HCT/FWC EDUC 368 B.

ED year three

Higher Colleges of Technology

Fujairah Women’s College

Bachelor of Education

Orientation and Rationale

Submitted to: Mr. Amir

EDUC 368

2ed Semester 2010/2011

Word Count: 1975

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Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………..………........... 3

My personal orientation to teaching English…………………………………. 3-4

 Scaffolding and Zone of Proximal Development…………………...…. 3-4

 Interactionism……………………………………………………...…….4

 Communicative language teaching (CLT) ……………………………….4

How my personal orientation is reflected in the assessment tools ……………5-6

 Formative assessment (listening) …………………………………..…….5

 Summative assessment (writing)………………………………………...5-6

Contextual factors ………………………….................................................................. 6-8

 Teacher attitudes …………….……………………………………….…...6

 Students’ attitudes…………………………………………………………7

 Size………………………………………………………………………..7

 Family (Home support)……………………………………………………7-8

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….. 8

Bibliography……………………………………………………........................... 9-10

 Appendix 1………………………………………………………………...11
 Appendix 2 ……………………………………………………………. 12

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Introduction
This assessment is used to demonstrate my personal orientation to teach English and
the assessment tools for the thematic unit that were made in EDUC 350. It is a part of an
integrated project based on theme eight, “A small world” in the UAE Parade Book for
grade six students. There are three main sections in this report. First, the key concepts of
second language acquisition (SLA) related to my personal orientation to teaching English
to second language learners. The second section presents how my personal orientation is
reflected in the designed assessment tools. Lastly, it emphasizes the contextual factors
and how they may affect my personal orientation and the designed assessment tools.

My personal orientation to teaching English to young learners and key

concepts of second language acquisition

SLA refers to second language acquisition, which means students can acquire the
language through interactive communication. From Krashen’s perspective acquisition is
“a natural language development process that occurs when the target language is used in
meaningful interactions with native speakers, in a manner similar to first language
acquisition-with no particular attention to form”. (Peregoy & Boyle, 2008, p.53) . This
rational is focused in theoretical approaches to second language learning and some
important principles of second language acquisition like scaffolding zone of proximal
development, interactionism, and communicative language teaching

Scaffolding and Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Learners need to be provided with appropriate support in order to solve problems. For
example, teachers can ask the student questions in term of scaffolding, and helping
learners to produce knowledge beyond their levels. (Freeman & Freeman, 2001). As
Brewster, Ellis & Girard (2004, p.19) stated “Children can do much more with the help of
someone more knowledgeable or skilled than themselves than they can do alone”.
Scaffolding refers to the encouragement of teachers, so they can create a meaningful
classroom environment that assists students. According to Lightbown and Spada (2006,

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p. 20) “In a supportive interactive environment, children are able to advance to a higher
level of knowledge and performance”.

Vygotsky used a term of scaffolding which is Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

“A range of tasks too difficult for the child to do alone but possible with the help of
adults and more skilled peers” (Berk, 2006, p. 260). It is an essential concept in
acquiring second language, because the pupil is doing all the work with assistance from
the teacher to direct the cognitive process. I believe that teacher help can promote the
students and facilitate their understanding. (Kyriacou, 1997). Not all the students are at
the same level, so teachers should adjust their instructions to simplify learning process
and help learners to produce language.

Interactionism

Interactionism is one of the most vital ways that is used with different age groups,
because the children have the ability to learn the language from experience by interacting
with people around them and by objects they use. Teachers use different interaction
patterns, and give the students opportunity to work whether in pairs or in groups. In
addition, teachers provide various resources and materials as realia that assist learners to
understand. However, when learners cooperate with each other or use different materials,
so they acquire the language and get highly motivated to learn the target language.
(Lightbown & Spada, 2006)

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

Communicative approach or communicative language teaching (CLT) is involving the

students into a communication atmosphere, where the focus is in the function of the
language rather than the vocabulary and the grammar. (Harmer, 2001). There are many
common features between the acquisition view and CLT like using the language to
communicate. “the focus of much CLT has been on students communicating real
messages, and not just grammatically controlled language”. (Harmer, 2007, p.50) This
approach is also used to teach grammar, and it develops students knowledge and
experiences, because they share the information together. “The target language is a
vehicle for classroom communication, not just the object of study.” (Freeman, 2003, p.

