Unit 1 Language and Learning1. Language:” Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.”5. The language learning theory underlying an approach or method usually answers two questions:1) What are the psycholinguistic and cognitive processes involved in language learning?2) What are the conditions that need to be met in order for these learning processes to be activated?6.1) Process-oriented theories are concerned with how the mind processes new information, such as habit formation, induction, making inference, hypothesis testing and generalization.2) Condition-oriented theories emphasize the nature of the human and physical context in which language learning takes place, such as the number of students, what kind of input learners receive, and the learning atmosphere.2. Three views of languageStructural view: language as a linguistic systemThe functional view: a linguistic system but also as a means for doing things.The interactional view:a communicative tool3. Four Language Learning Theories1Behaviorist theoryA stimulus-response theory of psychologyAudio-lingual methodCognitive theoryLanguage as an intricate rule-based systemLanguage competence (knowledge of language system)Constructivist theoryThe learner constructs meaning based on his/her own experiences and what is already known.Socio-constructivist theory“Zone of Proximal Development” (ZPD); scaffoldingEmphasizing interaction and engagement with TL in a social context4. What makes a good language teacherprofessional competenceEthic devotion: warm-hearted, caring, enthusiastic, hardworking, well-prepared Professional qualities: resourceful, well-informed, professionally-trained, authoritative, disciplined, accurate, creativePersonal styles: patient, attentive, flexible, humorous, dynamic, intuitive5. How can one become a good language teacherW allace’s (1991) ‘reflective modelStage 1: language developmentStage 2: learning, practice, reflectionGoal: professional competenceUnit 2 Communicative Principles and Activities1. The ultimate goal of foreign language teaching is to enable the students to use theforeign language in work or life when necessary.1. The goal of CLT is to develop students‟ communicative competence.2.What is communicative compentence?3.Try to list some of its components and their implication to teaching.Communicative compentence refers to both the knowledge about the language and the knowledge about how to use the language appropriately in communicative situations. According to Hedge, it includes five components.Linguistic competence --- knowledge of the language itself, its form and meaning Pragmatic competence --- the appropriate use of language in social contextDiscourse competence--- one‟s ability to create cohere nt written text or conversation and the ability to understand them (ability to express or to understand a topic logically and coherently by effectively employing or comprehending the cohesive markers used in the discourse /ability to initiate, develop, enter, interrupt, check, or confirm in a conversation)Strategic competence--- strategies one employs when there is communication breakdown due to lack of resourcesFluency---- one‟s ability to …link units of speech together with facility and without strain or inappropriate slowness or undue hesitation4.Implications for teaching and learning:Linguistic competenceTeachers need to help learners----achieve accuracy in the grammatical forms of the language;----pronounce the forms accurately;----use stress, rhythm, and intonation to express meaning;----build a range of vocabulary;----learn the script and spelling rules;----achieve accuracy in syntax and word formation.Pragmatic competenceTeachers need to help learners---learn the relationship between grammatical forms and functions;---use stress and intonation to express attitude and emotion;---learn the scale of formality;---understand and use emotive tone;---use the grammatical rules of language;---select language forms appropriate to topic, listener, or setting, etc.Discourse competenceTeachers need to help learners----take longer turns, use discourse markers and open and close conversations;----appreciate and be able to produce contextualised written texts in a variety of genres; ----be able to use cohesive devices in reading and writing texts;----be able to cope with authentic texts.Strategic competenceTeachers need to enable learners----to take risks in using the language;----to use a range of communicative strategies;----to learn the language needed to engage in some of these strategies, e.g. …What do you call a thing that/person who…‟Teachers need to help learners-----deal with the information gap of real discourse;-----process language and respond appropriately with a degree of ease;-----be able to respond with reasonable speed in …real time”.5. Richards and Rodgers(1986:72)three principles of Communicative language teaching1) Communication principle: Activities that involve real communication promote learning.2) Task principle: Activities in which language is used for carrying out meaningful taskpromote learning.3) Meaningfulness principle: Language that is meaningful to the learner supports he learning process.16. Littlewood’s (1981)classification of communicative activities:1). Functional communicative activities:2). Social interaction activities:(1). Functional