Why WorkShop Part I
Post-Communicative Approach ENGLISH WORKSHOP
1. Learners`Autonomy
2.Group Works
3.TBL
4.Facilitate MOnitoring Speaking
DO You WorkShop!
Getting students to use English with each other is a problem which is often difficult to overcome. DOING WORKSHOP is one way to help students recognise the importance of using English and to motivate them to do so in the classroom.
1. Learners`Autonomy
2.Group Works
3.TBL
4.Facilitate MOnitoring Speaking
DO You WorkShop!
Getting students to use English with each other is a problem which is often difficult to overcome. DOING WORKSHOP is one way to help students recognise the importance of using English and to motivate them to do so in the classroom.
Group and pair works are so much a part of our everyday teaching routine that we hardly pause to think before partitioning the class to do some particular communicative task. But group work may not always be the best option. There will be a time and a place for whole-class activities in the English language classroom, just as there's a time and a place for group and pair work.
In praise of group work
In praise of group workGroup work came into the standard EFL teaching repertoire with communicative methodologies in the 1970s. At that time, studies of contemporary foreign language classes revealed that as much as 80% of lesson time consisted of the teacher talking to (at) the students. In a class of, say, 30 students, it is evident that the learner hardly got a chance to practice the language. Teacher Talking Time (TTT) became taboo and ways were devised to stamp it out and train the students to actually perform in the language they were learning.
Group work was thus introduced into the EFL repertoire to come to grips with a particular problem. Group work made it possible for the teacher to devote more time to the students' oral production,which perhaps before had not been a priority of the foreign language classroom. Thanks to group work, less confident students get the chance to put their knowledge of the new language into practice in a non-threatening environment, away from the critical eye and ear of the teacher. Instead of being dependent on the teacher, students get used to helping and learning from each other. Meanwhile, the teacher is left free to discreetly monitor progress and give help, advice and encouragement where and when it is needed.
Part III
A Task-based approachTask -based Learning offers an alternative for language teachers. In a task-based lesson the teacher doesn't pre-determine what language will be studied, the lesson is based around the completion of a central task and the language studied is determined by what happens as the students complete it. The lesson follows certain stages.
Pre-taskThe teacher introduces the topic and gives the students clear instructions on what they will have to do at the task stage and might help the students to recall some language that may be useful for the task. The pre-task stage can also often include playing a recording of people doing the task. This gives the students a clear model of what will be expected of them. The students can take notes and spend time preparing for the task.
TaskThe students complete a task in pairs or groups using the language resources that they have as the teacher monitors and offers encouragement.
PlanningStudents prepare a short oral or written report to tell the class what happened during their task. They then practice what they are going to say in their groups. Meanwhile the teacher is available for the students to ask for advice to clear up any language questions they may have.
Report Students then report back to the class orally or read the written report. The teacher chooses the order of when students will present their reports and may give the students some quick feedback on the content. At this stage the teacher may also play a recording of others doing the same task for the students to compare.
AnalysisThe teacher then highlights relevant parts from the text of the recording for the students to analyse. They may ask students to notice interesting features within this text. The teacher can also highlight the language that the students used during the report phase for analysis.
PracticeFinally, the teacher selects language areas to practise based upon the needs of the students and what emerged from the task and report phases. The students then do practice activities to increase their confidence and make a note of useful language.
The advantages of TBLTask-based learning has some clear advantages
the students are free of language control. In all three stages they must use all their language resources rather than just practising one pre-selected item.
A natural context is developed from the students' experiences with the language that is personalised and relevant to them. The students will have a much more varied exposure to language with TBL. They will be exposed to a whole range of lexical phrases, collocations and patterns as well as language forms.
The language explored arises from the students' needs. This need dictates what will be covered in the lesson rather than a decision made by the teacher or the coursebook.
It is a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of time communicating. . Just watch how much time the students spend communicating during a task-based lesson.
It is enjoyable and motivating.
a wide exposure to language is the best way of ensuring that students will acquire it effectively. Restricting their experience to single pieces of target language is unnatural.
