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![4 Cristiana Rodrigues 2011
CELTA Assignments
With regards to speaking, I have noticed that X engages actively in group and pair work
and is happy to exchange ideas with her peers. However, in her interview she didn't
talk much, seem reluctant to develop her ideas in more detail and had trouble
expressing herself when trying explain what she found easy and difficult when studying
English. I found this quite surprising as she is quite extrovert in lessons and usually
participates actively. This might have been because the interview was being recorded,
as she didn't seem too keen on that. I also noticed that in lessons she seems less
comfortable when talking to the teachers than with her peers.
Her writing is quite understandable for a pre-intermediate level. Despite some problems
in articles, prepositions, word order and choice of words she managed to get her ideas
across. Again, her letter was a bit short, stuck to the basic points didn't develop them
much.
Grammar
Student X’s letter featured some errors with prepositions and articles, word other and
choice of words. Some examples are:
"I have been here for one months" -> I have been here for one months
"I work as au pair" -> I work as an au pair
"I live in my au-pair family together" -> I live with my au-pair family together
"My free time, I spend with my friends, sport and watching movies" -> I spend
my free time with my friends, doing sports and watching movies or In my free
time I like + ing …
"It's my ambition for future" -> It's my ambition for the future
In her interview, some problems with articles and prepositions were detected:
"I am from Czech Republic" -> I am from the Czech Republic
"I'm au pair" -> I'm an au pair
"I look after two children, boy and girl. Boy is 6 and girl is 5" –> (…) a boy and a
girl. The boy is 6 and the girl is 5
"I need [English] for some job, in future" -> In the future
"Listen radio" -> Listen to the radio
The high frequency of article and preposition errors can be explained by the absence of
these in the Czech grammatical systems. Czech speakers tend to leave them out or use
them far too much. The correct use can only be learned by understanding the strategy
and philosophy of article usage, which is not inherent in Czech learners.
Verb patterns
"I like spend", "I like relax" -> I like spending, I like relaxing
Choice of words
Some hesitation between do and make](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2011cambridgeceltaassignments-230805214703-254b2593/75/2011-Cambridge-CELTA-Assignments-4-2048.jpg)
![6 Cristiana Rodrigues 2011
CELTA Assignments
Bibliography
Graham, C. (2000). Jazz Chants Old and New. Oxford University Press, USA.
Chamonikolasová, Jana. (2005). Some Difficulties Facing Native Speakers of Czech and
Slovak in Writing in English.
Dooley, J. and Evan, V. (2004) Grammarway 1. Newbury:Express Publ.
Hancock, M. (1995) Pronunciation Games. Cambridge University Press.
Kovarova, Eva. (2010) Identifying Specific Pronunciation Errors Produced by Czech
Learners of English as a Foreign Language
Sandy Millin. 2011. Pronunciation problems for Czech speakers of English. [ONLINE]
Available at: http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/. [Accessed 27 October 2011].
Swan, M. (2001) Learner English: A teacher's guide to Interference and other problems.
Cambridge University Press.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2011cambridgeceltaassignments-230805214703-254b2593/75/2011-Cambridge-CELTA-Assignments-6-2048.jpg)
![12 Cristiana Rodrigues 2011
CELTA Assignments
(Word count: 1134)
Bibliography
Macmillan Online Dictionary. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.macmillandictionary.com. [Accessed 26 November 2011].
Photo Trans Edit. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.photransedit.com/Online/Text2Phonetics.aspx. [Accessed 26 November
2011].
Redman, S., 2011. English Vocabulary in Use Pre-intermediate and Intermediate with
Answers. Cambridge University Press.
Workman, G., 2008. Concept Questions and Time Lines. Gem Publishing.
Reference Material
Appendix 1
(Personal Photos)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2011cambridgeceltaassignments-230805214703-254b2593/75/2011-Cambridge-CELTA-Assignments-12-2048.jpg)
![17 Cristiana Rodrigues 2011
CELTA Assignments
Trust me, telling fibs is sure sign of success
This text is appropriate for upper-intermediate level, as it features more complex
vocabulary, a variety of language structures and different levels of register. Many
students from this level are au-pairs, so the topic should appeal to them. They should
also have some interesting stories to share, which I would explore in the writing task.
Lead In
I would begin the lesson with a lead in activity. Students will be shown a picture of
Pinocchio and asked what it is, with further follow on questions to raise interest, "get the
learners interested in the topic, [generate] initial discussion of key themes, make explicit
link between the topic of text and students own lives and experiences" (Scrivener,
2005:187).
Pre-Reading
After that, I would use some words and phrases from the text to elicit predictions
about the content of the text. This is also a good time to clarify any blocking vocabulary
that may occur in the text. I would start by showing some words and phrases on OH and
ask students to talk with their partners about them, trying to predict what the topic of
the text may be. "Making a good prediction of the content or shape of a (…) text will
definitely help to make better sense of it" (Scrivener, 2005:179 1
). This pair discussion
is also useful in case students don't know some of the vocabulary, as it would be
possible that the other student can help with that.
Gist Reading
After the prediction stage, I would then set a gist reading task, asking students to read
the text quickly to check whether their predictions were true. At this point, I would take
the opportunity to reinforce the idea that "the word-by-word approach [to a text] is not
the way we most often do our reading in real life" and "it is not always essential to
understand every word" (Scrivener, 2005:184). I would set the gist reading a time limit
of 3 minutes and make sure students compare answers before class feedback.
