CELTA Written Assignment 1: Focus on the Learner

In this assignment you will write a profile of the first group of learners you
have taught. To do this you will need to:
interview the students
observe the students in class
do some background reading on motivation and learner styles
By Wednesday Week 2 you need to hand in the following:
one group copy of the completed interview grid
the completed assignment
a copy of one or more pieces of published materials and any of your
own materials that you have chosen to use in the problems section
NB:
this assignment can be hand written or word processed. You can print
or download the blank assignment from: wwwc!ices"en"student#
resources (C!T" downloads#
you must show evidence of your background reading by including
$uotes e.g. When we listen, we use a variety of strategies to help us
pick up the message %crivener& !earning Teaching p.'()
A$$E$$%ENT C&'TE&'A:
Successful candidates can show evidence of:
awareness of how learners backgrounds, previous learning experience and learning
styles affect learning
identifying the learners language skills needs
correctly using terminology relating to the description of language systems and language
skills
selecting appropriate material and or resources to aid the learners language
development
providing a rationale for using specific activities with learners!
finding, selecting and referencing information from one or more sources using written
language that is clear, accurate and appropriate to the task!
()* 1*** words (only for te*t within the bo*es of the assignment#
CELTA Written Assignment 1: Focus on the Learner
'ntroductory in+ormation:
Trainee,s name: C'&A FE&NAN-E. $ANC/E.
Learners, Eng!ish !e0e!: +,-I.T,/0I"T No o+ !earners e0a!uated: 11
Age range: 21#)2
&ange o+ educationa! 3ackgrounds: the ma4ority ha0e a uni0ersity degree
E5am6!es o+ 6ro+essions: !awyer7 secretary7 6rimary schoo! teacher7 !a3 assistant7
anthro6o!ogist7 waiter7 +ree!ance A88 de0e!o6er +or Android7 6aramedic
Learning Background 1here and for how long have they studied nglish2 3ave they learned
any other languages2 3ave they lived or studied abroad2 4ive e*amples.
The group is composed of '' students& all native-%panish speakers. The learning background
of the ma5ority dates back to school6university& after which some of them stopped taking
nglish classes (e.g. 0avid& "ntonio& /ois7s#. Carmela is the only student who has lived
abroad - she spent 8 months in 0ublin working as an au pair. "t least two of the learners
have recently attended nglish courses (e.g. lvira attended the 9I for two years and
obtained an ": $ualification before enrolling on this course; Carlos attended in-company
classes for one year#. <or some students this is not the first time at C!IC %eville. <or
e*ample& +aula had been previously enrolled on a C!IC course but could only attend for one
month& whereas /anolo has been enrolled on =-> courses so far. Two of the learners studied
<rench at school. 9ne of them has no previous nglish-learning e*perience at all (%alud#&
while the other one has a little prior knowledge (/ar?a @ngeles#. .one of the learners speak
another !: apart from nglish& although /ois7s can speak a little <rench and has recently
taken up "rabic lessons.
CELTA Written Assignment 1: Focus on the Learner
%oti0ation 1hy are the students learning nglish2 1hich reasons given are e*amples of
intrinsic motivation& and which are extrinsic2 "re all the students e$ually motivated to
learn2 3ow is this reflected in the classroom2 4ive e*amples.
" general learning group aspiration is career promotion either by obtaining a $ualification or
simply by improving oral communication in !: (0avid would like to get a B' $ualification in
the near future as well as lvira; Carmela needs a B: $ualification in order to find a more
stable 5ob at a school; /ois7s needs a B' $ualification to graduate; "ntonio needs to improve
in order to communicate with customers at work and promote#. The second ma5or aspiration
is personal growth (/anolo& /ar?a @ngeles& lvira& Carlos#.
A"t its most basic level& motivation is some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to
do things in order to achieve somethingA (3armer& :BB(: 8)#. %o we could say that our
learners are all motivated because they are all pursuing a goal. AThe most basic distinction is
between intrinsic motivation& which refers to doing something because it is inherently
interesting or en5oyable& and extrinsic motivation, which refers to doing something because
it leads to a separable outcomeA (0eci C ,yan& :BBB: DD#. This dichotomy leads us to the
conclusion that there are more e*trinsically-motivated (E learners are studying the !: to
promote or get a $ualification# than intrinsically-motivated (> are doing it for personal
growth# students in our group.
Learning sty!es 1hat do you perceive to be the dominant learning styles within the group&
Fisual& "uditory or #inaesthetic2 Is there much variation amongst the individual members of
the class2 4ive e*amples.
I have observed two main types of learners in our group: visual learners and auditory
learners. <or e*ample& Carlos& /ar?a @ngeles and %alud have a more visual learning style
(they seem to en5oy learning from slides and handouts and often take notes#. Carmela and
/anolo& however& are auditory learners because they pay more attention to verbal
instructions and seem to en5oy oral discussions. It could be stated that students with better
productive skills tend to be auditory learners& while students with better receptive skills
appear to have a more visual learning style.
Learning 6re+erences 1hat types of classroom activities do the students like2 1hat do they
dislike2 4ive e*amples.
8 students said their preferred activity types were speaking activities and their favourite
class one whose main focus was that of oral interaction. ' student (%alud# said she liked
grammar activities best and Carlos and +aula also mentioned grammar activities as a
preference. In general terms& most of our learnersA main goal is to improve speaking and
listening skills; therefore& they prefer classes focused on the development of both.
CELTA Written Assignment 1: Focus on the Learner
$6eci+ic 6ro3!ems and suggested so!utions: identify specific problems which are common to
several of the students. You must include a piece of published material for at least one of
the problems below. You may also include your own ideas or materials.
