EFL Toolkit For Teachers

EFL Tool Kit for Teachers
June 2015
Contents
Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................ 3
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 4
2. Colleges of Excellence EFL provision ...................................................................................... 4
3. Best practice in teaching and learning in the foundation year ............................................. 4
4. Lesson planning ......................................................................................................................... 5
4.1. Student-centred and autonomous learning ..................................................................... 5
4.2. Class profile and learning styles ....................................................................................... 6
4.3. Learning outcomes and differentiation ............................................................................ 7
4.4. Anticipated problems and solutions ................................................................................. 7
4.5. Materials and resources..................................................................................................... 8
4.6. E-learning ............................................................................................................................. 8
4.7. Assumptions .................................................................................................................... 10
4.8. Assessment for learning (AfL) ........................................................................................ 10
4.9. Personal PD aims ............................................................................................................ 10
5. Skills ......................................................................................................................................... 10
5.1. Reading ............................................................................................................................. 10
5.2. Writing............................................................................................................................... 15
5.3. Speaking ........................................................................................................................... 22
5.4. Listening ........................................................................................................................... 26
6. Systems ................................................................................................................................... 29
6.1. Grammar ........................................................................................................................... 29
6.2. Vocabulary ........................................................................................................................ 34
6.3 Pronunciation .................................................................................................................... 37
6.4. Functional language ........................................................................................................ 40
7. Classroom activities Combined skills / systems .............................................................. 42
8. Assessment for learning ........................................................................................................ 46
9. Developing exam techniques................................................................................................. 51
10. Differences between the Arabic and English languages.................................................. 55
11. Additional on-line resources ................................................................................................ 56
Colleges of Excellence: EFL Tool Kit for Teachers
Acknowledgements
The English in TVET team would like to acknowledge the contributions and support from
the Colleges of Excellence management and advisors, and the staff and students of all the
Colleges of Excellence for their insights and time.
Tool kit for teachers

1. Introduction
Welcome to the English in TVET tool kit which will help you prepare your students for
English medium vocational study during this foundation year. The contents are informed
by current EFL teaching practice, which in turn is underpinned by research carried out
across the global EFL teaching community.
2. Colleges of Excellence EFL provision

Before reading any further it worth taking a moment to look at the bigger picture and
familiarise yourself with the Colleges of Excellence (CoE) EFL mission and goals1.
The EFL Mission: is to provide students with the language skills needed to access
vocational education through the medium of English, in order to obtain high quality
globally recognised vocational qualifications and to communicate effectively in English in
the workplace.
The EFL Goal: is to facilitate high quality EFL provision, which enables vocational
students to enter and succeed on internationally, recognised SSS vocational programmes
and to communicate effectively in the workplace and wider society.
3. Best practice in teaching and learning in the foundation year

As part of the Colleges of Excellence EFL teaching community it is important to adhere to
the principles of best practice to ensure the CoE EFL mission and goals are achieved. The
following graphic captures the essential elements that demonstrate integrity as an
effective EFL practitioner.
You have high
expectations of yourself in
the learning you facilitate
The principles of
Assessment for Learning
underpin all forms of
assessment
Lesson resources and

materials match student
learning styles and needs
There is a clear link

between your lessons,
SoW and curriculum
Lessons are planned to

cater to student needs
with progressive learning
outcomes
Figure 1: Teaching EFL - best practice cycle

1
Colleges of Excellence EFL Policy Handbook (2015)
The sections that follow expand the notion of best practice in the key areas of EFL
teaching and learning, together with strategies and example activities for you to embed
into your teaching.
4. Lesson planning
Here are all the elements you need to consider when planning an effective lesson that
meets the needs of every learner. Use this as an aide memoire and the expanded
definitions to deliver high quality teaching and learning in every lesson.
Student-centred
Autonomous
learning
Materials and
resources
Assumptions
(i + 1)
Class profile
Learning styles
Clear Learning
Outcomes Differentiation
Personal aims
PD areas to
work on
Anticipated
problems and
solutions
E-learning
Assessment
for learning
Figure 2: Essential elements of lesson planning
4.1. Student-centred and autonomous learning

This is an approach that encourages your students to work in partnership with you and
begin to take responsibility for their own learning. This means that rather than just telling
your students about a skill or system, you guide them, set up and manage activities and
direct learning2 in such way that they notice and work things out for themselves.
Facilitating this concept of noticing3 has shown that students are more likely to move
information from short-term to long-term memory i.e. acquire language more effectively.
Jones, L. (2007). The Student-Centred Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics. 11,
129 158.
3
The following table shows some strategies you can use to achieve student-centred and
autonomous learning.
StudentStudent -centred learning
Encourage students to collaborate by
setting up pair-work and group work
activities
Use an inductive approach to introducing

new language (see grammar section for
further details)
Facilitate self and peer-evaluation
Elicit student feedback on different activity

types so that you can use strategies they
like and enjoy
Provide opportunities for student choice in

topics and tasks
Facilitate self-directed learning

opportunities
Table 1: StudentStudent-centred autonomous learning
4.2. Class profile and learning styles

Build a profile of your learners over the first trimester so that you are more able to cater
to both class wide and individual needs4. Use a grid that records information like the
following:
Name of student: Fatimah Aziz
Notable strengths - across the fours
skills and four systems
A confident speaker who can get her

message across even if she makes quite a
few errors. Good cursive writing.
Notable weaknesses across the four

skills and systems
She is not good at discerning between

some sounds particularly // book and
// box
Personality type - quiet, shy, noisy,

disruptive etc.
Quite noisy, a bit disruptive and Likes lots

of attention.
People skills organizer (can be relied on

to manage group activities), team player,
delegator etc.
Not a team player so needs a clearly

defined role during group activities
Preferred learning style visual,

kinesthetic, auditory etc.
Very visual
Blended learning - strengths and

weaknesses
Good at using her tablet for research

activities
Motivation
Really keen to progress so that she can

start vocational next year
Table 2: Student profile

4
Ur, P. (2012). A Course in English Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
This is an important element of lesson planning as it will help you to know in which areas
you need to differentiate tasks, the sort of activities your students respond well to and
the type of interactions you can set up.
4.3. Learning outcomes and differentiation

Refer to your class profile and set learning outcomes that ensure every learner can work
to their capabilities and will have progressed by the end of the lesson. For example you
can articulate differentiated outcomes like this:
All the students will be able to try predicting the content of the text from the title.
All the students will be able scan the text and answer scaffolded questions
(multiple-choice) that require numerical information.
Most of the students will be able to scan the text and answer scaffolded
questions (multiple-choice where the language mirrors that in the text).
Some of the students will be able to read the text in more detail and answer unscaffolded questions (where did the man go after he left the airport car park?)
A few of the students will be able to read the text in more detail and infer
meaning.
Make sure outcomes are SMART:

Figure 3: SMART expanded
Specific differentiated
Measurable
- can be
assessed
Achievable relate to
student
ability
Relevant relate to
student
needs
Timely allow
sufficient
time to
complete
4.4. Anticipated problems and solutions

Identify where students might encounter problems in terms of the skills and systems the
lesson is targeting and the activity types they will encounter. Plan what you will do if any
of these problems arise to ensure your students are able to achieve the learning
outcomes.
For example:
Problem
Solution
Some of the less literate and confident

students may struggle with the prediction
task.
I will use visual aids to support

understanding of the headline and set it up
as a group task where a group leader
supports weaker learners and helps elicit
their predictions.
Table 3: Anticipated problems and solutions

4.5. Materials and resources

If you have a course book, dont rely on it slavishly. Think about how you can adapt the
topic, context, activity to appeal to the different ability levels, student needs, learning
styles and cultural identities within your class.
Go to recognised ELT handbooks for ideas that you can try out or emulate. For example: A
Course in English Language Teaching by Penny Ur, Learning English by Jim Scrivener5 and
The Practice of English Language Teaching by Jeremy Harmer6.
If you dont have a course book then the world is your oyster! But dont get too carried
away make sure you match resources and materials to your curriculum/syllabus and
scheme of work and above all to the students needs.
Refer to your E-TVET induction pack and other college guidance to remind you of what is
and is not considered appropriate for the KSA context.
There are some excellent resources on-line and some that are not so good. Be selective
and share anything that you have found to be useful with your colleagues.
Each of the sub-sections on skills and systems in this Toolkit provide you with links to
useful websites and books that will help expand your resource pool.
And finally choose materials and resources that have an element of authenticity and
bring the real world into the classroom. This will help retain student interest and
motivation.
4.6. E-learning
This is a term used to refer to technology supported learning7 which could relate to
anything from a CD player to an interactive whiteboard8. Since technology forms an
integral part of the working world today, it is important that it forms part of any learning
experience that will lead into that world of work. Here are some ways that you can
facilitate e- learning opportunities.
Interactive white board (IWB): if you have one in your classroom, use it. Try setting
up activities where the white board forms the focus of group work. Use it to show
videos, films etc. to provide context and support understanding of new language.
Always remember the Saudi cultural context you are working in, so using factual
short films for example about the vocational areas students are interested in and
global topics such as environmental issues would be a good place to start. An
excellent book to give ideas for using an IWB, is Macmillans 400 Ideas for
Interactive Whiteboards, (Macmillan, 2011)*. Display elements of anonymous
student work and lead class correction / feedback sessions. There are many ways
Scrivener, J. (2005). Learning English. Oxford: Macmillan

Harmer, J. (2006). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow: Longman
7
Tomlinson, b. & Whittaker, C. (2013). Blended Learning in English Language Teaching: Course
design and implementation. London: British Council.
8
Sharma, P. & Barrett, B. (2007). Blended Learning: Using technology in and beyond the
classroom. Oxford: Mcmillan
*
Sharma, P., Barrett, B. & Jones, F. (2011). 400 Ideas for Interactive Whiteboards, Oxford:
Mcmillan
6
in which you can use an interactive white board and for more ideas visit
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk . If you are not familiar with an IWB, ask
someone who is to give you some guidance.
On-line platforms: Find out if your college has subscribed to or has its own on-line
platform e.g. http://www.macmillanenglishcampus.com or the Colleges of
Excellence E-TVET website http://www.tvetenglish.net/. Use on-line activities to
support classroom learning and encourage self-directed autonomous learning.
Free access Learning sections for students on leading publishing websites e.g.
Oxford Book worms
https://elt.oup.com/student/bookwormsleveltest/?cc=gb&selLanguage=en&mode
=hub
Supplementary on-line materials to course books: Check which course books your
college is using or has on the shelf, and find out if they have subscribed to the online materials. Here are some of the course books that have e-support elements.
Course book
OnOn-line resource
Headway
Headway on line
https://elt.oup.com/student/headway/?cc=gb&selLanguage=en
Macmillan Global
Infographic lessons
http://www.macmillanglobal.com/resources/infographic-elessons
Cutting Edge
My English lab
http://www.pearsonelt.com/cuttingedge3e/myenglishlab
Unlock
On-line workbooks
http://www.cambridge.org/us/cambridgeenglish/catalog/englishacademic-purposes/unlock
Table 4 : Course books - OnOn-line supplementary materials
Expand your knowledge of and ability to use e- learning strategies further through
accessing publications like:
Blended Learning: Using Technology in English Language Teaching by Tomlinson

and Whittaker
Blended Learning: Using technology in and beyond the classroom by Sharma and
Barrett.
The Colleges of Excellence are committed to delivering e- learning opportunities for

students across all its colleges, so why not share any ideas you have on
http://www.tvetenglish.net/ too.
4.7. Assumptions
What can you assume your students already know (can do) in terms of the activities you
plan to use and the skills and / or systems the lesson will target? This is an important
question to ask because it will help you pitch the lesson level just beyond current abilities
and take student learning to the next level. Stephen Krashens input hypothesis explains
this as i+1 and is a concept worth familiarizing yourself with, if you have not encountered
it before9 http://www.sdkrashen.com/content/books/principles_and_practice.pdf
4.8. Assessment for learning (AfL)