Scan Reading
Before the detailed reading, I would also set up a scan reading task, getting students
to go through the text and find "1,200", "20%, 50%, 70% and 90%" and "9 out of 10"
and say what these refer to. I believe that understanding these figures is quite important
as they focus on some key factors of the text and should help students to get fuller
comprehension of it. Students would do this task in pairs with a time limit of 3 minutes.
Both the gist and scan reading activities are aimed at helping the students read the texts
as they would read in their L1, "not worrying about understanding every words; not
perhaps understanding most words, but still achieving a specific useful goal" (Scrivener,
2005:184).
Detailed Reading
Moving on to the detailed reading stage of the lesson, students would be asked to read
the text and decide in their pairs whether the 8 statements provided are True, False or
Not Given. They should also find a sentence in the text to support their answer. I would](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2011cambridgeceltaassignments-230805214703-254b2593/75/2011-Cambridge-CELTA-Assignments-17-2048.jpg)
![18 Cristiana Rodrigues 2011
CELTA Assignments
try to aim these questions at the parts of the text that may cause doubts and would
naturally require more careful reading to really understand the ideas involved. I believe
that by doing so, the task will "reflect real life uses of the same text. If a text is used in
class in ways that are reasonably similar to real life, it is likely that the task will be
effective" (Scrivener, 2005:186).
At this point I would monitor students' work (when they actually start to discuss the
questions) and assist with any questions they might have. While monitoring, I would try
to encourage self correction in case I found any mistakes or inaccuracies in their work,
providing some guidance but not giving the answer. In case some of the pairs finish
early, I would ask them to go through the text again and underline any vocabulary they
don't know or aren't sure about. These words can be used for the guessing from context
stage or even before that, students, in their pairs, may try to explain each other
vocabulary they don't know.
Class feedback would follow. For each question, I would ask for their answer and the
sentence from the text to support it. I would also try not to "immediately acknowledge
correct answers with words or facial expressions [and] throw the answers back to the
class: 'What do you think of Claire's answer? Do you agree?" (Scrivener, 2005:176 1
),
encouraging them to give their opinion on the subject.
I think this text is very rich and students will have opinions to share about it. This also
gives some of additional speaking practice.
Guessing from context
After this stage, students will be encouraged to guess meaning of unknown words
from context. For these vocabulary items, I would get students in their pairs to explain
each other and then ask for feedback from the whole class. If they aren't able to clarify
the meaning themselves, I would try to provide a different context they can guess from.
Writing Task
The next step of this lesson has to do with the writing task. Firstly, and as preparation,
I would set up a series of tasks to help them get started. “A student can learn to become
a better writer by (…) being actively encouraged and helped to follow through a series of
preparatory steps before the final test is produced” (Scrivener, 2005:194).
The first of these tasks involves ordering sentences from a story. "It is often useful if
students see samples of the kind of texts they are working on." (Scrivener, 2005:199).
Students should do this task in pairs.
After that, a related task involving sequence words: students should introduce these in
the sentences in order make the linking of events clear. A language box featuring a
general outline for structure of a narrative and some information about narrative tenses
and style should be included in the worksheet to help students plan their text.
Finally, students are asked to write their own text in narrative style under the topic "Fibs
by Kids" (120-180 words). As I mentioned before, most of the students attending the
course are working as au-pair, so I would encourage them to draw from their own
experience with children. If they had no such stories, then use their own childhood or
imagine a situation.
Students would be writing their first draft of the story in class. At this point I would
monitor students' work and assist with any questions they might have. While monitoring,
I would try to encourage self correction in case I found any mistakes or inaccuracies in
their work, providing some guidance but not giving the answer. They would then swap](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2011cambridgeceltaassignments-230805214703-254b2593/75/2011-Cambridge-CELTA-Assignments-18-2048.jpg)
![19 Cristiana Rodrigues 2011
CELTA Assignments
papers with their partner so they could get some feedback from them before the final
version. "The most useful comments are those that will have an impact as the writing is
evolving; these will be useful from as many different readers as possible, from fellow
students just as much as you" (Scrivener, 2005:199). Students would do a final version
of their texts at home and send it to me by email to be marked (using a correction
code).
"The existence of an audience and purpose [for a writing task] are worth bearing in mind
in class" (Scrivener, 2005:201). In order to provide these, the texts could be displayed
on a poster on the wall of the classroom, a kind of "Au-Pair Corner". If I were teaching
the class for a longer period of time, I would consider the creation of a blog where they
could post their texts.
I believe that students would relate to the subject of this lesson and enjoy exchanging
stories about the children they look after.
Stage Name Time Stage aim
Lead in 5 mins
To stimulate interest in the topic and give students practice
in prediction and activate vocabulary related to the topic
Pre-reading 10 mins
To activate vocabulary and give students practice in
prediction
Gist Reading 10 mins To confirm ideas from prediction stage
Scan Reading 10 mins To give students practice in reading for specific information
Close Reading 20 mins
To give students practice in reading for detailed
comprehension
Guess
Meaning from
Context
10 mins
To give students practice in guessing the meaning of
unknown vocabulary from context
Writing 25 mins To give students productive practice
____________________________
1
These statement from Scrivener refer to a listening text but as reading "is (like listening) a 'receptive skill',
similar procedures can be used to help learners" (Scrivener, 2005 p184).
