1. Saudi Electric Company
Teacher Training
November 24th – 26th 2012

2. Saturday 24th November Sunday 25th November Monday 26th November
07.30 – 09.00 Session 1 Communicative Language Teaching Teaching Reading Classroom Management
 Introductions  What do we read & why do we read it  Managing multi-level classes
 Warmers  Problems & Strategies  Pair & Groupwork
 Teacher Beliefs  Reading Techniques  Checking understanding
 Challenges we face
 What makes a good lesson
BREAK
09.15 – 10.45 Session 2 Presenting Grammar Teaching Speaking Teaching Writing
 What is grammar?  Factors that inhibit speaking  Why teach writing
 Deductive vs Inductive Approach  Speaking Activities  What do we write
 Grammar from your coursebook  Assessing student speaking  What makes a good piece of
writing
 Writing Activities
 Assessing student writing
BREAK
11.00 – 12.30 Session 3 Teaching & Learning Vocabulary Using Your Coursebook Effectively Lesson Planning
 Why is learning vocabulary difficult?  What makes a good coursebook  Principles of Lesson Planning
 Our experience as language learners  Successful language learning  Planning a model lesson from
 Techniques for teaching vocabulary  Motivating your students your coursebooks
 Dealing with unknown words (Planning a ‘model’ lesson
 Recording new vocabulary incorporating ideas and
techniques learned on the course)
PRAYER
13.00 – 14.00 Session 4 Grammar Practice Activities Bringing variety to your teaching Course Review & Feedback
 Timelines  Games & activities  Trainees present their ‘model’
 Substitution Tables  Exploiting the internet lesson
 Games  Course review and feedback
 Q&A

3. Your Trainer
Your trainer for this training course will be Mr. David Quartermain. You
can call him David
David was born in England, and educated at Canterbury and Cambridge
in England, and Indiana and Virginia in the USA. He has an M.A. degree
in Political Science, and a Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign
Language to Adults (DELTA). Before becoming a teacher, David worked as
a Market Research Executive for five years in the city of London.
However, he got tired of working in such a large city, and in 1991 became
a primary school teacher working with students aged 8-9. In 1992 he left
the UK to teach English. His first job was in Greece; a beautiful country
with a wonderful climate and excellent food. Later, David worked in
Poland and Vietnam before moving to Macau in 2003. Macau is part of
China, very near to Hong Kong. He now works as a teacher-trainer,
helping teachers across China to improve their classroom techniques. He
has worked in many countries, but this is his first visit to the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia. David particularly enjoys the food here. He is very much
looking forward to being your trainer for this course.

4. Your Colleagues
1) Is the youngest
2) Has been a teacher the longest
3) Speaks the most languages
4) Has visited the most countries
5) Was born the nearest to here
6) Has the most letters in their name
7) Is the tallest
8) Enjoys teaching the most
9) Is the heaviest smoker
10) Was born in November

5. Teacher Beliefs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
It is hard to motivate students to learn English
Whenever students make mistakes the teacher should correct them
Tests and exams show clearly how much English a student has learnt
A coursebook must always be followed exactly
A teacher of English must have excellent English themselves
Students who don’t do homework are lazy
In a class of mixed levels, it is best to teach to the highest level
The role of the teacher changes in lessons, and from lesson to lesson
The teacher should stand at the front of the class when teaching
Classrooms are noisy, busy places

6. Teacher Beliefs
Dictionary Definition: ‘A successful lesson’ /sək’sesfəl ‘lesən/
1.
2.
3.

7. Teacher Beliefs
Class size Your own language ability
Low student motivation Poor Coursebook
Poor classroom Lack of teacher training opportunities
Lack of teaching resources / equipment Lack of time for classes / preparation
Low student ability Other …………………………………………

8. Teacher Beliefs
Your role Your classroom
Boss Hospital
Friend Prison
Advisor Library
Motivator Supermarket
Organiser Factory
Judge Laboratory
Resource Theatre
Performer Paradise

9. Teacher Beliefs

10. Presenting
Grammar

11. Presenting Grammar
Discuss
• What is grammar?
• Do you like teaching grammar?
• Do your students like learning grammar?
• Why do we teach grammar?

