully about a literary text, it is necessary to organize activities according to a number of
categories:
1)the literary trend the text belongs to
Students should be given the characteristic elements of the main literary trends, so that they could easily
recognize the one the text under focus belongs to (Romanticism, Classicism, modernism)
2)the literary genre the text can belong to ( Is it a poem/play/novel/short story?)
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3)plot and suspense
The first concern must be to focus the students‘ attention on the skeleton of the plot structure. Until they grasp
the basic plot structure, or other aspects of plot-building, it is not possible to attempt any deeper level of text
treatment. Students should discuss the elements of the plot (exposition, initiating action, rising action, climax
and resolution); should be taught to identify different types of plot (the frame-story, the play –within-the-play,
the chronological or disrupted plot, as well as aspect of plot-building, such as: flashbacks,
psychological/chronological time; cinema/jazz technique; levels of the plot).
4)characters and relationships
The aim is to encourage students to identify the types of characters (real/imaginary; ordinary/hero/non-
hero/anti-hero/godlike) to analyse the role of the different characters in the story. As an initial activity, students
could be asked to draw up a profile of the major/minor characters. This means offering information about the
physical aspect; social status, code of behaviour, the language the characters use. Later activities can be based
on the students‘ offering personal reactions. They should also be asked to consider the relationships between the
characters. Discussion activities could be centred on a closer examination of these relationships. It will be
valuable if they can provide textual evidence to support their views, since this will allow a meaningful
discussion to develop in the classroom.
Besides this, characters should be analysed taking into consideration their physical aspect, social status or code
of behaviour; the role they play: main characters or secondary characters; their development during the vents:
round or flat characters; their participation : dynamic or static.
5)major themes
The aim of this activity is to identify the central themes of the story and establish the importance that each
individual reader will attach to them. One possible activity is to give a long inventory of possible themes and
ask the students to select the prime themes of the text or to rank the themes in order of relevance to the text.
Students will be helped to recognize such major themes as: love/hatred; good/evil; order/chaos;
civilization/nature; victory/ defeat; or: the theme of communication, escape, passing of time, power, etc.
6)the point of view
The main problems to be discussed here are connected with the difference between such concepts as: 1 st
person narrative and 3rd person narrative; author‘s voice and the character‘s/poetic voice; omniscient and
selective omniscient point of view; subjective narration and objective narration. Besides these, students should
be introduced to such concepts as: point of view as opinion, detached autobiography, multiple point of view,
interior monologue, diary narration, observer narration or dramatic monologue.
7)the setting
Students should be trained to recognize and analyse both the elements of the setting (time, place, weather,
season, physical environment) and the types of setting (realistic, naturalistic, grotesgue, fictional, semi-
fictional, supernatural, symbolic, open/closed, wild nature/urban). Besides these, they should analyse the role
the setting has: to create atmosphere, to illuminate character, to help escape into the inner/outer world, or to help
escape into another space or time.
8)the language and style
The teacher and the students seek to uncover the methods by which the writer communicates his own attitudes
towards the unfolding story. Students should be helped to identify. The students should be helped to understand
the metaphorical use of language, which is one of the most effective ways of communicating thoughts and
emotions. Students need to get sensitive to the way in which a writer makes certain objects or events symbolic
of a whole range of thinking and feeling that is built up throughout the text. Students should be helped to
identify and discuss: significant choices of language (concrete or abstract), the use of alliteration, assonance,
associations, allusions, personification, connotations, ellipsis, hidden meanings, silence, length of sentences,
paradoxes, symbols (death, life, decay, knight, regeneration, river, sea, shadow, sleep, numbers, places, etc.).
They should also discuss on the use of the semantic relations between words, the use of irony, sarcasm satire,
the use of humour and of the different types of images (visual, kinetic, caloric, auditory, tactile).Students should
also be taught to identify enumeration, gradation (from inside to outside or the other way round; from a static
picture to a dynamic one; gradation of chromatic elements), lexical and syntactical repetition, syntactical

34
parallelism and contrast. Students need also to be helped to find out the artistic devices used: epithets, similes,
metaphors, personifications, hyperbole, allegory or irony.
9)reader‘s response
Though a writer clearly has certain intentions regarding the way in which the discourse of a text will be
understood by the reader, the possibility exists that the individual student will interpret the text in a different
way. The teacher should allow students to express their ideas and thoughts freely, to contradict each other, be in
favour or against an expressed idea. He must encourage students refer to the work as much as possible and find
evidence in it to support the ideas. After group-work, there can be an open class discussion.
d)creativity
This is the last step in the classroom activity. It is the stage in which the literary work becomes a springboard
for the development of students‘ own ideas. The activity can be done individually or in groups, orally or in
written form. Creative writing can become part of the follow-up work in literature. After writing short
narratives, descriptions or poems, students should be encouraged to criticize each other‘s efforts, reacting to
vocabulary, images, etc. Thus, the processes of induction and production would be closely linked.
The same practical and participatory approach can be applied to the introduction of poetry. There can be used
several types of activities:
a)language type activities:
-recording of words and lines
-putting lines in the correct order
-matching
-translation
-cloze-type exercise (in which all verbs or adjectives are removed)
-substitution of words
b)analytical/content type activities:
-looking at and analysis of the title
-discussing points that attract attention (words, phrases, punctuation or layout)
-grouping words thematically
-answering questions
-comparing poems
-constructing poems following the given example
-commenting on likes and dislikes
c)creative type activities:
-changing words (using synonyms and antonyms)
-writing own lines
-writing the poem in the form of a letter or dialogue
-translating
-performing
The teacher must also stress on the idea that there exist several types of approaching a literary text:
-the textual approach - identification of the organisation of the text; its structure; vocabulary; syntax;
characteristics of the author`s style; the analysis of the incipit and the ending
-the thematic approach
-the linguistic approach - the analysis of the words which become support for the idea expressed
-the technical approach - the relationships between the character and the point of view; between character and
the plot; between character and feeling/action
-the stylistic approach
V.3.Developing cultural awareness
Before the 60s linguists restricted their attention to the formal aspects of language. Beginning with mid 60s,
they admitted the importance of culture in language pedagogy, considering that a language is embedded in the
culture of a people, reflecting the totality of beliefs and sentiments of the speech community. According to
Fries14 , in reading a foreign language test, we extract three levels of meaning: lexical meaning, structural
meaning and sociocultural meaning. The third type of meaning involves values, attitudes and beliefs of the
35
speech community. The study of a foreign language enables an individual to develop his cultural understanding
of that language, and at the same time, it promotes his personal culture through contact with great minds and
literature. Language and culture are thus inseparable; the learning of one of them cannot be done without the
learning of the other. This means that the teaching of cultural content should be integrated with the teaching of
language patters and lexicon. Most new textbooks are culture-bound. They offer information and present-day
realities about Britain and the English speaking world, and students have the possibility to compare and contrast
them with their own realities; they are able to find out similarities and differences, developing their spirit of
curiosity and inquiry; this represents the essence of cultural awareness. This awareness is helped by the
presentation of authentic written and spoken texts including information about the history of Britain,
geographical aspects of the English-speaking world, the peoples‘ life style, their literature, art, architecture,
music, dance, their customs and traditions as well as the important issues of the contemporary world. Cultural
awareness is meant to provide students with the necessary knowledge, skills and cognitive abilities to enable
them to establish links with other cultures and represent their own culture to others. The students bring their
own culture in the communication process with the foreign culture.
V.4.Classroom activities
At the beginning level, dialogues are considered to be an excellent vehicle for introducing cultural items and
pattern of behaviour. The language used during this type of exercise, as well as the situations under discussion,
should be natural and comprehensible, base on the students‘ experience, and according to their age and
interests. The dialogues chosen by the teacher and acted by students should reflect the students‘ level of
proficiency. Once practised, the dialogues may become subject for analysis; the teacher should explain the
cultural aspects which are particular to native speakers of English, contrasting them with the native culture of
the students. The particular aspects which can be easily analysed are: greeting; formal/informal interchange
between the interlocutors; ways of showing politeness; ways of expressing
agrrement/disagreement/acceptance/refusal/surprise/anger/joy/happiness; ways of proving attention to what is
said; expressing farewell.