Try to ensure that any element of assessment you include in your lesson is part and parcel
of the learning process. In other words, create self-assessment or peer-assessment tasks
that enable students to see where they are now and where they need to go next. Section
10 of this handbook explores AfL further. Have a look and see if there are any new ideas
you could try with your students.
4.9. Personal PD aims

Use every lesson as an opportunity to continue to develop the knowledge and skills you
need as an EFL teacher. Target an area that you want to work on e.g. grading your
language. Take a moment to self-reflect at the end of the day. Ask yourself a question
like: Did I manage to simplify my language but still provide an authentic model? And, if you
need to work on this further flag it up for future attention.
5. Skills
It is important to give each of the four skills sufficient attention in your teaching to ensure
your students develop both their receptive and productive linguistic competence. This
section provides input on each of the skills, together with some tips and activities that will
help you facilitate effective learning. Do remember however, that there is often an overlap
in skills practice. For example, if students are taking part in a Mingle activity (see section
5.3) to provide speaking practice, they will also be working on their interactional and
intensive listening skills too.
5.1. Reading
This section provides tips for teaching native Arabic speakers and more general tips that
relate to teaching any non-native English speaker to read English language texts.
Tips for teaching Arabic speakers
Familiarise yourself with the differences in cognitive processing between reading

in English and reading in Arabic .e.g. reading from right to left, letter, word and
sentence processing10.
Develop your students phonemic awareness. The Latin alphabet is very different
from that used in the Arabic language system and your students will need to learn
to be able to differentiate between different sounds (phonemes) and then relate
http://www.sdkrashen.com/content/books/principles_and_practice.pdf [accessed 16 June 2015]

Harley, T.A. (2008). The psychology of language: From data to theory. Hove: Psychology Press.
10
10
them to the symbols they see on a page11. It is widely accepted within the EFL
teaching community that raising phonemic awareness will help Arabic learners in
their ability to access and decode English texts.
Begin with letter recognition by exposing your learners to examples that are
supported with pictorial representations:
and then gradually remove the graphic scaffolds.
Expose students to different fonts and type scripts so that they are able to
recognise different versions of the same letter e.g. a / or
g /.
Combine a phonic and whole word approach as learners progress from single
letter processing to combinations of letters (words). Current thinking suggests that
very common words can be introduced as whole words from the beginning.
Be aware that Arabic readers find it difficult to differentiate between letters that
mirror each other12 e.g. p / q and d / b. See section 10 for more differences
between the Arabic and English language.
Refer to approaches and materials / resources for teaching literacy at primary
level. The principles remain the same for more mature learners, although you may
want to adapt the content / topic area. Here is a link to teaching English literacy to
Arabic primary learners that has some useful ideas to consider
http://www.buzzingwithbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Overview-ofReading-Approaches-for-EFL-Primary-Classrooms-1.pdf.
Establish if any of your learners have low literacy skills when accessing written
texts in their native language. If this is an area you are unfamiliar with, go to
recognised EFL websites like the British Council to develop your knowledge and
skills in teaching learners with basic literacy needs:
https://esol.britishcouncil.org/content/teachers/staff-room/teachingarticles/working-esol-learners-basic-literacy-needs.
Tips for teaching all non-native English speakers
Develop the individual sub-skills that students will need to be successful readers
i.e. skimming for gist, scanning for key words, reading in detail, inferring and
making connections13. If you are not familiar with the cognitive processes
associated with each of these skills, then take some time to broaden your
understanding. There are some go to publications suggested at the end of this
section.
Encourage reading outside of college. Even if your students are not habitual book
readers, this does not mean that they dont read. The world we live in today
provides opportunities to interact with written texts every day. See the activities
to try that follow, for ideas that draw attention to and provide reasons to read
outside class.
11
Ur, P. (2012). A course in English Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Swan, M and Smith, B. (2011. Learner English: A teachers guide to interference and other
problems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
13
Harmer, J. (2006). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow: Longman
12
11
Develop task awareness and associated reading sub-skills. For example, if you
open a book on how to teach reading because you want to find out more about
teaching skimming skills, you will scan the index for the word skimming, you wont
read every word in detail.
Improve reading speeds by introducing timed sessions into class14. Make it fun and
establish a sense of urgency. This is important as students need to move away
from processing every word if they are to master all the sub-skills that efficient and
effective reading demands.
Use / adapt a variety of written texts that appeal to your students interests and
needs. We dont just read books in the 21st century!
Encourage extensive reading by providing students with access to graded readers.
And dont assume that extensive reading has to take place outside college. You
could consider setting up an extensive reading period once a week, where students
can read, swap books, choose new books and take part in a reading circle (see
activities section).
Use / adapt examples of real world texts and instead of grading the text
(language) grade the task so that learners can still interact with authentic
examples. This will build their confidence and help their motivation to move
forward (see example in activities to try).
Differentiate task difficulty and expected outcomes (when you have different
ability levels in one class) to ensure ALL students take their learning forward.
Expose students to texts of different complexities that is to say both authentic
texts and graded texts that have been developed for their current ability level e.g.
The Oxford Bookworms Library https://elt.oup.com/teachers/bookworms
Activities to try
Here are a few activities that you might like to try with your students. You may of course
need to adapt them to suit different abilities and learning styles. In some cases they are a
group of tasks / activities that are interrelated and could form the framework around
which to build a lesson. Therefore, if you decide to try one out consider also where you
could build in assessment points and how else you might exploit them in terms of skills
and language development.
Everyday text
Activity 1 Arrange students in groups and appoint a scribe in each group. Give them two
minutes to brain storm and record as many examples of things they read every day. You
may need to start them off with a few examples like food labels, road signs, emails etc. If
they are very low proficiency e.g. A1, you may need to allow them to record their ideas in
Arabic. You can make this a competition too, with a possible prize for the winners.
14
Chang, A.C.S. (2010). The effect of a timed reading activity on EFL Learners: Speed
comprehension, and perceptions. Reading in a Foreign Language. 22, 284 303.
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ901548.pdf [accessed 17 June 2015]
12
Activity 2 Tell the students that they must each find two examples of English texts
they have read outside of college (e.g. a shampoo bottle label) and bring them in to class
to share with their peers.
Activity 3 Students show their examples to their groups. The group then chooses a
corresponding number of texts to group members (e.g. 4 in the group 4 texts) and each
member is nominated to make a handwritten copy of one of the texts.
Activity 4 All the original texts are hidden away and each group swaps their
handwritten texts with another group. The group then have to read these texts and
decide what sort of text it is.
Activity 5 Groups come together e.g. Group A and Group B (who swapped texts) and
tell the other group what text types they think they have read e.g. I think this is a label on
a food tin. The group who made the handwritten copies can reveal the original texts and
those who guessed can see if they are correct.
This group of activities exposes students to authentic texts and alerts them to the idea of
different text types. It also provides scaffolded writing practice, encourages legibility and
reading practice.
Grade the task

Prepare your materials.
Choose a newspaper article that has an interesting headline, accompanying

photograph and is appropriate to your learners in terms of topic content and
cultural content e.g. go to http://gulfnews.com/.
Keep a copy of the original and then take another copy and blank out as many
words as you can, whilst leaving sufficient information bearing words to enable a
reader to arrive at a gist of the content.
Create a worksheet (worksheet 1) with a series of possible headlines on it
(including the original) that could accompany the photograph featured in the article.
Create a worksheet (worksheet 2) with well scaffolded questions that require the
reader to scan the text for specific words / numeric information i.e. multiple choice
questions.
Create another worksheet (worksheet 3) with less scaffolded questions (not
multiple choice).
Create another worksheet (worksheet 4) with non-scaffolded questions that
require the reader to gather clues from co-text i.e. The question does not reflect
the exact vocabulary of the text (vehicle / car).
Activity 1 Create context: All students try to guess which headline matches the
photograph.
13
Activity 2 Prediction: All students try to work out what they think the story might be
about from the actual headline and photograph. You could scaffold this by putting some
guiding questions on the IWB like - What do you think the man is called? Where do you
think he is? What do you think happened to his boat?
Activity 3 Skimming for gist: All the students have a limited time to skim the blanked
out text for gist and see if their predictions are correct.
Activity 4 Scanning for specific information: All the students scan the original text for
the answers to worksheet 2.
Activities 5 and 6 Scanning, reading in detail and inferring: Some students will be able
to access the information required for the final worksheets depending on their proficiency
level.
This group of activities is graded in such a way that you can differentiate learning
outcomes. In other words, all the students will have the same starting point, but as the
activities become more demanding the more able can be stretched and the less able will still
have achieved appropriate learning outcomes (they finish after activity 4). It also means that
low level learners can be exposed to authentic texts and interact with them in a meaningful way.
Reading Resources Box

Start a collection of texts that match your students areas of interest15. Try and make sure
you have a variety of text genres e.g. fiction, non-fiction related to hobbies / interests,
non-fiction related to their vocational aspirations. Put them into a large box or create a
dedicated Reading resource corner. Encourage students to contribute to the reading
resource box as well e.g. printed articles they have read on-line, magazines they like
reading. Dont forget to include graded readers as well as authentic texts that challenge
learners reading skills in different ways.
Assign a time to extensive reading each week e.g. every Sunday for the first twenty
minutes of class. Students can exchange their current text for a new one; bring one in to
share and note down what they are reading in a personal reading resources record. You
may like to extend the role of the reading resource record by getting them to note down
what they liked, didnt like, found interesting about the text and any vocabulary they want
to remember. Low level learners may need to begin their record in their native language
and transfer to note taking in English when they have sufficient literacy skills.
This activity is intended to encourage extensive reading. It can be an effective way to start
the week especially when punctuality is an issue.
15
Gawn, J., Derrick, J., Duncan, S. and Schwab, I. (2009). Teaching Reading to Adults: A pack of
resources and ideas for adult literacy tutors. www.aloscotland.com/alo/downloadresource.htm?
[accessed 17 June 2015]
14
More resources / reading