12. Presenting Grammar
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Students need to be given detailed grammar rules if they are to learn a language successfully
Knowing grammar is essential for effective communication
Grammar is usually the most boring part of learning a foreign language
Grammar should be taught and practised ‘in context’

13. Presenting Grammar
Implicit Knowledge Explicit Knowledge
 ability to sort incoming language  ability to describe acceptable
into manageable chunks utterances and rules
 ability to infer relationships  ability to disqualify unacceptable
between language chunks utterances and identify errors
 ability to generate original language  ability to form rules & develop
in real time systems
A The teacher sets the students a task to B The teacher gives an example of a new
do, e.g. writing ‘rules’ for visitors to their city. structure on the board, e.g. “I had been
They then listen to people talking about rules running for 20 minutes when I felt a pain in
and regulations, and what they must or can or my left foot.” The teacher explains the form
mustn’t do. and the rules for using the structure. The
The students observe, analyse and compare students make sentences using the new
examples of language and meaning. The structure based on picture cues in the text
students are guided to understanding a range book. They are given more sentences to write
of modal verbs used for giving rules and for homework.
regulations.
Inductive Deductive

14. Presenting Grammar
A B
Taken from Workplace Plus Book 1 Unit 5. Pearson/Longman. Taken from Cutting Edge Elementary. Pearson/Longman.
Author: Joan Saslow and Tim Collins Author: Sarah Cunningham & Peter Moor

15. Presenting Grammar
The deductive approach
What are the possible advantages? …And the disadvantages?
1: Gets to the point quickly 1: Concepts may be ‘over their heads’
2: Respects intelligence / maturity of students 2: Teacher explanation is often at the
expense of student involvement
3: Confirms students’ expectations of language
learning 3: Explanations are seldom
memorable

16. Presenting Grammar
Ingredients for a successful grammar lesson
 Personalise the activity
 Provide comprehension work to allow noticing of the grammar targets
 Use a real communicative task as the basis of the lesson
 Give students a chance to re-try the task
 Focus on student errors they involve the target structure or interfere
with meaning
 Have a grammar reference summary available at the end of the lesson

17. Presenting Grammar
So how good is your grammar?
Decide if the sentences below are ‘correct’ or ‘wrong’
1. If that’s the time, we’re late! 2.
With whom are you going out tonight?
3. Never in the field of 4. Knowing you, you’ll get this one wrong!
human conflict has so
much been owed by
so many, to so few.
5.
Should anyone call, tell them I’ll be back at 4.
Gee, I’m really sorry. Brad’s
6.
not here. He just went to the 7. The teacher asked Ahmed to try and do
mall. better
The taxi arrived while the
8.
luggage was carrying down

18. (Taken from Technical English 2 Unit 6 Pearson/Longman Author: David Bonamy)

19. Teaching
&
Learning
Vocabulary

20. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
• Is teaching vocabulary necessary?
• Is teaching vocabulary easy?
• Is learning vocabulary easy?
• How good are you at remembering new vocabulary?

21. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
500 words –
Average native-speaker uses
500,000 words in OED
15-20,000
14,000 meanings

22. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
bank
Bank (n) [C] A place to store money.
Bank (n) The side of a river.
Bank (v) Something you can rely on
“You can bank on the bank by the bank.”

23. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
set

24. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary

25. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
Hasta la
vista!
Think of words or
phrases that you りがとう
remember learning in (Arigatō)
a foreign language
Mamma
Mia!
Why do you think you
remember them?
je t'aime!

26. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
?
How can we improve the learning process

27. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
Do you teach every word in the same way?
tired

28. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
phone
snake
bird
toothbrush
chalk
keys
childhood
ice-cream
water
Your boss!

29. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
Appeal to visual learners

30. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
Visual Learners
 Write things down
 To stay focused, look at people who talk to you
 ……………………………………………………………………………
 ……………………………………………………………………………
 ……………………………………………………………………………
Auditory Learners
 Study ‘out loud’ with a friend
 Ask for oral instructions if you don’t understand
 ……………………………………………………………………………
 ……………………………………………………………………………
 ……………………………………………………………………………
Kinaesthetic Learners
Walk around the room while you are learning
Take short breaks often (about every 20 minutes)
Highlight or underline your notes or draw things on them
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………

31. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
Techniques for introducing new vocabulary
Definition
Translation
Dictionary
Synonyms
Picture
Mime / Gesture
Realia
Guessing from context
…………………………………..
…………………………………..

32. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
How would you establish meaning for the following words?
1 punch 2 pleased 3 tanker
slap happy yacht
smack ecstatic dhow
hit delighted cruise liner
kick over the moon battleship
4 doctor 5 promote 6 woollen
accountant resign cotton
engineer retire nylon
miner lay off leather
lawyer get the sack plastic

33. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
Dealing with unknown words
Renowned curator Jacques Sauniere staggered through the vaulted
archway of the museum’s Grand Gallery. He lunged for the nearest
painting he could see, a Caravaggio. Grabbing the gilded frame, the
seventy-six-year-old man heaved the masterpiece toward himself
until it tore from the wall and Sauniere collapsed backward in a
heap beneath the canvas.
As he had anticipated, a thundering iron gate fell nearby,
barricading the entrance to the suite. The parquet floor shook. Far
off, an alarm began to ring.
The curator lay a moment, gasping for breath, taking stock. I am
still alive. He crawled out from under the canvas and scanned the
cavernous space for somewhere to hide.
A voice spoke, chillingly close. “……………………………………………”

34. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary

35. Teaching & Learning Vocabulary
Word Pron Translation Grammar Use Example Memory
Aid
river / rɪv ə / Noun [C] The River +
name
- The river
flows through
River bed my village
River bank
Shallow / Deep - The river is
Wide / Narrow very wide and
deep
ship
swim

36. Grammar
Practice
Activities

37. Grammar Practice Activities
Present Simple Present Continuous / Progressive Present Perfect
Past Simple Past Continuous / Progressive Past Perfect
Future Simple Future Continuous / Progressive Future Perfect
Past Perfect Continuous Present Perfect Continuous Future Perfect Continuous
Past Present Future

38. Grammar Practice Activities
Grammar Auction: You have 1,000 Riyal. What grammar will you choose to buy?
1) It's seven twenty o'clock
2) What are you going to do in this morning
3) It was so beautiful a day that we went swimming
4) Burglars broke in the house while the owner was on holiday
5) I recommend you to take a long vacation
6) Let’s make fire
7) It’s strange that you should say this
8) You might want to have a word with him
9) Because I didn’t know him, so I didn’t say anything
10) He took some students in to earn some extra money

39. Grammar Practice Activities
homework
chicken
child
wood
biscuit
equipment
C Both U

40. Grammar Practice Activities
Substitution Tables:
Pronoun Auxiliary Main (Article) Noun
verb verb
He is playing football
She
You
We
They

41. Teaching
Reading

42. Teaching Reading
Things you read in English Things you read in Arabic
Things your students read in English Why they read them

43. Teaching Reading
Are your students good readers?
Terrible Excellent
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Factors that help Factors that hinder
1. Motivation to read (acquire knowledge)
……………………………………. 1. Different alphabet
…………………………………….
2. Graded input in textbooks
……………………………………. 2. Too many unknown words
…………………………………….
3. Reading is a natural part of education
……………………………………. 3. Exposed to narrow variety of texts
…………………………………….
4. …………………………………….
Good study habits 4. Unfamiliar topic matter
…………………………………….
5. Teacher input
……………………………………. 5.
Poor reading techniques
…………………………………….

44. Teaching Reading
How do we read?
a) You read a poem by your favourite poet and pay close attention to the poet’s
use of language.
intensive
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
b) You visit a library in the course of researching a particular topic and quickly
look through books and magazines to see whether they have valuable
information.
scanning
…………………………………………………………………………………………….…...
c) You are relaxing at home and sit down to read the latest novel by your
favourite writer in your mother tongue. You can take your time
extensive
..……………………………………………………………………………
d) You’ve been given a copy of the training course schedule and course outline.
skimming
………………………………………………………………………………………………….…
e) You read the weather forecast in your newspaper to find out the
temperature tomorrow.
scanning
.……………………………………………………………………………………………………

45. Teaching Reading
Effective or Ineffective Strategies I/E
a) Using your finger to help your eyes follow lines of text ………………… I
b) Read each word very carefully in order to understand the entire text ………………… I
c) Mouthing the text silently/quietly to yourself as you read. ………………… ?
d) Look at titles, subtitles, pictures, and other visuals before reading E
.....................
e) Using context to establish meaning of an unfamiliar word ………………… E
f) Mentally translating everything ………………… I
g) Mentally translating paragraph if complicated language has led to confusion ………………… E
h) Trying to identify the connections between sentences and paragraphs E
(through markers such as ‘however’, ‘consequently’) …………………
i) Find the sentence that contains the main idea. E
…………………
j) Asking the teacher whenever an unfamiliar word is encountered. I
…………………
k) Using a dictionary to find the meaning of all new words I
…………………
l) Writing the meaning of new words in L1 in margin of page. I
…………………
m) Underlining or highlighting unfamiliar words. I
…………………
n) Creating some questions for yourself before you read which you think or hope E
the text will answer. …………………
0) Asking a student to read the text out loud in class. ?
…………………