Another way of providing cultural knowledge is by using pictures, slides, maps, albums. Their selection
should be well done, so that to illustrate the main aspect of cultural behaviour; the teacher should offer
explanation regarding the cultural content, because observation alone may mislead students.
As the students gain more proficiency in the language, the use of dialogues and visuals should be replaced by
factual and expository materials; the strategy of teaching should be also changed; culture should be taught
through the medium of language. A textbook comprising short stories, poems, articles from newspapers and
magazines, should be used for classroom instruction. At the advanced level, the study of literature is the one
which help students get their cultural understanding.
Task
Establish three objectives of lessons introducing literary texts.
VI. LESSON PLANNING
Aims
1)to raise trainees‘ awareness regarding the importance of lesson planning in the process of teaching language
2)to help students identify objectives of each type of lesson
3)to guide students in the process of establishing stages and activities for different types of lessons
Objectives
1)the trainees will be able to establish by themselves the objectives, the stages, methods and procedures of a
lesson
2)the trainees will be able to evaluate different types of lesson plans and choose the most suitable one for a
particular situation
Contents
VI.1. General considerations
VI.2. Types of lesson plans
VI.1. General considerations
Success in teaching is directly proportional to the care of preparation of the lesson, of the material to be
taught, preparation which can be of two types: a long-term preparation a short-term preparation. Lesson
36
planning means taking into consideration what to do with the students during the time they are in the classroom,
enabling them to do something new with the language. Serious consideration should be given to who the
students are, the number of students in the classroom, their age, their level in English.
The lesson plan should be a working document used for guidance. This is why it should be clear and easy to
read. Layout, highlighting of key points, indications of clear staging are very important. The statement of aims
must be clear, specific and concrete; they should refer exclusively to the lesson in hand. Against the statement of
aims, the shape, balance and pace of the lesson must be judged.
Here are some of the problems the teacher must have in view when preparing the lesson and the material he has
to teach:
-to decide clearly what he is going to teach
-to make sure he has the necessary material
-to prepare any textbook material he intends to use (establish its order, choose fit exercises, find the words
which need explanation)
-not to let the book dictate (he can change the order of the material presented, omit particular items, supplement
the book by providing additional practice)
-not to prepare too much or too rigidly (a plan for the lesson helps, but it should be just a general framework,
not an extensive plan)
-to prepare the aids
-not to ignore the practical difficulties (the teacher should be conscious of each and every student as an
individual)
-not to forget that a good lesson has a beginning, a middle part and an end (a short introduction is needed, to
remind students of what happened last time and say what he is going to do; at the end of the lesson, a brief
summary is needed, as well as a few words about what will happen next time).
Variety and flexibility are the two principles which stand at the basis of a good lesson planning. Variety means
involving students in a number of different types of activities and introducing them to a wide selection of
materials; it also means planning so that learning is interesting and not monotonous. Flexibility is to be noticed
when dealing with the plan in the classroom. For a number of reasons, what the teacher has planned may not be
appropriate for that class on that particular day; the flexible teacher will be able to change the plan in such a
situation.
The main components of a lesson plan are:
-the introductory part – including: the name of the teacher, the date, the class, the grade; the textbook, the unit;
the lesson
-information about the language to be used: vocabulary/grammar/communicative areas
-the aims and objectives -they will help the teacher choose useful activities, appropriate techniques and the
materials needed to achieve the objectives within the time available (the number of objectives depends on the
number of stages in the class; the objectives are written in terms of skills and in terms of language)
Types of aims:
-topic aims: Students read/discuss about…
-grammar aims: Students practise/discuss the difference/similarity between…
-communication aims: Students talk about…; Students reply to letters written to each other…
-vocabulary aims: Students match pictures of…with…; Students listen for all words related to…
-function aims: Students learn how to…(greet, complain, apologize); Students learn how to express…/show…
-skill aims: Students write…; Students listen to…and…
-pronunciation aims: Students identify the difference between…
-reviewing aims: Students revise the vocabulary about…; Students revise descriptions of…
-group dynamic aims: Students discuss about…; Students share opinions about…; Students reach consensus…
Types of objectives:
a)cognitive objectives:
-discriminate/articulate sounds in isolated words and in context
-understand and react adequately to simple/complex questions and statements
-produce questions and answers
37
-interpret meaning of text
-express themselves in free writing
-order information
-recognize/manipulate the script of the language
-understand/produce intonation patterns as used in different types of clauses
-understand/express conceptual meaning (quantity, comparison, time, location, cause, reason, definiteness,
indefiniteness)
-understand/express relations between parts of the text through lexical/grammatical cohesion devices (reference,
time and place indicators, connectors)
-become aware and show understanding of the forms; properties of language
-understand explicitly/implicitly stated information
-express information explicitly
-express opinions and suggestions
-understand socio-cultural elements of everyday life
-be aware of mentalities and attitudes typical for the cultural space
-understand specific images and symbols
-interpret a text
-integrate data in a text with own experience or knowledge of the world
-deduce the meaning of unfamiliar items through contextual clues
-use basic reference skills
-skim to obtain a general impression of the text
-scan to locate specifically required information
-transcode information in speech or writing tables, graphs, diagrams
-understand/express equivalence of meaning within the same style
-initiate in discourse (eliciting, informing)
-introduce a new topic or point of view
-respond in different situations (agreeing, disagreeing, accepting, refusing)
-correct what is wrong or false
-reformulate ideas expressed orally or in written form
-terminate a discourse
-read to confirm expectations
-study relevant words
-prepare a description of…; a report on…
-write a letter/report/advertisement/journal/diary page
-understand messages in non-standard language
-participate in debates and negociations
-present projects
b)affective objectives:
-making the students confident in the ability to use the language
-using English while playing
-having fun
-stimulating students‘ imagination and creativity
-creating interest in the topic of…
-to foster learner independence and cooperative learning
Much attention should be also given to the choice of the warm-up activities; whose general aim is to help
students learn better. Other specific aims are:
-to create expectations about language
-to offer learners a reason to listen/read/speak/write
-to get learners communicating about the topic
-to create a relaxed atmosphere, proper for studying
-to draw attention to something important which is going to be discussed
38
-to introduce learners to the topic, by giving background information
-to provide links between different stages of the lesson
These types of activities are often called “pre-skills “activities, because they prepare -students for language
skills work. Their choice is influenced by the type of task the teacher is teaching. Some are short, others are
longer; some are content-based, others are language-based.
VI.2.Types of lesson plans
A.
Teacher‘s name:
Date:
Class:
Level:
Class size:
Topic:
Approach:
Objectives:
Teaching aids:
Procedure:
Stage / T‘s activity& lg /Ss‘s activity & lg / Interaction / Skills / Time /Purpose
B.
Teacher‘s name:
Date:
Class:
No. of students:
Grade:
Textbook:
Unit:
Lesson:
===========================================================
Lesson aims: 1.
2.
3.
Materials:
Activity 1
Aims:
Procedure:
Interaction
Timing
Activity 2
Aim:
Procedure:
Interaction
Timing
Activity 3
…………………………..
Activity 4
…………………………..
Homework:
Next lesson:
C.(offered by Jeremy Harmer15)
Description of the class – Level:

39
Recent work:
Objectives:
Contents:
Objective 1 Timing:
Context (what the students have to discuss about):
Activity (what the teacher and the students do):
Aids:
Language:
Possible problems:
Objective 2 Timing:
Context:
Activity:
Aids:
Language:
Possible problems
Objective 3
……………………………..
