SGDB5073

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2
 Oral skill
Vocabulary
Discourse
Conversation
Extended talk
The written language
Grammar
Listening
Speaking
Pronunciation
Reading
Writing
 As in mother tongue learning,
English should start with an
emphasis on listening & then
speaking because children often
cannot read & write at all yet.
Listening should precede speaking
(communicative skills should be
the aim of the good language
classroom).
Reading and then writing will
emerge when the language learner
is ready and should not be forced.
Comprehension of language
should precede production.
 Learning about my students needs
Planning for my students needs
 What is important (and therefore
worth spending time on), given
where my students are at? This
focusing inquiry establishes a
baseline and a direction. The
teacher uses all available
information to determine what
their students have already
learned and what they need to
learn next.

Knowledge of English
Knowledge of the learner
 What strategies (evidence-based)
are most likely to help my students
learn this? In this teaching inquiry,
the teacher uses evidence from
research and from their own past
practice and that of colleagues to
plan teaching and learning
opportunities aimed at achieving
the outcomes prioritized in the
focusing inquiry.

Resources and inspiration text forms
English and e-Learning iBooks, Twitter,
blogs, wiki, padlet, quizlet, flipped
classroom, virtual classroom etc.
Research reports
School snapshots
Exploring language
Teacher resource exchange
Professional support
Teaching & learning sequences
 To let students hear different
varieties and accents
To help student to acquire
language subconsciously ss get
vital information on grammar,
vocabulary and word bank,
pronunciation, rhythm, intonation,
pitch and stress.
To help them to be better listeners
and good conversationalists/ good
social relations
For entertainment
For academic purpose
To obtain information
 Listening activities can be used to energize young learners or to create a
quiet atmosphere. Some activities require children to make movement
and noise, while others make them think and concentrate on their work.
As children become accustomed to the teachers repeated greetings and
instructions, they internalize the words and phrases, learn to respond
appropriately, and begin to participate in genuine conversations.
Recorded listening material provides opportunities for children to hear
different accents.
Children use the teachers pronunciation as a model for their own
pronunciation.
Listening activities develop childrens abilities to focus on both general
and specific information, raising their awareness that they can
understand a story or conversation without knowing the meaning of
every word.
The teacher should prepare the tape before coming to class and stay calm
and focused when trying to rewind the tape for a second listening.
 Listening is unique.
Listeners have to go with the speed
of the voices they are listening to.
Often listen for understanding
first. Then, listen for specific
details.
Listening involves unique features:
Incomplete utterances
Repetitions
Hesitations
Tone of the voice
Intonation
Rhythm
Background voice
 The early years are a period in which young
children are using language to learn not
only about their world but also how
language can be used to serve many
purposes. This knowledge is referred to as
pragmatic knowledge (Otto, 2006).
One component of pragmatic knowledge is
conversational skills. Ninio and Snow (1999)
as well as Weiss (2004) assert that how well
children develop conversational skills can
influence how well they interact with others
(as cited in Otto, 2006).
To a certain degree, children pick up this
knowledge naturally, but an astute teacher
or parent plays a vital role in assisting
children in their ability to be good
conversationalists.
 Listening skills are vital for your learners. Of the
'four skills,' listening is by far the most frequently
used.
Listening and speaking are often taught together,
but beginners, especially non-literate ones,
should be given more listening than speaking
practice.
It's important to speak as close to natural speed
as possible, although with beginners some
slowing is usually necessary.
Without reducing your speaking speed, you can
make your language easier to comprehend by
simplifying your vocabulary, using shorter
sentences, and increasing the number and length
of pauses in your speech.
 Kerry (1982) asserts that the vast
majority (approximately 80%) of
teacher talk in classrooms is
focused on tasks: giving
instructions, providing information,
or correcting behaviour or
information. Of this talk, 80% of it
consists of low-level questions that
ask children to recall information
rather than open-ended questions
requiring children to think at
higher levels (as cited in Jalongo,
2008).
A very important consideration in
using any questioning technique is
the wait time given to children as
they formulate their response
 How teachers respond at that
point can encourage or discourage
future participation in discussions
(Otto, 2006).
Attentive body language,
expanding childrens responses,
asking clarifying questions, and
using reflective listening
techniques are ways to support
childrens continued participation
in current and future dialogues
(Otto, 2006).
 There are many types of listening
activities. Those that do not require
learners to produce language in
response are easier than those that
do. Learners can be asked to
physically respond to a command (for
example, "please open the door"),
select an appropriate picture or
object, circle the correct letter or
word on a worksheet, draw a route
on a map, or fill in a chart as they
listen.
It's more difficult to repeat back
what was heard, translate into the
native language, take notes, make an
outline, or answer comprehension
questions. To add more challenge,
learners can continue a story text,
solve a problem, perform a similar
task with a classmate after listening
to a model (for example, order a cake
from a bakery), or participate in real-
time conversation.
 Listening in English is difficult for many young learners.
They often do not understand what the teacher is saying
and they ask the teacher to speak in Albanian.
Therefore, it is important that the teacher should speak
at the young learners level or just above so that they can
understand and not lose confidence (Paul, 2003).
Instructions are the most natural classroom
communication that young learners can experience as
Scott and Ytreberg have noticed (1990). Children need a
lot of exposure to real spoken English, so it is
advantageous for them if the teacher speaks and gives
instructions in English as much as possible.
Because young learners use the teacher as a language
model, teachers should think of how to clearly introduce
an activity before going to class. (Bertrand, 2008).
It is a good idea to support a listening activity with visuals
such as pictures, facial expressions, movements, and
mimes. When young learners can relate to what they are
hearing with movement or action, they comprehend
what they hear and remember it for future use.
 Hearing vs listening
pay attention
Top down processing
A listener use his previous knowledge to predict the kind
of information he likely to hear. Relating to what he
already knows.
Bottom up processing
Slowly building up meaning block by block through
understanding all the linguistic data he hears.
Listening is an active process
Actively constructs meaning
Cognitive aspects of learning
Affective and emotional dimensions to listening
Agrees/disagrees with the speaker
Listeners attitudes, values & interest affect the way they
interpret and respond to the talk.
 When children are speaking, get
down to their eye level. It is
difficult to keep up a conversation
with someone when you must
keep looking up.
Treat children as if they are skilled
at conversation. Give them your
full attention and focus on what
they say. Ask open-ended
questions to follow up on what
they share.
Speak to all children, even those
who may have language delays or
who are English language learners.
 Ask children questions about things to which you do not know the answer.
Questions that ask children to reflect on a topic or to formulate opinions and
explain them not only show children that you value their ideas but also
encourage them to think about their own feelings and ideas.
Dont give up if children dont respond well the first time. Sometimes this
kind of questioning and responding takes more deliberate probing and time
for children to develop this skill.
Help children learn to listen to one another. When adults value listening to
children and to each other, children will notice this. Adults must also,
however, be intentional in giving children the skills to listen to one another.
Some teachers find that giving the speaker a prop, such as a stuffed animal or
other small object, while speaking to the group helps distinguish whose turn
it is to talk (Jalongo, 2008).
 Limit group time and small group discussions to a reasonable time limit
for young children. Their ability to stay attuned to a lengthy discussion
is incomplete at this age.
When attention is wandering, it is best to bring closure to the activity
and transition to something else. Record, both by writing on chart
paper and audio, transcripts of discussions so that children can hear
and have read back to them things that were shared.
 Value all the home languages of the children in the class, including sign
language for the hearing impaired. For the benefit of English language
learners and everyone else, learn some of the key words and phrases in the
languages represented in the group, record them, create word/picture
cards, and provide them in a listening centre. This way, children can learn
some important words in another language and support the speaker of that
language (Jalongo, 2008).
 Help children learn to listen and to ask questions by having Show and
Ask rather than Show and Tell. As children bring in items or objects to
talk about, have the rest of the group think of questions to ask the
speaker about the item. This helps children become better listeners as
well as learn how to ask questions (Jalongo, 2008).
 There are certain
elements that need to be
explicitly taught before
embarking on formal
instruction of oral
language.
These are;
Awareness of broad
rules that govern social
interaction ,
Non-verbal behaviours
Rules for listening
Rules for speaking
 Turn-taking
The Floor
Adjacency pairs.
Repair
Politeness
 turn taking is very important for an
effective speaker listener
relationship. Students need to
recognize pauses in a conversation
where they can take a turn,
interrupt, ask a question or change
the subject. Teachers can explicitly
teach turn taking so that all pupils
are encouraged to speak e.g. circle
time where everybody has a turn,
asking students to work with a
partner and choose who will go
first.
 the person who is currently
speaking is the person who holds
the floor. During conversations,
speakers and listeners use eye
contact, body language, gestures,
and pauses to judge when a new
voice can take the floor.
 these are the sequences of two
utterances next to each other,
produced by two different
speakers e.g. a question and an
answer, a greeting and a response.
This can work well to help develop
the everyday social interactions of
pupils.
 repair takes place when a speaker
has to fix something they have
said e.g. I said seen, I meant saw.
Sometimes the listener can seek a
repair which could be expressed
through a facial expression or body
language or check for meaning by
asking a question such as What do
you mean? or I dont
understand. Pupils need to be
encouraged to check that they
understand what another person is
saying and to check that others
understand them.
 verbal
Non-verbal behaviours.
Communicating is more than just
words. The manner in which we
use voice, facial expression, and
body language affects the
messages we are trying to give.
Students are not always aware that
their posture or the way they
approach another person speaks
volumes in itself. By creating
awareness around the expressive
nature of the way a person uses
their body and voice, teachers can
help pupils to become critically
aware of the non-verbal
behaviours that will equip them to
express themselves in an effective
manner.
Voice, volume, intonation, pitch,
pauses, pronunciation, proximity
and eye contact.
 Listening is arguably the most
important skill used for obtaining
comprehensible input in ones first
language and in any subsequent
languages. It is a pervasive
communicative event. We listen
considerably more than we read,
write or speak. (LeLoup and
Pontero, 2007)
 Explicitly model how to be good
listeners
Show the children footage of what
good listening looks like
Schedule quiet, listening
opportunities as part of the school
day
Provide spaces in the classroom
that encourage conversation and
attentive listening, e.g. The shop,
The doctors surgery
Create organic learning charts to
capture what good listening is
Give simple instructions and directions
during all learning activities
Ask relevant questions
Read stories aloud to the children and
encourage them to re-tell the story in
sequence
Encourage note-taking using
frameworks
Use dictation drills
Play games
Use taped stories and questions
Gather information
Complete cloze type activities or
unfinished sentences or stories
Conduct Interviews
Base topic work on content of radio
programmes
Sequence sentences, ideas and
stories
Listen to songs, poetry and music
Use instructional exercises
 Pre/Before Listening - Prepare your
learners by introducing the topic and
finding out what they already know
about it. A good way to do this is to
have a brainstorming session and
some discussion questions related to
the topic. Then provide any
necessary background information
and new vocabulary they will need
for the listening activity.
During Listening - Be specific about
what students need to listen for.
They can listen for selective details or
general content, or for an emotional
tone such as happy, surprised, or
angry. If they are not marking
answers or otherwise responding
while listening, tell them ahead of
time what will be required afterward.
Post/After Listening - Finish with an
activity to extend the topic and help
students remember new vocabulary.
This could be a discussion group,
craft project, writing task, game, etc.
 Noise - Reduce distractions and
noise during the listening segment.
You may need to close doors or
windows or ask children in the
room to be quiet for a few
minutes.
Equipment - If you are using a
cassette player, make sure it
produces acceptable sound quality.
A counter on the machine will aid
tremendously in cueing up tapes.
Bring extra batteries or an
extension cord with you.
Repetition - Read or play the text a
total of 2-3 times. Tell students in
advance you will repeat it. This will
reduce their anxiety about not
catching it all the first time. You
can also ask them to listen for
different information each time
through.
 Content - Unless your text is
merely a list of items, talk about
the content as well as specific
language used. The material
should be interesting and
appropriate for your class level in
topic, speed, and vocabulary. You
may need to explain reductions
(like ' gonna ' for 'going to') and
fillers (like 'um' or 'uh-huh').
Recording - Your Own Tape/CD
Write appropriate text (or use
something from your textbook)
and have another English speaker
read it onto tape. Copy the
recording three times so you don't
need to rewind. The reader should
not simply read three times,
because students want to hear
exact repetition of the
pronunciation, intonation, and
pace, not just the words.
 Video - You can play a video clip with
the sound off and ask students to
make predictions about what dialog
is taking place. Then play it again
with sound and discuss why they
were right or wrong in their
predictions. You can also play the
sound without the video first, and
show the video after students have
guessed what is going on.
Homework - Give students a
listening task to do between classes.
Encourage them to listen to public
announcements in airports, bus
stations, supermarkets, etc. and try
to write down what they heard. Tell
them the telephone number of a
cinema and ask them to write down
the playing times of a specific movie.
Give them a tape recording of
yourself with questions, dictation, or
a worksheet to complete.
 Look for listening activities from
any book about Listening in the
Library. If your learners can use a
computer with internet access and
headphones or speakers, it is a
good material for Teaching of
Listening. You could also assign
specific activities to your learners
as homework. Teach new
vocabulary ahead of time if
necessary.
 Teaching listening through:
Songs, rhyme, chants
Childrens literature