Monitoring speaking
Student speech in group or pair work, although not a perfect recreation of real-life communicative situations, does provide us with a better model of the English students use outside the classroom. It therefore follows that this is the language production they need and want us to correct as teachers. The most common way of doing this is to monitor student speech during pair or group work and correct it
WorkShop Monitoring!
The practicalities of effective monitoring
Explain to students what you are doing and why. The first question to ask is "Do you want me to correct you when you make a mistake?" You will probably receive a unanimous "Yes!" from all students. Tell them that when they are speaking you will go round listening for errors with a pen and paper and correct them afterwards so as not to interrupt the conversation. This process is part of learner training, letting students in on the methodology so that it enjoys their support and therefore functions correctly.
You need a pen and paper and to be able to get close enough to all pairs or groups to hear what everyone is saying. Be aware of this before you start and resolve any spatial problems then.
Let students begin the activity and make some progress before starting to monitor their student talk. If you sit straight down with a pair or group they can find it difficult to get going.
Discriminate when deciding how long you spend monitoring groups. Keep looking around at other pairs or groups to make sure they are on task or don't need you for something. Always be prepared to leave one group and go to another group to deal with a linguistic or procedural question. Give students the impression that you are available to everyone even though you are only listening to a few of them at any one time.
Make sure that your notes are legible and you know what the error was. I tend to split my page into three parts: grammar, pronunciation and lexis. With the former and latter I write down exactly what the student said, because then I can see the error when I look back at it later. With pronunciation you will need some visual form of noting down the problem, such as phonemic symbols, stress marks, arrows etc. otherwise you will forget the error when you go up to correct it on the board.
Another advantage of monitoring student speech for subsequent language feedback is that it gives you time to consider how to correct the error, which is not the case with on-the-spot correction. Use monitoring time to consider what and how you will correct for the whole class.
Variety adds spice to the classroom
It is generally recognized today that individual learners have different learning styles, strategies and preferences. It is also generally accepted that to be effective lessons need a change of pace and focus to maintain the concentration of the learners. For both these reasons it is important that we teachers have as wide and flexible repertoire.English WorkShop try to follow this idea.
Some Hints:
Learners appreciate the autonomy English WorkShop offers them and thrive on analysing their own conversations.
English WorkShop works especially well with lower levels who are struggling to produce spoken English.
The class often becomes a real community, not just when using TBL but all of the time. Students become much more aware of their peers, their strengths and weaknesses and want to work as a team.
NOte:
In the beginning some learners find it difficult
We as teachers can find it strange to give our students so much freedom
In your efforts to let your students become independent learners you can neglect their need for guidance.
E.A
In praise of group work
In praise of group workGroup work came into the standard EFL teaching repertoire with communicative methodologies in the 1970s. At that time, studies of contemporary foreign language classes revealed that as much as 80% of lesson time consisted of the teacher talking to (at) the students. In a class of, say, 30 students, it is evident that the learner hardly got a chance to practice the language. Teacher Talking Time (TTT) became taboo and ways were devised to stamp it out and train the students to actually perform in the language they were learning.
Group work was thus introduced into the EFL repertoire to come to grips with a particular problem. Group work made it possible for the teacher to devote more time to the students' oral production,which perhaps before had not been a priority of the foreign language classroom. Thanks to group work, less confident students get the chance to put their knowledge of the new language into practice in a non-threatening environment, away from the critical eye and ear of the teacher. Instead of being dependent on the teacher, students get used to helping and learning from each other. Meanwhile, the teacher is left free to discreetly monitor progress and give help, advice and encouragement where and when it is needed.
Part III
A Task-based approachTask -based Learning offers an alternative for language teachers. In a task-based lesson the teacher doesn't pre-determine what language will be studied, the lesson is based around the completion of a central task and the language studied is determined by what happens as the students complete it. The lesson follows certain stages.
Pre-taskThe teacher introduces the topic and gives the students clear instructions on what they will have to do at the task stage and might help the students to recall some language that may be useful for the task. The pre-task stage can also often include playing a recording of people doing the task. This gives the students a clear model of what will be expected of them. The students can take notes and spend time preparing for the task.
TaskThe students complete a task in pairs or groups using the language resources that they have as the teacher monitors and offers encouragement.