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121). With this principle, the teachers try to give clear directions for the activities and
clear instructions in English to let students know what they have to do exactly.

Interaction patterns such as teacher-student and student-student should be occur in

EFL classroom and it is one of the principles of the CLT. Interaction is important
because, the students use the language and interact a great deal with one to another
through communication (Larsen-Freeman, 1986).

In the next section, how my personal orientation is reflected in the designed

assessment tools, I am going to mention the assessment tools that I have designed, and
one of them is for listening. The CLT will appear there because the assessment needs
clear instructions from the teacher and the students should try to interact with the teacher
and listen.

How my personal orientation is reflected in the assessment tools

developed for the thematic unit.

I have created two assessment tools based on theme eight, “A small world” in the
UAE Parade Book for grade six students. The assessment is used to examine students
listening skill, and it is formative assessment. The second assessment can be a resource to
check students ability in writing at the end of the unit and it is a summative assessment.

Starting with the assessment definition, it is a way that can help the teacher to be
aware about students abilities, and evaluate the student education development. As
Airasian and Russell (2008. p.2) stated “classroom assessment is the process of
collecting, synthesizing, and interpreting information to aid in classroom decision
making”.

There are two types of assessment, formative and summative assessments. Formative
assessments focuses essentially on the ongoing learning process. For instance, the first
tool is using to test students listening skill, to measure their understanding of inventions
introduced throughout the theme. (see appendix 1). Richard (2001, p. 288), mentioned
that, the formative assessment “focuses on ongoing development and improvement of the
program”. In this quiz, pupils will work individually, listen to the teacher and by using it

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the teacher can check withier the students can listen to the different inventions names and
the information related to the same subject . It aims to assess students’ listening skill
related to the theme objectives in the New Parade textbook. Moreover, the quiz is a kind
of indirect testing, it required pupils to sit in unrestricted conditions whereas the teacher
walks around the class reading a passage. The students will be assessed explicitly, for
instance, they will listen to the teacher and connect what they hear with what is given in
the task by writing one of two words.

The second assessment tool is a writing summative assessment, and according to

Chappuis & Chappuis (2002) main purpose of it is to gather and report evidence of
learning. It is used at the end of the semester of the unit. I designed an assessment tool as
kind of the summative assessment; takes place at the end of the unit “A small world”. It
consists of three different parts of questions (see appendix 2). It aims to assess pupils’
performance in writing skill. Furthermore, it is developed as an achievement test
proposed to measure the achievement of individual student in the objectives of the
language course (Hughes, 1999).

The assessment will be as writing task individually, and the teacher will monitor
students by walking around the classroom. At the first part students should write the
missing letter, so the teacher can check their spelling ability. Secondly, they have to write
sentences in order to examine their understand of a grammar aspect. The third part of the
text is asking the student to write a small paragraph related to the unit objectives. (see
appendix 2). At the begging of the test, the teacher will give clear instructions to the
student; which is one of the principles of CLT.

Writing is an important skill in teaching language, though it is not easy and needs
patience from the teacher. “Writing (as one of the four skills of listening, speaking,
reading, and writing) has always formed part of the syllabus in the teaching of English.
(Harmer, 2004, p.31). To acquire the second language acquisition, Scrivener (2005, p.
253) claimed that the students “need to have exposure to the language; they need to
notice and understand items being used; they need to try using language themselves”

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How contextual factors may affect your personal orientation and your
assessment tools.

There are some factors that can affect students performance in the school, and
language acquisition, such as teachers, students attitudes, and family. Additionally,
Schumann mentioned some factors that may influence the process of learning like the
size. (Freeman & Freeman, 2001)

Teacher’s attitudes

Teacher’s role is significant, because it influences students performance in the school.

For instance, if the teacher is treating the student positively and fairly that can increase
the possibility of success. Clear instruction and monitoring in the classroom are also part
of teacher’s attitude that help the students to do well. In addition, the teacher should be a
role model to help students to have a positive image for proficiency in second language
learning. Furthermore, the teacher needs to create interactive activities that are related to
the students’ interests to enhance their motivation toward learning when they involve in
tasks that relate to their own beliefs and attitudes in life. To be specific, in the first
assessment tool, the teacher should use clear voice while reading the passage for the
students. (appendix 1)

Developing second language acquisition, while distributing the listening quiz or the
writing test, can be by giving the students clear instructions, trying to motivate and
reinforce students, which can reduce their affective filter (Peregoy & Boyle).
Furthermore, the teacher should set up tasks which are related to the theme objectives and
add a little bit challenging questions to scaffold learners abilities and skills.