Students can listen to :

phone message
Sound effects
Narrative/ stories
News broadcast
Poems/ nursery rhymes
Descriptions occupations etc.
Recorded message
Films
Advertisements
Etc.
Can you add to this list?
 Songs (Grade 3-6)
Dictation (Grade 3-5)
Rhymes (Listen and Repeat) (Grade 3-5)
Filling in Missing Information (Grade 3-6)
Stories (Grade 3-6)
Responding to Commands Activities Using Total Physical Response
(TPR) (Grade 3-5)
Checking Off Items in a List (Grade 3-4)
Arranging Pictures as a Story is Told Aloud (Grade 4-6)
 Dream English Book
Young Learners Activity Book
^
 Bailey (2005) states that the three main reasons for getting young learners
to speak in the classroom are:
to provide young learners with practice in using English in real life
situations.
to inform the teacher and the young learners about the young learners
progress.
to get information about the young learners speaking problems.
 Through errors children revise the
L1 rule system to approximate the
rule system of L2.
Children tend to overgeneralise
while using the language. With
more exposure to language
children revise their rule formation
to incorporate the correct rule or
exception. Thus, they make errors
as they build their concept of how
language works (interlanguage).
 Literacy skills development is
supported by oracy skills.
For literacy skills development,
teaching should focus on helping
children:
learn that meaning is embedded in
written texts.
learn how to decode individual
words.
work with complete texts such as
stories or poems.
gradually develop writing and
written production.
 English teachers were very helpful by providing the benefits
of teaching speaking to young learners. This is relatively
easier since kids are natural chatterboxes and they love to
talk and look for chances to communicate meaningfully.
Teachers should find the right balance between controlled
activities and letting children talk naturally in the classroom.
Teachers should take care that children talk accurately and
correct their linguistic errors. However, no correction should
be done when children are talking in free speaking
activities.
Young learners should get as many speaking and listening
opportunities as possible in the classroom. Their speaking
time should steadily increase as the teacher prepares them
for various communication situations.
Combining different approaches and using various methods
and tools should give young learners plenty of opportunities
to take part in communicative situations and help them
internalize certain vocabulary terms or grammatical points.
Rehearsal
Feedback
Engagement (engage activate-
study)