communicative activities:~ Identifying pictures~ Discovering identical pairs~ Discovering sequences or locations~ Discovering missing information~ Discovering missing features~ Discovering "secrets"~Communicating patterns and pictures~ Communicative models~ Discovering differences~ Following directions~ Reconstructing story-sequences~ Pooling information to solve a problem(2). Social interaction activities:~ Role-playing through cued dialogues~Role-playing through cues and information~Role-playing through situation and goals--Role-playing through debate or discussion~ Large-scale simulation activities~ Improvisation17.Ellis (1990) has listed six criteria for evaluating communicative classroom activities:1). Communicative purpose:2). Communicative desire:3). Content, not form:4). Variety of language:5). No teacher intervention:A task is believed to have four components:a purpose,a context,a product.任务情景化:有需要解决的问题;需要行动或语言+非语言类任务目标化学会行动;完成语言+非语言类任务复杂性;复杂成果;难以预料短期内不明显练习情景化:无需要解决的问题;纯语言练习（理想的是，一次解决一个语言难点）目标化学会行动;完成纯语言练习复杂性;单一成果;事先预设，明显但有限度（对/错）6.Differences between PPP and TBLT1.The way students use and experience language in TBLT is radically different from PPP. Free of language controlA genuine need to use language to communicateA free exchange of ideasAppropriateness & accuracy of language form in general, not production of a single form A genuine need for accuracy and fluency2TBL can provide a context for grammar teaching and form-focused activities.A task-established contextEncouraged to think, analyze, not simply to repeat, manipulate and apply A more varied exposure to natural languageLanguage forms not pre-selected for focusLearner-free selection of languageFluency accuracy (+fluency)Integrated skills practisedProblems with CLT1.Is it practical in the Chinese context?2.How to design the syllabus for classroom teaching?3.Is it suitable for all age level of learners or all competence level of learners? Constraints of TBLT1.It may not be effective for presenting new language items2.Time: teachers have to prepare task-based activities very carefully.3.Culture of learning4.Level of difficultyUnit 3National English Curriculum3.1 A brief history of foreign language teaching in China1A phase of restoration (1978-1985)2A phase of rapid development (1986-1992)3A phase of reform (1993-2000)4A phase of innovation from 20002,Designing principles for the National English Curriculum1) Aim for educating all students, and emphasize quality-oriented education.2) Promote learner-centeredness, and respect individual differences.3. Develop competence-based objectives, and allow flexibility and adaptability4) Pay close attention to the learning process, and advocate experiential learning and participation5. Attach particular importance to formative assessment, and give special attention to the development of competence.6. Optimize learning resources, and maximize opportunities for learning and using the language.3.3Goals and objectives of English language teachingThe new curriculum is designed to promote students‟ overall language ability3.4 Design of the National English CurriculumNine competence-based levelsLevel 2,For 6th gradersLevel 5,For 9th gradersLevel 7,For senior high school leaversUnit 4 Lesson Planning18. Lesson planningLesson planning means making decisions in advance about what techniques, activities and materials will be used in the class.19. Why is lesson planning necessary?1)Makes teachers aware of the aims and language contents of the lesson, so as to plan the activities and choose the techniques accordingly;2)Helps teachers distinguish the various stages of a lesson and see the relationship between them so that the activities of different difficulty levels can be arranged properly and the lesson can move smoothly from one stage to another;3)Gives teachers the opportunity to anticipate potential problems so that they can be prepared;4)Gives teachers, esp. novice ones, confidence in class;5)Raises teachers‟ awareness of the teaching aids needed;6)Planning is a good practice and a sign of professionalism21. There are four major principles behind good lesson planning:AimVariety means planning a number of different types of activities and where possible introducing students to a wide selection of materials so that learning is always interesting, motivating and never monotonous for the students.Flexibility means planning to use a number of different methods and techniques rather than being a slave to one methodology. This will make teaching and learning more effective and more efficient.Learnability means the contents and tasks planned for the lesson should be within the learning capability of the students. Of course, things should not be too easy either. Doing things that are beyond or below the students' coping ability will diminish their motivation (Schumann, 1999).Linkage means the stages and the steps within each stage are planned in such a way that they are somehow linked with one another. Language learning needs recycling and reinforcement.24. Lesson planning should be done at two levels:Macro planning is planning over time, for instance, the planning for a month, a term, or the whole course.micro planning: is planning for a specific lesson, which usually lasts 40 or 50 minutes. 