Objective 4
Additional possibilities:
Task
Devise a lesson plan on a topic included into one of the new textbooks (no matter the grade or level)
VII.CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Aims
1)to introduce trainees to the problems concerned with classroom management
2)to help trainees get familiar with the main aspects which make a class successful
Objectives
1)the trainees will be able to adapt to school conditions and raise awareness of teacher`s role
2)trainees will be able to apply principles of group/pair/lockstep work
3)trainees will be able to deal with disruptive behaviour
4)trainees will be able to use English appropriately for social interaction and class management
Contents
VII.1.Field of investigation
VII.1. Field of investigation
Success in the teaching process is very much ensured by class management, that is the teacher being able to
organize all aspects of the classroom:
-organization of the classroom; lay-out (seating)
-lesson stages
-pacing of activities
-lesson cohesion
-transitions from activity to activity
-individual/pair/group or class work
-supporting materials
-discipline in the classroom
-exploitation of unexpected or unplanned occurrences
1.Organisation of the classroom
The way in which the classroom itself is organized has a very important role. This starts with the way in
which it looks like: clean, neat and orderly in appearance. The way in which the blackboard looks like is also of
great importance, because it represents one of the teacher‘s greatest allies; it offers students visual input and
allows the teacher to illustrate with words, pictures, graphs and charts.

40
 Seating is also important. Generally, classrooms have fix desks, but whenever it has movable chairs. It is
better to be arranged in such a way that it should offer students the best possibilities of working in pairs, or
groups thus creating a co-operative atmosphere and maximizing student practice.
Before knowing how to introduce communicative activities, the teacher should know hoe to create a
productive learning environment. One important prerequisite for learning is discipline and order. Besides these,
conventions and routines are important factors in creating a productive working environment; the students
should be taught how to move into different activities, how they should attract attention when they want to talk;
they should know the routines for collecting written work, etc.
2.The role of the teacher
In the classroom the teacher has to play many roles (according to J. Harmer16):
a) the teacher as organizer – this is considered to be the most important and difficult role; when organizing any
activity, the teacher should tell the students what exactly they have to do: the tasks they have to perform, what
they are going to talk or write about; his instructions must be very clear and he should always check if students
have understood correctly what they have to do
Jeremy Harmer believes that the organization of an activity must include three stages:
-the lead-in - which is considered an introduction to the subject, meant to create expectations about language,
give students a reason to listen, read, speak or write and stirs their interest in the new topic
-the instruction – the students are told exactly what they should do
-the initiation – the teacher initiates the activity after checking comprehension of instructions
The teacher should also know how to provide links between different stages of a lesson and how to organize
the pairs or groups for different activities.
When organizing an activity, students should be told in advance how much time they are allotted. The teacher
should be flexible in forcing time limits.
Penny Ur17 offers some hints for lesson management:
- prepare more than you need (to have “reserve” activity ready in case of extra time)
-note in advance which components you will sacrifice if you find with too little time
-keep a watch/clock easily visible, to judge time
-do not leave the giving of homework to the last minute when generally, the learner`s attention is low
-if you have papers to distribute and a large class, do not try to give every paper yourself to every student; ask
them to take one and pass the rest on
-if you are doing group work, give instructions and make sure these are understood before proper work
b)the teacher as a controller
When having such a role, the teacher is in complete charge of the classroom; he controls what his students do
every minute; he controls when they speak and how much they do that, what language they use, and so on. The
whole class activity becomes a teacher-centred activity, during which the teacher does a lot of talking.
c)the teacher as facilitator
This role may be considered as opposed to that of a controller. The teacher helps his students to accomplish
their tasks and manifest freely in all activities.
d)the teacher as assessor
The teacher assesses the students‘ work, their performance in language. Assessment can be of two types:
correction and feedback.
Feedback is the information that the teacher gives to his students about their spoken or written performance; the
teacher points out what they have done successfully and what errors they made. It can be of two types: content
feedback – which is “an assessment of how well the students performed the activity as an activity rather than a
language exercise” and form feedback – which tells the students “How well they have performed linguistically,
how accurate they have been” (J. Harmer)
e)the teacher as prompter
During their activity, students need to be encouraged by the teacher. As a prompter, the teacher gives them
encouragement, and at the same time, he makes suggestions about how students may continue one activity,
whenever they are confused or they are at a loss.

41
f)the teacher as participant - during activities, the teacher can be a partner to his students, on condition that he
does not dominate but give his students freedom to express; he just offers the students the chance to practise
with someone speaking better than them
g)the teacher as a resource - the one who offers input to students; he should be always ready to help them
whenever the case is.
h)the teacher as tutor – offers guidance and advice, especially when students are engaged in self-study or doing
project work
3.Teaching space
Where teachers sit or stand during a lesson is very important; it increases or decreases student involvement. A
teacher who always sits is unlikely to have a successful teaching or to create a pleasant atmosphere. Besides
this, disruptive behaviour may be encouraged, because students (especially those at the back of the classroom)
feel free and try to do something else.
A teacher who is not mobile, but prefers standing in front of the classroom, has to resort to the technique of
questioning, if he wants to keep everyone awake and busy. So, the teacher should move around the classroom,
but not to distraction (especially when students need much concentration on their tasks). A teacher who is
mobile and walks around the classroom has more chances to have a successful lesson: he has greater control on
the class; he can help students with different tasks and thus students feel more confident. Anyway, too much
moving is not recommended. A teacher should feel and learn from experience when to sit, to stand or walk, so
that students can feel free, confident and eager to communicate.
4.Teacher talking time
“Good” teacher talk means little teacher talk, because too much talking time deprives students of the
opportunity to speak. Interest in teacher talk has shifted from a concern with quantity towards a concern with
quality: more emphasis is given to how effectively the teacher is to facilitate learning and promote
communicative interaction in the classroom, through, for example, the kind of questions the teacher asks, the
speech modifications he makes when talking to students or the way he reacts to students errors. Teacher talk is
now generally recognized as a potentially valuable source of comprehensible input for the students. Since this is
essential for language acquisition, getting teacher to reduce the amount of his talk would necessarily be in the
interest of the students.
5. Eye contact
It is very important for the teacher to know when to keep distant and not to invade his students‘ intimacy and
when to come close to them, offer his help and talk to them as if they were his partners. The teacher should look
into his students‘ eyes while he is explaining something, when one student answers to his question, or when one
student has a disruptive behaviour. A fix and insistent look may sometimes make students lose confidence and
forget everything they learned and knew.
So, the teacher should look at his students and let them know that they are being watched but never suffocated
with his present and critical eye. His look must be encouraging, supporting and friendly.
6.Body language
It is known that in face to face interaction the speaker can use a whole range of facial expressions, gestures
and general body language in order to convey the message. This happens in the classroom, too. Apart from the
words he uses, the teacher can vary his intonation and stress, thus conveying his attitude to what students are
saying; he can indicate interest or lack of interest, approval, disapproval, appreciation, encouragement, etc.
Besides this, the teacher uses his body language; thus, arms can be used to indicate the intonation patterns
(rising or falling); a smile encourages students; a raised finger can indicate “attention” and so on.
The teacher must also teach his students how to use the body language in order to express their thoughts,
feelings and attitudes. The simulation activities and role-play are efficient activities that can be used.
7.The role of the student
The teacher must have in view that each student is a highly individual human being. Each student has
developed different strategies for learning; each may have a different learning style, but all students come to
lessons with expectations. Students learn in different ways and at different rates. The teacher has to help
students maintain their positive motivation by making it possible for them to satisfy goals that they consider

42
important. He has to plan different types of activities (group-learning activities and for individual instruction),
for the shaping of students‘ behaviour towards the course objectives.