46. Teaching Reading
Enhancing the Reading Process Pre-Reading
Arouses interest in topic, motivates students,
provides a reason to read, prepares language
Introductory discussion; brainstorm the topic; prediction
from title, headline or key vocabulary; examine pictures;
students generate questions
While Reading
encourages type of skill appropriate to text; helps with
understanding
Skim: order pictures / paragraphs, match title to paragraph
Scan: T/F questions, tick list, fill in chart, correct/false statements
Intensive/extensive: multiple choice, fill in chart, cloze,
students write questions (e.g. for other students) or answer
comprehension questions, jigsaw reading
Post-Reading
Consolidate language, exploit topic, relate to students’ own
interests / views / knowledge
Practice other skills (discussion, role play, summary writing,
projects, write an answer)…
Language (analysis of style, grammar, cohesion, find a word that
means...)

47. Teaching Reading

48. Teaching
Speaking

49. Teaching Speaking

50. Teaching Speaking
Why are students reluctant to speak?
 lack of vocabulary
 lack of grammatical knowledge
 fear of making mistakes (loss of face)
 fear of what the teacher will say
 shyness
 poor listening skills
 lack of topic knowledge
 lack of motivation (what’s the reward?)
 perception (it’s ‘chatting’ not ‘learning’)

51. Teaching Speaking
The teacher
won’t stop
talking!

52. Teaching Speaking
What’s the solution?
Personalise it!

53. Teaching Speaking
“In personalized learning, learners are given space to bring their own experiences,
attitudes, and feelings into the learning process. Learning is thus made more
meaningful and real, and learners are able to make systematic connections between
their own lives and the life of the classroom.
When learning is personalized, content is processed more deeply, and learner
independence and autonomy are fostered.”
Dr David Nunan

54. Teaching Speaking
What’s the solution?
 choice of topic
 sport
 food
 cars
 work
 world politics

55. Teaching Speaking
angry
sad happy
confused tired

56. Teaching Speaking
What’s the solution?
 preparation time

57. Teaching Speaking
What’s the solution?
 group practice first

58. Teaching Speaking
What’s the solution?
 use a model
A: Dzien dobry
Jak sie masz?
B: Dobrze

59. Teaching Speaking
What’s the solution?
 make speaking
meaningful

60. Teaching Speaking

61. Teaching Speaking
You’re stuck in a desert. Which piece of
equipment would you find most useful?
torch
cosmetic mirror
parachute
water knife
bottle

62. Teaching Speaking

63. Teaching Speaking
The Tree Climbing Game

64. Teaching Speaking

65. Teaching Speaking

66. Teaching Speaking

67. Teaching Speaking
Error Korrekshun
I try to correct errors as little as
I never let my students make
possible. I want my students to express
mistakes. If they say anything
themselves in English without worrying
wrong, I stop them and make
too much about making mistakes.
them say it correctly.
Sometimes I notice points that everyone
I don’t want them to learn bad
gets wrong and deal with them later - but
English from each other.
I never interrupt students to correct
them.

68. Teaching Speaking
There are 5 decisions a teacher has to make when encountering oral errors or mistakes:
1. Decide what kind of error / mistake has been made (grammar? pronunciation?)
2. Decide whether to deal with it (is it useful to correct it?).
3. Decide when to deal with it (now, end of activity, later?).
4. Decide who will correct it (teacher, student self correction, other students?).
5. Decide on an appropriate technique to indicate that an error has occurred or to enable correction.

69. Teaching Speaking
What’s the solution?
 error correction
 self-correction
 peer correction
 correct individually later
 praise before criticism
 ignore

70. Teaching Speaking
Match the error / mistake with its description:
Error/Mistake Description
1. He like this school. a) pronunciation ( / ɪ/ vs / i: / )
2. Where you did go yesterday? b) pronunciation ( / ʃ/vs / ʧ/ )
3. The secretary is in THE office. c) pronunciation (word stress)
4. Give me one bread! d) grammar (wrong tense)
5. I eat shocolate every day. e) vocabulary (incorrect collocation)
6. After three years they made a divorce. f) grammar (subject-verb agreement)
7. I am here since Tuesday. g) grammar (word order)
8. I’m going to heat you. h) vocabulary (incorrect word and rude!)