Bibliography
Scrivener, J. (2011). Learning Teaching. Macmillan Education.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2011cambridgeceltaassignments-230805214703-254b2593/75/2011-Cambridge-CELTA-Assignments-19-2048.jpg)
Uploaded byAndrew Molina
2011 Cambridge CELTA Assignments
1. The document outlines Cristiana Rodrigues' assignments completed during her 2011 CELTA course, including a case study of a Czech student focusing on analyzing her language skills, grammar, and pronunciation problems and recommending materials to address them. 2. Assignment 1 involves interviewing and observing a Czech student to evaluate her English proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening as well as identify grammatical and phonological issues, such as errors with articles, prepositions, stress, and intonation. 3. Recommendations for the student include practicing rules for articles, games and videos to work on pronunciation of vowels, consonants, stress,
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Similar to 2011 Cambridge CELTA Assignments
2011 Cambridge CELTA Assignments
- 1. 1 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Cambridge CELTA assignments Trainee: Cristina Rodrigues The English Language Centre, Reading, UK September – December 2011 Graded Obtained: Pass A Assignment 1: The Learner Assignment 2: Language Analysis Assignments 3: Skills (Reading & Writing) Appendix 1: Provisional Certificate and Report
- 2. 2 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments The CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) qualification is a practical English language teaching qualification that gives trainees the essential knowledge, hands-on teaching experience and classroom confidence to qualify as a teacher of English as a Second Language (ESL). The 120-hour course builds a strong foundation in English language teaching and is regulated by Ofqual at level 5 on the Qualifications and Credit Framework. Assessment is based on written assignments and assessed teaching practice. Below are the assignments completed during my CELTA course in 2011. All the assignments were passed on first submission and I obtained the grade Pass A (Distinction). http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/teaching-qualifications/celta/
- 3. 3 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Assignment 1: The Learner – Case Study Find a student from the TP class who is willing to take part in your assignment and arrange to meet and interview the student. Observe the student during teaching practice to collect more information about their abilities. Analyse the data collected and evaluate the student’s proficiency in language skills (reading, listening, speaking) and identify their grammatical and phonological problems. Research the areas identified and find appropriate material to help the student with each. Student's Background Student X is from the Czech Republic and is 20-29 years old. At the moment of her interview, she had been in the UK for one month, working as an au-pair and studying English for 4 hours a week. She has a university course in Economics. She studied English at school but the subject didn't appeal much to her at the time, due to (according to herself) the teachers not being very good. She also added that the lessons were very traditional with quite a lot of focus on grammar and receptive skills and little speaking practise. Her main reason to learn English is to improve her fluency and speaking skills, not only to be able to communicate easily in her daily life and current occupation, but also to improve her future career prospects. X hopes to be able to find a job in the future as accountant or something related with economics. Her motivation is thus integrative and instrumental. Learning Style From observing her in class, I would say Student X is more of an impulsive than a reflective learner in that she enjoys speaking practise in groups and pairs, games, role plays and learning new vocabulary. She is an extrovert person and participates actively in the lessons, especially in pair and group activities. She doesn't enjoy reading or writing as much, however, she also mentioned in her survey that she enjoys studying grammar and doing pronunciation exercises, which makes me think she is also an analytical learner and feels comfortable analysing elements sequentially. She has a notebook but doesn't take notes in a very organized and detailed way and she doesn’t like working on her own. Analysis of Student's Proficiency Skills In general Student X’s receptive skills are at a higher level than her productive skills: she read my letter quite quickly and wrote hers covering roughly the same topics; she clearly understood my instructions on how to complete the survey and understood what she was asked during the interview. In class she is quick reader and often tries to guess the meaning from context.
- 4. 4 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments With regards to speaking, I have noticed that X engages actively in group and pair work and is happy to exchange ideas with her peers. However, in her interview she didn't talk much, seem reluctant to develop her ideas in more detail and had trouble expressing herself when trying explain what she found easy and difficult when studying English. I found this quite surprising as she is quite extrovert in lessons and usually participates actively. This might have been because the interview was being recorded, as she didn't seem too keen on that. I also noticed that in lessons she seems less comfortable when talking to the teachers than with her peers. Her writing is quite understandable for a pre-intermediate level. Despite some problems in articles, prepositions, word order and choice of words she managed to get her ideas across. Again, her letter was a bit short, stuck to the basic points didn't develop them much. Grammar Student X’s letter featured some errors with prepositions and articles, word other and choice of words. Some examples are: "I have been here for one months" -> I have been here for one months "I work as au pair" -> I work as an au pair "I live in my au-pair family together" -> I live with my au-pair family together "My free time, I spend with my friends, sport and watching movies" -> I spend my free time with my friends, doing sports and watching movies or In my free time I like + ing … "It's my ambition for future" -> It's my ambition for the future In her interview, some problems with articles and prepositions were detected: "I am from Czech Republic" -> I am from the Czech Republic "I'm au pair" -> I'm an au pair "I look after two children, boy and girl. Boy is 6 and girl is 5" –> (…) a boy and a girl. The boy is 6 and the girl is 5 "I need [English] for some job, in future" -> In the future "Listen radio" -> Listen to the radio The high frequency of article and preposition errors can be explained by the absence of these in the Czech grammatical systems. Czech speakers tend to leave them out or use them far too much. The correct use can only be learned by understanding the strategy and philosophy of article usage, which is not inherent in Czech learners. Verb patterns "I like spend", "I like relax" -> I like spending, I like relaxing Choice of words Some hesitation between do and make