You will notice that there references to publications and e-resources in the footer of each
page. In addition to these the following also provide ideas and insights into teaching
reading skills.
Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language by C. Nuttall

Extensive Reading Activities for Teaching Language by R. Day and J. Bamford
Developing Reading Skills: A practical guide to reading comprehension exercises by
F. Grellet
http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/methodology/teachingmaterials/teaching-materials-using-readers-in-the-efl/esl-classroom1/146513.article
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2010/10/1
01014_6min_classics_page.shtml
5.2. Writing
relate to teaching any non-native English speaker to write in the English language.
Remember that for native Arabic speakers, using a completely different

writing system from their own i.e. Roman script - can be very challenging.
Provide plenty of cursive writing practice that enable your students to
develop their fine motor skills. Arabic students find it particularly challenging
linking letters together16
Provide plenty of opportunities for your students to interact with a Roman
alphabet computer key board. Much of our writing in todays world is
computer generated so it is important to develop real world skills (skills for
life).
Ensure your students develop their ability to differentiate between,
understand the use of, and demonstrate ability to produce lower and upper
case letters.
Be aware that your students may transfer cognitive processing from their
L1 and (as a result of habitual right to left eye movement) and wrongly
order letters within words e.g. twon instead of town17.
Provide plenty of practice in the use of punctuation. Although there are
forms of punctuation in written Arabic, the system is much freer and Arabic
speakers are likely to produce long sentences with often inappropriate over
use of commas.
16
17
https://eal.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/document-files/LI%20Arabic.pdf
15
Introduce different text types (genres) and the elements of layout and language
that are specific to each18. Try to make sure that these are text types that relate
to students everyday needs particularly in terms of their vocational training that
follows the foundation year.
Ensure your students have the knowledge and skills needed to produce texts that
are cohesive, coherent and register appropriate.
Embed the principles of assessment for learning (AfL) into lessons by including
self-assessment tools that enable students to acknowledge what they can do and
where they need to go next. See later section for suggested ways of doing this.
Develop and standardise an error correction system that enables students to see
which areas of their written texts they need to work on and that they can use for
peer and self-assessment.
Consider when and how to use product or process driven approaches to teaching
and learning writing.
Differentiate tasks to ensure that ALL students are able to develop their skills in
writing cohesive and coherent texts.
Activities to try
need to adapt them to suit different abilities and learning styles. Plan-Write-Edit provides
an example of a process writing approach with a series of activities that are interrelated
and could form the framework for a single lesson or series of lessons.
Write and Repeat

Low level learners needs lots of fine motor skills practice in forming letters on the page,
followed by words and later by phrases and sentences. Line guided writing is really useful
for promoting uniformity in letter and word production.
Start by providing scaffolded letter practice where students can follow the dots and
arrows which provide shape and directional guidance. There are many websites that
enable you to produce and print worksheets to provide this type of copy practice: try
www.handwritingworksheets.com.
This type of activity is important for pre-A1 students who need to master fine motor
skills for creating Roman script. Make sure you provide sufficient opportunities for this type of
controlled practice.
18
Harmer, J. (2008). How to Teach Writing. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
16
Writing Frame
Use a writing frame which will help students to include all the elements associated with
specific text types (genres). Heres an example writing frame for creating a very simple CV.
Name:
Email address:
Personal statement :
Say what your personal goals are and how they match the job you are applying for
Technical skills:
Say what you can do e.g. use word, excel, PowerPoint etc.
Educational qualifications :
List school and university qualifications include school / university name,

qualification and date
Table 5: Writing frame for CV
Match the complexity of the writing frame to your students ability levels and think of
ways in which you can differentiate the task for stronger and weaker students.
Group writing
Divide students into groups and assign each group member a specific responsibility / role.
Group interactions encourage peer collaboration, student autonomy and opportunities for
peer AfL. For some student, group work is a new experience and by assigning everyone a
role, no-one can remain passive or disengaged. Here are some possible categories you
could use.
Role
Leader / task organizer
Planner
Scribe
Editor
Description
This person explains the task to the group and
makes sure everyone works together to stay on
task and achieve the learning outcome.
This person is in charge of the planning phase of
the writing task. They will have to make notes /
mind map group ideas.
This person will write out the final copy of the
target document.
This person uses the AfL tool to help the group
decide if any changes or corrections are necessary.
Table 6: Individual roles for group writing task

17
Ensure that the group task is SMART:

SMART Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely
Plan Write Edit

Here is an example of what is called a Process Writing Lesson and is designed to guide
learners through all the stages of creating a simple instructional written text. Each stage
is an activity in itself, and you could stagger stages across two or more lessons. It is
aimed at strong A2 learners who should be able to achieve the learning outcomes with
your support.
Note, the example given here may not appeal to all learners, so think of an instructional
text that might be of more interest or relevance. In the case of male students, maybe how
to carry out some simple mechanical procedure associated with a car like changing a
wheel.
Learning Outcomes: All students will complete the Plan, Write, Edit process of creating
an instruction text (recipe). Most will be able to word process their final draft unaided. A
few will be able to post on a recipe forum website unaided.
You may need to break the learning outcomes down into smaller units if you are spreading
across more than one lesson.
Materials: Copies of example mind map, complete example recipe text and AfL rubric.
Write the model text before the lesson and think about collaborating with colleagues to
create materials you can share. Try to ensure that you include language structures and
vocabulary that your students can access, but upholds the principle of i+1.
Stage 1 Activate schemata and create context

Show students a cookery book and an enlarged copy of a recipe. Tell a simple anecdote
about your favourite cake recipe and show the students the cake you have brought in and
which they can try at break time.
Stage 2 Planning / Mind mapping

Put the following title on the board in the middle of a mind map bubble: Chocolate cake
recipe.
Mind map information needed to create the target recipe on the IWB (see example below
at the end of lesson outline) and then have students make a copy for their own reference
later.
This is just an example, and you will need to demonstrate a mind map that relates to
your instructional text.
18
Give each student a piece of paper and ask them to draw a bubble in the middle and write
the following in the middle: My favourite sweet recipe. Then ask them to look at their copy
of the chocolate cake mind map and begin to create a mind map for their own recipe. If
they are not able to complete all the bubbles from memory, then stop the process there
and ask them to bring the missing information to college tomorrow and resume planning
then.
Provide dictionaries and access to on-line tools to scaffold vocabulary.
Stage 4 Writing
Give each student a copy of the complete chocolate cake recipe (see example below) and
then have them go to their computers (if not available then they will have to create a
handwritten copy). Ask them to word process their own recipe, using the chocolate cake
framework as a layout guide. Be prepared to get stuck in when you are monitoring this
activity use concept checking questions to guide them towards language accuracy.
Stage 5 Editing
Give the students the task self-assessment tool see section 8 for ideas for creating an
AfL rubric. Encourage them to review their text using the AfL tool and make any changes
they feel would improve the target areas.
Stage 6 Share it!
Organise the students into groups and ensure that each group has a leader who has the
ability and skills to post their recipe on a recipe sharing forum. Instruct the group leader to
post their recipe, share the process with their group and help others to do the same
with theirs.
19
Example mind map for chocolate cake recipe

Ingredients
175g butter
175g sugar
3 large eggs
Equipment
150g selfself -raising flour
An 18cm round cake tin
50g cocoa
Grease proof paper
1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla syrup
Oven
temperature
Heat the oven to
Method
Lightly grease the cake tin and cut a
piece of greaseproof paper to fit the
base of the tin.
Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and
beat with a spoon for 1 minute until the
mixture is smooth.
Put the mixture in the tin and smooth the
top.
Bake on middle shelf of oven for 40 45
minutes.
Take cake out of the oven. Leave it in the
tin for 5 minutes then remove carefully.
20
Example recipe text

Ingredients
175g butter
175g sugar3 large eggs
150g selfself-raising flour
50g cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla syrup
You will also need

An 18cm round cake tin
Grease proof paper
Method
Lightly grease the cake tin and cut a piece of greaseproof paper to fit the base of the
tin.
Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a spoon for 1 minute until
until the
mixture is smooth.
Put the mixture in the tin and smooth the top.
Bake on middle shelf of oven for 40 45 minutes.
Take cake out of the oven. Leave it in the tin for 5 minutes then remove carefully.

In addition to the references posted in the footnotes to this section, the following also
provide ideas and insights into teaching reading skills.
Keep Writing Book 1 by Richard Harrison