e.g
Information gap
Students surveys
Discussion
Role play
 Correct mistakes made during
speaking activities
Watch and listen? Feedback later?
Do not single student out in any
particular criticism
 In order to teach effective speaking skills
teachers need to:
explicitly model effective speaking in a
formal and informal manner
provide opportunities for students to engage
in conversational-style speaking e.g. using the
shop area, providing scenario cards
give students tasks that involve observing
and recording effective speaking
use role-playing to teach and reinforce good
conversational skills
carry out activities where the whole class
read aloud
teach the rules that govern social interaction
as mentioned above
create organic charts to capture the
mannerisms associated with effective
speaking such as the non-verbal behaviours
mentioned above
 This is a small group activity designed to
give pupils time to decide what they
would do in different situations. It
provides them with the opportunity to
discuss the information they need to
include and to try to find ways of
improving their speaking and listening.
1. At the table pick a scenario card and
discuss these questions, what is
happening? How do we know? What will
we say and do so that everybody knows
what we mean? How can we say this so
that it sounds like the talk we use in
school? What will we do to show that we
understand what is being said?
2. You need to decide who will act out the
part and where the action will start,
before, during or after the event on the
card.
3. Try acting it out.
4. Students can then reflect on these
questions, what made sense and why?
where else could we listen like this?,
where else could we speak like this? What
would we say differently next time and
why?
 Suggested Scenario Cards
Mary is throwing blocks
Oops you have knocked over a
carton of milk
John has taken Bills coat by mistake
There is no towel in the bathroom
 This activity provides pupils with
an opportunity to discuss the
different purposes for speaking
and listening. Teachers can draw
on contexts inside and outside the
classroom. Use a variety of
photographs or pictures of people
that the pupils meet or interact
with on a daily and weekly basis.
1. Choose a picture and discuss
using the following questions,
when do we talk to ? What do we
talk about with.? How do we
speak when we talk to.?
2. Repeat with other pictures
emphasising choices that are made
according to topics that may be
discussed or the purpose of the
speaking
 The primary purpose of language is
to communicate needs, wants,
ideas, information and feelings.
Many theorists claim that the
different purposes for which we
use language fall under various
categories. One seminal piece of
research was carried out by British
linguist, Michael Halliday who
proposed a list of 7 functions of
language commonly known as
Hallidays Functions of Language
(1972).
Function Used for Demands language of

Instrumental Expressing needs/Getting things Asking, Requesting, Explaining

done

Regulatory Influencing the behaviour, Setting tasks, Managing,

feelings/attitudes of others Negotiating, Instructing, Directing ,
Controlling

Interactional Getting along with others Initiating, Sympathising,

Reconciling Arguing, Encouraging,
Empathising

Personal Expressing individuality and Stating opinions, Confronting,

personal feelings Expressing thoughts and feelings,
Recounting experience

Heuristic Seeking and learning about the Interrogating, Discussing, Asking,

social and physical environment Querying, Investigating, Clarifying

Imaginary Creating stories, games, new Storytelling, Anticipating,

worlds and new texts Predicting, Imagining, Playing,
Experimenting

Representational Communicating Information Telling, Lecturing, Stating facts,

Sharing skills, Commenting,
Imparting knowledge, Informing
Oral Reports
Conversations
Storytelling and Anecdotes
Questioning and Interviews
Partner and Small Group Work
Arguments and Formal/Informal
Debates
Giving Instructions/Procedures
 give students experience in
selecting and organizing
information that will suit specific
purposes, situations and
audiences.
Reports can be planned such as
reporting on a project (The Lion)
and unplanned such as the
plenary part of a lesson (How did
your group get on?).
Oral reports are those based on a
shared focus of interest or
particular topics being studied at
that particular point in time.
 TV/radio Reports
Teacher can play segments of a range of
TV or radio reports such as news,
weather, and documentaries to create
awareness amongst pupils. This will
afford pupils the opportunity to listen to
and analyze the specific language
structures and features that make up this
spoken text-type. The pupils can record
key information under the 5W headings
who, when, where, what, why.

My News
This activity provides a framework for
pupils to give an oral news report based
on their own experiences. The 5W
framework may be used here.
 Todays News Report
Allow the pupils to create and present a news report based on something
that happened within school e.g. a mouse in the classroom, in the locality
e.g. local team won the county final, or indeed in the country/world e.g.
President Obama being re-elected. Using a box as the television screen will
act as an aid for the presentation of the report. Recording the report to re-
play and self-assess may also be useful.
Projects
Allow time for pupils to present project work in the form of an oral report.
Speech Pyramid
The Speech Pyramid is a graphic organizer that is used to record
observations about the range of speech that occurs in speech situations.
With appropriate support, speech pyramids can be used at all class levels.
 Telling stories, recalling events and relating
personal anecdotes has been how many
cultures and societies have preserved and
passed on their traditions.
We constantly communicate information
through stories e.g. Wait until I tell you a
good one about what happened to me last
week etc.
Storytelling is a vital part of everyday
conversation and so should be an important
feature in all classrooms. Narratives help
students to connect what is happening in the
classroom with the real world; they provide a
way of understanding, organising and
communicating experiences (Ewing and
Simmons, 2004).
Teachers can extend storytelling skills into
performance opportunities such as a play,
recital in drama.
 Model Good Story-telling
Read stories regularly to your students. When
reading stories it is important to model best
practice: be as dramatic as possible so that the
children learn to recognise how tone, volume,
and body language create suspense, interest and
enjoyment.
Creating Character Profiles
Allow pupils to work with a variety of materials
to help them generate ideas about characters
e.g. masks, hats, pictures, shoes. Afterwards ask
them in pairs or small groups to invent a
character and to describe the character by
including information such as where they live,
their age, what sort of family they have, what do
they like to do in their spare time.
Story sacks
Story sacks are kits that are put together around
a story. As the story is told the children use the
props to re-tell the story. There are many
websites that will give ideas for story sacks, such
as http://www.storysack.com/
 Circle Stories
The teacher may go first and start a story by describing
a setting and introducing a character. A student sitting
next to the teacher will continue the story and then
pass it on to the next student etc.

Thats Good; Thats Bad

This is a fun interactive game useful for engaging shy
or reluctant speakers. The class sit in a circle. The
teacher begins the story and includes fortunate event
followed by an unfortunate event. The class respond
with thats good or thats bad e.g.
 Varied Stories
Model telling the class a wide variety of stories spooky stories, I
remember when stories, dramatic stories, stories from long ago.
Allow pupils to share such stories.

Sound stories
A sound story tells a story using sound effects either in part or full.
When using sound stories discuss the story with the children and
with them select sounds to use and to add to the story. This is a
natural way of integrating language learning with the music
curriculum. Here are some suggestions for sounds to use with the
familiar fairytale The Three Little Pigs
 Readers Theatre
This involves groups of pupils assuming characters from a story and
reading the script aloud to the class. It allows a book to come alive and
encourages pupils to consider volume, pace, pausing, tone, gesture and
facial expression when presenting. Readers Theatre can be easily
organised by following these steps;
Choose a suitable text many books and websites provide scripts for
Readers Theatre
Decide which groups will be allocated to which character
Ask the groups to highlight the text of their allocated character
Ask groups to decide where sound effects and props could be used
Allow time for groups to practice their lines as a group several times
Allow time for the whole class recital of the text
 Puppetry
This again is useful for the shy or reluctant speaker. Puppets are useful
aids that pupils can use when they are re-telling stories or presenting
their own stories as they allow pupils to practice the structures and
features of narrative and to experiment with voice and volume.