- 5. 5 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Pronunciation Some errors in stressing individual words such as stressing the first syllable in sentence, probably caused by the fact that all Czech words are stressed on the first syllable. The pronunciation of things as /sɪŋz/, as the sound /θ/ does not exist in the Czech language; In general, long vowels were pronounced with insufficient "tense" which makes them sound similar to short vowels. An example of this is /biːn/ in "I have been here", pronounced as /bɪn/. I also noticed that weak forms such as auxiliary verbs, prepositions and articles are pronounced as stressed, which makes her speech sound quite flat and artificial; What I would work on with her Of the grammatical errors, the most frequent is related to the use of articles and determiners. To improve her understanding of usage of article, I would recommend the study of some systematized rules about definite and indefinite articles (so she could understand why articles are used, instead of just memorizing examples) followed by restricted practise of these. As X is not too keen on working alone, I would then provide some additional oral practise through a pair activity such as teacher-student quiz and a game to practise grammar, such as a Grammar Auction Game. For pronunciation, concerning the difference between long and short vowels I would recommend viewing of http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/vowel_short_ 1.shtml. Concerning the pronunciation of /θ/ I would recommend viewing of http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/con_voiceless _6.shtml. These videos could be seen in class with some individual and choral drilling. The learner might also be interested in watching the rest of the videos so for further study of pronunciation I would recommend the entire set of videos for self-study. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/ As X mentioned she enjoys doing pronunciation exercises, some class work could be done to make student aware of intonation patterns, sentence stress and connected speech (especially contractions, weak forms, linking and elision). A fun and dynamic way of doing this would be resorting to Jazz Chants to gain awareness of stressed and unstressed words in a sentence. The chant "Personal Questions" is particularly appropriate for pre-intermediate level. Additional work on intonation would also be useful as there is a much wider range of intonation in English than in Czech. Different intonation can convey different meaning, so it would be useful for this learner to be aware of this. To practise intonation and different meanings associated to it, the pair activity C6 "Rhythm Dominoes" from Pronunciation Games, Mark Hancock, Cambridge University Press, would be interesting to do in class. Word count: 1176
- 6. 6 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Bibliography Graham, C. (2000). Jazz Chants Old and New. Oxford University Press, USA. Chamonikolasová, Jana. (2005). Some Difficulties Facing Native Speakers of Czech and Slovak in Writing in English. Dooley, J. and Evan, V. (2004) Grammarway 1. Newbury:Express Publ. Hancock, M. (1995) Pronunciation Games. Cambridge University Press. Kovarova, Eva. (2010) Identifying Specific Pronunciation Errors Produced by Czech Learners of English as a Foreign Language Sandy Millin. 2011. Pronunciation problems for Czech speakers of English. [ONLINE] Available at: http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/. [Accessed 27 October 2011]. Swan, M. (2001) Learner English: A teacher's guide to Interference and other problems. Cambridge University Press.
- 7. 7 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Assignment 2: Language Analysis Prepare a complete a language analysis for each of the words, phrases or structures given. Target Language A library vs a bookshop (elementary) Meaning / Use Library: A place where you can read or borrow books. Bookshop: A shop that sells books. Form Library: countable noun; irregular plural: drop the 'y' and add '-ies'. Bookshop: countable noun, regular plural. Pronunciation / ˈlaɪbrə i / s / ˈ ʊkʃ p / Context of Presentation Show pictures (appendix 1). Tell students: "I really enjoy reading. I've got money and a big house. I can buy books and keep them in my home." "I really enjoy reading. I have a small house and not a lot of money." "I like this book, but not very much. I want to read it, but I don't want to keep it." "I love this book. I want to keep it for myself." Elicit from orally gapped sentence: "I go to the library / bookshop… " Concept Questions & Responses Library Bookshop Can you take books from there? (yes) (yes) Do you have to pay for them? (no) (yes) Can you keep the books? (no) (yes) Do you have to return them? (yes) (no) Anticipated Problems Form: Forming the plural of "library" as a regular plural, by simply adding '–s'; writing "bookshop" as two words instead of one compound noun. Meaning: Confusion between the two words if similar to a false friend in their L1. Pronunciation: stressing the second syllable instead of the first in "library"; pronouncing "bookshop" it as two words; introducing an /ɪ/ sound between the two compounds.
- 8. 8 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Target Language I took off my shoes when I got home. (intermediate) Meaning / Use To remove something, especially clothes or shoes. Form Transitive separable multi word verb. Subject + take sth <-> off When the object is a pronoun, it must come between the verb and the particle. Pronunciation / ˈaɪ tʊk f maɪ ʃuːz e ˈaɪ ˈɡ t həʊ / Context of Presentation Tell students: "After a long day at work, I like to relax at home. When I get home, I change my working clothes into something more comfortable. The first thing I usually do is to remove my shoes." Elicit from orally gapped sentence: "I take off my shoes" Show pictures (appendix 2). Ask students "What is he/she doing?" Concept Questions & Responses Do I have my shoes on? (no) Can I take off clothes, eg. a jacket? (yes) Can I take off a hat? (yes) Can I take off my mobile phone? (no) Can I take off my work? (no) Anticipated Problems Form: Using another preposition as particle such as "take out" instead of "take off"; misspell the particle as "of". Meaning: Multiple meanings of the phrasal verb "take off" may cause students difficulty in using it. Pronunciation: Mispronunciation of the particle "off" as "of". Sentence rhythm and linking of words.