Simple Writing Activities by J Hadfield and C Hadfield
Assessing Writing by S Cushing Weigle
https://esol.britishcouncil.org/content/teachers/staff-room/teachingarticles/working-esol-learners-basic-literacy-needs
http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/33697.html [Scottish Qualifications authority]
http://www.ed.gov.nl.ca/edu/k12/curriculum/guides/english/eng1202/Appendices
_B.pdf
www.sparklebox.co.uk/literacy/writing/#.VPnxi41yZjo [can be adapted for adults]
http://www.onestopenglish.com/searchResults.aspx?keywords=writing&x=37&y=
16
21
5.3. Speaking
The following tips will help you develop your students speaking skills. Pease note that
tips relating to pronunciation are addressed separately in section 6.3.
Tips to help all non-native English speakers to develop their speaking skills
Familiarise yourself with what the terms fluency and accuracy relate to in terms of
teaching EFL students the sub-skills for speaking.
Be aware that speaking practice at early stages of acquisition needs to be well
scaffolded, with lots of opportunity for rehearsal and recycling.
Ensure that you provide plenty of opportunities for low level learners to try out
authentic chunks of (formulaic) language. These islands of reliability19 act as
scaffolds around which learners can begin to extend spoken language content and
move in the direction of spontaneously generated (fluent) speech20.
Embed speaking practice in authentic contexts which have relevance to your
students needs in both their everyday lives (including language for learning to
learn) and their vocational aspirations.
Avoid doing too much talking yourself during speaking activities. It is the students
who need practice, not you! However, be aware that with lower level learners your
percentage of teacher talking time is likely to be a bit higher.
Develop strategies that encourage more able students (strong A2 and upwards) to
expand their talking time. For example, use open ended questions (whether you
are asking the question or you are providing prompts for pair-work / group work) or
information gathering exercises that demand longer explanations, etc.
Provide appropriate and timely feedback. For example, if you are monitoring during
a mingle activity (see activities to try that follow) avoid cutting into student
exchanges. Instead make notes, and do anonymous feedback / correction with the
group post the activity.
Consider when it is appropriate to provide individual feedback. Be careful not to
damage student confidence by drawing attention to a students error in front of
the whole class. But do draw attention to examples of good talk especially
weaker less confident students who will benefit from being praised in front of their
peers.
Make sure both you and the students know what the intended learning outcomes
are for every speaking activity. If you are encouraging free flow speech i.e. fluency,
avoid drawing attention to grammatical errors - but do note them down for
attention on a separate occasion.
19
Thornbury, S. (2005). How to Teach Speaking. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Ortactepe, D. (2013). Formulaic language and conceptual socialization: The route to becoming
native-like in L2. Science Elsevier, 41, 852 - 865
20
22
Activities to try
Draw my Picture
This is a simple but effective activity that provides practice in giving clear instructions and
intensive listening for information. It also provides language elements i.e. prepositions of
place and discourse features like asking for clarification.
Arrange students in pairs (student A and student B) and have them sit facing each other
across a desk or table. Create a barrier between them (e.g. stand up a large book) so that
neither can see the others piece of paper.
Instruct student A to draw a picture (you can do this verbally or with a written instruction)
of whatever subject area is relevant to the level, stage and needs of your students. For
example you may ask them to draw a picture of a car workshop or an office. Stress that
student B must not be allowed to see the picture and set a time limit to give a sense of
urgency.
Now explain that Student A must give instructions to
student B so that he/she can reproduce the picture model with another student to support your explanation.
For example, if I am student A I might begin by saying
draw a computer desk in the bottom right corner of the
paper.
Remind student B that they can ask questions to clarify if
they need more information e.g. how big is the desk?
When Student A has finished giving instructions, pairs can compare their pictures to see
how well they have transmitted and received instructions. This is also an ideal time to
introduce an element of peer-assessment (AfL) so provide pairs with some check points
to consider. For example use a traffic light system (see section 8) together with some
task/ skill related questions e.g. Did your partner give clear and easy to follow
instructions?
You can also extend the activity by bringing two pairs together to compare pictures.
A Mingle
This activity can be used to motivate learners to achieve an interactional goal in real
time21. Depending on their level and stage of language acquisition, you can provide more
or less scaffolding via written prompt cards. This means that the activity can be very
controlled and promote accuracy or less controlled and promote fluency. The following
example facilitates the use of expressions that ask for someones opinion.
21
23
Give each student a sheet of paper or card with a list of topics which
have been touched on in previous lessons. The aim of the activity is
for them to approach different students within the group and ask for
their opinion on the topics they have on their card. Questions need
to be open ended to prevent monosyllabic answers i.e. encourage
longer responses. For instance, Abdullah approaches Mohammad
and asks: What do you think about driving in Saudi Arabia? They
have a short discussion and then both move on to seek other students opinions. Target
language can either be included at the top of the topic list, as in What do you think
about./whats your take on. for lower level learners, or left out so that higher level
learners have to access appropriate expressions from memory.
For lower level learners e.g. A1 you can use Mingles for more controlled practice that
enables lots of repetition and recycling of functional language like adjacency pairs for
meeting and greeting. In this instance, split the students into two groups and put a green
sticker on the arm of each student in group 1 and a blue sticker on the arm of each
student in group 2. Students with green stickers have to go up to students with blue
stickers and ask: How are you? And students with blue stickers should reply Fine thank
you. You can set a time limit and the number of people the green sticker wearers have to
approach, and then swap roles and have blue sticker wearers start the greetings.
Whilst the students are mingling, circulate and note any areas of language /
pronunciation etc. that require feedback. When the Mingle is complete, conduct class feedback by
noting some of the errors on the IWB and encouraging peer / class-wide correction.
Disappearing dialogue
This activity has been found to be popular with low level learners as it begins with a full
scaffold of the text and gradually increases the challenge to remember more and more of
the target language. It is controlled practice which is accuracy driven but fun and
encourages peer support and learner autonomy.
Divide students into two groups and then line them up in two single files in front of the
IWB on which are written two columns of dialogue. Explain that the student at the head
of the line on the left must read the dialogue on the left and the student at the head of
the line on the right must read the dialogue on the right. When they have finished they
move to the back of their respective lines and the next pair repeats the dialogue. This
continues until all the students have had a go, then the lines swap sides and the readings
start again. When you are satisfied that everyone has had at least one go on each side
rub a word off each side and then start the cycle again. As each cycle finishes, rub another
word off each side until eventually no words remain.
Experience has shown that students who struggle to remember the full dialogue are
usually helped by those who do remember; thus encouraging peer assistance in learning.
24
Here is an example of a possible dialogue:

Hi Abdullah. What are you going to do
this weekend?
I think Im going to visit my brother and

his family in Riyadh.
You can adapt this activity to create a variety of controlled speaking practice
opportunities. Another version could be that you organise the students in one line in front
of the white board and put up a longer text. An excerpt from part of a presentation on a
relevant topic (where there would only be one speaker) would work well here. Then
conduct the activity as above, with students reading aloud what they see and then, as
you remove words, having to read and remember the missing words. Heres another
example:
Good morning everyone. My name is Abdullah and I am here today to talk to you
about starting a small business. This
This slide shows you an outline of my presentation,
and as you can see, I am going to start by talking about the importance of identify
market opportunities.
It is important to maintain a good pace / sense of urgency throughout the activity, to

prevent those waiting their turn from getting bored. So, really encourage the teams to support
any of their members who struggle, and that way turns can change quickly.

In addition to the references posted in the footnotes to this section, the following also
provide ideas and insights into teaching reading skills.
39 No-Prep Low Prep ESL Speaking Activities for Teenagers and Adults by Jackie
Bowlen
Essential Speaking Skills by J Baker and H Wesup
Simple Speaking Activities by J Hadfield and C Hadfield
Getting beginners to talk by J Wingate
http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/speaking/teaching-ideas/
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/speaking-activities
25
5.4. Listening
relate to teaching listening skills to any non-native English speaker.
Be aware that Arabic speakers find it difficult to discern between some

sounds which include /p/ and /b/ - /v/ and /f/ - // and // as in books and
box22.
Remember that your students are listening to English through the ears of
their first language. That is to say, their cognitive processing is set up for
processing the sounds of Arabic, so you need to help them adjust to the
sounds of English.
Select resources and materials that are appropriate to the needs and
sensitivities of the Arabic culture.
Be aware that before a student can comprehend what is being said, they must
first process a stream of sound. This means that very low level learners (pre-A1 /
A1 and A2) need help in discerning individual sounds and word boundaries before
they can begin to comprehend the subject matter. It can help if we make a
distinction between helping our students hear the sounds of English and helping
our students listen for comprehension.
Develop your understanding of the phonemic chart so that you can help your
students differentiate between the sounds they hear. See Section 8n for an
example chart.
Remember that listening is the skill that unlocks other skills. For example, a
student cant take part in meaningful spoken interactions if he / she cant
understand what the other person is saying. And, a student cant work on
articulating sounds and words if they dont know what they sound like first.
Provide authentic contexts for students to develop intensive, extensive,

interactional and transactional listening skills.
Employ authentic materials like radio, podcasts, television and CDs to engage
students interest.
Expose your students to a variety of accents (both native and non-native English
speakers) so that they can develop their ability to hear / detect variations in the
way sounds can be produced.
Use visual scaffolds to help low level learners make a connection between what
they see and what they hear.
Expand your knowledge of how and why we listen23 through reference to

acknowledged authors in the EFL teaching community.
22
Swan, M and Smith, B. (2011). Learner English: A teachers guide to interference and other
23
Wilson, J. (2009). How to Teach Listening. Harlow: Pearson Longman.
26
Activate listening skills by assigning students roles in the class to listen for specific
information during student presentations, invited speakers and media broadcasts
for example.
Activities to try
need to adapt them to suit different abilities and learning styles.
Hear the sound / word / phrase

This activity employs a rank approach to developing hearing skills. It begins with a
problem sound, then moves on to words to help promote awareness of word
boundaries and finishes with phrases to extend cognitive processing.
Find a text that contains problem sounds that you want to target one that you
can read out or a recording. Here is an example of a poem that contains the problem
sounds /p/ and /b/.
I stood beneath the apple tree

The apples were so good to see
High up above my head
I saw them shining round and red
And after I had waited long
A robin sang a tiny song
And a squirrel in the apple tree
Threw an apple down to me
Figure 4: Poem for hearing sounds
Tell the students which sound they should listen out for e.g. /p/ and then recite the poem
and have them listen and put a mark on a piece of paper every time they hear that sound.
If they hear all the instances they should have five marks. Repeat as necessary. Then have
them listen for /b/ - this time they should have three. Then have them listen for the word
apple, then the apple tree and so on.
If you are reading a text out loud or reciting a poem, try to read at a natural pace
(perhaps a fraction slower for very low level learners) to ensure you provide an authentic
model.
27
Listen, Note, Ask

This activity is for strong A2 upwards and promotes intensive listening skills by providing
the students with a clear reason for listening.
Select an appropriate audio file that matches your students ability, interests and needs.
Explain to the students that they are going to hear a recording and they need to take
notes so that they can create questions for their partner to answer later. Give a target
number of questions that they will need to produce depending on the length and
complexity of the content.
Play the recording once, and repeat once only if necessary.
Give the students time to write out the questions for their partner to answer and then
have them swap question sheets and write down the answers if they can. NB. Do not
worry if the questions contain some linguistic errors. The initial aim here is to give them a
reason to listen.
When they have finished they can swap back again and see if their partner has provided
the correct answer.
You can then go on to exploit the written questions for grammatical analysis. For
example: have students come and write some of their questions on the board and
encourage peer feedback and correction.
This is a student-centred activity that encourages learner autonomy. It gives everyone a
reason to listen and moves away from text-book driven comprehension exercises that rarely pique
student interest.
Mind the gap

Gap fill listening activities are a great way of merging listening and reading for
comprehension skills in other words students have to listen and reconstruct the text24.
You can also use gap fill activities to highlight discourse features, functional language
(chunks), idiomatic expressions etc.
For example, find a piece of authentic dialogue between two people and blank out the
words / phrases you want to target in the transcript.
Give the students the blanked out transcript and ask them to listen and fill in the gaps. For
longer phrases (functional language) you may need to play the audio file more than once.
Have student compare what they have written in each gap and discuss whether what
they have written creates a comprehensible utterance. If it doesnt make sense, what
other word / phrase could it be? This is an important step, as it draws attention to how
24
Wilson, J. (2009). How to Teach Listening. Harlow: Pearson Longman
28
what we think we hear and what was actually said may not match up particularly with
reference to key problem sounds.
Finish by providing students with the original transcript to compare their answers against
together with an AfL task that helps them identify areas of their hearing and listening to
target for the future.
For low level learners, you may need to make your own recording, grade your language
and ensure the gaps can be filled by words they are already familiar with and can write.
Simple Listening Activities by J Hadfield and C Hadfield

Listening by G White
Listening in Language Learning by M Rost
Teaching Listening Comprehension by P Ur
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/listen-and-watch
http://efl-resource.com/skills-focus/listening/
http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/listening/
6. Systems
This section provides some tips, activities and further resources / reading for that will
guide you towards facilitating effective learning across the systems of grammar,
vocabulary, functional language and pronunciation.
6.1. Grammar
Here are some tips for teaching native Arabic speakers and more general tips that relate
to teaching grammar to any non-native English speaker.
Be aware that Arabic speakers find it challenging to adjust to the pattern and
syntax of English, which has more variants than their own L1. See the section 10
on differences between Arabic and English.
Familiarise yourself with Arabic tense structure options so that you are better able
to understand their areas of difficulty when learning English language tense
structures.
Capitalise on what your students know about the grammar of their own language
(Arabic) so that they can make comparisons with English.
Adopt an inductive, as opposed to a deductive, approach to teaching and learning

about language and grammar. The former is where you help students to work out
rules for themselves as opposed to the latter where you just tell them.
29
Facilitate noticing that is to say, help students see (notice) patterns and
structures. The noticing hypothesis championed by Schmidt25 has shown that if we
can help students to have those light bulb moments their learning will progress
much faster.
Find out what students already know then go from there i.e. use diagnostic tasks.
This is important; as it will help you apply the i+1 principle26 and extend each
students knowledge and ability at a sustainable rate.
Introduce target language in context to establish meaning in other words let the
context (task)27 demand the language.