8.Classroom interaction
Humanistic techniques concentrate on interaction, on the human factor in the classroom, that is focus not on
the objective of teaching, but on the process of achieving that objective. The emphasis is on relaxation,
encouragement and group dynamics within the class. During the class activities there might be several types of
interaction:
TT – teacher talk; there is no initiative on the part of the student who is silent
TS – teacher initiates; the student answers
ST – students initiates; the teacher answers
SS – full-class interaction; the students debate a topic or do a language task as a class; the teacher may intervene
occasionally to stimulate participation or to monitor
GW – group work; students work in small groups on tasks that entail interaction
PW – pair work; students work in pairs on tasks that entail interaction
IW – individual work; the teacher gives a task and student works on it independently; the teacher walks around
monitoring and assisting where necessary
Questioning is a universally used activation technique in teaching; it is the main way of interacting with
students. There can be distinct types of teacher questioning:
-closed-ended teacher questioning – only on “right” response gets approved
-open-ended teacher questioning – there are a number of possible “right” answers so that more students answer
each question
-referential questioning – the teacher asks the class something to which he does not know the answer
-“display” questioning – the teacher simply checks if the student knows the answer; checks comprehension
There can be distinguished several types of questions (Nuttall,C.)18:
-questions of literal comprehension – the answers are directly and explicitly available in the text; they are
essential preliminaries to work on the text
-questions involving reorganization or reinterpretation – require the students to obtain literal information from
various parts of the text and put it together, or to reinterpret information; they help students consider the text as
a whole
-questions of inference – they oblige the students to consider what is implied in the text, but not explicitly stated
-questions of evaluation – they involve the students in making a considered judgement about the text
-questions of personal response – the answer to them depends on the reader of the text
Questioning has different reasons:
-to get students engaged with the language material actively through speech
-to find out something from students
-to check or test understanding, knowledge or skill
-to get students to be active in learning
-to stimulate thinking
-to encourage self-expression
-to direct attention to the topic under discussion
An effective questioning is the one which elicits fairly prompt, motivated, relevant and full responses.
The teacher may vary activities and their technique; he can change speed, modality, change order of activities,
change the order of items in activities or the number of people involved in activities. Some guidelines for
ordering the components of a lesson could be:
-put the harder task first and more structured and controlled ones later
-have quieter activities before lively ones
-pull the class together at the beginning and the end
-end on a positive note
Group work organization includes:

43
-presentation – the teacher gives instructions; he describes the tasks assigned; the teacher, having foreseen the
language which is needed, has now a preliminary appropriate grammar or vocabulary ; the teacher lets the
students know the arrangements for stopping: the time limit, the signal for stopping
-process – the teacher`s job is to go from group to group, monitor and gives help if necessary
-ending – the activity should have either a time limit or stop while the students are still enjoying it, or just
beginning to flag
-feedback – has as its main objective the appreciation of the effort that has been invested and its results; it
usually takes place in the context of full-class interaction after the end of the group work; may have different
forms: giving the right solution; listening to an evaluating suggestion; pooling ideas on the board; displaying the
materials the groups have produced.
9.Pacing of activities
Interaction assures that students are involved actively. It allows for different learning styles and helps keeping
students‘ attention by varying the pace of the lesson. Timing and pacing activities should be one of the teachers‘
main concerns. In order to get the best of it, a good selection of the material in terms of difficulty is important.
When the material is too difficult, the teacher should slow down a little, repeat the necessary part, so that
students understand the problems under discussion. When the material is too easy, he has several choices:
speed-up a little bit, skip some parts, have some supplementary material for students. A varied lesson is
interesting and pleasant.
10.Student groupings
One traditional situation in classroom activity is the lockstep. It is the class grouping where all the students are
working with the teacher, doing the same type of activity, in the same rhythm and pace. The teacher controls
everything: the content, the stages and the pace of the lesson; he is the main source of information and
knowledge. This is always referred as the “transmission “ mode of education; this view of teaching is contrasted
with exploratory learning in which the emphasis is on the process by which students are able to make ideas of
their own. The activity has certain disadvantages; it leaves students little chance to practise or to talk (the
teacher initiates all the language exchange in the class); the pace established by the teacher is usually too slow
for the good students and too fast for the weak ones, so it becomes boring for the first category, but frustrating
for the second one. Yet, the activity may have advantages: the whole class work together; students concentrate
on the activity and the teacher is sure that everyone works and can hear his instructions clearly.
Another type of activity is the individual work. In such type of activity, the student works at his/her own pace,
develops the capacity of working independently of the teacher and develops responsibility. Individual work can
be provided in various ways:
-students can work on different tasks according to their level, needs and interest
-students can work at different aspects of the same task
-students can work on tasks that can be carried out at a variety of levels
Pair work increases the amount of student practice. The advantages are: it increases student participation and
language use, and encourages student cooperation, sharing of ideas, analysing, synthesising and evaluating
together.
Group work, just as pair work increases the amount of student talking time, gives students opportunities to
communicate with each other, share responsibility; if good and weak students are put together in the same
group, this means an advantage for the weak ones, on condition that the other members of the group are
supportive and create a cooperative atmosphere.
Both pair and group work are dynamic activities, which lead to a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere. Teachers
often worry about noise and indiscipline when having these two types of activities, especially when working
with children and adolescents. They also worry about too much use of mother tongue. The most important
problems that teachers must have in view when having such activities are:
-the selection of group members
-to make sure that all the students in groups know what is expected from them
-the size of the group
-to ensure supportive atmosphere
Managing pair and group work aims at students adjusting to such work; this means:
44
-starting and stopping when the teacher tells them to
-switching quickly from one activity to another
-working quietly
-listening carefully to instructions
During pair and group work, the teacher should move around the class, be ready to give help whenever
needed.
11.Dealing with large classes
Ideally, language classes should not have more than a dozen students or so: large enough to provide diversity
and student interaction and small enough to give students plenty of opportunity to participate and to get
individual attention.
Large classes are generally to be found at secondary level. Whenever dealing with such classes there appear
some problems that a teacher must have in view. Rob Nolasco and Lois Arthur 19 consider that some of these
problems might include:
-coping with the noise
-persuading the class to use English as much as possible (especially when they work in pairs or groups)
-managing the introduction and setting up activities
-monitoring the work of individuals within the class
-impossibility to provide the necessary duplicated materials
-the existence of mixed abilities
-individual student-teacher attention is minimized
-students opportunities to speak are lessened
In such cases, the task of the teacher is a little bit more difficult than usual; he could cope with it if he gets to
know his students very well (learning their names, learning about their likes and dislikes, about their hobbies,
interests, feelings, attitudes).He must create a productive environment (an atmosphere of motivation and
cooperation); try to make each student feel important; increases students‘ responsibility and involvement; get
students to do as much interactive work as possible; optimize the use of pair and group work; use peer feedback
and evaluation in written work when appropriate; use clear instructions, staged, brief and easy to follow.
