Practical English Language Teaching - Essay Example

Small Talk & Motivation Video (5min):
Students listened to the song “What time is it, Mr.Wolf?”
2. Introduction PowerPoint slides (10 min.) – 2 slides of vocabulary introduction, 2 slides of clock hands review, 10 slides of random clock images requiring student’s answers. During the practice, it was difficult to tell whether everyone understood the concept because students with higher language proficiency outshined other students. Their voice was much louder than others.

3. Textbook CD (10 min.) – Students listened to a chant and repeated every phrase. When they were done practicing, the teacher ordered each group to stand up and sing one phrase. The students also watched “Story Box”. The “Story Box” showed a story of a Korean traditional folktale using key expressions. The story repetitively mentioned, “What time is it?” When they finished watching the clip, the teacher again clicked the repeat button to have them practice the dialogues. First, they practiced as a whole, then with their partners. When they were done practicing, they volunteered a short scene from the “Story Box” without looking at the script on the screen.

4. Speaking Activity – What time is it Mr. Wolf? (15min.) – The teacher introduced the game to students with a short video, and the students immediately grasped the idea because there was a similar game in Korean culture. However, the teacher told them there are many variations to this game, so students should listen carefully to her instruction. Like the traditional Mr.Wolf game in Korea, the teacher explained that there is one wolf who will be standing at the back of the room facing the wall while other students will be standing at the front of the room facing the wolf. When they start the game, other students need to shout their key expression which is “What time is it?” then, the wolf will randomly choose a time and tell “It’s ______ O’clock.” For example, when the wolf says, “It’s five O’clock” the students need to take five steps forward. When they got to the wolf close enough, the wolf will shout, “It’s dinner time!” and try to catch one of them to be the wolf again.

1. How did students respond to the lesson? What evidence of learning did you see?

The students loved role-playing the dialogues. They were able to memorize the script perfectly after practicing speaking as a class a couple of times. Most students performed without having their scripts in their hands. The students were very competitive during the speaking activity. Some students were only interested in winning, so they ended up not reading the full sentences. These students were also stressed when the strips were given to students with lower English proficiency.

However, the students with lower English proficiency did not follow them. They read the sentences carefully and passed them to the next person. Mostly, the students had difficulty pronouncing the word, “order”. After the lesson, the students engaged themselves in some talks and demonstrated command of relevant conversations. They had also some degree of politeness as required from the conversational partners. This showed that they responded well to the lesson in that they had well understood the concept of skills and strategies (Swales, 1985).

2. How do the activities you observed relate to the reading?

The objective of the lesson was to help learners develop effective reading and communication skills. According to Nunan (2003), achievement of this requires a critical understanding of language teaching methodology as it involves the exchange of ideas between the instructor and the learner (Nunan, 2003, p. 68). The activities observed indicate a transfer from common reading skills to a content interface. The aptitude of the students to memorize and role-play the dialogues impeccably indicates a comprehension of the script, encompassing vocabularies, and language development.


3. Suggest an alternative the teacher could have used.

The teacher could also apply the phonics approach in promoting reading skills and language mastery as the concept emphasizes that effective language learning is based on the ability of the learner to break down words into their smallest parts, the individual sound. (Nunan, 2003, p.70). This would have allowed the students to not only memorize the script but also master concepts of reading and speaking out the words in real-life situations. Additionally, the teacher should have allowed the students to go through the vocabulary that is likely to be found under the topic, and their sounds, and use them immediately after introducing the topic.


4. What other comments do you have about the lesson? Reference readings.
Overall observation indicates that active and inclusive class involvement is critical to the success of learners. It was noted that the reading ability and language fluency of the learners is divergent; some are quick learners and fluent while some are slow and cannot master the sounds of the words (Nunan, 2003, p. 82). The teacher should also show videos to students to evoke questions and boost their participation. A blend of intensive and extensive reading will boost the effect of word sounds on the learners toward desirable language skills. Read More