$6eci+ic 6ro3!em 1 Language#re!ated
(grammar or vocabulary#. +lease give one or
more e*amples of the error.
A0o you like to go to the gym2A
The student does not know how to use the
structure !ike 9 #ing I would take advantage
of this common error at this stage in order to
introduce them to common verb patterns
0 9 #ing " 0 9 to9 in+initi0e patterns.
$o!ution:s; to 6ro3!em 1
3ow will you help students with meaning and
form issues2
3ow will you check students understand this2
1hat practice activities (controlled and
freer2# will students do2
3ow will you use either published materials
or your own materials to do this2
I would give students common e*amples of
the structure 0 9 #ing and 0 9 to 9 in+initi0e.
I would highlight the difference between
!ike"!o0e 9 #ing and <d !ike"!o0e 9 #ing Then I
would give them some controlled practice.
Controlled practice:
*ercise '
https:66elt.oup.com6student6headway6preint6aGgram
mar6unitBD6hwyGpreintGunitBDG'2
ccHusCsel!anguageHen
*ercise :
http:66www.englishe*ercises.org6makeagame6viewga
me.asp2idH)B'(
$6eci+ic 6ro3!em 2 8ronunciation re!ated
(individual sounds& stress or intonation#.
+lease give one or more e*amples of the
error.
AtheyA (6d6 instead of 66#
This is another common pronunciation error
among %panish-speaking students. They do
not make a distinction between both sounds
perhaps because 66does not e*ist in their
native language.
$o!ution:s; to 6ro3!em 2
3ow will you help students overcome this
pronunciation error2
1hat practice activities will students do2
3ow will you use either published materials
or your own materials to do this2
I would give them e*amples of the minima!
6air 6d6 66 and do both choral and
individual practice.
I would give them some controlled practice
(see "ppendi* '#
CELTA Written Assignment 1: Focus on the Learner
$ki!!s: indi0idua! strengths and weaknesses <or the following skills areas identify two
students who are strong and two students who are weak (in total& write about four different
students#.
$tudent E5am6!e o+ strength or weakness
*ample: !istening
/arta - strong
$arta has spent several months in the %# and one year in the
States! She has significantly fewer problems than other students in
understanding our different accents! She is usually the first to
comprehend instructions! &n two difficult listenings from the
course book she was the only student to answer all detailed
'uestions!
$6eaking
Carmela - strong
ven though she makes mistakes which are $uite normal at this
stage& Carmela is a risk-taker and also a leader of the group. %he
participates actively in pair and group discussion and very rarely
turns to !' (she did it once to help the other students understand
instructions#. %he is very demanding and seems to dislike drills and
en5oy freer practice more than controlled practice. %he spent 8
months in 0ublin working as an au pair; therefore& she is not afraid
of communicating in the !:.
Writing
0avid - strong
0avidAs written production shows he has a good knowledge of
connectors and sentence structure. 3e also knows how to use
relative clauses and punctuates accurately. 3e writes coherently
and errors are rare.
Listening
/ar?a @ngeles - weak
/ar?a @ngeles has little prior knowledge of the !: and is certainly
weaker at listening and speaking. %he has had problems in
understanding instructions several times. %he seems to prefer
controlled practice and looks dissatisfied when she does not
understand TAs instructions or spoken te*ts. %he looks worried about
correction and accuracy and does not like taking risks.
&eading
%alud - weak
%alud is the only student who has no prior knowledge of the !:. It
takes her a little longer than the rest to read and understand long
written instructions and written te*ts& although she is one of the
most intrinsically-motivated students and does not feel discouraged
when she has comprehension problems of this kind. %he needs more
time to process input written in the !: but her high motivation
levels will help her progress at a fast pace for sure.
CELTA Written Assignment 1: Focus on the Learner
Conc!usion: 3ow successful do you think these students will be as language learners2 0o you
think any will be more or less successful2 1hat advice would you give to other trainees who
are going to teach this class2
In general terms& our group is highly motivated& more e*trinsically than intrinsically& and all
seem eager to learn and communicate in the !:. They have had good rapport with all the
trainees and have adapted well to different teaching personalities and styles. ,isk-takers
like Carmela& /anolo or "ntonio will make big progress; they seem to be aware of the
importance of communicating in the !: and thus participate more actively in class. 9ther
students are more concerned about accuracy& like /ar?a @ngeles or +aula& and perhaps that
will make their progress slower. To conclude& despite important differences in terms of age
range and 5obs& they all share a common goal - improving oral communication in the !: - and
that helps trainees design their lessons accordingly. They are friendly& love dynamic lessons
and activities which are fun& especially those aimed at improving oral communication.
+erhaps trainees should choose reading and listening activities more carefully so that their
motivation levels keep high and they do not get bored.
B'BL'=>&A8/?
Baker& ". (:B'B#. Ship or Sheep( : an intermediate pronunciation course. Cambridge:
Cambridge Iniversity +ress. pp 'DD-'DE
0eci& . !. C ,yan& ,. /. (:BBB#. J Intrinsic and *trinsic /otivations: Classic 0eKnitions and
.ew 0irectionsJ. )ontemporary *ducational +sychology :D: DD-E(. ,etrieved from
http:66mmrg.pbworks.com6f6,yan&L0eciLBB.pdf
3armer& M. (:BB(#. ,he +ractice of *nglish -anguage ,eaching. +earson !ongman
!ightbown& +. C %pada& .. ('88=#. .ow -anguages are -earned. 9*ford: 9*ford Iniversity
+ress