25.Macro planning involves:1) Knowing about the course:2) Knowing about the institution:3) Knowing about the learners:4) Knowing about the curriculum/syllabus5)Knowing about the textbook6)Knowing about the objectives26. The advantage of a concrete teaching plan:Teachers can follow it in the class and check what they have done;The plan will be the basis of a record of what has been covered in class;It will make it easier to make achievement tests later;It will be good records for the entire course.4.4 Components of a Lesson Plan1.Background information2.Teaching aimsnguage contents and skills4.Stages and procedures5.Teaching aids6.end of lesson summary7.optional activities and Assignments8.after-lesson reflection28. The aims of a lesson include:language components to present,communicative skills to practice,activities to conductmaterials to be usedteaching aids to be used.Unit 5 Classroom Management1.What is classroom management?Classroom Management refers to the way teachers organize what goes on in the classroom.1. Teachers’ roles:Before the class---PlannerDuring the class—1 Controlle2 Assessor3 Organizer4 Prompter5 Participant6 Resource-providerAfter the class---Evaluatornew roles:facilitatorsguidesresearcher s2.Rules to follow for making instructions effectiveTo use simple instructions and make them suit the comprehension level of thestudents.To use the mother-tongue only when it is necessary. (to explain grammar rules or rules for a game or task which may be too complicated to explain in the targetlanguage)3. What are the most common types of Ss grouping?Whole class workPair work,Group work,Individual study:4.How to maintain discipline?P.79When students are engaged in learning, they will be disciplined.Q: How to engage students in learning?1)Ss are clear about learning purpose;2)Ss are able to do the work but find it challenging;3)Ss are emotionally, physically and intellectually involved by the tasks;4)The presentation, variety and structure of the work and activities generate curiosity and interest;5)Ss have opportunities to ask questions and try out ideas;6)Ss can see what they have achieved and how they had made progress;7)Ss get a feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment from the work.4. Harmer’s suggestions on measures for undisciplined acts and badly behaving Ss:1). Act immediately2). Stop the class3).Rearrange the seats4).Change the activity5).Talk to Ss after class6).creat a code of behavior5. In order not to hurt the Ss,Ur’s advice on problems in class:1).Deal with it quietly2).Don‟t take things personally 对事不对人3).Do not use threats6. What are the functions or purposes of questions?To focus students‟ attentionsTo invite thinking or imaginationsTo check understandingTo stimulate recall of informationTo challenge studentsTo assess learning7How to ask effective question1)Questions should be closely linked to the learning objectives in the lesson;2)Questions should be staged so that the level of challenge increases as the lesson proceeds;3)There should be a balance between closed and open, lower-order and higher-order questions;4)Wait time is important to allow students to think through their answers;5)Ss should be provided opportunities to ask their own questions and seek their own answers;6)A secure and relaxed atmosphere of trust is needed and ss‟ opinions and ideas are valued..6. correct dealing with errors and mistakeswe need to be clear whether the task or activity is focusing on accuracy or fluency.How to correct error：Direct teacher correctionIndirect teacher correctionSelf correctionPeer correctionWhole class correctionUnit 6Teaching Pronunciation1.The role of pronunciationOn the value of teaching pronunciation, there are different opinions:1.Students do not need to learn pronunciation because pronunciation will take care of itself as the students develop overall language ability.2.Failure in pronunciation is a great hindrance to language learn.2. The goals of teaching pronunciation:目的Consistency 连贯性: To be smooth naturalIntelligibility可理解性:To be understandable to the listenersCommunicative efficiency: To help convey the speakers‟ meaning3. Three aspects of pronunciation to teach? Stress, intonation, rhythm4. One common problem in learning English of Ss: (Neglect stress and intonation)5. Ways of practicing soundsPerception practice :Using minimal pairs,Which order,Same or different,Odd one out, CompletionProduction practice: Listen and repeat,Fill in the blanks,Make up sentences,Use meaningful context,Use pictures,Use tongue twisters6. Practicing stress:1).Two kinds of stress: word-level stress ; phrase-level stress2).Three ways to show stress pattern of words:Use gestures, use the voice, use theblackboard7. Practicing intonation:1). There are many subtle ways: surprise, complaint, …sarcasm讥讽，friendliness, threats etc.2). Two ways to make intonation:Use hand or arm movement to indicate change of intonaton: rising/falling arrows; draw linesUnit 7. Teaching Grammar1. What are grammar presentation methods? 