Establish meaning first, and then move on to address form. Dont forget to draw
your students attention to pronunciation issues as well. For example contractions

of auxiliaries as in I am going Im going, weak forms as we were working we
/w/ working.
Use phonemic symbols to help your students become familiar with elements of
spoken grammar e.g. weak forms, contractions etc. (See section 6.3 for more
information about phonemic symbols).
Guide students to notice patterns and sentence construction by looking at the
co-text i.e. the words that surround the target language.
Check understanding of meaning by asking concept checking questions and using
time lines.
Use learners own errors to create relevance and encourage peer learning and
sharing.
Differentiate where necessary to allow ALL learners to move forward in their
learning.
Adapt existing materials to capitalise on their potential and create new materials
where needed.
Include self-assessment opportunities that empower students.
Continue to increase the depth and breadth of your own knowledge and
understanding of grammar so that you are more able to facilitate your students
learning.
Activities to try
Notice the colour (colour-coded syntax guide)

This activity is based on Michael Hallidays Systemic Functional Grammar28 approach for
teaching and learning grammar and Schmidts noticing hypothesis (mentioned earlier). It is
a useful way of helping learners to work out the syntax of verb phrases particularly
when auxiliaries move position in negative and question forms. It is also a useful way of
25
Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics.
11, 129 158.
26
Lightbown, P. and Spada, N. (2006). How Languages are Learned. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
27
Willis, D. And Willis, J. (2007). Dong Task-based Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
28
Halliday, M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Routledge.
30
showing the positions of adjectives, adverbs prepositions etc.

highlights the syntax of phrases which contain adverbs of frequency.
The example here
Source or create a series of phrases / sentences which contain adverbs of frequency. The
subject content and complexity of the phrases / sentences will depend on the level and
needs of your learners.
Assign each word class a colour and print out a grid with the colour coded phrases /
sentences in their usual syntactic order. Bearing in mind, of course that some may have
more than one possibility (See example below). Keep copies of the complete grid for
students to refer to later and then cut up each phrase / sentence, jumble it up and put in a
small bag (or attach together with paper clip).
Give pairs all the phrases / sentences and ask them to order each one (model an enlarged
example on the IWB to ensure everyone understands the task). Once they have finished
pairs can compare to see if they agree. When they are satisfied with their sentence order
they can compare their choices to the original grid.
Now it is your turn to start asking some questions that help your students notice the
position of target word classes e.g. adverbs of frequency. So for example, you could say:
Look at sentences 1 and 2. What do you notice about the position of the red words?
What is front of them? What is behind them?
Look at sentences 3 and 4. What do you notice about the position of the red words?
What is in front of them? What is behind them? Are the red words in these sentences in
the same position as in sentences 1 and 2? If not why do you think that is? Could the
red words move to another position? Etc.
We
always
eat
breakfast
she
Usually
has
coffee
Was
sometimes
angry
They
Are
occasionally noisy
He
has
rarely
called
we
have
seldom
argued
You
never
call
home
never
eat
Fish
Table 7: Colour coded syntax guide
Colour coding word classes to highlight syntax really appeals to visual learners, and the
ordering element of the task appeals to kinesthetic learners. The task also appeals to
analytical learners so effectively appeals to a range of learning styles.
31
If you use colour coding to highlight word classes and syntax, make sure you always
use the same colour classifications. This way your students will become familiar with the colour
code and able to apply it in future tasks / activities.
Noughts-and-crosses
This activity is adapted from one featured on learning English and there is a link provided
in the resources and reading section that follows.
Make a noughts-and-crosses grid and put a grammar element in each box as in the
example below. Divide the class into pairs and then group pairs together as Team (Pair) A
and Team B. You will need a copy of the noughts-and-crosses grid for each set of teams.
When a team chooses a square, they have to respond to the example in a specified way,
i.e. use it in a sentence or provide an example. Make sure that everyone is clear what they
have to do before they begin model if necessary.
If their answer is correct, they get a nought or a cross if not, they skip their turn. As in
the traditional game of noughts-and-crosses, the winner is the person who first gets a
row of noughts (or crosses) horizontally, vertically or cross-wise.
has (eat)
did not
were (run)
are
was
has not
are you
were not
have you
(eat)
Table 8: Noughts and crosses grammar game
32
This game is a useful way of recycling language students have worked on previously
and the chance to revisit and cement their understanding of / ability to use an element of
grammar.
Grammar in context
This is a simple but effective activity that enables you to establish a context for the
element of grammar you want to focus on. It ensures meaning is at the forefront of
teaching and learning and sets students up for analysing form / function and syntactic
features afterwards.
Sources a text that features the key grammar point: Preferably an authentic text or
graded version of an authentic text that will be of interest to your learners. If you decide
to create or grade a text yourself, try and retain an element of authenticity i.e. use
language in realistic way.
Have them read the text in groups and establish the gist of the content. Support their
discussion by providing a few pointers on the IWB e.g. Who is the article about? When did
the Did it happen quite recently . Etc. In this way you can begin to lay the
foundations for establishing meaning.
Have the students scan the text and underline any verb phrases they can see. You can
then go on to extract the verb phrase examples of your chosen grammar point (perhaps
have students list them on the IWB) and guide the students through further analysis of
form, concept checking questions for meaning etc.
The following example text was featured in the Gulf News online29 and provides several
examples of Past Simple. You could just pick out the regular examples of past simple
regular active voice, or include the passive example if your students are ready to
encounter it. You may decide to contrast regular and irregular past tense the key is to
challenge your students in their learning sufficiently, but dont overload them.
Saudi airmen survive sky dive mishap

Two Saudi military men had the scare of their lives after their jumping training went terribly wrong.
The two men jumped from the military plane during an exercise, but as their parachutes opened,
they became tangled together, putting their lives at high risk.
However, they were lucky and landed safely without any injuries.
The incident was recorded by a cameraman and his assistant who heightened the drama as they
reacted to the mishap before erupting into euphoria when the two airmen arrived on the ground
safely.
The clip went viral on the Net and Saudi social media users posted their support and sympathy.
29
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-airmen-survive-sky-dive-mishap-1.1538236
[accessed 21 June 2015]
33
This activity is a great way to set up an inductive approach to grammar learning. It

ensures that students are actively engaged in working out the meanings, form and function of the
target grammar point from the very start.
How to Teach Grammar by S Thornbury

Teaching Grammar Creatively by G Gerngross, G Puchta and S Thornbury
Grammar for English Language by M Parrot
Practical English Usage by M Swan
Grammar practice activities by P Ur
Rules, Patterns and Words by D Willis
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/teachingenglish/grammar
challenge/te_gc_wksht1.pdf
http://www.onestopenglish.com/grammar/
6.2. Vocabulary
The following tips will help you develop your students vocabulary (personal lexicon).
Vocabulary is an essential element of early language learning as lexical are information
bearing and help facilitate communication even when grammar ability is very weak.
Know what vocabulary the students need this will include common words off the
General Service List (GSL)30 and less frequent words that relate to your students
chosen vocation.
Familiarize yourself with the GSL and other word frequency lists that will help you
set targets for your students vocabulary learning.
Encourage students to read outside of school, record and learn new words that
they encounter and share them with their classmates.
Plan lessons that have a vocabulary element. Pre-teach OR visit words in context
to encourage inferring.
Ensure you create meaning focused input and meaning focused output.
Remember that learners need to meet a lexical item 6 or 7 times (at least) in order
to retain it in their mental lexicon.31
Start a word wall and keep adding to it! Introduce a word of the week.
Ensure that you expand word families to maximize the potential of a stem word.
Create fun activities that engage the students and encourage acquisition.
Measure / celebrate progress to encourage students and highlight how far they
have come.
Include self-assessment opportunities that empower students.
Differentiate tasks to ensure ALL students engage with vocabulary acquisition.
30
http://www.newgeneralservicelist.org/ [accessed 21 June 2015]

Nation, P. (2001). Learning Vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press
31
34
Activities to try
Vocabulary box
What is it?
This is an ordinary box (any kind will do) which contains important words, phrases or
concepts that students have learned in their lessons. Its important that the box is
particular to a class and grade and contains words that they should already know from
your lessons.
Who puts the words in the box?
It works well if the students put the words in the box. At the end of a lesson, you can give
each student a small piece of paper and ask them to write down a new word they have
learned today. Collect them in, discard duplicates, and put them in the box to be used in
future lessons.
You can even ask one of your students to take responsibility for this part of the lesson.
This student can be in charge of cutting up the paper, collecting in the words, discarding
duplicates etc.
Of course, you can also add words that you think they should have learned (especially if
the students tend to avoid them!)
Should we use only single words?
No, you might want your students to remember certain phrases or proverbs as well.
Collocations are good. Why not have a mix of single words, collocations, idioms, phrases
etc. As you like!!
How long do the activities take?
That is up to you. Anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes works well, however, you can
stop the activity whenever you like.
Start a new box at the beginning of every semester,r and at the end of the semester empty
- count the words as a means of showing your students how many new words they have been
working on learning.
What do you know?