- 9. 9 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Target Language She can't make ends meet with three children and so many bills to pay. (Advanced) Meaning / Use To earn and spend equal amounts of money. Usually in reference to a meager living with little if any money after basic expenses. Form Subject + can/can't + make ends meet Pronunciation / ʃi k ː t eɪk e dz iːt ɪð θ iː ˈtʃɪld ə ə d səʊ ˈ e i ɪlz tə peɪ / Context of Presentation Show pictures (appendix 3). Tell students: "Nowadays, because of the state of the economy, a lot of families have smaller incomes. They don't earn enough money to cover their expenses." Elicit from orally gapped sentence: "They can't make ends meet." Concept Questions & Responses Are we talking about permission, possibility or ability? (possibility) Are we talking about money or time? (money) Is it positive or negative situation? (negative) Ca ou ake e ds eet if ou… … spe d o e tha ou ea ? o … ea o e tha ou spe d? es … spe d as u h as ou ea ? es What can cause a person/family to have trouble making ends meet? (unemployment, illness, inflation, salary cuts, unforeseen expenses) Elicit substitute sentences from students. Anticipated Problems Form: Using the 'to + infinitive' form after "can/can't" or "ends". Meaning: The meaning of the idiom is not deductible from the parts and students won't be able to understand it literally. Pronunciation: Pronunciation of the schwa in "can't" may cause problems identifying whether it's a negative or affirmative form. Sentence rhythm and linking of words.
- 10. 10 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Target Language When I arrived at the cinema the film had started. (Intermediate) Meaning / Use The past perfect is used to talk about two actions in the past and to make clear the sequence of events. It shows that one action happened before the other. Form Subject + had + past participle (V3) Pronunciation / e ˈaɪ əˈraɪvd ət ðə ˈsɪnəmə ðə fɪlm həd ˈst ːtɪd / Context of Presentation Tell students: "Yesterday I went to the cinema, but I missed the bus and so I was late. I went in but I didn't see the first 10 minutes of the film". Elicit from orally gapped sentence "When I arrived at the cinema, the film had started." Concept Questions & Responses Are we talking about past events? (yes) How many actions are there in the past? (two) Did both actions happen at the same time? (no) Did one action happen before the other? (yes) Which action happened first? (the film started) Use timeline to illustrate The film started I arrived Now ---------x--------------------x-----------------------|----> Elicit substitute sentences from students using different labels on timeline (Appendix 4). Anticipated Problems Form: Using 'have/has' instead of 'had'; Using the past simple form instead of the past participle with irregular verbs. Word order in questions. Meaning: Understanding both actions as happening at the same time; Identifying which action happened first. Pronunciation: Different pronunciations of '–ed' in regular verbs. Sentence rhythm and linking of words.
- 11. 11 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Target Language This time next week, I'll be relaxing on the beach. (Upper-Intermediate) Meaning / Use The future continuous is used to talk about an activity in progress at a future point in time. Form Subject + will /'ll be + present participle (-ing form) Pronunciation / ðɪs ˈtaɪ ekst iːk | aɪl bi rɪˈlæksɪŋ n ðə iːtʃ / Context of Presentation Tell students: "I’ goi g o holida e t eek to a eautiful seaside eso t. I pla to spe d da s esti g a d relaxing" Elicit from orally gapped sentence "This time next week, I'll be relaxing on the beach." Concept Questions & Responses Are we talking about the present or the future? (future) Am I relaxing on the beach now? (no) When do I start relaxing on the beach? (next week) Use timeline to illustrate Now Next week ---------|--------------xxxxxxxxxxx---------> Elicit substitute sentences from students by asking them what they will be doing this time tomorrow / next week / next month. Back up prompts with illustrating pictures (appendix 5). Anticipated Problems Form: Using the past participle instead of the gerund e.g. "I will be relaxed"; not using the "be" in the structure. Meaning: Students might understand the gerund form as talking about something happening at the moment. Pronunciation: Not using the contraction of "I'll". Sentence rhythm and linking of words.
- 12. 12 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments (Word count: 1134) Bibliography Macmillan Online Dictionary. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.macmillandictionary.com. [Accessed 26 November 2011]. Photo Trans Edit. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.photransedit.com/Online/Text2Phonetics.aspx. [Accessed 26 November 2011]. Redman, S., 2011. English Vocabulary in Use Pre-intermediate and Intermediate with Answers. Cambridge University Press. Workman, G., 2008. Concept Questions and Time Lines. Gem Publishing. Reference Material Appendix 1 (Personal Photos)
- 13. 13 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Appendix 2 (Images from www.123rf.com Royalty Free Stock Photos and Google www.google.com) Appendix 3 (Images from www.123rf.com Royalty Free Stock Photos and Google www.google.com)
- 14. 14 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Appendix 4 Timeline 1 The train left the station I arrived at the station Now --------------x-----------------------------------x---------------------------|----> Timeline 2 My colleagues left the office I finished my work Now --------------x-----------------------------------x---------------------------|----> Timeline 3 We returned from holidays They received our postcard Now --------------x-----------------------------------x---------------------------|----> Appendix 5 (Images from www.123rf.com Royalty Free Stock Photos)
- 15. 15 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Assignment 3: Skills (Reading & Writing) Design a skills lesson based on the text following the guidelines below. Assume the lesson is 90 minutes. A full lesson plan is not needed, but include an outline of the stages, timing and stage aims as in the example grid below. Source Text Trust me, telling fibs is sure sign of success...it seems. Toddlers who can fib by the time they are two could be the chief executives of tomorrow. From The Sunday Times May 16, 2010 A five-year-old girl in the laboratory test was told not to turn round to see what soft toy was behind her. However, once her adult minder left on the excuse of taking a telephone call, she swivelled her head to look at Barney, a cuddly purple dinosaur. When asked minutes later she denied peeking but said she thought it was Barney behind her. How did she k o ? Well, ɑod a e i to the oo a d hispe ed i ea . Little children who tell such big fibs should not be a worry for parents. Scientists have discovered that a child ho lai s the dog ate ho e o k a ha e a futu e a ee i the Cit . Resea he s ho a ied out a study of 1,200 children say the fact that a child has learnt to tell a lie shows they have reached an important step in their mental development. A majority of the human guinea pigs aged two to 16 told porkies but it is the children with better cognitive a ilities ho a tell the est lies. The ha e de eloped e e uti e fu tio i g , hi h ea s the a e a le to keep the truth at the back of their mind so their fib sounds more convincing. At the age of two, 20% of children will lie. This rises to 50% by three and almost 90% at four. Parents of troublesome youths may not be surprised that the curve peaks at the age of 12 when almost all of them will be deceitful. The tendency starts to fall away by the age of 16, when it is 70%. As adulthood app oa hes, ou g people lea i stead to use the less ha ful hite lies that everyone tells to a oid hu ti g people’s feeli gs.