演示法Deductive method演义法; Inductive method归纳法the guided discovery method (引导发现法2. Deductive method1). Definition: It relies on reasoning, analyzing and comparing.2). Steps: giving rules/definition------giving examples3). Advantages:To be successful with selected and motivated students;To save time;To help to increase students‟ confidence in some exam.4). Disadvantages:To teach grammar in the isolated way;To pay little attention to meaning;To be often mechanical practice.3. Inductive method1).Definition: the teacher induces the learners to realise grammar rules without any form of explicit explanation2). Steps: give examples-----induce rules4). Advantages: Inductive method is more effective in that students discover thegrammar rules themselves while engaged in language use,4. Ur’s definition of grammar practice:"Practice may be defined as any kind of engaging with结合/保证the language on the part of the learner, usually under the teacher supervision, whose primaryobjective(aim/task) is to consolidate learning "(Ur, 1988:11).5. Ur’s six factors contribute to successful grammar practice:1) Pre-learning.2) Volume and repetition(容量/重复).3) Success-orientation成功性联系.4) Heterogeneity多样性.5) Teacher assistance.6) Interest.6. Two categories of grammar practice:Mechanical practiceMeaningful practice.1).Mechanical practice involves activities that are aimed at form accuracy.Two drills in mechanical practice:(1) Substitution drills (2) Transformation drills2). Meaningful practice.In meaningful practice the focus is on the production, comprehension orexchange meaning though the students "keep an eye on" the way newly learnedstructures are used in the process. Meaningful practice usually comes aftermechanical practice.7. Using prompts for practice:1). Using picture prompts. Ss produce sentences based on the pictures provided2). Using mime or gestures as prompts.3).Using information sheet as prompts. E.g.:4). Using key phrases or key words as prompts.5). Using chained phrases for story telling.6). Using created situations.Unit 8 Teaching Vocabulary1. What does knowing a word involve?Knowing a word means knowing its pronunciation and stress;Knowing a word means knowing its spelling and grammatical properties;Knowing a word means knowing its meaning;Knowing a word means knowing how and when to use it to express the intended meaning.Vocabulary learning “involves at least two aspects of meaningThe first aspect involves the understanding of its denotative and connotative meaning.The second aspect involves understanding the sense relations among words.”Collocation , Synonyms,antonyms,hyponyms, Receptive and productive vocabulary2. List some ways of presenting new words1) Try to provide a visual or physical demonstration whenever possible,2) Provide a verbal context to demonstrate meaning.3) Use synonyms or antonyms to explain the meanings.4) Use lexical sets or hyponyms to show relations of words and their meanings.5) Translate and exemplify,6) Use word formation rules and common affixes7) Teach vocabulary in chunks.8) Think about the context in real life where the word might be used.9) Think about providing different context for introducing new words.10) Prepare possible misunderstanding or confusion that student may have.3. Some vocabulary consolidation activities that can be done in class. (12)1) Labeling2) Spotting the differences:3) Describing and drawing:4) Playing a game:5) Using word thermometers:6) Using word series7) Word bingo:9) word association10) Synonyms and antonyms:11) categories12) Using word net-work13)using the internet resources for more ideas4. Developing vocabulary building strategies.1). Review regularly:2). Guess meaning from context:3). Organize vocabulary effectively:4). Use a dictionary:5)keep a vocabulary notebook6).Discovery strategiesUnit 9Teaching Listening1.The reason why such difficulties arise can be quire complicated. however, one major reason for students‟ poor listening is often neglected in language due to1) Lack of teaching materials (audio and video tapes);2) Lack of equipment (tape players, VCRs, VCDs, computers);3) Lack of real-life situations where language learners need to understand spoken English;2 What do we listen to in everyday life? (Ur, 1996)Loudspeaker announcements1.Radio news2.Lesson, lecture3.Conversation, gossip4.Instructions5.Watching television6.Watching movies7.Telephone conversations8.Interview9.Shopping10.Story-telling11.Meetings12.Negotiations13.Theater show…3. One reason for students' unsatisfactory listening abilities:There is not enough variety in the materials that they listen to in class. In most cases, the listening materials are daily conversations or stories. But in reality we listen to far more things, regardless of which language is used.4. The characteristics of listening in real life (adapted from Ur, 1996:106-7):1) Spontaneity2) Context3) Visual clues4) Listener‟s response5) Speaker‟s adjustment5 Two major purposes in listening.*The first is for social reasons;*The second is for exchanging information.6 Principles of teaching listening:1). Focus on process:2). Combine listening with other skills:3). Focus on comprehending meaning:4). Grade difficulty level appropriately:7.dels for teaching listeningbottom-up model up- bottom modelthe teaching of listening generally follows three stages:pre-listening stagewhile-listening stage,post-listening stage.Unit 10Teaching Speaking1. What is speaking?Speaking is a skill that the students will be judged upon most in real-life situations.. 