Drama
Through drama, pupils are given opportunities to use language to
entertain. Teachers may organise drama through improvisational drama
or through the use of script
 Partner and small group work provides an
authentic learning context in which
student can develop both speaking and
listening skills. Pupils are allowed to
become actively involved in the
construction of their own knowledge. This
can often lead to greater understanding
and internalisation of material. Students
are allowed to use language to interact
and plan, take on a particular role such as
the manager, the recorder etc., develop a
group activity and monitor and reflect on
the task/learning. Small group learning
allows the teacher to effectively scaffold
students learning by providing guidance
towards ensuring that the groups run
smoothly, that allocated roles are working
and that learning is being fostered.
 Rules of Group Work
Rules are best established as a class
for effective group work. Having
collectively drawn up the rules,
display this as a poster somewhere
prominent in the room.
Our Group Work Rules
We dont all talk at the same time
We listen to one another
We give everybody a chance to say
something
We help each other out
We share ideas
We take peoples ideas seriously
We dont make anyone feel silly
We allow others to join in
 Co-operative Learning Groups
In cooperative learning, team members are positively
interdependent and a strong emphasis is placed on
individual and group accountability. It involves group
reflection on learning, team recognition and group
responsibility for individual learning.

Here the teacher puts the pupils into groups and sets a
task. Each pupil is given a particular role to fulfil e.g.
manager, reporter, recorder, time-keeper. These roles
will need to have been explicitly taught to pupils before
they engage in a co-operative learning group. Sample
cards for these roles are in the appendix section.
 Jigsaw
Jigsaw is an example of a cooperative learning approach, which should
include the key elements of cooperative learning such as positive
interdependence, individual and group accountability. It involves group
reflection on learning, team recognition and group responsibility for
individual learning.
Pupils are organised into groups to research a topic or to complete a task.
Students will need to explain or describe their new knowledge of the
topic to other classmates; this helps students to gain better
understanding of the topic or the task. Students will need to listen very
carefully and ask questions if they are unsure about any element of the
topic/task. Steps to follow include:
Divide the class into home groups of 4-6 pupils. Give each pupil a
number within their group
Move students from their home group into expert groups, based on
the numbers all the 3s go together etc. The expert group complete a
specific task
Students return to their home group having completed the task and
share what they have done or what they have found out
 Think-pair-share/Square
This is a way for pupils to pool their thoughts and ideas and to see things
from different perspectives. Pupils listen to a presentation, story, read a
text, see a video and record their ideas individually. As a class they pair up
with a partner to share their ideas. A pair can team up with another pair
to square their ideas.
Partner Conversations
After listening to a story, pupils in pairs re-tell the story in sequence with
as much detail as they can remember.
Circle within a Circle
Pupils sit in 2 circles, one circle inside the other. Pupils in the inside circle
discuss what they know and what they have found out about a topic,
character etc. Pupils on the outside take notes and reflect on what they
are hearing and share this with the inside group and may ask questions to
clarify thinking.
Listening Triads
Pupils work in groups of three, with pupils taking the role of speaker,
questioner or recorder. The speaker talks on a given topic e.g. gives an
opinion on an issue, explains a concept. The questioner asks questions in
order to seek clarification. The recorder takes notes in preparation for
giving feedback.
Classroom conversations are
dialogues that occur
between students and
teachers and between
students and students. They
are used to create, negotiate
or deepen the understanding
of a topic.
 WWW and EBI
Discuss/reflect on something in
terms of what went well and how
it could be improved even better if

 Conversation Stations
Conversation Stations are helpful for the development of high quality,
consistent conversations in the classroom. In Conversation Stations,
children have the opportunity to talk, get feedback on their language and
to have appropriate language modelled to them. In order to create a
Conversation Station consider the following:
Designated Space table, display pocket chart, pictures, props,Lets talk
about..
One to one conversations - at the beginning, 10 min duration, max. two
children
Rules - establish at outset, talk and thoughtful listening, share purpose
with children
Message Board Time to Talk, topics that arise can be discussed at
later time at Conversation Station
Shy/Reticent Child - teacher initiated conversations, vocabulary theme,
props, phone a friend
Conversation Essentials Talk: Open-ended questions and feedback. This
supports childs use and comprehension of language
 Conversation Scenarios
This is a useful activity to involve pupils in a variety of telephone
conversations. Pupils work in pairs and are given a scenario card. They
plan and discuss the card and type of conversation in which they will
engage and then with the use of real phones, carry out the telephone
conversation.

Scenario Card Examples

You have to phone a friend to invite him/her to your birthday
party
You have forgotten which page you must read for homework
and so have to phone a classmate and ask them
Your friend has fallen from their bike, you must ring their
mother to explain what happened
 Questioning encourages higher
order thinking and forms the basis
of enquiry. Good questioning
enhances understanding, as it
provides opportunities to explain,
clarify, probe, make connections
and identify problems and issues.
Questioning encourages dialogue
between students and teachers
and influences students use of
questioning to promote their own
learning. Self-questioning enables
students to reflect and assess their
own results and efforts with a view
to making them better.
Interviews provide an authentic
context for questioning. In an
interview, students purposefully
practice asking questions and
develop the skills to listen critically.
 Applying Blooms Taxonomy to
Questioning
Blooms Taxonomy is a
classification of learning objectives
and skills which increase in
complexity.
 Feely Bag
Items are placed in bags. Students must choose one and feel the bag, describe as much
as possible what it is they feel, and then attempt a guess as to what it is.
Taped TV/radio segments
Allow pupils to listen to taped interviews from the TV/radio. This is useful to allow the
pupils to become familiar with which types of questions were asked and how the
interviewee responded. It also allows pupils to be aware of and for the teacher to
explicitly teach the stages of an interview e.g. how to introduce an interview, how to ask
a variety of questions, how to end an interview.
Give it a Go
Propose a genuine purpose for conducting an interview such as: how pupils feel about
the Green Flag project, what life was like when our grandparents were our age. Allow
pupils to gather information through interviewing. What type of questions will I ask, do I
need to be sensitive about some questions, and will they understand me if I ask
Hot-Seating
A character is questioned by the group about his or her background, behaviour and
motivation. The method may be used for developing a role in the drama lesson or
rehearsals, or analysing a play post-performance. Even done without preparation, it is an
excellent way of fleshing out a character. Characters may be hot-seated individually, in
pairs or small groups. The technique is additionally useful for developing questioning
skills with the rest of the group.
Who Am I?
One pupil sits at the top of the room. The teacher gives them a character card e.g. Harry
Potter. All other pupils must ask questions to decipher the identity of the character. Only
Yes/No responses are allowed?
 The purpose of debating and
developing arguments is designed
to persuade an audience to accept
a particular point of view. Debates
provide pupils with practice in
giving and justifying opinions.
Students will be required to
research topics to provide relevant
information to support their point
of view. Debates can be used for
exploring issues and different
points of view such as topics from
literature being studied in class, or
local concerns such as pollution,
phone masts, and current affairs.
 Both Sides
When discussing a topic/story with
the class formulate a yes/no table
e.g. The school has invested in
games for the yard such as
Hopscotch, Snakes and Ladders
but only the junior pupils are
allowed to use them
Yes that is fair because they are
only small and they are too young
to play football so they need
games to help them play
No that isnt fair because I love
Snakes and Ladders and just
because I am in 5th class, I am not
allowed to play it on the yard. I
have as much right as a junior
infant.
 Brainstorming
The whole class contribute ideas for
and against a topic. This will help
pupils to look at both sides before
they decide on a point of view and
they will have reasons to justify their
opinion.
Take a Stand
An imaginary line is established in
the classroom. One end represents
agree the opposite end represents
disagree. The teacher poses the
topic e.g. should general elections
and referendums take place on a
Saturday. Pupils place themselves on
the line according to their point of
view. Those unsure of their opinion
go to the middle of the line. Pupils
share reasons to justify their
standing. After the discussion, the
teacher will ask questions to probe
the process such as: would anybody
like to change their position having
heard other pupils thoughts? What
can you tell about a persons belief
from the tone in their voice? Etc.
 Four Corners
Similar to Take a Stand above, the teacher
introduces an idea or issue and pupils
decide on a position to represent their
opinion. The four corners of the room are
labelled as follows:
Agree
Strongly Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