Students do not learn a language at the same rate. This means that in large classes the teacher has to cope with
not only different levels of linguistic expertise but different levels of intelligence and motivation as well. The
problems that might appear in such mixed-ability classes include:
-preventing bright students from getting bored or the weak students from being left behind
-avoidance of aiming at the average students to the exclusion of the others who also need stimulus and help
-controlling students who disrupt the lesson
Managing such situations means:
-getting individualization by offering students work on different tasks according to their level, needs and
interest; making them work at different aspects of the same task; working on tasks that can be carried out at a
variety of levels
-adapting the system of questioning: allocating easy questions to the less able or confident, and more difficult
ones to better students
-adopting a good policy regarding the formation of groups: at times, putting good and weak students in the same
group; giving students different tasks in the same group
-motivating the students by the tasks and activities chosen
-building up of a series of tasks which can be given to students who finish earlier: games and puzzles; lists of
words to learn; comic strips; pages from other textbooks or magazines
-using open-ended questions
-rethinking traditional activities: trying to set up an activity only for one group, while the others work on
something else
-introducing new approaches: a project work, for example
-organizing a good feedback: letting them know what they have done wrong and giving them advice on
improving their performance
There may be different ways of varying a lesson:
45
-tempo – activities may be brisk and fast-moving (as guessing games) or slow and reflective (as reading
literature and responding in writing
-organization – the learners may work on their own at individualized tasks, in pairs/groups, or as a full class
-mode and skill – activities may be based on the written or the spoken language; within these they may vary as
to whether the learners are asked to produce (speak, write) or receive (listen, read)
-difficulty – easy, non-demanding activities may alternate with difficult, requiring concentration and effort ones
-topic – may change from activity to activity
-mood – light and fun-based activities may alternate with serious and profound ones
-activity – some activities may enliven and excite learners (debates) while others have the effect of calming
them down (dictations)
-active –passive – students may be activated in a way that encourages their own initiative or they may only be
required to do as they are told
12.Dealing with disruptive students
There are moments in the classroom when the teacher is faces problems of discipline. Among the reasons for
discipline problems J. Harmer20 identifies: the teacher, the students and the institution. In order to avoid such
problems. He considers that the teacher
-should not go to the class unprepared
-should state clearly to students what his expectations regarding their behaviour in class
-should not be inconsistent
-should not issue threats
-should not raise his voice
-should not give boring classes
-should not be unfair
-should not have a negative attitude to learning
-should gain the respect of all students
He also considers that among the reasons why students behave badly are:
-the time of the day when they have that particular lesson
-their attitude regarding the class, the teacher and the subject to be studied
-the students‘ desire to be noticed
-two‘s company – the fact that they encourage each other in their disruptive behaviour
It is also very important that the institution should have a good recognized system for dealing with problem
classes and students. The personality of the teacher has much to say as regards the ability to control a student or
a group of students with disruptive behaviour. The teacher should act immediately, and get them under control,
by different procedures:
-trying to identify the source of the problem rather than treating symptoms
being firm but warm in dealing with variances to his expectations
-changing the student‘s seat
-giving the student/students extra responsibility
-changing the activity
-praising students after any positive behaviour and well accomplished task
13.Creating a positive classroom climate
In order to get a successful lesson, the teacher should create a positive classroom climate: stimulating,
energizing and supportive. This depends first on the rapport he establishes with his students, a relationship built
on trust and respect. A good rapport is ensured by:
-interest shown in each student as a person
-feedback offered on each student‘ progress
-value on what students think and say
-balance between praise and criticism
-getting rid of stress in the classroom
-promoting learner autonomy
14. Aids and materials
46
 Attitude, motivation and interest of the learner are factors of crucial importance in determining
achievement in language learning. The teacher`s attitude towards the students, the classroom itself and certain
kinds of visual instructional material develop and sustain motivation, producing at the same time, a positive
attitude towards English.
Aids facilitate learning and make it more enjoyable. When using aids of any kind in the classroom, the
use of them, handling, clarity, size, audibility and suitability must be considered in relation to the particular
lesson and the learners being taught. Any aid should become integral to the lesson; it becomes relevant and
effective for the class and objective only if its sequencing is logical, if the teacher showed imagination and
creativity in selection or devising of materials. Aids are generally used to support the teaching points.
The teacher`s most widely used and most valuable tool in the classroom is the blackboard. It can be used
successfully when
-introducing a dialogue (the teacher sketches stick figures on the blackboard and points to whoever is speaking)
-introducing expressions (for example, expressions connected with time can be introduced by drawing a clock
or listing hours appropriate to each greeting)
-drawing maps/diagrams/charts/tables
-drawing time lines
-testing grammar structures
-writing the new vocabulary
-writing questions/multiple choice items/matching expressions/summaries to ensure comprehension
-writing model sentences in guided writing. besides the blackboard, the teacher can also use:
-realia
-charts/picture files – containing types of illustrations: pictures of persons and single objects; pictures of people
engaged in various activities (pictures can be arranged in categories: furniture, people, means of
transportation; animals; plants; fruit; vegetables, etc.)
-the flannel board (a piece of low-cost flannel, pinned to, glued on or simply laid over, a blackboard; on it,
pictures/cutouts of various items can be stuck or pinned)
-the pocket chart (can be made by simply stapling four or five narrow strips of heavy paper or cardboard to a
large sheet so as to form pockets into which cards bearing individual words and punctuation marks
can be placed)
-the slip chart (the frame is made of heavy poster board, with the right edge left open to receive the slip charts –
that is, lightweight poster board on which are printed the sentences, phrases and the key words to be
used)
-mock-ups ( dummy telephones, clocks constructed out of playwood and endowed with movable hands; menus
made simple and easy to read)
-catalogues and magazines
-the OHP
-cassette recorder and cassettes
-tape recorder
-language films
No matter the aids and materials the teacher may use, certain basic rules must be observed: the visual aid
should be directly relevant to a specific teaching object; it should be a convincing representation of
the actual object; it should be of suitable size for teaching, simple, graphic, and easy to use and
manipulate.
15. Developing student autonomy
Recent studies show that learning is successful only when students take responsibility for their own learning.
The independent and autonomous learner is the one who wants to learn, is aware of his needs and of what he
wants to achieve through language learning. The teacher should try and develop student autonomy, the feature
which makes students become active individuals in their own social context, without any help. The teacher can
do this by:
1)enhancing students` intrinsec motivation by:
-the syllabus which takes into consideration students` affective, cognitive, attitudinal skills and characteristics
47
-using a variety of topics and tasks
-using such exercises as: info gap, opinion gap or personalization
-authenticity in task design and language that give students the feeling of reality and usefulness
-using open-ended and freer tasks which are more stimulating by involving several possible answers of different
degrees of predictability
2)developing students` linguistic strategies:
-use of procedures such as; guessing meaning from the context, discovery techniques, language awareness
activities, in the area of vocabulary, grammar, functions, discourse and translation
3)developing students` cultural and social strategies
-awareness (of self and others)raising activities
-personalization activities
-developing assertiveness and confidence
-developing personal responsible behaviour
-developing comparing, compensation and transfer strategies
-developing personal and family values
-developing artistic taste and creativity
4)developing students` cognitive strategies by:
-note-taking
-grouping
-analysing
-summarizing
-skimming/scanning
-matching
-deducing
-selecting
-transferring
5)developing students` metacognitive strategies:
-developing ability to plan, perform, organize and evaluate activities
-helping students acquire research skills
-helping students self-evaluate and plan their self-study
-helping students develop the faculty of critical thinking (adapted from The Methodology of Pathway to
English, OUP, 2000)
Task
1)Outline some of the advantages of using visual support materials
2)What are some of the basic principles behind pair-work activities?
3)Write 5 reasons for asking questions in the language class
VIII.EVALUATION AND TESTING
Aims
1)to develop trainees` ability to evaluate students` performance
2)to help trainees adapt and design teaching and testing materials appropriate to their students` needs and
teaching contexts
Objectives
1)the trainees will be able to use appropriate techniques to evaluate and assess student performer
2)the trainees will be able to self-evaluate through critical reflection
3)the trainees will be able to design tests appropriate to the teaching contexts
Contents
VIII.1.Evaluation
VIII.2.Testing
VIII.3.Error correction
VIII.1. Evaluation

48
 Evaluation means gathering information about a class or an individual in order to form a judgement; its main
functions are considered to be:
-offering the students a clear picture of their progress in language
the students‘ stimulation to improve their activity
-the orderly classification of students according to their performance
-the formation and the development of students‘ capacity to appreciate and to self-appreciate objectively
Evaluation can be cumulative and formative/continuous. The first type compares students‘ performances; it has
in view either one important part of the course, or the whole, and it is made at the end of the semester, or at the
end of the school year. It aims at ranking of students according to their results. The second type consists in
comparing the obtained results of one student with the established objectives; it consists in the feedback given
for the students and the teacher. A good evaluation has some characteristics or criteria:
-the criterion of feedback – any evaluation must be an immediate feedback
-the criterion of information – the results of evaluation offer good information for the students, the teacher and
the students‘ parents
-the criterion of validity – the results must be valid
-the criterion of frequency
When evaluating, different errors may appear; they are strictly connected with three factors: the evaluator, the
one who is evaluated and the instrument of evaluation. The problem of evaluation is one important field of
research in psychology, because it is connected with different personalities in different situations. One of the
major problems of evaluation is the fact that it is relative; this happens because evaluation is always related
either to a norm, or to objectives. The classical methods of evaluation include daily observation, verbal
appreciation, written papers, practical papers, appreciation with marks and tests.