1.what are the differences between spoken and written language?SpokenspontaneousSentences are often incomplete, ungrammatical, and full of hesitations, false starts, and redundancies.If it is not recorded, spoken language can‟t be listened to again. It is expected to be understood immediately.WrittenWell-plannedSentences are often carefully constructed and well organized.Written language is comparatively speaking permanent. It can be read as often as necessary.3.There are four common features of spoken language:Using less complex syntax;Taking short cuts, e.g. incomplete sentences;Using fixed conventional phrases/chunks;Using devices such as fillers, hesitation devices to give time to think before speaking.4.Principles for teaching speaking1) balancing between accuracy-based practice and fluency-based practices :2) Contextualizing practice3) Personalizing practice4) Building up confidence5) Maximizing meaningful interactions6) Helping students develop speaking strategies7)making the best use of classroom learning environment to provide sufficient language input and practice for the students.5,factors should be considered in designing speaking tasksWhen we design speaking tasks, one important consideration is the language proficiency level of the students.6.how can we design speaking activities:1). Maximum foreign talk:2). Even participation3). High motivation4). Right language level4.Types of speaking activitiesLittlewood‟s (1981) framework for defining speaking activities:Pre-communicative activitiesStructural activitiesQuasi-communicative activitiesCommunicative activitiesFunctional communication activitiesSocial interaction activitiesSome speaking activities1)Controlled activities2)semi- Controlled activities3)communication activities1). Information-gap activities:2). Dialogues and role-plays3). Activities using pictures4). Problem-solving activities8,How to organise speaking activities.Using group work in speaking tasks☐Design small group work for three reasons:(1) it increases the time for each student to practise speaking in one lesson;(2) often ss are afraid of making mistakes or losing face or feel shy speaking in front of a whole class;(3) speaking in small groups is more natural in real life.☐Small group work helps ss learn to work cooperatively and helps them develop interpersonal skills—”foste ring development of tolerance, mutual respect andharmony” (Cooke & Nicholson, 1992:34)2). The advantages of using group in speaking tasksSmall group work helps students learn to work cooperatively and it helps them develop interpersonal skills. They learn how to work with a wider variety of people Development of tolerance, mutual respect and harmonyUnit 11 Teaching Reading1. Two types of reading practice in classrooms:Reading aloud and Silent reading2. Effective readers do the following:1) have a clear purpose in reading;2) read silently;3) read phrase by phrase, rather than word by word;4) concentrate on the important bits, skim the rest, and skip the insignificant parts;5) use different speeds and strategies for different reading tasks;6) perceive the information in the target language rather than mentally translate;7) guess the meaning of new words from the context, or ignore them;8) have and use background information to help understand the text.3. What is readingreading is the construction of meaning from a printed or Written message..4. Skills readers need:1.Specifying a purpose for reading2.Planning what to do/what steps to take3.Previewing the text4.Predicting the contents of the text5.Checking predictions6.Skimming the text for the main idea7.Scanning the text for specific information8.Distinguishing main ideas from supporting details9.Posing questions about the text10.Finding answers to posed questions5.The role of vocabulary in reading:Day & Bamford (1998): efficient reading begins with a lightening-like automatic recognition of words, which frees one‟s mind to use other resources to construct meaning. Helping ss to develop the ability of automatic word recognition is the basis for developing their reading skills.The way to develop si ght vocabulary is to read extensively (…Familiarity breeds automaticity‟).6. Some principles for teaching reading(6):1)The selected texts and attached tasks should be accessible to the students.2)Tasks should be clearly given in advance.3) Tasks should be designed to encourage selective and intelligent reading for the main meaning4) Tasks should help develop students' reading skills5) Teachers should help the students not merely to cope with one particular text in front of them but with their reading strategies and reading ability in general.6)Teachers should help the students to read on their own.7.three models of teaching reading1). Bottom-up modelletters---words---phrases---clauses---sentences---paragraphs---whole discours2). Top-down modelbackground knowledge--- guess meaning from the printed page3)Interactive model8. Three stages of reading:Pre-reading activities;While-reading activities;Post-reading ActivitiesPre-reading activities;Predictinga). Predicting based on the titleb). Predicting based on vocabularyc). Predicting based on the T/F questions2). Setting the scene* Besides discussing culture bound aspects of the text, we can also set the scene by relating what students already know to what they want to know.3). SkimmingSkimming means reading quickly to get the gist, i.e. the main idea of the text. Some suggestions may help teachers to set up skimming activities:。