Pupils move to a corner and together

present their reasons to the wider group.
Teacher can probe the thought process by
asking questions similar to those in Take
a Stand.
TV/radio/advertisements
Allow pupils the opportunity to see/hear
formal and informal debates or
arguments. From this they will be aware
of structures such as introduction,
presenting your opinion, outlining reasons
to back up your opinion, concluding and
appropriate language features for
persuasive language such as I believe, it is
my opinion, I know, one of the many
reasons etc.
 Giving instructions and outlining
procedures involve communicating
a series of steps in order to
accomplish an end. The language
used for this spoken text includes
the use of dictate verbs such as
Put, Go, Add, Turn, Take etc.
 Barrier games
Barrier games are simple procedures
based on giving and receiving instructions.
The games are usually played in pairs and
there is some type of barrier so that the
students cannot see what their partner is
doing. In Infant classes, the children work
in pairs. Both children have the same
objects such as a selection of shapes.
Child A makes something with their
objects. When child A has finished, child B
copies the result. In middle and senior
classes the students work in groups of
three. One pupil is the barrier in the
middle of the other two, holding up a
book or a screen. Both children at either
side of the screen have the same objects.
Pupil A creates something with their
objects and then gives instruction to Pupil
B so that they end up with the same
outcome. Pupil B may ask questions to
confirm instructions. When finished, the
barrier is removed and all three pupils
discuss the end results.
 Types of barrier games:
1. Sequencing or pattern making: In pairs children describe successive items
in an array or sequence such as bead threading, attribute blocks or toys to
their partner and they complete a similar pattern.
2. Matching pairs: Students take turns to describe pictures or objects. One
person describes the picture/object until the other child locates the matching
picture/object.
3. Assembly: Assemble a picture from a selection of shapes. One player
describes the picture and the other assembles the shapes to make the picture.
4. Construction: One player describes the steps in building a construction and
the other player follows the steps in creating the structure.
5. Location: Students place items in relation to each other on a picture board.
One student describes the objects location on the board and the other player
listens, follows directions and places the items in the same location.
6. Grids: One student describes the location of an object on a grid. The other
child listens and places their object in the same section of the grid.
7. Mapping: One Student describes how to get from one point on a map to
another. The other child listens and draws the route on a corresponding map.
8. Spot the difference: Give pairs of students several pictures that vary in
small details. The students describe their pictures to one another and identify
the differences.
 Complete the steps
Take a recipe or instruction on how to playing a games and cut up into
various steps. The children in pairs have to order the steps in the correct
sequence and orally retell how to complete the procedure.
Is this the way?
This activity needs to take place in an open area. One pupil is blind folded
and an object is placed somewhere in the open space. Each pupil takes a
turn in directing the blind folded pupil to the designated item. Initially
pupils count how many instructions were needed in order to get to the
object and this is what they aim to beat when the activity is played again.
This is an opportunity to practice the language of position and direction in
particular and demands precise use of clear instructions.
 Recitation (Grade 3-4)
Pronunciation Drills (Grade 3-
5)
Choral Reading (Grade 3-6)
Role Play (Grade 3-6)
Storytelling (Grade 4-6)
Songs (Grade 3-6)
Questionnaires (Grade 3-6)
Talking and Writing Box
(Grade 3-4
Tongue Twisters (Grade 3-5)
 speech
Sound is the medium
Paralinguistic features
Thinking, speaking and listening - same
time
Find out listeners response instantly.
Simple sentences and vocab
Fewer organizational markers
False starts, fillers, pause