The verbal appreciation consists in the teacher‘s use of some expressions of the type: “Good”/”Good work”/
“ All right”/ “ Good answer”/ “There can be noticed much progress/ improvement in your work”/ “I do
appreciate your progress in English”, etc. It is used when the students‘ works are checked, when students work
to build up skills, when students are helped to fix their knowledge, or whenever changes are noticed in their
work, behaviour and attitude towards the learning process.
Evaluation with marks must have in view certain criteria:
-the marks should be objective
-they must reflect the students‘ exact level of knowledge
-when giving marks, the teacher should not be influenced by the marks obtained at other subjects
-after giving a mark, the teacher should explain to the student why he/she has got it (the student has to know
exactly what it was expected from him, what he knew and what he did not, as well as what he has to do in order
to get better results)
The appreciation must have as a result the growing of the students‘ trust in their possibilities.
VIII.2.Testing
Testing and teaching are closely interrelated. Tests are devices used to reinforce learning and motivate the
student; they are also means of assessing the students` performance in the language. A test gives a score that is
assumed to define the level of knowledge of the one who takes it. Language testing has four fundamental
aspects:
-the evaluative aspect – a good test is supposed to measure accurately and consistently what has or has not been
learned; this is what is meant by reliability; a good test is by definition reliable; the results should be compared
with the results obtained from any other similar test, even though the tests in question were taken by different
groups at different times
-the practical aspect – a good test is expected to provide as much information as is required with the minimum
expenditure of time, effort and resources; it must be given in a pleasant environment
-the instructional aspect – concerned with the relationship of the test to the course; an important feature of this
relationship is how testing influences the mode of teaching by providing insights into the learning process
Each test has a format and a content and it is based on procedures and activities.
Among the functions of tests, there can be mentioned:
-assessment of attainment, for purposes of awarding a qualification or for selection and placement
49
-prediction of future progress
-measurement of the value of teaching methods and procedures
-diagnosis of individual or group[ difficulties
-measurement of aptitude
So, according to their function tests may be:
-class progress tests – designed to measure the exact extent to which the students have mastered the material
taught in the classroom; they represent teaching devices and if they are well designed, they encourage students
to perform well, gain additional confidence, stimulate learning and reinforce what has been taught
-achievement tests – assessing what has been learned of a known syllabus; they assess knowledge and skills
learned over a short period of time and taught directly in school; they are established by the teacher and include
tasks which require students to recall information they were expected to commit to memory; these tests may be
standardized or teacher-made (most annual school examinations take the form of achievement tests)
-proficiency tests – assessing what has been learned of a known or unknown syllabus; they tell the teacher
whether or not an individual is proficient enough in language, in order to perform certain tasks; they are not
concerned with measuring not general attainment but specific skills; they may include dictation, error
recognition tasks or sentence completion tasks; all proficiency tests have in common the fact that they are not
based on courses that candidates may have previously taken
-aptitude tests – assessing proficiency in language for language use; they predict probable success or failure in
certain kinds of language study; they predict the student`s probable strength and weakness in learning a foreign
language (assesses aptitude for language learning)
-diagnostic tests – pointing out the area in which a student requires more concentrated teaching and study; they
discover the learning difficulties; they are rather carried out for groups of students rather than for individuals: if
several students in the group make a certain error, the teacher will note it and then plan appropriate remedial
teaching
A good test should have two characteristics: to be valid and to be reliable. Validity means that the test
measures accurately what it is meant/intended to measure; reliability means that the test is fit to be trusted or
relied on (has dependable score);reliability is the consistency with which a test measures something; under
similar conditions, with a similar group of test-takers, a reliable test will give the same results each time it is
used.
There are different kinds of validity:
-content validity – a test has content validity if its content is a representative sample of the language skills,
structures, etc. with which it is meant to be concerned (a grammar test, for example, must be made up of items
testing knowledge or control grammar); no test is able to encompass everything a student has learned; a test is
necessarily a sample of that content
-criterion-related validity – to be noticed if a test agrees with an independent assessment of the test-taker`s
ability; thus, if a teacher opinion independently corroborates test results, such a test would have criterion-related
validity
-construct validity – if it can be demonstrated that the test measures just the ability which it is supposed to
measure
-face validity – if it looks as if it measures what it is supposed to measure
In order to increase reliability of a test, the following must be taken in view: have enough test items; write
unambiguous items; provide clear and explicit instructions; insure that tests are well laid out and legible;
provide uniform and non-distracting conditions for administration; try to use items which permit objective
scoring; provide a detailed scoring key for the test; preserve candidates anonymity; use multiple, independent
scoring.
A test should also be objective; an objective test is the one which will be scored the same by any grader.
The term backwash denotes the effect of testing on teaching and learning; it has been observed that a test may
influence teaching/learning; what/how teachers teach; what/how learners learn; the attitude to the content and
method of teaching/learning as well as the degree and depth of teaching and learning.
A great variety of activities and tests can be used, for example to check vocabulary:
-finding the odd word in a series of related words
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-multiple choice exercise
-answering questions
-cloze tests
When checking grammar, the following exercises are usually chosen:
-multiple choice activities
-gap filling
-transformations (from affirmative into negative or interrogative; from active into passive; from direct into
indirect speech)
-finish the structures exercises
-rephrasing (students may be given the word(s) with which to begin the new sentence, or be given no support at
all
-matching
VIII.3.Error correction
Error correction in the process of learning a foreign language has concerned language teachers and
methodologists for many years. The attitude towards the learner‘s error has been reconsidered under the
influence of the latest studies concerning language learning and acquisition.
In the field of methodology there have been two major schools of thought concerning error correction. On the
one hand there has been established that “ the occurrence of errors is merely a sign of the present inadequacy of
our teaching techniques” (Corder21). On the other hand there can be mentioned the theory supported by the
representatives of the Communicative Approach, who view learners‘ errors as being natural and inevitable in
the process of learning. Errors should be treated as a way of learning the language; as a consequence, teachers
should concentrate more on techniques for dealing with errors. Chudron22 , on representative of such a theory,
considers that learners making mistakes should be viewed as positive; language mistakes must be interpreted as
signs that learners are learning something. Edge23 considers language errors as “learning steps” that we can
learn from; learners are trying things out, testing out their knowledge and skills in learning the language;
making mistakes is nothing but a part of their language-learning development. Teachers should not view
mistakes as negative. Consequently, helping learners by correcting them can be a way “of giving information, or
feedback, to your students, just when it will support their learning”
Some linguists differentiate between an error and a mistake. Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics
offers the following definitions:
1)error : (in the speech or writing of a second or foreign language learner), the use of a linguistic item (a word, a
grammatical item, a speech act, etc) in a way which a fluent or native speaker of the language regards as
showing faulty or incomplete learning.
Errors are classified according to:
-vocabulary (lexical error)
-pronunciation (phonological error)
-grammar (syntactic error)
-misunderstanding of a speaker‘s intention or meaning (interpretative error)
-production of the wrong communicative effect (pragmatic error)
Seen from another point of view, errors can be: developmental, interlingual or intralingual; they can also be
global or local.
2)mistake: (made by the learner when writing or speaking) – caused by lack of attention, fatigue, carelessness,
or some other aspect of performance.