PlanningStudents prepare a short oral or written report to tell the class what happened during their task. They then practice what they are going to say in their groups. Meanwhile the teacher is available for the students to ask for advice to clear up any language questions they may have.
Report Students then report back to the class orally or read the written report. The teacher chooses the order of when students will present their reports and may give the students some quick feedback on the content. At this stage the teacher may also play a recording of others doing the same task for the students to compare.
AnalysisThe teacher then highlights relevant parts from the text of the recording for the students to analyse. They may ask students to notice interesting features within this text. The teacher can also highlight the language that the students used during the report phase for analysis.
PracticeFinally, the teacher selects language areas to practise based upon the needs of the students and what emerged from the task and report phases. The students then do practice activities to increase their confidence and make a note of useful language.
The advantages of TBLTask-based learning has some clear advantages
the students are free of language control. In all three stages they must use all their language resources rather than just practising one pre-selected item.
A natural context is developed from the students' experiences with the language that is personalised and relevant to them. The students will have a much more varied exposure to language with TBL. They will be exposed to a whole range of lexical phrases, collocations and patterns as well as language forms.
The language explored arises from the students' needs. This need dictates what will be covered in the lesson rather than a decision made by the teacher or the coursebook.
It is a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of time communicating. . Just watch how much time the students spend communicating during a task-based lesson.
It is enjoyable and motivating.
a wide exposure to language is the best way of ensuring that students will acquire it effectively. Restricting their experience to single pieces of target language is unnatural.
Monitoring speaking
Student speech in group or pair work, although not a perfect recreation of real-life communicative situations, does provide us with a better model of the English students use outside the classroom. It therefore follows that this is the language production they need and want us to correct as teachers. The most common way of doing this is to monitor student speech during pair or group work and correct it
WorkShop Monitoring!
The practicalities of effective monitoring
Explain to students what you are doing and why. The first question to ask is "Do you want me to correct you when you make a mistake?" You will probably receive a unanimous "Yes!" from all students. Tell them that when they are speaking you will go round listening for errors with a pen and paper and correct them afterwards so as not to interrupt the conversation. This process is part of learner training, letting students in on the methodology so that it enjoys their support and therefore functions correctly.
You need a pen and paper and to be able to get close enough to all pairs or groups to hear what everyone is saying. Be aware of this before you start and resolve any spatial problems then.
Let students begin the activity and make some progress before starting to monitor their student talk. If you sit straight down with a pair or group they can find it difficult to get going.
Discriminate when deciding how long you spend monitoring groups. Keep looking around at other pairs or groups to make sure they are on task or don't need you for something. Always be prepared to leave one group and go to another group to deal with a linguistic or procedural question. Give students the impression that you are available to everyone even though you are only listening to a few of them at any one time.
Make sure that your notes are legible and you know what the error was. I tend to split my page into three parts: grammar, pronunciation and lexis. With the former and latter I write down exactly what the student said, because then I can see the error when I look back at it later. With pronunciation you will need some visual form of noting down the problem, such as phonemic symbols, stress marks, arrows etc. otherwise you will forget the error when you go up to correct it on the board.
Another advantage of monitoring student speech for subsequent language feedback is that it gives you time to consider how to correct the error, which is not the case with on-the-spot correction. Use monitoring time to consider what and how you will correct for the whole class.
Variety adds spice to the classroom
It is generally recognized today that individual learners have different learning styles, strategies and preferences. It is also generally accepted that to be effective lessons need a change of pace and focus to maintain the concentration of the learners. For both these reasons it is important that we teachers have as wide and flexible repertoire.English WorkShop try to follow this idea.
Some Hints:
Learners appreciate the autonomy English WorkShop offers them and thrive on analysing their own conversations.
English WorkShop works especially well with lower levels who are struggling to produce spoken English.
The class often becomes a real community, not just when using TBL but all of the time. Students become much more aware of their peers, their strengths and weaknesses and want to work as a team.
NOte:
In the beginning some learners find it difficult
We as teachers can find it strange to give our students so much freedom
In your efforts to let your students become independent learners you can neglect their need for guidance.
E.A
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