writing
Words on page/ screen
Words and punctuation marks available
Writer takes his own time in composing,
reading and rereading
Writing is permanent
Delayed feedback
Sophisticated and complex structures and
vocab used
Well organized
More time for planning
editing
 Teaching speaking skills
 Teaching pronunciation tends to be avoided by teachers.
One reason might be that it is not considered as important as teaching
grammar and vocabulary. Another reason might be the lack of competent
teachers with sufficient knowledge in this field. It is also commonly
assumed that pronunciation is acquired unconsciously by imitating a
model and teaching it therefore would be a waste of instructional time.
The need for teaching pronunciation usually arises from particular
problems that students face; it is not strategically planned (Kelly 13).
However, the fact that the situation has changed recently can be
demonstrated by the existence of a lot of teaching materials dealing with
pronunciation or pronunciation teaching (Dalton and Seidlhofer IX).
 There have been many discussions about the
age at which students should start to learn
pronunciation. Most of the experts dealing
with this matter claim that the earlier the
better.
Caroline Nixon and Michael Tomlinson
support this presumption in their book
Primary Pronunciation Box: until the age of
twelve children are far less self-conscious than
those above thirteen years. Learners are thus
much more receptive to learning sounds and
pronunciation patterns in their formative
years. It is much easier to teach and correct
pronunciation at an early stage in the learners
development than it is to correct time
compounded pronunciation errors at a later
one (Nixon and Tomlinson 9).
The same solution to the problem of fossilized
accent is also suggested by Ann Baker. She
claims that pronunciation teaching should be
allocated much more time at the beginner
than at later levels (Baker 1)
 Many of us would agree that correct
pronunciation enables us to hold intelligible
conversation. Even if a student has a good
command of grammar and lexis he might fail
to communicate successfully because of his
problems with pronunciation. This experience,
if repeated, can be quite frustrating and
demotivating (Hewings 10).
Since we learn foreign languages usually for
communicative purposes, achieving
comfortable intelligibility should be one of our
teaching goals. Joanne Kenworthy states a
definition of intelligibility: Intelligibility is
being understood by a listener at a given time
in a given situation (Kenworthy 13).
One might object that when learning a foreign
language our goal should be native-like
pronunciation. Since it is achieved quite rarely
it is considered unreal and therefore
inappropriate goal for learners. (Kenworthy 3).
 a native-like pronunciation is
unachievable for the majority of
the foreign learners. This chapter
lists some of the factors that
influence the way we speak in a
foreign language and that inhibit
us from pronouncing like a native
speaker.
 One of the most discussed factors is probably the age of learner.
It has been already outlined in chapter 3.1 that younger learners
tend to achieve better results than adults. This belief is
supported by the experts who are in favour of the theory of
critical period. The theory suggests that between the age of
two and puberty the human brain shows the plasticity which
allows a child to acquire his first language (Klein 9).
After puberty the ideal conditions for second language
acquisition are gone - loss of brain plasticity together with
completion of assigning of certain functions to different
hemispheres prevents individuals from achieving native-like
pronunciation (Celce-Murcia et al. 15).
On the other hand, there are a lot of experts who deny the
theory of critical period. They argue that other studies have
brought different conclusions. Krashen writes that according to
the available empirical research it can be concluded that
children are superior to adults only in the long run (Krashen 43).
To summarize, due to insufficient evidence the link between age
and ability of pronouncing foreign language still cannot be
exactly established. Another point to mention 18 is that the
learner is at the same time influenced by many factors and
therefore we cannot look at them separately.
 The amount of the learners exposure to the target
language is another important factor. It is usually
assumed that if a learner lives in an English-speaking
country, his or her constant exposure to the target
language should positively affect his or her
pronunciation skills.
However, as Kenworthy points out, this is not always
true. Although the learner is living in an English-
speaking country he or she might spend most of his or
her time outside the English-speaking environment
(Kenworthy 6).
Similarly, without living abroad one can be surrounded
by English more than the learner in an English-speaking
country. Therefore we cannot generalize such
situations.
 Mother tongue Most of us, when we start learning a foreign language, are
already equipped with our mother tongue. When it comes to learning
English (or any other foreign language), knowledge of our native language
can be not only enriching but also limiting. We are used to certain
grammar and syntax rules, vocabulary and also pronunciation.
As a result, it might be difficult for us to notice the differences between
the two languages and to follow the new rules. This applies not only to
the individual sounds but also to combinations of sounds and features
such as rhythm and intonation.
To put it very crudely, the more differences there are, the more
difficulties the learner will have in pronouncing English (Kenworthy 4).
 learners phonetic ability together with motivation and interest can
affect his pronunciation to a great extent.
Some of these factors can be influenced and some not. The teacher
cannot change the age of the student or his phonetic ability but he can
highly influence his interest and motivation (Kenworthy 6-9).
 Sound
Stress
Intonation
 Spoken language is made of sound
Sounds of vowel, diphthong,
consonants, consonant clusters
etc.
 Word stress
Sentence stress
 The tune or the music of the
language
It is sufficient that we teach our
pupils to pronounce so that they
can understand what is said and be
able to say what they want to say
 Once a teacher decides he or she will include
pronunciation in his teaching plan, he or she
should prepare the teaching procedure and
activities thoughtfully. The first step is to select
which features of pronunciation to teach.
These should not be decided only by assuming
common pronunciation problems of the
speakers, but should be determined by
listening to the concrete group of learners and
examining their problems (Nixon and
Tomlinson 10).
Secondly, pronunciation activities tend to be
used as fillers in the lesson which makes them
isolated from other course work (Hewings 19).
As a result, students can pronounce practised
features well during the pronunciation
activities but then they might fail to do so in
general class work. To avoid this problem,
pronunciation should be linked with general
language learning as much as possible (Baker
3).
 When it comes to teaching pronunciation there are two
key sides: teaching productive (speaking) skills and
teaching receptive (listening) skills (Kelly 15). The time
dedicated to these skills will depend on the age of
students. The younger the students are, the greater will
be emphasis on the receptive skills.
Since the input of very young learners is usually quite
limited, the focus should be on the development of their
listening abilities.
For this purpose make and do activities or total physical
response activities serve well because 20 they encourage
children to enjoy learning and thereby make it more
memorable (Nixon and Tomlinson 11).
Similarly, the older the learners are, the more balance
there will be between reception and production. In
terms of reception, students need to learn to hear the
difference between phonemes, for example, particularly
when theres no such difference in their L1.
They then need to carry that knowledge through into
their production (Kelly 15). Let us now have a look at
some activities for practising both receptive and
productive skills.
 successful production of language comes only after acquiring
receptive skills. For this reason, listening activities make up an
important part of teaching pronunciation. The main source of
language that students can listen to is undoubtedly the
teacher.
However, the more variations of pronunciation students hear
the better (Harmer 22).
It is therefore advisable to use as many other sources as
possible not only tapes that come along with textbooks but
also authentic material which helps the students realize the
existence of many varieties of English.
There are lot of ways in which language can be practised
through listening. Pupils can be assigned to listen for specific
sounds (words), decide in which order they hear them, write
down what they hear, etc.
 Drilling is a simple but very effective form of practising
pronunciation. In its most basic form, it involves students in
repeating words or structures containing the target feature
after a model (Kelly 16).
The model can be either a teacher or tape. Because students
are at the same time made to listen as well as immediately
repeat, both receptive and productive skills are trained.
Drilling can be carried out in two ways: individually or
chorally.
Choral work, that is of the whole group of learners, usually
precedes individual drill as it builds students confidence and
gives them a chance to practise anonymously before they
are put on the spot.
The disadvantage of choral drill is that the teacher cannot
check students pronunciation. Nevertheless their
pronunciation can be checked during individual drill, when
students are asked to repeat one by one (Kelly 16). Although
drills give students a good chance to develop accurate
pronunciation they are repetitive and not very creative 21
(Harmer 92).
For this reason the teacher should use drilling activities
sparingly or combine them with other activities which are
not so monotonous.
 Minimal pairs are words (or utterances) which differ
only in one phoneme (Kelly 16). Yet, this small
difference changes the whole meaning and without
sufficient context might also lead to misunderstanding.
Minimal pair activities are useful when we need to focus
on one or two specific sounds. For instance, the teacher
discovers that his pupils have difficulties with producing
//, which they tend to pronounce rather as //.
To draw attention to the difference between these
sounds he contrasts them using minimal pairs. From this
exercise pupils should realize the importance of accurate
sound production more easily than if they were only
corrected.
Minimal pair activities are also a good way to make
students aware of English spelling rules (phoneme-
grapheme correspondence). Furthermore, learners can
be gradually introduced to the individual phonemic
symbols relevant to English (Kelly 19).
 Children are really fond of music and rhythm so if we
integrate it in our teaching in the form of songs, chants
and rhymes they will most probably not consider it
learning but only fun.
By singing or saying a poem we can not only introduce or
revise new grammar or vocabulary, but, above all we can
help to improve all aspects of learners pronunciation.
Through repetition of songs, rhymes and chants children
will develop their ability to imitate and produce
problematic sounds.
Moreover, they will acquire features of the
suprasegmental level, such as connected speech, word
stress, sentence stress, weak forms, rhythm and
intonation (Read 182-183). Especially with very young
learners, all this happens unconsciously, in a natural way,
because children focus on the rhyme or song and not on
the correct pronunciation.
To make the singing more lively, teacher can get the pupils
to stand up and move around the classroom, to mark the
rhythm by clapping his hands or tapping his foot or
accompany the lyrics with corresponding actions (Nixon
and Tomlinson 10).
 There is a vast amount of pronunciation exercises and it is only up to the teacher
which he or she chooses as suitable for his or her class.
Another important aspect of teaching pronunciation is providing aids to students
understanding of sound production. If the students are supposed to produce the
sounds correctly they must know how to produce them.
Sometimes it is enough when teachers demonstrate the pronunciation
themselves and point to the parts of mouth that are used for articulation of the
target sound. However, in some cases this demonstration might not be
satisfactory and so the teacher should provide learners with an illustration (Baker
2).
It is also helpful if students can see themselves articulating in the mirror so they
can compare their articulation to that of the teacher. The next point to note is
that pronunciation teaching can be enriched by using various visual aids,
movement (as it was already outlined in 3.4.5) and exaggeration.
Exaggerating the length of sounds, the fall of a falling tone, the emphasis on a
stressed syllable, the brevity of weak forms, etc., is a means of counteracting
opposing tendencies, as well as enlivening the practice (Haycraft 117).
Finally, learners interest in pronunciation can be increased by praising their
efforts. Both excellent and poorer performances should be praised in order to
boost learners self-confidence and desire to keep on aiming for better results
 Phonemic awareness is the ability
to focus on and manipulate
phonemes in the spoken word
(Ehri, Nunes, Willows, & Schuster,
2001).
Phonemes are the smallest units in
the spoken language, with English
containing approximately 41
phonemes (Ehri & Nunes, 2002).
Young students often have
difficulties letting go of the letters
and just concentrating on the
sounds in the spoken word.
Yet research indicates that
phonemic awareness and letter
knowledge are key predictors to
students success in learning to
read (National Reading Panel,
2000).
 An ongoing discussion in the field
of literacy is whether phonemic
awareness is a conceptual
understanding about language or
whether it is a skill.
According to Phillips and Torgesen
(2006), it is both an understanding
and a skill. For example, in order to
identify the phonemes in [cat],
students must understand that
there are sounds at the beginning,
middle, and end that can be
manipulated.
 Students must also be able to complete phonemic awareness tasks such
as the following:
Phoneme isolation: Isolate phonemes; for example, Tell me the first
sound in cat.
Phoneme identity: Recognize common sounds in different words; for
example, Tell me the same sound in rug, rat, and roll.
Phoneme categorization: Identify the word with the odd sound in a
sequence; for example, Which word does not belong in sat, sag, rug?
Phoneme blending: Combine separate sounds to form a word; for
example, [b-a-t] for bat.
Phoneme segmentation: Break out the word into separate sounds; for
example, What are the sounds in bag? (Ehri et al., 2001)
Research indicates that identifying beginning and ending sounds is much
easier than recognizing medial phonemes (Inverizzi, 2003).
 research indicates that early,
systematic, explicit phonemic
awareness instruction can
successfully jump-start emergent
and early readers reading
performance (McGee & Ukrainetz,
2009). The following guidelines
provide the framework for
phonemic awareness instruction:
 1. Analysis of phonemic awareness assessment data should drive
instruction, as only a small percentage of students need explicit
instruction (Ehri & Roberts, 2006).
2. Phonemic awareness instruction should be a positive, enriching
experience that allows students to engage in language play (Yopp, 1992).
3. Effective phonemic awareness instruction provides for individual
differences in abilities and uses leveled scaffolding to facilitate growth
(McGee & Ukrainetz, 2009).
4. Developmentally appropriate phonemic awareness instruction uses
chants, poetry, songs, and rhymes to engage students curiosity about
language and to develop metalinguistic awareness (Yopp & Yopp, 2000).
5. Effective phonemic awareness instruction explicitly labels sounds and
demonstrates the process of blending-segmenting of sounds (Ehri et al.,
2001).
 Refer to the following handout:
Essential strategies for teaching phonemic awareness.
Enjoyable pronunciation activities for young learners
 Vocabulary is the term used to describe the collection of words in a given
language used and understood in Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing.
It is important for children to develop knowledge of word meanings from
an early age and to this end, they need to be actively engaged in
vocabulary development.
Vocabulary for academic learning is linked to the teaching of concepts.
When a concept is completely unfamiliar to the students, they need to
develop an understanding of the concept first and then vocabulary can be
introduced. If the concept is familiar to the children new vocabulary is
introduced in order to connect new words to an already familiar or
understood concept.
As children develop, they need to be able to draw on different sets of
vocabulary and as such teachers need to be mindful of these different sets
when selecting words for instruction. Beck, McKeown, & Kucan (2002) have
proposed three tiers of vocabulary that need to the explicitly taught to
children.
 Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier3