As a conclusion, an error results from incomplete knowledge; the learner does not know the correct form and
cannot produce it at that particular stage of learning. Learners can be applying rules, either from their mother
tongue or from what they know of English; errors can show evidence of learning even though at that stage they
are getting something wrong. In the case of a mistake, the learner knows the correct form but he has
temporarily forgotten it; the learner can probably correct it. Edge distinguishes between:
-slips of the tongue/pen – which a learner can self-correct
-errors – which a student cannot correct by himself, but where it is clear which form the student wanted to use,
and the class is familiar with that form
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-attempts – where students have no idea how to structure what they want to mean, or where intended meaning
and structure are not clear to the teacher
Errors can have different causes:
1)L1 interference:
She is busy, isn‘t it?* (from a mother tongue which has a fix question-tag form)
Lots of people were wounded* in the car crash. (for the language which has the same item for injure and wound)
Correction: contrastive re-examination of the grammar problem in the two languages and more exercises to
practise it in English
2)False analogy:
My uncle is a fisher.* (analogy with other words, such as teacher, worker, which are agent nouns formed by
adding -er to the simple form of the verb)
Correction: new explanation of the problem ; checking the dictionary
3)Overgeneralization:
I am seeing* the plane in the sky. (overgeneralization that present continuous is always used when reference is
made to a continuous action in the present)
Correction: insistence on the exceptions from the rule, on the categories of verbs which cannot be used in
progressive form
I‘m going to that shop for buying* a new blouse. (overgeneralization of the rule: for+-ing as in: It‘s for cutting
bread; It‘s for mowing the lawn.)
Correction: explanation of the structure to be used when showing purpose
4)Overlearning of the rule:
She has gone* there this morning. (overlearning of the rule that present perfect is used for recent past)
He is hearing* the noise, I‘m sure. (overlearning of present continuous, as a result of intense drilling)
Correction: insistence on the cases in which the rule does not apply
5)Ignorance of the rule:
When I will arrive *at the railway station, I‘ll call you.(ignorance of the rule governing the time clauses with
future reference in English)
If he knew *it, he would have told it to me. (ignorance of the sequence of tenses in conditional clauses)
Correction: new explanation of the rules, if needed, as well as more practice
6)Incomplete learning:
Will you borrow* me your dictionary? (incomplete learning – the fact that in English there exist two verbs: to
borrow and to lend)
Correction: more examples which are based on the use of the verbs to lend and to borrow
She make *a cake every weekend. (incomplete learning of the form of the present tense IIIrd person singular)
Correction: new presentation of the rule, followed by more practice which contrasts the IIIrd person singular to
all the other persons
7)Failure to discriminate between forms:
They leave* in a new house.(failure to discriminate between the ling and the short sound: i:/I
They were to* noisy. (failure to realize the difference between too/to)
Correction: more pronunciation exercises which might help them discriminate between sounds
8)Confusion between items:
A man has robbed* my bike. (confusion from learning both items at the same time)
Correction: discrimination by examples and practice between the two verbs which create confusion.
There are several techniques of error correction: teacher‘s correction, self-correction, peer-correction, drawing
the student‘s attention by questioning, the teacher ‘s facial expressions or the teacher making different gestures.
Students will benefit most if they can be guided towards a process of correcting themselves. Where errors are
slips of the tongue or lapses , students will be able to supply the correct form. If they are not simple slips, errors
can provide a learning opportunity. Whenever the student is unable to self-correct, the teacher can call another
student to provide the correction, or the teacher can offer the correct version.
Task
Design a test in order to assess your students` knowledge of a particular grammar problem
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GLOSSARY
accuracy – the ability to produce language in a grammatically correct way
activity- a short task which is part of a lesson, perhaps lasting 15-20 minutes
affective – influencing or influenced by emotions
aims – the behavioural objectives of a lesson
authentic materials – texts from real-life sources (magazine articles, original cassette recordings)
backwash – the effect of testing on teaching and learning
body language – non-verbal communication (eye contact, facial expression, gestures, postures
brainstorm – to collect together knowledge/information/ideas on a topic
buzz groups – a form of group activity in which groups of students have a brief discussion to generate ideas,
answer specific questions, etc.
case study – a group activity which uses the data offered by a real “case” or typical situation
class work – any form of learning activity in which the whole class works together
classroom management – the way a teacher organizes his classroom and learners
content-based – focusing on a content area
computer assisted learning – a method of learning which involves the use of specially designed computer
programmes; abbreviate: CAL
cross-over groups – a form of group activity in which the class is divided into groups which have a discussion;
after some time, one/more members of each group move over and join one of the other groups, thus sharing ides
EFL – acronym for English as a Foreign Language; the role of in a country where English is not a language of
communication
elicitation – a technique using different questions and answers, by means of which the teacher gets
information/ideas/opinions from learners
evaluation – gathering information about a class or an individual in order to form a judgement
facilitator – an assistant or a guide for a group, who helps the group to find their own answers, rather than
providing them with “right” answers
feedback – information that is given to learners about their spoken or written performance
fluency – the ability to produce language easily, to communicate quickly but not necessarily with grammatical
correctness
gist – the main idea or message of an oral or written text
group dynamics – the way a group of people interacts with each other
group work – any form of learning activity which is done by groups of learners working together
humanistic activities – teaching techniques which emphasize the whole person and acceptance of his/her
individual values and emotions
inference – a guess about something from a text, reading between the lines
information gap – an activity in which a learner knows something that another learner does not know, so he has
to communicate to “close the gap” information
transfer activity – an activity where a learner has to move information from one place to another (example: to
complete a table according to information on a map)
input – language which learners experience in a lesson, from which they can learn
integrated skills – all of the language skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing) together
interaction – patterns of communication (verbal and non-verbal) between people
jigsaw reading - an activity which involves re-ordering a mixed text to find its correct order; it helps learners to
see the connections between parts of a written text
language acquisition – “picking up” a language; not learning it consciously, but by being exposed to it in
natural situations; often contrasted with language learning, which involves a conscious knowledge of the
language (example: grammatical rules)
learner-based activity – an activity in which learners supply personally relevant information or help create
materials

53
learner-centred teaching – learning situations where information and ideas are brought together to the class by
learners and used as learning material and which are concerned with the interests, needs, learning styles, feeling,
lives and/or values of the learners
learner talking time – the amount a learner talks during a lesson
learning strategy – a process or technique which a learner uses to help himself to learn a language ( looking at a
photograph above a newspaper article before reading it, is a reading strategy)
learning style –the way a particular learner learns something (by watching, by doing)
lesson pace – rhythm of the lesson
method – the procedures and techniques characteristic of teaching
micro-teaching –a teaching situation which has been reduced in some way; often used in a training situation to
concentrate on one particular aspect of a trainee‘s teaching. Usually one trainee teaches a short activity to
his/her classmates.
mind map – a diagram which supposedly represents the brain or the mind; topics are clustered on the page
together as they are believed to be collected in the brain
mixed-ability class – a group of learners whose proficiency levels span a range (high-beginning, low
intermediate, high-intermediate)
monitoring – learners are considered to monitor their language when they are consciously following the spoken
or written language they are producing
observation – gathering information together by watching a class, in order to describe what is happening
open-ended questioning – technique of questioning where the answer is not automatically predicted (the answer
expresses the student‘s opinions, suggestions, feelings)
perceptual language learning – a learning style related to the senses (auditory learning style; visual learning
style)
pictogram – a drawing of a word which represents that word
pie chart – a circular graph, divided into sections like pie slices, useful for displaying the relationship of parts to
each other and to the whole
pre-teach – to prepare learners for an activity, by introducing new language or topic
problem-solving activity – an activity where learners have to solve a problem; the students may all start from the
same point, but they offer different solutions productive skills – learners are required to produce the language by
speaking and writing
project work – a kind of task-based activity which involves extended amount of independent work (often
outside class time) either by an individual student or a group of students, and followed by oral/written
presentation to their peers
pyramid group – a form of group activity in which the class is divided into groups; after some time, pairs of
groups are joined together and continue the discussion; the procedure is repeated until there is only one group,
comprising the whole class. Sometimes called a snowball group.