- 16. 16 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Researchers say there is no link between telling fibs in childhood and any tendency to cheat in exams or to become a fraudster later in life. Nor does strict parenting or a religious upbringing have any impact. Healthy, intelligent children learn to lie quicker, but parents have to learn to distinguish between the harmless make believe — such as an imaginary friend — and the fibs told to protect or better the child. The e is a Pi o hio peak a out the age of seven after which it is hard to discern whether a boy or girl is lying without evidence. Kang Lee, director of the Institute of Child Study at Toronto University, which carried out the research, said: You ha e to at h this pe iod a d use the oppo tunity as a teachable moment. You should ’t s a k o s ea at ou hild ut ou should talk a out the i po ta e of ho est a d the egati it of l i g. Afte the age of eight the oppo tu ities a e goi g to e e a e. The research team invited younger children — one at a time — to sit in a room with hidden cameras. A soft toy was placed behind them. When the researcher briefly left the room, the children were told not to look. In nine out of 10 cases cameras caught them peeking. But when asked if they had looked, they almost always said no. They tripped themselves up when asked what they thought the toy might be. One little girl asked to place her hand underneath a blanket that was over the toy before she answered the question. After feeling the toy but not seeing it, she said: It feels pu ple so it ust e Ba e . Lee, ho aught his so Natha , 3, looki g at the to , said: We e e had a e as t ai ed o thei k ees e ause e thought thei legs ould fidget if the e e telli g a lie, ut it is ’t t ue. Older children were set a test paper but were told they must not look at the answers printed on the back. Some of the questions were easy, such as who lives in the White House. But the children who looked at the a k ga e the p i ted a s e P esidius Ake a to the ogus uestio Who dis o e ed Tu isia? Whe asked how they knew this, some said they learnt it in a history class. Joan Freeman, professor of lifelong learning at Middlesex University in London and the author of How to Raise a Bright Child, said: Cle e hild e a e goi g to e ette at l i g. Most ou gste s g o out of l i g if it is not an acceptable part of their culture. But if you are running a business when you grow up you might want to get away with something — and not telling the hole t uth is o the edge of o alit . Ma ga et M Alliste , a leadi g edu atio al ps hologist, said: Just e ause a hild is ight I do ’t thi k the a e o e likel to lie. But if the do, the ill lie ette a d tell o e o pli ated lies.
- 17. 17 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Trust me, telling fibs is sure sign of success This text is appropriate for upper-intermediate level, as it features more complex vocabulary, a variety of language structures and different levels of register. Many students from this level are au-pairs, so the topic should appeal to them. They should also have some interesting stories to share, which I would explore in the writing task. Lead In I would begin the lesson with a lead in activity. Students will be shown a picture of Pinocchio and asked what it is, with further follow on questions to raise interest, "get the learners interested in the topic, [generate] initial discussion of key themes, make explicit link between the topic of text and students own lives and experiences" (Scrivener, 2005:187). Pre-Reading After that, I would use some words and phrases from the text to elicit predictions about the content of the text. This is also a good time to clarify any blocking vocabulary that may occur in the text. I would start by showing some words and phrases on OH and ask students to talk with their partners about them, trying to predict what the topic of the text may be. "Making a good prediction of the content or shape of a (…) text will definitely help to make better sense of it" (Scrivener, 2005:179 1 ). This pair discussion is also useful in case students don't know some of the vocabulary, as it would be possible that the other student can help with that. Gist Reading After the prediction stage, I would then set a gist reading task, asking students to read the text quickly to check whether their predictions were true. At this point, I would take the opportunity to reinforce the idea that "the word-by-word approach [to a text] is not the way we most often do our reading in real life" and "it is not always essential to understand every word" (Scrivener, 2005:184). I would set the gist reading a time limit of 3 minutes and make sure students compare answers before class feedback. Scan Reading Before the detailed reading, I would also set up a scan reading task, getting students to go through the text and find "1,200", "20%, 50%, 70% and 90%" and "9 out of 10" and say what these refer to. I believe that understanding these figures is quite important as they focus on some key factors of the text and should help students to get fuller comprehension of it. Students would do this task in pairs with a time limit of 3 minutes. Both the gist and scan reading activities are aimed at helping the students read the texts as they would read in their L1, "not worrying about understanding every words; not perhaps understanding most words, but still achieving a specific useful goal" (Scrivener, 2005:184). Detailed Reading Moving on to the detailed reading stage of the lesson, students would be asked to read the text and decide in their pairs whether the 8 statements provided are True, False or Not Given. They should also find a sentence in the text to support their answer. I would
- 18. 18 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments try to aim these questions at the parts of the text that may cause doubts and would naturally require more careful reading to really understand the ideas involved. I believe that by doing so, the task will "reflect real life uses of the same text. If a text is used in class in ways that are reasonably similar to real life, it is likely that the task will be effective" (Scrivener, 2005:186). At this point I would monitor students' work (when they actually start to discuss the questions) and assist with any questions they might have. While monitoring, I would try to encourage self correction in case I found any mistakes or inaccuracies in their work, providing some guidance but not giving the answer. In case some of the pairs finish early, I would ask them to go through the text again and underline any vocabulary they don't know or aren't sure about. These words can be used for the guessing from context stage or even before that, students, in their pairs, may try to explain each other vocabulary they don't know. Class feedback would follow. For each question, I would ask for their answer and the sentence from the text to support it. I would also try not to "immediately acknowledge correct answers with words or facial expressions [and] throw the answers back to the class: 'What do you