Description Basic words most Words that appear Uncommon words

children know frequently in texts that are typically
before they enter and for which associated with a
school children already specific domain
have some
conceptual
understanding

Example Happy, no, door, Lonely, fortunate, revolution,

chair, head, peninsula, staccato
 Teaching individual words such as those
listed in the 3 tiers above by teaching
synonyms, antonyms, root words, suffixes
etc. Direct word-meaning teaching is an
effective way to facilitate childrens
vocabulary development
Teaching word-learning strategies such
as words in context, definitions, word
maps
Fostering an awareness and love of
words and language such as multiple
meanings, word games, word of the week
Providing varied experiences for using
words through reading, writing and oral
language. Children need to be exposed to
new vocabulary to acquire word
knowledge and exposure in different
contexts supports their acquisition of
nuanced meanings
Teaching Individual
Words
- Synonyms e.g. burglar,
robber, thief
- Antonyms e.g.
black/white, fat/thin,
small/tall
- Classification e.g.
colours, countries
- Which Words? (Tier
1,2,3, words)
- Prefixes e.g. un, dis,
post, pre
- Suffixes e.g. es, s, tion,
ies, ed
- Root words e.g. love
lovely, form - reform
Providing Varied Language Fostering an awareness and Teaching word
Experiences love of language and words learning
strategies
- Create situations Multiple meanings e.g. orange - Context
that require searching out (fruit/colour) nail (finger/tool) - Definitions
vocabulary needs needed to Homographs e.g. - Deep
explain new ideas sole (shoe and fish) present processing of
- Visit places of interest and (not absent, gift) vocabulary to
interact with community Interrelatedness e.g. stallion, embed in long
members rooster, bull (all animals and term memory
-Involve students in all male) - Semantic
investigations and Homonyms e.g. weak, week Feature Analysis -
experiments Word play e.g. spoonerisms Semantic
- Ask children to review and know your blose & blow your Mapping,
discuss topics of interest nose Semantic
- Choose vocabulary that Clusters,
may be important to teach Semantic
with regard to a Gradients
genre/theme you may be
focusing on. For example the
persuasive writing genre
links naturally with the oral
text type of
Formal/Informal debate. The
vocabulary needed for
persuasive oral, reading and
writing is listed below;
 Work Banks/Word Wall
Word banks work best if they are
constructed as living banks or lists
where the students can find, for
example, synonyms from their
reading books/library books etc.
Chain Game
Chain Game is the name given to
the gradual expansion of a
sentence. An example of how a
chain writing activity is structured
is outlined here.
1. Select a word related to the
theme you are developing e.g.
spiders.
2. Ask the children to suggest
words which describe spiders e.g.
 How Many Meanings?
Teacher chooses a word such as bank
and pupils try and come up with as many
different meanings as possible e.g. money
bank, a river bank, a bank of clouds, the
aeroplane banked suddenly, a blood bank,
cars banked up at traffic lights, to bank on
someone.
Ten/Twenty questions
This is a game where one player chooses
of a word taken from a specific list and the
other players ask questions to determine
what that word is. It is important that
children are taught the skill of questioning
e.g. Is it a
noun/verb/adjective/adverb/compound
noun? Has it one/two/three
syllable(s)?
Text Innovation
Text innovation is a highly enjoyable
activity for developing vocabulary. The
goal of this activity is to keep the meaning
of a text but change the words. The
example below shows how a nursery
rhyme, for example, can be innovated.
 PWIM Pictures
Picture Word Inductive Model
(PWIM) is another highly engaging
way of developing vocabulary. This
is an activity that can be done with
the whole class, a small group or
individually.
In this activity, the teacher selects
a picture and the children label the
elements they know. They can
discuss and research in order to
label as much as possible. The
children then give the picture a
title and begin to categorise the
vocabulary. Eventually they write
about the picture using the
associated vocabulary.
 Semantic Gradient
Semantic gradients are a way to
broaden and deepen students'
understanding of related words.
Students consider a continuum of
words by order of degree. Semantic
gradients often begin with antonyms,
or opposites, at each end of the
continuum. This activity helps
students distinguish between shades
of meaning. By enhancing their
vocabulary, students can be more
precise and imaginative in their
writing.
Semantic Mapping
Semantic mapping is a strategy for
graphically representing concepts.
Semantic maps clearly portray the
schematic relations that compose a
concept. It assumes that there are
multiple relations between a concept
and the knowledge that is associated
with that concept.
 Teaching reading involves teaching basic word,
phrases and sentence recognition, as well as the
ability to retrieve information contained in texts.

Teaching reading means enabling a person to

acquire the skills, strategies and attitudes required
to make sense of a text.
.
 Improving motivation
Increasing awareness of different reading
purposes:
Finding out what the text is about
Locating particular item of information
Entertaining oneself
Informing oneself
Performing a task
Developing reading strategies
Skimming, scanning, reading intensively
Improving comprehension skills
 Exposure to English
Provide good models for English
writing
Opportunities to study language
vocab, grammar, punctuation,
constructing sentences,
paragraphs,texts
Stimulate discussion, excite
imagination, imaginative responses
& well rounded and fascinating
responses.
Help pupils become independent
readers
Develop response to text
Help pupils read with adequate
understanding
Help pupils read at appropriate
speed
Help pupils read silently
 Authentic vs. non authentic
materials?
Students ability and proficiency
Mixed ability classroom teacher
varies the materials
 Skim and scan
Reading for detailed
comprehension

Note:
Teachers main function when
training students to read is not only
to persuade them of the advantages
of skimming and scanning, but also
to make them see that the way they
read is vitally important.
 Reading is not a passive skills
Students need to be engaged with
what they are reading
Students should be encouraged to
respond to the content of a
reading text, not just to the
language.
Prediction is a major factor in
reading
Match the task to the topic
Good teachers exploit reading
texts to the full integrate reading
text into interesting class
sequences, using the topic for
discussion and further task, using
the language for study and
activation
 Reading readiness
Early reading
Sight words skills and the whole
words method
Word attack skills
 Mainly the main concern of pre
school teachers
A child needs:
To develop his knowledge of the
English Language so that he can
understand what he reads
Motivation to learn to read in
English
The ability to discriminate between
shapes so that he can recognize
letters and words when he begins
to learn to read.
Recognition that print has meaning
just as talk has meaning
 Involves:
Motivation
Developing language and
comprehension skills
understanding what people say
learning the print conventions of
English the front of the book, the
right way up for the book,
difference between picture and
words, where on the page to start
reading, where to stop, pause etc.
Word recognition skills : sight
words skills and word attack skills
 Sight words the words a reader
can recognize on sight without any
need to think about what they
could be.
Enable reader to do decoding.
Automaticity of processing.
Examples:
Articles, prepositions, pronouns,
common adjective and adverbs,
names of common things, people
and places, and words related to
topics about which children
habitually reads.