Its important not to waste lesson time covering what your students already know. So
think about using an activity like this to establish what vocabulary they already have
collectively around a given topic before you introduce new items.
35
Divide the class up in to teams and assign them a station on the classroom wall where
you have put a picture / or series of pictures that feature items associated with the
chosen topic. For example, a car / vehicle workshop, supermarket, series of people
wearing different items of clothing etc.
Make sure that the groups are sitting far enough away from the wall not to be able to see
the pictures clearly from where they are sitting. They will also need a large piece of paper
on the table and a pen to write with.
Explain that when you say go, each team can send one member up to their wall. They
must look at the photograph/s and come back and write down one item / thing they could
see. If they cant think of anything to write, they should pass the pen to the next team
member who goes up to the wall and repeats. Continue until all team members have had
more than one go and make it a competition to maintain pace.
At the end of the activity, groups can check that they are happy with the words they have
recorded and use a dictionary to amend spelling if they want to.
You now have a base on which to add more items, and how you do that is up to you. But
try and continue the student-centred autonomous approach if you can. So perhaps have
teams steal words from other teams lists / look new words up in the dictionary etc.
Dont forget to address pronunciation and give students time to get their mouths
around (practice articulating) new words. Use drills that surround the new lexical item with
natural co-text.
Spell it!
Spelling tests are useful activities that not only provide students with the opportunity
revisit new words (remember they need to meet a word at least 6 or 7 times) but also
develop other skills too i.e. annunciation / intensive listening / cursive writing practice.
Make spelling tests more student-centred. For example, appoint a student or students to
create a list of XX number of words from the vocabulary box. They should then run the
test by reading them out clearly to the rest of class, who should listen and write down the
words they hear. Those that run the test can then collect in the other students answers,
check the spellings, allocate scores and return them.
Think about having a regular student led test and record scores on a notice board to
encourage a sense of competition.
You could also introduce anther AfL element by extending the peer evaluation e.g.
after checking the spellings, those running the test could also assign marks for legibility
(especially with low level writing proficiency learners).
36
How to Teach Vocabulary by S Thornbury

Vocabulary in Action by L Taylor
Vocabulary by M Mcarthy
Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy by N Schmitt and M McCarthy
http://www.lextutor.ca/
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/vocabulary
http://my.vocabularysize.com/
6.3 Pronunciation
The following section provides tips for teaching Arabic speakers and tips for teaching any
non-native English speakers.
Remember that the phonological sounds of the Arabic and English language are
very different. See section 10 for more information on the differences between
Arabic and English.
Familiarise yourself with the sounds that are difficult for Arabic speakers to
articulate i.e. sounds that we use in English but which arent part of the sound
system of the Arabic language.
Be aware that although both Arabic and English are stress-timed languages, the
stress in Arabic is more regular whereas English is less predictable.
Expand your knowledge of pronunciation issues for Arabic try reading the
chapter dedicated to Arabic Speakers in Swans Learner English.32
32
Build your understanding of how sounds are articulated so that you can help your
students produce sounds that are unfamiliar to them.
Become familiar with the phonemic chart so that you can use it to help your
students gain an understanding of the English language sound system (see chart
below)
Be aware that students need to develop both their recognition of sounds,

understanding of how sounds are made and the ability to articulate them. This will
help them to become both effective listeners and articulate speakers.
Ensure that you provide your students with the opportunity to practice
pronouncing new vocabulary - in addition to recognising the spoken and written
form.
Include guidance on pronunciation issues relating to spoken grammar that is to

say the way auxiliary verbs are often contracted, common use of weak forms etc.
Swan, M. and Smith, B. (2011). Learner English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
37
Include guidance on stress and intonation to ensure your students are able to
produce streams of natural sounding speech.
Encourage student autonomy by getting peers to feedback on each others

pronunciation i.e. was the speaker intelligible, did his / her pronunciation match
that modelled by the teacher (audio model) etc.
The phonemic chart (British English RP version)
Activities to try
Here are some simple but effective ideas to try out with your students. It takes time for
non-native English speakers to get their mouths around the sounds of the English
language, so make sure you provide sufficient practice.
See it, feel it!

You will need a set of small hand mirrors for this activity. Either give every student a
mirror or have every pair share one between them.
Explain to them that they are going to try making some sounds. First they need to watch
what you do with your mouth (lips / tongue) and then they need to look into the mirror
and try and replicate what you did.
As you know many of the sounds we make are either unvoiced (aspirated) or voiced as in
/p/ or /b/. When you are helping students to differentiate between these sounds, have
them hold their hand in front of their mouth for aspirated sounds (so that they can feel
38
the air) and hold their hand over their throat for voiced sounds - whilst looking in the
mirror.
It can also help to give them a simple graphic of the mouth so that you can show them
the place and manner of articulation like the one shown below.
Place and manner of articulation of sounds
There are various websites that also provide an animated version of the place and
manner of articulation that you could also use to show students how particular sounds are
made. See resources list at the end of this section.
IPA typewriter
There are a series of websites that provide key boards that can be used to create
phonemic representations of words. If you have identified a series of words that your
students are having problems pronouncing, try signing them in to a website like this one
http://www.e-lang.co.uk/mackichan/call/pron/type.html and have them try typing out the
words according to their phonemes. You can scaffold this activity by providing them with
the whole phonemic chart and a word in each phoneme square that exemplifies the
sound. They may not get it right, but it will draw their attention to and begin to expand
their knowledge of the English sound system.
Visual and kinesthetic learners often find this type of activity helpful in making the
distinction between pronunciation and spelling.
39
Sound Foundation by A Underhill
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps/sounds-right
http://www.phonemicchart.com/index.htm
http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/pronunciation/phonemic-chart-andapp/interactive-phonemic-chart-british-english/
http://www.speakingofspeech.com/Articulation_Materials.html
http://www.lextutor.ca/freq/lists_download/
English Phonetics and Phonology by P Roach

Teaching Pronunciation by M Celce-Murcia et al
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/TEphonemic_GreyBlue2_0.
swf - great for providing example sound
6.4. Functional language

Functional language is also sometimes referred to as formulaic language or chunks of
language. Here are a few tips that will help you introduce functional language into your
classroom in a meaningful way.
Analyse the spoken interactions your students engage in on a regular basis, so

that you can provide targeted functional language learning e.g. language for
brainstorming in groups, language for clarification, language for starting and ending
conversations etc.
Ensure
Ensure that the chunks of language you introduce are authentic.
Drill chunks of language so that students can acquire whole phrases and say them
using the appropriate stress and intonation.
Think about register when you are teaching functional language. Its important to
provide students with functional exponents that are appropriate to the context
and the relationship they have with other interactants. For example if you are
introducing exponents for apologising you wouldnt provide sorry mate as an
appropriate expressions for apologising to a senior work colleague!
Encourage student autonomy by getting learners to examine transcripts of
authentic language (or listen to exerts of authentic language) and identify where
the conversation is taking place, who are conversing and the purpose of their
conversation. This will help highlight the concept of functional language33.
Activity to try
Here is an activity that you might like to try with your students. You may of course need
to adapt the suggested phrases to better suit your students current ability levels.
33
https://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/download/ng/file/group-4/n2464-esol-teaching-skills-taskbook-unit-4i---teaching-functional-language.pdf [accessed 22 June 2015]
40
Discussion bingo
This activity34 allows for a degree of student choice and relies on prompt cards to
encourage use of the target language. Students should be divided into small groups (3 to
4) and each student given a bingo card on which is written a series of expressions. Each
card will have different expressions that relate to the functional language we employ
during group discussions. The following cards provide possible expressions:
Well I think that
In my opinion
Can I just come in
Can I interrupt
I agree
What do you think..
Can you say that
again
Do you mean that
As far as I m
concerned
Great idea
Excuse me for
butting in
How about you
I think thats true
Sorry I didnt quite

get your point
Anything to add
So, in other
words
Im sorry, can you be

more precise
So, as I understand
it
Figure 5: Discussion Bingo cards
Each group is also given a series of cards on which are written topics for discussion. The
activity begins when a topic card is selected and a discussion ensues. Each student must
try to use all the expression on their card, and cross them off as they do so. The first
student to complete their card calls out bingo and is the winner.
This activity is ideal for allowing the teacher to circulate, monitor for use of target
language and note errors for group feedback during the plenary.
34
Learning Teaching by J Scrivener

http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/methodology/teachingapproaches/teaching-approaches-functional-approaches-in-efl/-esl/146492.article
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/biblio/formulaic-language
41
7. Classroom activities Combined skills / systems

Whilst we may teach a lesson that focuses specifically on one skill or system, many times
lesson content tends to be a combination of one or more. Here are some additional
activities that you may like to try. You will see that there are explanations at the end of
each activity that highlight which skills and / or systems are exploited.
Running dictation
Level: All Proficiency Levels. This activity is particularly suited to mixed abilities as each
role is well scaffolded. Even if the runner only manages to dictate two or three words
during their go, they will have been part of a team learning and sharing experience.
Materials: Pen and paper and photocopies of chosen text. The text you choose is up to
you. However, you need to consider how long your lesson will be, language proficiency
levels of your students and whether the contents will pique your students interest. The
time allocation here relates to a text of approximately 200 words.
Time allocation: 45 minutes

Interaction: Groups of four (preferable)
Stage of lesson: This activity can be used at different stages. It works well as a
starter (if the text is short), can form the core of the lesson, or with a language
focus tagged on can become the full lesson.
Organisation
Organisation:
ation:
Paste copies of the text around the classroom, or outside the classroom if this
wont be disruptive to other students. They should be far enough away that the
student who is acting as the scribe cannot read it, and the runner cannot read and
shout out the dictation to the scribe.
Divide class into teams of four. (You can do this in pairs, but larger teams
encourage more interaction and enable mixed abilities to work together).
Allocate each team a text and stress that they can only read THEIR text.
Assign each team member a letter i.e. Student A, Student B, Student C and
Student D.
Nominate all student As to be the runner and all student Bs to be the scribe.
Explain that student A must run up to the text, memorise as much as they can,
run back to scribe and dictate what they can remember. The scribe (student B)
must write down everything they hear. When the scribe has finished writing, they
then become the runner and student C becomes the scribe. The runner (student B)
memorizes some text and comes back and dictates it to the scribe. When the
scribe (student C) has finished, they then become the runner and student D
becomes the scribe. The teams should continue rotating roles until the entire text
has been dictated.
Stress that that the runner must memorise the text as accurately as possible and
help the scribe by spelling words and including punctuation as well. The runner
cannot do any of the writing, and the two team members who are waiting their
42
turn cannot do any writing either. But they can help with spelling and should be
encouraging the runner and scribe.
The first team to finish can be awarded a prize, but the activity should continue
until all teams have finished.
Retrieve the texts from where they were pasted up and give a copy to each team.
Then have teams swap their dictated copy and the original copy with another
team.
Teams must now mark the other teams dictation using the original to check
against for errors. Each error they detect earns a point, and the team with the
least points is the overall winner.
Skills and systems: This activity is an example of integrated skills practice and
develops sub-skills of all four skills alongside language work.
Reading The runners have to read in detail and memorize what they have read.
They also have to scan to locate the last word the previous runner has dictated.
The scribes have to read in detail and comprehend what they have written i.e.
check that it makes sense.
Listening The scribe (and the two team members who are waiting their turns)
has to listen intensively to ensure they record what they hear accurately. They also
have to listen extensively to take on board suggestions and encouragement from
other team members.
Writing The scribes practice their fine motor skills in producing Latin/Roman
script. They also have to reproduce information accurately and in the order it is
dictated, to ensure the text is coherent.
Speaking The runner gets controlled speaking practice and the rest of the team
can practice discourse features associated with group discussions.
Vocabulary Students are exposed to familiar and new vocabulary along with
associated spelling. Where mixed ability groups are working together, more able
students can share knowledge of more challenging vocabulary with less able
students.
Grammar/syntax Students are exposed to patterns of language / syntax and
work on relaying these to short term memory.
Follow on activities: The text that was used for the dictation can go on to be used for
other things in follow up lessons. Here are some examples:
You could mine the text for specific verb phrases e.g. You could target present
continuous and gerunds and use these examples to establish the difference in
meaning between the two word classes.
You could mine the text for expressions associated with time e.g. yesterday, three
days ago, earlier in the month, not long ago etc. You could then run a Bingo
speaking activity where all the expressions are on bingo cards and the students
have to try and use all the expressions during a group discussion. The first to cross
them all off their Bingo card shouts Bingo! and is the winner.
43
You could take a central idea from the text and create a Pyramid discussion lesson
around it.
You could use the text as the starting point for a project where students have to
surf the internet and find related articles on the same subject.
Two trues and a false

Level: A2 and above. Students need to have sufficient language to portray their truths
and lies.
Materials: A slip of paper and a pen/pencil for each person.