think of Claire's answer? Do you agree?" (Scrivener, 2005:176 1 ), encouraging them to give their opinion on the subject. I think this text is very rich and students will have opinions to share about it. This also gives some of additional speaking practice. Guessing from context After this stage, students will be encouraged to guess meaning of unknown words from context. For these vocabulary items, I would get students in their pairs to explain each other and then ask for feedback from the whole class. If they aren't able to clarify the meaning themselves, I would try to provide a different context they can guess from. Writing Task The next step of this lesson has to do with the writing task. Firstly, and as preparation, I would set up a series of tasks to help them get started. “A student can learn to become a better writer by (…) being actively encouraged and helped to follow through a series of preparatory steps before the final test is produced” (Scrivener, 2005:194). The first of these tasks involves ordering sentences from a story. "It is often useful if students see samples of the kind of texts they are working on." (Scrivener, 2005:199). Students should do this task in pairs. After that, a related task involving sequence words: students should introduce these in the sentences in order make the linking of events clear. A language box featuring a general outline for structure of a narrative and some information about narrative tenses and style should be included in the worksheet to help students plan their text. Finally, students are asked to write their own text in narrative style under the topic "Fibs by Kids" (120-180 words). As I mentioned before, most of the students attending the course are working as au-pair, so I would encourage them to draw from their own experience with children. If they had no such stories, then use their own childhood or imagine a situation. Students would be writing their first draft of the story in class. At this point I would monitor students' work and assist with any questions they might have. While monitoring, I would try to encourage self correction in case I found any mistakes or inaccuracies in their work, providing some guidance but not giving the answer. They would then swap
- 19. 19 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments papers with their partner so they could get some feedback from them before the final version. "The most useful comments are those that will have an impact as the writing is evolving; these will be useful from as many different readers as possible, from fellow students just as much as you" (Scrivener, 2005:199). Students would do a final version of their texts at home and send it to me by email to be marked (using a correction code). "The existence of an audience and purpose [for a writing task] are worth bearing in mind in class" (Scrivener, 2005:201). In order to provide these, the texts could be displayed on a poster on the wall of the classroom, a kind of "Au-Pair Corner". If I were teaching the class for a longer period of time, I would consider the creation of a blog where they could post their texts. I believe that students would relate to the subject of this lesson and enjoy exchanging stories about the children they look after. Stage Name Time Stage aim Lead in 5 mins To stimulate interest in the topic and give students practice in prediction and activate vocabulary related to the topic Pre-reading 10 mins To activate vocabulary and give students practice in prediction Gist Reading 10 mins To confirm ideas from prediction stage Scan Reading 10 mins To give students practice in reading for specific information Close Reading 20 mins To give students practice in reading for detailed comprehension Guess Meaning from Context 10 mins To give students practice in guessing the meaning of unknown vocabulary from context Writing 25 mins To give students productive practice ____________________________ 1 These statement from Scrivener refer to a listening text but as reading "is (like listening) a 'receptive skill', similar procedures can be used to help learners" (Scrivener, 2005 p184). Bibliography Scrivener, J. (2011). Learning Teaching. Macmillan Education.
- 20. 20 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Appendix 1: Materials Fibs by Kids 1. Find these figures in the text and say what they refer to. a) 1200 ________________________________________________________ b) 20%, ________________________________________________________ c) 50% ________________________________________________________ d) 90% ________________________________________________________ e) 70% ________________________________________________________ f) 9 out of 10 ___________________________________________________ 2. Read these sentences and decide if they are True, False or Not Given. Select a sentence from the text to support your answers. 1. Smarter children lie more often. _____ 2. Children who lie are likely to become dishonest in the future. _____ 3. Strict education will not discourage children to lie. _____ 4. Researchers say that children that lie are becoming more common nowadays. _____ 5. Nearly all the children in the study denied having looked at the toy. _____ 6. Nathan didn't show signs of nervousness when he was lying. _____ 7. Most of the children who took the test paper looked at the answers printed on the back. _____ 8. They needed cameras to find out whether the older children were cheating on the test. _____
- 21. 21 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Key Exercise 1 a. 1200 – number of children involved in the study b. 20% - percentage of children who lie at the age of two c. 50% - percentage of children who lie at the age of three d. 90% - percentage of children who lie at the age of four e. 70% - percentage of children who lie at the age of sixteen f. 9 out of 10 children caught peeking (by the hidden cameras) Exercise 2 1. Smarter children lie more often. F (the children with better cognitive abilities who can tell the best lies; Just because a child is bright I don’t think they are more likely to lie) 2. Children who lie are likely to become dishonest in the future. F (Researchers say there is no link between telling fibs in childhood and any tendency to cheat in exams or to become a fraudster later in life.) 3. Strict education will not discourage children to lie. T (Nor does strict parenting or a religious upbringing have any impact.) 4. Researchers say that children that lie are becoming more common nowadays. NG 5. Nearly all the children in the study denied having looked at the toy. T (But when asked if they had looked, they almost always said no.) 6. Nathan didn't show signs of nervousness when he was lying. T (we thought their legs would fidget if they were telling a lie, but it isn’t true) 7. Most of the children who took the test paper looked at the answers printed on the back. NG 8. They needed cameras to find out whether the older children were cheating on the test. F (children who looked at the back gave the printed answer “Presidius Akeman” to the bogus question “Who discovered Tunisia?”)