Note:
(in Malaysian syllabus, these words
are listed)
 Using configuration clues
Using picture clues
Using Contextual clues
Using dictionary
Using structural clues
Phonemic/ phonic approach - rote
learning & part learning
 Language experience approach
The Big Book Approach
 Involves simultaneous development of the four
language skills
Rests on thinking:
What I can think about I can talk about
What I say, I can write
What I can write, I can read
I can read what I have written, and I can also read what other
people have written for me to read
The child uses his own words to say what he himself
want to say and then sees these same words and
experiences printed on paper for him to read and
copy and to read again.
The most important part of learning to read is
learning to love books and the knowledge and the joy
they bring.
Learning is individualized with fewer repetitions and
allows smooth transition from spoken to written
language; speech written down.
 Features:
Complete visibility of all the pages
to all readers while the reading
proceeds, the pages of the books
are made large (approximately
18inches x 12 inches) and there are
only one to three lines of print.
Large pictures accompany the lines
on the page and retell what is told
in words.
 Emotionally supportive/ motivates
child
Encourages participation
Allows learning the mechanics of
reading
Learning to read & learning
language simultaneous
Whole stories
Provide context for all learning
activities integration of all the
four skills
 It involves:
Recognizing structures, words etc. typically
used in the content areas the pupils are likely
to want to read in English.
Predicting outcomes, guessing, word meanings
using contextual clues
Applying reading strategy to the text skim and
scan, pace etc.
Making connection within the text.
Understanding the relationships indicated by
logical connectors so, as a result etc.
Thinking while reading ask Q, classify,
deduce, form impressions, predict
Having an effective reaction to the text.
Building up familiarity with the many different
kinds of texts
1. Verbal responses
Reading aloud
Play reading
Choral reading
Individual reading to teacher
Audience reading
Reading aloud as part of feedback

2. Non verbal responses

Channel conversion/ information transfer
(when information expressed in one
medium is converted into another
medium, channel conversion is said to
have taken place)
 Pre reading to stimulate interest,
introduce language/ concepts, to
help ss see the relationship of
ideas by providing framework
While reading -
Post reading
 Find suitable text
Identify the skills to teach
Think of the sequence of activities
step by step, opportunities for
practice old skills and do the
activities
Details of each activity rubrics,
AVA, participation modes eg tr
centred/class/group/ solo, how
feedback to be obtained
Look through the sequence of
activities clear line of
development, well graded,
motivating and varied, best mix of
activities
timing
 Provide a model for imitation
Introducing words and structures
necessary for writing and speaking
in a meaningful context.
Creating a context for generating
spoken and written discussion
 Writing and speaking can be means of
expressing understanding.
Writing (note taking and summary writing)
can be used as means for developing
study skills, improving recall etc.
Writing can be pre-reading activity
Writing or speaking can set the purpose
for reading
Listening can introduce words aurally that
a pupil needs to understand before he can
learn it in its written form.
Listening while reading can assist the
learner to learn how to group words into
meaningful chunks.
 Word and phrase recognition:
printed material in the classroom
(e.g. flashcards with directions),
pelmanism.
Making the connection between
familiar sounds and the written:
words or phrases,
bingo with words and/or pictures
 Naming the letters of the alphabet:
spelling names,
i spy with my little eye,
hangman.
Predicting the pronunciation of a
written word:
reading aloud.
 What is writing?
A system for interpersonal communication using visible
signs or graphic symbols on a flat surface such as paper,
cloth or stone slabs.
 Reinforcement
Language development
Learning styles
Writing as a skill
 Personal writing shopping list,
notes, diaries, journals, letters,
messages, greetings
Transactional writing business
letters, instructions, memos, plans,
proposals, rules and regulations,
reports, advertisement
Creative writing poetry, short
stories, songs, anecdotes, fictions,
jokes, riddles
 Narration
Description
Exposition
Persuasion
argumentation
 Postcards
Narrative
Dictations
Letters
News & newspaper headlines/
articles
Story
Report writing
Product approach

Process approach
 Avoid over correction by
concentrating on certain aspects
one at a time : punctuation,
spelling, grammar etc.
Be accurate and truthful but at the
same time sensitive, sympathetic
Make correction less damaging
use techniques such as s=spelling,
WO = word order
Give comment at the end of a
piece of written work e.g well
done, good attempt etc
Make sure that students
understand the problem and
redraft their passage correctly.
 Personal
Encourage neatness and legibility
Tr. Cannot ask the ss to change
their writing style.
Tr demonstrates writing strokes,
shapes, letters etc.
 Handwriting:
Tracing over dot letters.
Palm-writing to feel the shape and
tell the letter.
Back writing to feel the shape and
write the letter.
From speaking to writing:
Making picture poems/stories.
Making quizzes.
Question and answer.
 Making quizzes:
Question and answer.
From reading to writing.
Making lists.
Writing notes/cards /letters.
 Why plan?
What are the aims of a plan?
What should be in a plan?
What question needs to ask?
What form should a plan take
How should teachers plan sequence of a lesson?
 Who exactly are the students for
this activity?
Why do you want to do it?
What will it achieve?
How long will it take?
What might go wrong?
What will be needed?
How does it work?
How will it fit with what comes
before and after it?
 Shorter/ smaller sequences
Longer sequences

Stretching over:
Days
Weeks
Months

Depending on variety of exercise

and activity & students ability.
 set induction
Presentation phase skill getting
phase
Controlled practice
Communicative activities
closure
 Set induction
Pre reading/ pre listening
Reading/ listening (while)
Post reading/ listening
 Set induction
Pre writing
Main writing activity
Feedback
closure
 What kind of output
What modality would be adopted
Instructions
Procedure
Monitoring and giving feedback
Aspects to be accomplished
Time needed
 What if students are all at different levels?
What if the class is very big?
What if students keep using their own language?
What if students are uncooperative?
What if students dont want to talk?
What if students dont understand listening tape?
What if some students in groups finish earlier before everybody
else?
 Use different materials
Do different task with the same
materials
Ignore the problem
Use the students
 Use worksheets
Use pair Work/group work
Use chorus reaction
Use group leaders
Vision and acoustics make sure
what they show or write can be
seen, what they say or play can be
heard.
Use the size of the group to your
advantage
 Talk to them about the issue
Encourage them to use English
appropriately
Only respond to English use
Create an English environment
Keep reminding them
 Talk to individuals
Write to individuals
Use activities
Enlist help
Make language learning contract
 Use pairwork
Allow them to speak in a controlled
way at first
Use acting out
Reading aloud
Use role play
Use tape recorder
 Introduce interview questions
Use jigsaw learning
One task only
Play the first segment only
Use tapescript 1,2,3 (chunk them
according to level etc). Each task
relates to one another.
Use vocab prediction key vocab
 Prepare spare materials/ activities
 The principles of integrated
teaching and learning
Teaching techniques
Task Based Learning and YL