71. Using your
Coursebook
Effectively

72. Using your coursebook effectively
 Think about the books you use to teach English at your school
• Who chooses them – yourself or somebody else? Who?
• Do you like using them? Why / why not?
• What is the best book you’ve ever used? Why was it so good?
• Now think about the worst book you’ve used – why was it so bad?
 What makes a good coursebook?
 How important is the coursebook in determining whether your students
succeed in learning English?
Not at all Extremely
Important important
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

73. Using your coursebook effectively
Authentic  What authentic materials do you use in your teaching?
Materials
 What advantages / disadvantages do they have over
coursebooks?
 How do you exploit them?

74. Using your coursebook effectively
What other factors determine whether your students become successful language learners?
• The Teacher’s own language ability
• The Teacher’s qualifications
• The Teacher’s teaching experience
• Whether the students like and respect the teacher
• Student motivation
• The learning environment (quality of classrooms)
• Availability of learning resources (computers, library, etc)
• The importance of English for the student’s future career
• Exposure to English outside the classroom
• Desire to get high marks in exams
• Family expectations
• Interest in British & American culture / people
• Other………………………………………………………………

75. Using your coursebook effectively
Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic Motivation
This is caused by factors within the This is shaped by factors outside the
student. For example, a person might be individual. For example the student might be
motivated simply because they enjoy the motivated by the need to get a job, pass an
learning process, because they are exam, study overseas or to please her
naturally competitive, or because they parents.
desire the praise and satisfaction of doing
something well. The teacher can do a lot
to increase or reduce a student’s intrinsic
motivation.

76. Using your coursebook effectively
Puzzle Time
There are 19 people.
18 are children, 1 is an adult.
They need to cross a river.
None of them can swim.
There are no bridges.
There is only one canoe.
Only 3 people can fit in the canoe at one time.
1 of the 3 must be the adult.
How many trips across the river will be needed to get
everyone to the other side of the river ?

77. Using your coursebook effectively
17

78. Using your coursebook effectively
• Re-read the problem several times
• Visualised the problem in your head
• Drew a picture or diagram of the problem
• Used a mathematical formula
• Came up with a wrong answer first
• Talked with someone else while working
• Thought about it before writing something down
• Asked someone else for help
• Decided not to do it !

79. Using your coursebook effectively
Golden Rules I can achieve this by …
1 Set a personal example with your own behaviour as a teacher Don’t be lazy.
2 Create a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere in the classroom Be friendly
3 Present tasks properly Present new language, use instructions
effectively, move from presentation to
practice
4 Develop a good relationship with the learners Be nice
5 Increase learners’ linguistic self-confidence Praise and encourage
6 Make the language classes interesting Interesting, varied lessons and activities
7 Promote learner autonomy Don’t be too dominant and help with
learning strategies
8 Personalise the learning process Make it relevant to learners
9 Increase the learners’ goal-orientedness Add some challenge
10 Familiarise learners with target language culture Add some cultural aspects of English
11 Include regular groupwork in your class Work on getting groups and interaction
in class
12 Help students realise that it is mainly their effort that is needed for Be tough on them!
success
13 Emphasise the usefulness of the language Explain how learning ‘x’ will help ‘y’
Your suggestion:

80. Bringing Variety
to your
Teaching

81. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
a chance
notes
an exam a rest
the bed

82. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
Take …
a chance
notes
an exam a rest
the bed

83. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
Make …
a chance
notes
an exam a rest
the bed

84. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
Break …
a chance
notes
an exam a rest
the bed

85. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
How often do you…?
Make a acomplaint
Break a aholiday
Take athe law
Break promise
Take
Make chance
list

86. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
Travel through the maze using only those words with first syllable stress ()
4 6 2 3
hamburger Egypt banana students answer apple weather
6 7 4 9
Saturday regular tomorrow results pronounce started remember
6 9
Motorola possible Saudi another Tokyo customer Manchester
6 4 7 3 1
passenger Microsoft already government photograph teacher luckily
1 2
Africa unhappy football monument Toyota Lebanon bicycle
5 5 7 9 4 0
relative telephone afterwards Nokia unlucky dictionary Mercedes
7 5 8
Arabia remember computer language Egyptian opposite hospital
FINISH

87. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
Travel through the maze using only those words with first syllable stress ()
4 6 2 3
hamburger Egypt banana students answer apple weather
6 7 4 9
Saturday regular tomorrow results pronounce started remember
6 9
Motorola possible Saudi another Tokyo customer Manchester
6 4 7 3 1
passenger Microsoft already government photograph teacher luckily
1 2
Africa unhappy football monument Toyota Lebanon bicycle
5 5 7 9 4 0
relative telephone afterwards Nokia unlucky dictionary Mercedes
7 5 8
Arabia remember computer language Egyptian opposite hospital
FINISH
(00-853) 66 55 77 14

88. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
✔/ ʊ/ sound ✘ / uː/ sound
SHOOT FOOD BOOK YOU BOOT
GROUP FULL MOOD FRUIT TWO
SPOON SCHOOL GOOD COULD SOUP
SHOE ZOO CHOOSE BEAUTIFUL FOOT
MUSA LOOK WOULD MAHMOUD THROUGH
PULLEY THREW MENU AFTERNOON UNIFORM
WOOL MOON FOOTBALL WOOD TOOTHPASTE
NEWSPAPER COOKER SOUVENIR TUESDAY PULL
TOOL SUPERMARKET SHOOT SHOULD CHEW

89. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
✔/ ʊ/ sound ✘ / uː/ sound
SHOOT FOOD BOOK YOU BOOT
GROUP FULL MOOD FRUIT TWO
SPOON SCHOOL GOOD COULD SOUP
SHOE ZOO CHOOSE BEAUTIFUL FOOT
MUSA LOOK WOULD MAHMOUD THROUGH
PULLEY THREW MENU AFTERNOON UNIFORM
WOOL MOON FOOTBALL WOOD TOOTHPASTE
NEWSPAPER COOKER SOUVENIR TUESDAY PULL
TOOL SUPERMARKET SHOOT SHOULD CHEW

90. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
Blockbusters
1 11 21
6 16
2 12 22
7 17
3 13 23
8 18
4 14 24
9 19
5 15 25
10 20

91. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
Using movie clips

92. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
Brainstorm  What “new” technology do you use to communicate in your
day-to-day life?
 How many of these do your students also use?
 How many of these have you used as a teaching aid?
 How can ‘new’ technology enhance the learning experience?

93. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers

94. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
www.bellenglish.com/

95. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
http://elllo.org/

96. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/

97. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
“…it is inconceivable that any two students will have exactly the
same knowledge of English at any one time. Even if we were able to
assemble a class of complete beginners, it would soon be clear that
some were learning faster than others – or learning different things.”
‘The Practice of English Language Teaching’ (4th Ed.) Jeremy Harmer (Longman 2007)

98. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
Teaching Mixed Ability Classes
• On average, how many students do you have in each class?
• How is it decided which students go into which class?
• How big a range of ability does any one class have?
• What challenges are there when teaching mixed-ability classes?

99. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
Consider how answers are elicited.
Rather than asking students to raise their hand if they know the answer (which allows strong
students to dominate), write questions on the board and have students discuss them in
pairs/groups.
Teacher allows students enough time to complete exercises in their book.
Then elicits answers verbally in front of the whole class. Try to first see which questions weaker
students have answered correctly and make sure you ask them to read their answers for these
questions.
Give stronger students additional roles.
They can act as ‘mentor’ for weaker students, or help you check answers for other students near
them. Such ‘peer teaching’ can create a more positive learning environment.
Not all students need to be set the same tasks or asked the same questions.
Less able students can be assigned easier tasks that will generate the same feeling of satisfaction
when they are completed successfully. More able students can be given additional tasks /
questions.
Your suggestion 1
Your Suggestion 2
The best idea from your colleagues

100. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
Pair & Group work  How often do you use pair & group work in your teaching?
 What kind of activities do you use them for?
 How do your learners feel about these kinds of activities?

101. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
The advantages of group and pairwork activities are:
• There is an element of cooperation between learners; responsibilities are shared
• Learners participate more equally in groupwork
• Learner participation is maximised; particularly in pairwork
• ………………………………………………………………………………
• ………………………………………………………………………………
•………………………………………………………………………………
However, there are also some challenges to these methods:
• Learners may have partner preferences
• Learners revert to L1
• ………………………………………………………………………………
• ………………………………………………………………………………

102. Bringing Variety to your Teaching
Tips for setting up and running pair work & group work more effectively:
• Explain to your learners the value of such an activity
• Provide instructions as a ‘whole class’ first
• Ensure learners understand that fluency is more important than accuracy
• Move away from the centre/front of the room
• Keep a record of errors, particularly related to the target language
• Notice students who are doing a good job, and praise them at the end
• Give students in a group specific roles
• Remind groups how long they have to complete the activity

103. Classroom
Management

104. Classroom Management
How can you check that students understand the meaning of newly taught vocabulary?
“Do you
understand?”
What is wrong with the teacher saying:

105. Classroom Management
CCQ’s
Concept checking involves asking simple questions using the new word or phrase.
In the example below, the teacher is checking the word ‘bakery’.
Consider the statement: “I managed to find an apartment.”
This means: - I experienced difficulty in finding an apartment
- Despite the difficulty, I found one
In simpler language: - I found an apartment
- It wasn’t easy!
Changed into CCQ’s: Q: Did I find an apartment?
Q: Was it easy?
(picture from pg 28 of Tasks for Teacher Education)

106. Classroom Management
What structure do these concept checking questions ask for?
• Q: When did he start learning Arabic? (3 months ago)
Q: Is he (still) learning Arabic now? (yes)
Q: Will he continue in the future? (probably) Present Perfect Continuous
Structure: __________________
• Q: Is it heavy? (yes)
Q: Can he carry it? (no) Structure: __________________ + verb
Too + adjective + to
• Q: Did he go to university when he was 17? (no)
Q: Was it possible for him to go to university when he was 17? (yes)
Could have + past participle
Structure: __________________

107. Classroom Management
Oops! What’s wrong with these concept checking questions?
1) I’ve known Omar since university.
- Do I know Omar?
- Do I like Omar?
-What did we study at university?
2) A wardrobe
- Is it made from wood?
- Is there one in your house?
- Is there one in your bedroom?
3) He managed to open the window.
- Did he manage to open the window?
- Why did he open the window?
4) If he hadn’t overslept, he would have caught the plane.
- What would have happened if he hadn’t overslept?
- Why did he oversleep?
5) He’s always falling asleep.
- With regard to the narcoleptic condition the subject apparently presents, does the speaker, in your
opinion, consider said subject’s habit of falling asleep always, or possibly just too often for the
speaker’s liking, as verging on the annoying to the point of irritation?

108. Classroom Management
You have just presented the following new words in a lesson.
Construct concept questions for each one.
- Glasses
- Picnic
- Favourite
- I’m playing tennis with my brother tomorrow
- Cosy
- Cushion

109. Teaching
Writing

110. Teaching Writing
What have you written in Arabic in the
past week?
What have you asked your students to
write in English?

111. Teaching Writing
students you
new words SMS
gap-fills e-mails
finish the sentence shopping lists
translations reminders / notes
letters blogs
tests

112. Teaching Writing
Do youyour studentswritingwriting?
Do enjoy giving enjoy assignments?
Why not?

113. Teaching Writing

114. Teaching Writing
Why should we teach writing ?

115. Teaching Writing
allows learners
time to think
It’s safer
suits different than speaking
learner styles
WRITING
is a ‘real life’
shows progress
skill
integrates other
skills valid assessment

116. Teaching Writing
Put the following writing activities in order of difficulty for your students:
a) Guided writing, where the teacher gives help with compositions by discussing ideas, ordering, then choosing
appropriate vocabulary, etc.
b) Doing exercises, e.g. gap-fill, complete the sentence, etc. (controlled)
c) Free writing, where the teacher gives a title and a word limit and invites the students to write.
d) Copying, where the teacher asks students to copy down something the teacher has written on the board.
Where would you place these activities on this scale?
easy difficult
Copying Doing exercises Guided writing Free writing
Which of the above activities focus on accuracy and which on fluency?

117. Teaching Writing
Writing Activity Examples:
Identify whether the following activities are copying, controlled, guided or free:
Copying
__________ Copying tables from the board
Guided
__________ Paragraph building (opening and closing sentences are given. Students fill in missing details)
Free
__________ Writing a narrative from a series of pictures
Controlled
__________ Students transform a series of sentences into a coherent paragraph by inserting linkers where needed
Guided
__________ Complete the story (e.g. give the beginning, and students have to complete the text)
Controlled
__________ Gap filling from given choices
Free
__________ Write a letter applying for a job stating: where the advert was posted, personal details, qualifications
Guided
__________ Paragraph to be constructed by re-ordering given sentences

118. Teaching Writing
1. Conventions – respecting conventions of overall shape, layout, ordering, syntax etc..
2. Vocabulary – using accurate and appropriate lexical items
3. Cohesion – using correct and appropriate markers such as linking expressions,
grammatical references (this, his), etc..
4. Punctuation and use of capital letters
5. Communicatibility – achieving the communicative aim of the writing
6. Grammar – using a range of grammatical structures accurately and appropriately
7. Spelling
8. Coherence – referring intelligibly to external factors (e.g., the shop) and using logical
arguments
9. Register – Does it set the right tone?