Time allocation: 15 minutes or more - depending on whether conducted in groups or
whole class
Interaction: Groups of four, or whole class if small number

Stage of lesson: This makes an excellent Ice Breaker or Starter. It can also be a
great way to create a break during longer lessons.
Organisation
Organisation:
Provide each person with a slip of paper and pen or pencil.

Instruct everyone to write down three statements about themselves. Two of the
statements should be true and one of them should be false. Allow everyone about
5 minutes to come up with three good statements. An example would be
something like: a) I have three sisters and one brother. b) My sister is married to a
famous TV personality c) I was on the National News when I was twenty one.
Select a person to go first. That person should read aloud her three statements.
Then, conduct voting by having the person read her statements again, asking for a
show of hands among the group as to which statement they think is false.
Ask the person to reveal the correct answer. The people who guessed correctly
should mark a tally on their sheets for a correct guess. Continue around the group,
having each person read his statement and then conducting a vote.
Participants should continue marking down each time they make a correct guess.
Ask everyone how many correct guesses they had once everyone has read their
statements.
The person with the most correct guesses at the end has won the game.
Skills and systems The following skills are targeted:
Speaking This activity works on fluency rather than accuracy. What is important
is that the speaker is able to communicate their truths and lie to their classmates.
Listening Classmates have to listen intensively to be able to make a judgment
as to which statement is the lie.
Writing Students practice note taking skills.
44
Follow on activities: Students can expand one of their statements into the full anecdote
as a writing task. This would be most appropriate to level B1 and above.
Nonsense words
L evel: A2 and above. Students need to have sufficient language to produce a definition.
Materials: Find a copy of a text or create a text that is suitable for your students
roughly a paragraph of around 70 words. Choose a few words from different word classes
and replace them with a nonsense word. Here is an example although the context here
may not be suitable for your students in terms of world knowledge.
Read the following passage Identify any words that you dont recognize What do
you think they mean? How did you work out the meaning?
I had a really doodlious day yesterday. We set off early in the glorting and drove up to the
Lake District. We got dreare around 8 am and had a flage breakfast with lots of gorgeous
local ingredients. I groit the car up there and Peter brought us back again. I can really
protand going there for a day out. Lots to dree and foo, even if the weather is not very
loist.
Time allocation:
allocation Approximately 10 minutes.
Interaction: Individuals and pairs.
Stage of lesson: This makes a good starter for a language focused lesson, where you are
addressing word classes and word order / syntax. It is also an effective starter activity for
a lesson where you are going to work on inference skills. Finally, it can be quite an
effective diagnostic task when you want to find out whether your students have the meta
language to describe word classes, or are able to infer.
Organisation:
Organisation:
Give each student a copy of the text. Explain that they should read it and underline
any words they think dont know or think look a bit strange.
Ask them to look at each underlined word individually and think of a word they
could replace it with.
Create four columns on the white board with the following headings: adjective,
noun, phrasal verb and verb.
Ask the students to look at the words they have replaced and decide which column
heading they would put each one under.
Ask the students to turn to their partner and compare their replacement words and
the word classes they have assigned them to.
Feedback ideas from class and list under the headings on the white board.
45
Skills and systems
Language Highlights word classes and the order of words in sentences.

Reading Encourages students to infer meaning of unknown words from context.
Highlights the fact that you dont have to know every word to understand
8. Assessment for learning

When people think of assessment they usually think of checking what students have
learnt and looking at what they dont know or have forgotten. This is assessment of
learning35.
Assessment for learning (AfL) differs from this in that it is initially informed by what
students Do know, and then:
It focuses on helping student improve how they learn;

It is embedded in all lessons;
It uses a range of techniques including asking questions, using quizzes, what do
you already know, thinkthink-pairpair-share, encouraging self and peer assessment ;
It is constructive and fosters motivation;
It is part of the teaching and learning process.
Here are a number of key things that students need to be able to do:
Use and understand correction codes and other means of correction and feedback
to take their learning forward;
Reflect on their skills, progress, work, strengths and areas for
for development, and
their current levels in relation to targets;
Provide meaningful peer feedback and peer correction.
In AfL, assessment doesnt check learning it is part of learning, and when assessment for
learning is well established in a classroom students are:
35
Actively involved in their own learning;

Able to judge the success of their work and set targets for improvement;
Able to take responsibility for their own progress.
Colleges of Excellence Policy Handbook June 2015
46
A useful tool that can help both you and your students become actively engaged in
tracking their progress are the banks of descriptors that EQUALS (Evaluation and
Accreditation of Quality in Language Services)and the CEFR (Common European
Framework of Reference) have developed. The following table provides examples of
generic descriptors, and further information is available via http://eaquals.org/ and
eaquals.org/cefr
cefr/.
cefr Try visiting these sites, familiarise yourself with the resources that are
on offer and consider how you might use them to develop effective AfL for your students.
Table 9: CEFR descriptors (Can do statements)
In a nut shell, we can say that assessment for learning has a significant effect on how well
students achieve in terms of their attainment, behaviour, motivation, engagement and
their ability to study independently.
Here are some techniques you could try out that will encourage student-centred AfL. Think
about ways in which you could adapt them and make them more effective for the age,
stage and needs of your students.
47
Traffic lights
Give each student a set of laminated traffic lights. They could be emoticons or just plain
colour spots like these:
Here are some ways to use them:
To show engagement with / understanding of a task Tell students at the

beginning of an activity / task to get out their traffic lights. Explain to them that
you will be circulating around the room whilst they are on task. They should choose
the traffic light that lets you know how they are getting on and put it on their desk
for you to see. A student can show red to indicate that he/she isnt able to cope
and needs assistance, amber for some clarification and green if they dont have
any problems.
To indicate how well they think they achieved the lessons learning
outcomes / objectives At the end of the lesson, ask students to hold up the
traffic light that best represents how well they think they achieved the target
outcomes.
To indicate if they achieved the lessons learning outcomes or have

areas they still need to work on - Put up three poster size pieces of paper on
the wall with a traffic light in each (red, amber, green) and give each student a post
it note. Tell them that as they leave class they can stick their post it note under the
traffic light that reflects how they think the lesson went for them. They can also
write a message on the note if they want to show where they need more
development e.g. a student might put under the amber traffic light Most was OK
but do and does in Yes / No questions difficult.
How well did I do?

Create a set of marking criteria / descriptors for your target written task (or locate one if it
already exists) and create a student friendly version. This can be used for self or peer
correction. Have the students read their texts and assess it against the descriptors
ticking the emoticon they think reflects their ability.
The following example is a generic rubric which you could adapt or use as is. Make sure
the language you use in the descriptors is accessible to your students, and that the areas
they are assessing are relevant to their ability and stage of learning.
48
Descriptor
Icon 1
Icon 2
Icon 3
Yes!
Almost
Not Yet
The meaning is clear throughout the

text.
The main points and supporting points

are well organized.
I have used a variety of linking devices

to make the text feel cohesive.
I have used simple and complex

sentences. If there are any errors, they
dont stop the reader understanding
what I mean.
I have used a good range of vocabulary.
I have used words and expressions that

are appropriate to the topic.
The register is appropriate and the text

feels coherent.
My spelling is generally accurate.
I have used punctuation appropriately.
Table 10:
10: SelfSelf -assessment rubric
49
More complex versions of this can be developed as students become familiar with selfassessment and the concept of editing their work. For example, you could use
descriptors from the CEFR or example rubrics for the external exam they may be
preparing for.
At lower levels, a self-assessment can ask students to simply proof read their work for
legibility, spelling of key words, capital letters, full stops and that every sentence has a
verb for example and then extend to checking for specific tenses. This can be done in
pairs as joint peer/self-assessment to help train students into principles of selfassessment. Guidance is needed for effective self-assessment and peer-assessment
especially as you may find the students are unused to it. Giving them criteria is essential.
Student created self-assessment tasks

Another approach you can try is to get the students to create their own self-assessment /
peer- assessment tasks. This encourages students to really engage with the process of
evaluating their own learning and takes the concept of assessment for learning to a
deeper level.
Here are a few ideas that you could try:
Reading skills:
skills Divide up a text amongst your students. Each student should read
their section and then create questions for another student to answer. Students
swap texts and answer each others questions. When they have finished, they can
return them to the student who set the questions who will then mark them. If an
answer is wrong, the question setter can show the person who answered the
question where the information came from and how they found it.
Reading skills: When the students have completed a reading task/s, ask them to
create a list of reading sub-skills, and tick the ones they had to use to complete the
task/s. They must then rate the sub-skills for difficulty i.e. 6 = I found this very
easy, 1 = I found this very difficult and make a note of any skill they want to
develop further.
Uptake of new vocabulary items: Nominate a pair of students each week who
must select a set number of words (that they have met that week) for a definition
or spelling test that they will set their peers at the start of the new week. You
could also encourage them to keep a chart to record who has learned the most
words during the term.
Grammar and language use: Help students to create personalized check lists to
use during the editing process of writing. Encourage them to target areas of
grammar and language that they have been developing recently. For example: Do
all my subjects and verbs agree? Do I need to use a or the in front of my noun?
Have I added S to my plural nouns?
50
9. Developing exam techniques

Your students will have to take a gateway exam to move on to the vocational element of
their CoE learning pathway. It is important therefore that you are able to help them
develop the exam techniques they will need to be able to fully demonstrate their English
language proficiency. Here are some tips to bear in mind.
Tips for exams

The following tips are generic, and it is important that you also study the actual exam that
your students will sit to ensure you target their precise needs.
Avoid introducing actual mock exam practice too early into the academic year as this
can have a negative effect36.
Analyse the gateway exam and identify the skills and systems it is testing. Embed
these skills and systems into your everyday lessons. For example, if students need to
scan a written text in the exam for specific information; provide opportunities to
develop scanning skills.
Begin targeted exam practice in the trimester leading up to the exam.
Address time management a) make sure students know how long they have to
complete each section of the exam b) conduct mock exams under full test conditions c)
train students to be disciplined with their time keeping and adhere to the guide times
for each section of the exam.
Reading skill section of the exam
Ensure students are accustomed to reading the questions before they read the
text then they are reading for a purpose.
Provide practice in the sub-skills that different question types require. For example
the Cambridge KET exam37 requires candidates to use the following skills
36
Burgess, S. and Head, K. (2008). How to Teach for Exams. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Cambridge Key English Test (KET) CEFR Level A2 Handbook for Teachers
http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams/key/ [accessed 23 June 2015]
37
51
KET Reading and writing paper