Students’ attitudes

Students’ attitude is one of the important factors toward learning English, the school
environment and society have a enormous effect on the second language process. For
instance, if the students are not exposed to the language as much as they needed, they
might find difficulties in acquiring a second language. Actually, in the second assessment

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the students are going to expose to language and practice it through writing exercises.
(appendix 2) Schumann’s focus was on sociocultural factors ‘social and cultural factors’
that affect the language acquisition, and he remarked that “the greater the social distance
between two cultures, the greater the difficulty the learners will have in leaning the
second language, and conversely” (Freeman & Freeman, 2001, p.74).

Size

When the learners group is small their communication and interaction will be more
effective. It facilitate teachers role in giving instructions, for example they can explain
the task more easily for small group. However, big groups may affect negatively in the
educational progress. Big groups need more efforts in order to accomplish interaction
task. For example, the in the listening quiz some of the students may face difficulties in
listening, because of the large number.

Family (Home support)

Not only the school elements can affect students learning, family also is a vital factor.
Encouragement and support from home is very essential principle for successful second
language acquisition ‘SLA’. Some parents are educated so; they foster their children in
learning by practicing the English language at home. On the other hand, we may find
that some parents do not speak the targeted language; however, they do have the
willingness to help their children for further learning. These assessments can provide the
family with information about their children’s performance in the school.

Conclusion

To sum up, teachers should consider several factors that affect student toward
acquiring the second language. It is important to be aware about the types of the
assessment and their aims in order scaffold students. acquiring the second language could
be through using CLT, and interactionism theory.

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Bibliography

Airasian, P. W. (2000). Assessment in the classroom: a concise approach (2nd Ed.).

Boston: MacGrow-Hill & Higher Education.

Airasian, P. W. & Russell, M. K. (2008). Classroom assessment: concepts and

applications (6th e.d.). New York: MacGrow-Hill & Higher

Education.

Berk, L. E. (2006). Child Development (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson Educaton Ltd.

Brewster, J. Ellis, G. & Girard, D (2004). The primary English teacher’s guide.

(5th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.

Freeman, D. E. & Freeman, Y. S. (2001). Between worlds: access to second

language acquisition (2nd e.d.). Portsmouth: Heinemann.

Freeman, D. (2003). Techniques and principles in language teaching. UK: Oxford

University Press Inc.

Harmer, J. (2001). The practice of English language teaching. (3rd ed.). England:

Pearson Education Limited.

Hughes, A. (1989). Testing for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Kyriacou, C. (2001). Essential Teaching Skills. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd.

Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986). Techniques and principles in language teaching.

New York: Oxford University Press.

Lightbown, P. M. & Spada, N. (2006). How language are learned (3rd ed.). New

York: Oxford University Press.

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Linse, Caroline T. (2005). Practical English language teaching: young learners.

New York : McGraw-Hill.

Peregoy, S. F. & Boyle, O. F. (2005). Reading, writing, and learning in ESL: a

resource book for K-12 teachers (4th ed.). Boston: Person Education, Inc.

Ur, P. (1991). A course in language teaching: practice and theory. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

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Appendix 1

Unit 8: A Small World

Listening quiz

My name: _____________________

Grade:________________________

Listen to the teacher answer the four questions about chewing gum.

1. Who invented it? -------------------------------------------------------

2. What was the invention?---------------------------------------------

3. Where did it come from?---------------------------------------------

4. When was it first sold? -----------------------------------------------

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Appendix 2

Unit 8: A Small World

Writing test

My name: _____________________

Grade:________________________ _______________

15
Fill in the missing letters:

1. It looks like a g__ant stove.

2. It’s a brand-new thingama__ing.
3. The fist do__ghnuts didn’t have holes.

Write two sentences about where were your clothes made.

1. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Write a paragraph about your favorite clothes

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