119. Teaching Writing
You have lost some sunglasses which you borrowed from
your English friend, David. Write a note to David.
Hello David! I writtin to appollogise
because I lost your red sunglases.
Sorry I don’t know how lost. Yastorday
in the evening after skool I go to bay a
new ones. Sorry. Bye buy David.
__%

120. Teaching Writing
medals missions

121. Teaching Writing
Hello David! I writtin to appollogise
because I lost your red sunglases.
Sorry I don’t know how lost. Yastorday
in the evening after skool I go to bay a
new ones. Sorry. Bye buy David.

122. Teaching Writing
1) Correction Codes
gr = grammar
ww = wrong word
mw = missing word
sp = spelling
t = tense
wo = word order
p = punctuation
Ugh = horrible!
 = I’m going to phone your father!

123. Teaching Writing
5) Team-Work
4) Don’t mark it!
2) Whole-class
3) Peer-Editing feedback
Official
Cheating
Time!

124. Teaching Writing
Sentence Stems
Once upon a time there was a _________________ .
The ____________ lived _________________ .
The ____________ was very ________________ .
But _____ was also very _________________ .
So one day, _______ decided to _________________ .

125. Teaching Writing
Sentence Stems
Of all the ___________________ in the world.
I would recommend that you __________________________.
In the first place, ________________ .
More importantly, _________________ .
On top of that, _________________ .
Overall then, my advice to you is _________________ .

126. Teaching Writing
Sentence completion
• In thehappiestyears, … going to ….
Waiter, was have …………
Excusecan 10 when tell
Hi! How me,Ican you I’m ……
I wish watching ………… me the …………
love my students would
feel next your the …………

127. Teaching Writing
Substitution tables
My is very

128. Teaching Writing

129. Teaching Writing
A long time ago, there was a
poor man in a small village.
He had an orange tree in his
garden. One day, he found
one of his oranges was much
bigger than the others. It was
as big as a football. The poor
man took the orange to the
king.

130. Before students write
• Brainstorm content ideas
• Show similar examples
• Give key vocabulary
• Give framework sentences around which
they build examples
• Minimise the task

131. After students write
• Comment on what you liked about the writing
• Give specific ways to improve
• Compare with a model answer
• Read / display good student writing
• Give an opportunity to re-write

132. Lesson Planning

133. Lesson Planning
Lesson Plan Ingredients
 Timing  Class profile  Assumed knowledge
 Materials  Procedures  Interaction
 Main aims  Stage aims  Anticipated problems
Is there anything else you think should be included in a lesson plan?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

134. Lesson Planning
Look at the following sentences. Where in the lesson plan would you put them?
Stage aim a) The second part of the lesson will try to teach the students how to pronounce the new
words.
Materials b) New Interchange, by Jack Richards, Cambridge University Press, Unit 3
Class Profile c) There are 14 students in the group, aged between 15 and 17.
Main aim d) To teach the form and meaning of the 1st conditional.
Interaction e) Student to Student in groups of 3.
Timing f) 15 minutes.
g) They did the present continuous in Unit 2, so they should know how to form a continuous
Assumed Knowledge
tense.
Procedures h) I will write a model sentence on the board and ask students to give me other example
sentences.
Anticipated i) Two of the students were absent from the last lesson, so they may not understand the first
part of today’s lesson.
Problems

135. Lesson Planning
Look at the aims below and decide if they are satisfactory as they stand, or whether they need
amending or supporting with further information. Rewrite the ones you don’t like.
a) To improve students listening skills.
✘
b) To read the text on page 31 of Workplace Plus Book 2. ✘
✔
c) To encourage better student co-operation and interaction. i.e. to help the class gel.
d) To extend students’ knowledge of and ability to use adjectives of character.
✔
e) To help students use dictionaries.
✘

136. Lesson Planning
Anticipating Problems.
What problems do you think students might have with the following items of language?
i) ii) iii)
Would you
I’ve got to do Hold on a
mind if I
some work minute !
smoked
tonight.
here?

137. Lesson Planning
Introduce your class profile, the background to the lesson, and your overall aim(s)
Stage Time Aim Procedure Interaction Materials
1.
2.
3.
4.
5

138. Course Review
&
Feedback

139. Course Review & Feedback
 Your Model Lesson
 Course Review & Feedback
 Q&A

140. Any Questions?

142. David Quartermain
davidq@ipm.edu.mo
Bell Educational Services Ltd
2012