Part 1: Gist understanding of real-world notices. Reading for main
message
Part 2:
2 Read and identifying appropriate vocabulary
Part 3:
3 Read and identifying appropriate responses
Part 4:
4 Read for detailed understanding and main ideas.
Part 5:
5 Read and identifying specific language
Part 6:
6 Read and identifying specific language
Part 7: Read and identifying specific language
Ensure that the students can recognise a question type and establish which skill
they will need to use.
Provide practice in reading questions and identifying / underlining the key words
that help locate the answer in the text.
If there is more than one reading text in the test, encourage students to be
selective in which text they tackle first i.e. if they find the first text challenging,
move on to the next and return to the first one later.
The same goes for answering questions. If they cant find the answer easily,
encourage them to move on to the next one. Time wasted could be marks wasted!
Writing skills section of the exam
Provide practice in planning, writing and editing the text type (s) featured in the
exam to build task awareness.
Encourage awareness i.e. what the candidate is required to do to complete the
task successfully. For example, the Cambridge KET exam requires candidates to:
KET Reading and writing paper
Part 8: Write down appropriate words or numbers with focus on
content and accuracy
Part 9: Write a short note, email or postcard of 25 35 words.
Encourage students to work out how much time they will need to plan, write and
edit their text under exam conditions.
Stress the importance of having legible writing. The examiner cant award marks if
they cant read what has been written!
Discourage students from spending too much time using correction fluid (if
permitted). The finished text does not have to be copy book perfect. A neat
crossing out is effective and takes less time.
52
Get the students accustomed to what the target word count looks like on paper
i.e. how many lines does their hand writing take up if they use xxx words? This
way, they wont waste time constantly counting words.
Encourage students to try out different writing implements and find one that they
can write with comfortably.
Strongly dissuade students from trying to memorize possible exam texts. It is
highly unlikely that what they memorise will relate to the question they get in the
exam.
Listening skills section of the exam
Familiarise students with the kinds of task the exam features and develop their
task awareness.
Ensure students understand what is being assessed e.g. their ability to listen for
and record specific information.
Provide practice in the listening sub-skills that are targeted in the exam. For
example in the Cambridge KET exam the candidates are required to:
KET Listening
Part 1: Listen to identify key information
Part 2: Listen to identify key information
Part 3: Take the part of one of the speakers and listening to
identify key information
Part 4: Listen and writing down information
Part 5: listen and writing down information
Expose students to as many different accents as you can so that they can access
them during the exam.
Alert students to the fact that although the examining board will try to use
authentic sounding materials, the voices they hear will have been graded according
to the language proficiency level they are trying to assess.
Stress the importance of moving on and preparing for the next question. Its
better to miss one answer but prepared for the next, rather than risk missing two.
Encourage students to jot down notes as they are listening. Many exams provide
additional time for students to neatly record / transfer their answers to the answer
sheet after they have finished a section.
53
Speaking skills section of the exam
Develop task awareness so that students arent met with any surprises during the
oral exam. For example in the Cambridge KET exam candidates are required to:
KET Speaking
Part 1: Skills for an interaction associated with meeting people for
the first time
Part 2: Skills for eliciting and providing information of a factual kind
Provide plenty of practice in the target tasks e.g. monologues, one-to-one

conversations and group discussions.
Help the students develop strategies to cope when they are tongue tied or cant
access the words / language they want or need i.e. help them to learn formulaic
expressions like Let me just think about that for a moment, Im sorry I just cant
think of an answer to that could you ask me something else.
Help students to develop strategies to deal with nerves. They need to be able to
control their nerves so that they can provide spoken language on which they can
be assessed.
Stress the importance of being audible so that if they are being taped, their
speech can be effectively captured.
Grammar and vocabulary for exams
Access the teachers handbook that is usually available from globally recognised
examination bodies and check the section on vocabulary and grammar. This will
help you embed the necessary language into your lessons in the trimesters leading
up to the exam. The Cambridge KET Teachers handbook pages 4, 5 and 6 provide
detailed input on the grammar and lexis that the exam assesses. 38
Help students to develop task awareness e.g. if it is a gap-fill activity get them
used to looking at the co-text that surrounds the gap so that they can work out
which word class should fill the gap. This will help make the correct choice jump out
from the multiple choices provided.
Develop your students knowledge of word families some exams require
candidates to demonstrate their knowledge of root words and the variants they
give rise to.
Encourage students to be strategic in their approach to answering questions. If
they come across a question they cant answer, move on and return to it at the
end if there is time.
38
Cambridge Key English Test (KET) CEFR Level A2 Handbook for Teachers
http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams/key/ [accessed 23 June 2015]
54
10. Differences between the Arabic and English languages

The following table summarises some of the key differences that exist between Arabic
and English. For more detailed analysis, go to Swans Learner English39.
Features of Arabic
Problems for students
Semitic language family
Its grammar is very different from English
3 Forms of Arabic: Classical Arabic is the

language of the Qur'an; modern standard
Arabic is used in education and the mass
media; colloquial Arabic is spoken at home.
English may be a third foreign language for

some students
Writing is from right to left
More time needed to read or write than their

English-learning peers from the Indo-European
language families.
Alphabet has 28 consonants and 6 vowels +

2 diphthongs (English has about three times
as many vowel sounds).
Difficulty distinguishing between some words

they hear, such as ship / sheep or bad / bed,
and difficulties saying such words correctly.
Short vowels are unimportant in Arabic, and

do not appear in writing.
Vowel blindness
No capital letters
Random use of capital letters
Rules for punctuation are much looser than

in English
Little punctuation used
Phonetic spelling (provided you know

internal vowels)
Difficulty with spelling
Absence of consonants /p/ and /v/
Swapping of /b/ and /p/ at the beginning of

words, and the substitution of /f/ for /v/.
Consonant clusters are unusual in Arabic

especially
espe cially those that are longer than two
consonants, e.g. next, lengths
Arabic speakers tend to put a short vowel

between two consonants producing sounds like
sepoon for spoon, nekist for next, lengthes for
lengths
Arabic is a stress timed language; stress is

more regular and predictable than English
Difficulties with the seemingly random nature

of some English words, eg yesterday is
stressed on the first syllable and tomorr
morrow on
morr
the second
Arabic has a three consonant root as its

basis. All words (parts of speech) are formed
by combining the threethree -root consonants
with fixed vowel patterns and, sometimes,
an affix.
Arab learners may be confused by the lack of

patterns in English that would allow them to
distinguish nouns from verbs or adjectives, etc.
Arabic has no verb to be in the present

tense, and no auxiliary do . Furthermore,
there is a single present tense in Arabic, as
compared to English, which has the simple
and continuous forms.
Results in errors such as She good teacher,
Main verb can come before its subject in a

written statement
Problems with word order
Arabic does not make the distinction
Failure to use the present perfect tense, as in I
39
When you come to Germany? I flying to Egypt

tomorrow or Where he going?
problems.
55
between actions completed in the past with

and without a connection to the present.
finished my work. Can you check it?
There are no modal verbs in Arabic.
Leads to sentences like From the possible that
I am late. (I may be late.)

The indefinite article does not exist in
Arabic.
Omission of indefinite article
Genitive constructions: the boys dog in

Arabic would be expressed as dog the boy
Problems with genitive constructions
Adjectives follow the noun they qualify.
Beginner learners make word order mistakes in

written or spoken English.
Inclusion of the pronoun is required in

relative clauses (unlike English, in which the
pronoun is omitted).
omitted).
Results in mistakes like: Where is the pen which
Vocabulary: There are very few

English/Arabic cognates
Increased difficulty in comprehending what they

hear and read; greater effort required to acquire
a strong English word store.
I gave it to you yesterday?
Table 11:
11: Differences between Arabic and English
11. Additional on-line resources

In addition to the resources listed at the end of each section, you may like to take a look
at some of these websites:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/
http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/resources-for-teachers/
https://elt.oup.com/teachersclub/?cc=gb&selLanguage=en&mode=hub
http://www.onestopenglish.com/
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/
http://www.tvetenglish.net/ - This is a dedicated website for teachers in the CoE
community. If you have any resources or materials that you would like to share
why not post them here.
56

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EFL Tool Kit for Teachers

Colleges of Excellence: EFL Tool Kit for Teachers

Colleges of Excellence: EFL Tool Kit for Teachers

Tool kit for teachers

2. Colleges of Excellence EFL provision

3. Best practice in teaching and learning in the foundation year

Lesson resources and

There is a clear link

Lessons are planned to

Figure 1: Teaching EFL - best practice cycle

Colleges of Excellence EFL Policy Handbook (2015)

Colleges of Excellence: EFL Tool Kit for Teachers

Figure 2: Essential elements of lesson planning

4.1. Student-centred and autonomous learning

Jones, L. (2007). The Student-Centred Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Colleges of Excellence: EFL Tool Kit for Teachers

Use an inductive approach to introducing

Facilitate self and peer-evaluation

Elicit student feedback on different activity

Provide opportunities for student choice in

Facilitate self-directed learning

Table 1: StudentStudent-centred autonomous learning

4.2. Class profile and learning styles

A confident speaker who can get her

Notable weaknesses across the four

She is not good at discerning between

Personality type - quiet, shy, noisy,

Quite noisy, a bit disruptive and Likes lots

People skills organizer (can be relied on

Not a team player so needs a clearly

Preferred learning style visual,

Blended learning - strengths and

Good at using her tablet for research

Really keen to progress so that she can

Table 2: Student profile

Colleges of Excellence: EFL Tool Kit for Teachers

4.3. Learning outcomes and differentiation

Make sure outcomes are SMART:

4.4. Anticipated problems and solutions

Some of the less literate and confident

I will use visual aids to support

Table 3: Anticipated problems and solutions

4.5. Materials and resources

Scrivener, J. (2005). Learning English. Oxford: Macmillan

Colleges of Excellence: EFL Tool Kit for Teachers

Table 4 : Course books - OnOn-line supplementary materials

Blended Learning: Using Technology in English Language Teaching by Tomlinson

The Colleges of Excellence are committed to delivering e- learning opportunities for

Colleges of Excellence: EFL Tool Kit for Teachers

4.8. Assessment for learning (AfL)

4.9. Personal PD aims

Tips for teaching Arabic speakers

Familiarise yourself with the differences in cognitive processing between reading

http://www.sdkrashen.com/content/books/principles_and_practice.pdf [accessed 16 June 2015]

Colleges of Excellence: EFL Tool Kit for Teachers

and then gradually remove the graphic scaffolds.

Tips for teaching all non-native English speakers

Colleges of Excellence: EFL Tool Kit for Teachers

Colleges of Excellence: EFL Tool Kit for Teachers

Grade the task

Choose a newspaper article that has an interesting headline, accompanying

Colleges of Excellence: EFL Tool Kit for Teachers

Reading Resources Box