realia – things from real life which are used for learning classroom furniture, pictures, household objects, etc.)
receptive skills – learners are receiving language and processing it, without producing it; refers to listening and
reading
role-play – a communicative activity in which learners talk to each other in different character roles; a form of
simulation in which the participants adopt certain roles or parts
scanning – a technique in the development of reading skills where a text is read in order to find specific
information
simulation - a role-play where you play yourself in a given situation
skimming – a technique in the development of reading skills where a text is read in order to find its general idea
task – another word for a short classroom activity
tapescript –the transcription of a tape-recorded text, dialogue, etc.
teacher talking time –the amount of time a teacher talks during the lesson
teaching space – the area that the teacher uses in the classroom while teaching
transcript – a written record of what happens in a classroom
transition – the way the teacher makes a link between two separate parts
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of a lesson
visual aids – name given to any type of visual support to learners in the learning/ teaching process, offered at
any given stage of the lesson
warm-up/warmer – an activity done at the beginning of a lesson meant to warm up the atmosphere
workshop – a kind of task-based group activity which involves the completion of certain specified task; it is
expected that all the members of the group will contribute something to the completion of the task.
Appendix 1
Objectives for Learners
A)primary school
1)listening:
-identify sounds/words isolated and in context
-identify segments of utterances/intonational contours
-understand and react adequately to simple questions/statements
-global/selective understanding
2)speaking:
-produce specific sounds, words and utterances
-produce questions and answers
-make simple descriptions and reports
-participate in games and activities involving simple communication
3)reading:
-read short texts aloud or silently
-global and selective understanding
4)writing:
-copy words,sentences, short texts
-fill in short texts
-write short dictations
-guided writing
5)cross-cultural objectives:
-understand certain socio-cultural elements of everyday life (similarities and differences)
B)lower-secondary school
1)listening:
-understand speaker`s attitude and the relation between them
-deduce unknown elements from context
-order information
2)speaking:
-initiate and sustain a conversation
-make detailed oral descriptions and reports
-make simple narrations
-express opinions and suggestions
-make assumptions
3)reading:
-understand a text in detail
-deduce elements that are known or mentioned, from context (inference)
-be aware of the connections between sentences/paragraphs
4)writing:
-semiguided writing with/without audio-visual prompt/clues
-transformation of texts (summarize and develop)
5)cross-cultural objectives:
-understand specific images and symbols
-use representative elements of the behaviour code accepted in the respective cultural space

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C)secondary school
1)listening:
-understand details
-understand messages in non-standard language
-information transfer
-grasp the specificity of a literary discourse
-understand the socio-communicative context of speech
2)speaking:
-adapt speech to context
-participate in debates and negotiations
-make speeches on certain subject-matter
-present projects
3)reading:
-identify author`s attitude and tone of text
-reading assisted by reference books
-interpret meaning of texts
-information transfer
4)writing:
-free writing
-take notes
-translate
-write functional texts
5)cross-cultural objectives:
-be aware of mentalities and attitudes typical for the respective cultural space (comparative approach)
-acquire information specific to the respective cultural space (intercultural perspective)
Appendix 2
Activity Types and Procedures in the classroom
-analysing -introspecting/reflecting
-adapting -improving (giving suggestions about…)
-adding/completing -insert sentences/omit sentences in a text
-answering to side questions to a text -information transfer (text to text; picture to picture;
-brainstorming text to charts/graphs)
-classifying -jumbled words/sentences/paragraphs
-comparing -jigsaw reading
-concept questions -labelling pictures
-completing sentences -linking paragraphs by link words
-completing charts/tables/diagrams -listening for gist/specific info/for details
-cloze (gap-filling) -listening + taking notes
-comprehension questions -listing
-creative writing -matching words/pictures/paragraphs with titles;
-defining pictures with words
-detecting mistakes -making own questions/titles to
-discovering word meaning from the context paragraphs/text/lists/plans/tasks
-discriminating sounds/word-stress/sentence-stress -mediating techniques (finding the
-describing pictures Romanian/English version of words)
-dialogue -narrating
-debate -ordering/reordering (chronologically/according to
-drills importance)
-evaluating -paraphrasing
-finding out (names/things/facts/attitudes/feelings) -producing sounds/word-stress/sentence-stress
-games -prediction (+ tick the truth)
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-process writing -sorting into sets
-problem solving -sentence completion
-project-work -story telling
-ranking -skimming/scanning a text
-rearranging -sequencing
-rephrasing -self-evaluation
-reporting dialogue -true/false exercise
-raising awareness activities -transformation
-reproducing sounds/word-stress/sentence-stress -taking/giving interviews
-role play -text interpretation/appreciation/translation
-reading + making notes -word webs
-reading for details/for gist -working with dictionary
-selecting -writing after a model
Appendix 3
Objectives of TP
1)to provide experience in classroom teaching
2)to apply instruction from theory courses
3)to provide opportunities to observe master teachers
4)to give feedback on teaching techniques
5)to develop awareness of personal teaching style
6)to develop lesson planning skills
7)to develop ability to select/adapt materials
8)to become familiar with specific methods
Appendix 4
Classroom observation
When doing classroom observation, the following are to be taken into account:
1)Personal qualities of the teacher:
-personality/presence/general style
-ability to establish/maintain rapport
-voice: audibility, speed, clarity of diction
-self-awareness: ability to pick up one`s own mistakes and correct them
-experience: flexibility and degree of confidence
2)Preparation and lesson plan
-clarity and appropriateness of aims/objectives
-balance and variety of activities
-clarity of procedures
-suitability of materials and methods for the class, the level and the particular students
timing
-anticipation of teaching difficulties
-anticipation of learners` difficulty
-preparation of materials
3)General class management
-organization of physical resources
-giving of instructions
-rearrangement of seating when necessary
-presentation and practice techniques: meaningful, motivating, contextualised
-indication of stages of the lesson
-questioning/elicitation: graded, directed, apppropriate
-handling change of activities
-pace of the lesson
-change of groupings
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-use of aids
-checking understanding
-variety of techniques
-balance of class, group, pair, individual activities
-appropriate teacher movement
-skills development; integration of skills
-creativity
-ability to encourage learner autonomy
-body language, eye contact, facial expressions, gestures
-encouragement, praise, feedback
-class control: ability to maintain discipline/deal with problem students
-ability to adapt/improvise, in order to deal with the unexpected
-achievement of aims
-giving homework
4)Use of techniques
-use of appropriate techniques in order to introduce new material
-use of appropriate techniques to review material previously taught
-motivation and involvement of students
-giving of explanation
-relating material to one another
-sufficient variety in techniques
-appropriate sequencing of controlled and less controlled activities
-appropriate balancing of teacher-learner and learner-learner interaction
-preparation for communicative interaction
-balance between fluency and accuracy
-checking understanding
5)Questioning techniques
-grading of questions to suit the level of students
-appropriate distribution of questions among the students
-formulation of questions
-use of variety of questions
-encouraging students to answer and ask questions
-acceptance of answers
6)Skills
-ability to foster better listening, speaking, reading, writing
-ability to handle complex integration of the four skills
7)Sensitivity to students
-control of language to level of class
-responding appropriately to students` difficulties
-responding appropriately to factors which may affect students` motivation and learning
-encouragement of students
-involvement of and attention to individuals
8)Error correction
-awareness of students` errors
-appropriate treatment of students` errors
9)Using the board
-visibility
-clear layout
-new langauge highlighted effectively
-overuse/underuse of it

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