- 22. 22 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Order the paragraphs of this story. I work as an au-pair and I look after a 5 year old girl called Suzie. She is a sweet girl, a bit cheeky and of course, very creative. I usually pick her from school and sometimes take her to the park before going home. The other day, I noticed a small bandage on her finger when I picked her up from school. I casually asked her what happened, thinking she had probably just scraped it on the playground, but in the course of five minutes she offered up quite a lot of explanations… First, she told me she and her friend Jennifer were racing and her finger got caught in the plastic playhouse. Then, it was Anthony who smashed her finger between two tables. After that, she said Matthew had pulled it. Finally, Jack stepped on her hand. Confused, I asked her what the real story was. She waffled. Her eyes shifted. I could see she was thinking hard. She began again, "I was playing with Mindy and there was this big book and... AHHH, OKAY!!!! I chewed on my fingernail and it bled and I know how you don't like it when I put my fingers in my mouth!! My friends didn't do anything to me!! At first I just laugh at how quickly she crumbled but I also made sure she knew that even though I wasn't angry, I preferred the truth to fibs. She agreed not to fib anymore, but I'm not sure I believe that!
- 23. 23 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments Writing a Story Look at the story again. Complete the third paragraph with the appropriate words. What do we use these words for? Can you think of more examples of this type of words? I work as an au-pair and I look after a 5 year old girl called Suzie. She is a sweet girl, a bit cheeky and of course, very creative. I usually pick her from school and sometimes take her to the park before going home. The other day, I noticed a small bandage on her finger when I picked her up from school. I casually asked her what happened, thinking she had probably just scraped it on the playground, but in the course of five minutes she offered up quite a lot of explanations… ___________, she told me she and her friend Jennifer were racing and her finger got caught in the plastic playhouse. ___________, it was Anthony who smashed her finger between two tables. ___________, she said Matthew had pulled it. ___________, Jack stepped on her hand. Confused, I asked her what the real story was. She waffled. Her eyes shifted. I could see she was thinking hard. She began again: "I was playing with Mindy and there was this big book and... AHHH, OKAY!!!! I chewed on my fingernail and it bled and I know how you don't like it when I put my fingers in my mouth!! My friends didn't do anything to me!!” At first I just laugh at how quickly she crumbled but I also made sure she knew that even though I wasn't angry, I preferred the truth to fibs. She agreed not to fib anymore, but I'm not sure I believe that!
- 24. 24 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments General outline of a story Introduction Set the scene (describe the people involved, weather, time, atmosphere, possible feelings, etc) Main Body Before the main event (incidents leading to the main event) The main event (Describe the main event, people involved in, more details, etc) The main body may include 1-3 paragraphs Conclusion Final paragraph End the story (refer to moods, consequences, people's reactions, feelings, etc) Can you identify the different parts of the story in the text above? What verb tenses are used in the main body of the story? Style in narratives Personal style (first or third person); Direct speech is more common that reported speech; Detailed and chatty descriptions; Colloquial English (use idioms and idiomatic expressions).
- 25. 25 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CENTRE 6B Church Street, Reading, Berks RG1 2SB Tel/Fax 0118 939 1833 e-mail: [email protected] This is to certify that Cristiana Maria Pinheiro Rodrigues attended a part-time course leading to the CELTA Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages at The English Language Centre, Reading from 19.09.2011 to 01.12.2011 and has been recommended for the following grade Pass A Participants on this course completed 6 hours of observed teaching practice. A full report can be found on the reverse of this certificate. NB Recommended grades are provisional until ratified by Cambridge ESOL
- 26. 26 Cristiana Rodrigues2011 CELTA Assignments AREAS OF PROGRESS Cristiana came to the course with considerable teaching experience, which was very much in evidence in her levels of confidence, classroom manner and rapport. Cristiana greatest strength is her class room management as she reacts well to students' questions and picks up on students' errors as well as just simply interacting naturally with the students. Cristiana delivered all her lessons, skills and language focused, very effectively. She included a variety of teaching techniques, student interaction patterns and activity types, and was creative in her task design. Her lessons were also planned completely independently and were very detailed, thorough and showed excellent language analysis. AREAS FOR DEVELOPMENT As part of an action plan for development, Cristiana could continue to experiment with new techniques, enhance her error correction, and consider a greater focus on pronunciation and variety of feedback. She should also continue to be aware of finding the right level of challenge for her learners. OVERALL COMMENT Cristiana was a value member of the group as she was extremely professional and supported her colleagues in many ways. She responded very openly and positively to feedback and was always willing to try new methods and techniques in the classroom. She was very self-aware and always made insightful and constructive comments of the other trainees' teaching. Cristiana was increasingly able to use a more student centered, guided discovery approach to learning. She has a strong understanding of the principles and practices of ELT, and due to her natural ability and hard working nature we are confidents she will develop still further. We wish her every success in the future. CENTRE MANAGER: (signed by centre manager)