Theory of foreign language teaching

The stages and transitions give a comfortable flow to the lesson. Each stage requires different behavior from the teacher, a different level of effort from the learners, and changes in pace. A spare activity -- for example, a game or quiz -- could have been included at the end in case the lesson went faster than anticipated. The learners are provided with enough input -- photos, a model conversation on cassette, and a poster -- to get them going, but they are also given the opportunity to use their personal experience in realistic tasks. The interest of the topic and tasks, the changes of activity and interaction, and the relatively relaxed pace, should help the learners through this late class -- 8.00 to 9.00 in the evening.

Obviously, lesson plans need to vary according to the age and level of the learners, the objectives, the time of day, and even the time of year. Young learners need more changes of activity and more physical activity.

Class management

You cannot plan everything that will happen in a lesson. You need strategies to respond to actual events, including unexpected ones. But if the learners have become accustomed to certain patterns of behavior, your classes will run more smoothly.

Getting attention and participation

It is unrealistic and undesirable to expect the learners to pay attention to you throughout a lesson. But you should be able to get their attention fairly quickly when you need it. If, for example, you cannot get everybody's attention when giving instructions or explanations, serious problems may result. You may find yourself explaining something over and over again to individuals or groups of learners. At worst, the lesson may even disintegrate into chaos. Shouting louder and louder is seldom an effective solution. And it is bad for your relationship with the learners, your general mood, and of course, your voice. You need to train the learners to respond to a range of non-verbal signals, for example:

Interest is usually the best way to attract and hold attention, and to get voluntary participation. Classroom atmosphere is also very important. You can compel participation in lockstep practice with your questions (for example, 'what's the capital of France. Mario?') and instructions (for example, 'Question. Sandra, answer. Robert'). But voluntary participation in lockstep work, and more especially in pair and group work, will usually be poor unless the topics interest the learners, and you encourage rather than criticize them.

Giving and checking instructions

Effective instructions are vital if activities are to go well, especially activities involving changes of interaction, for example, from lockstep to pair work. A communicative approach to language teaching requires some quite complicated activities and interactions, and this means you need to have all the learners' attention when giving instructions. You need to train them to be quiet and listen very carefully. This is especially the case if you are giving instructions in English.

Managing pair and group work

There are, it is true, difficulties and risks associated with pair and group work, for example:

the learners may be confused about the task and not do it properly

the noise level may rise (though seldom more than in choral repetition)

the learners may start talking about whatever they like in their LI

the learners may make and repeat many errors

you may not be able to get the learners' attention again and lose control of the class.

Questions: Since classes are different, daily plans should be adapted to each particular class. What is your opinion on the subject?

Methodological recommendations:

Lecture delivering is tended to the students' development of the professional creation and self-education activity.

The quality of the lecture and its delivering depends on a range of factors: the lecture's social activity, desire to work and socialize with the students, teaching skills, general and professional level of culture, intellect, knowledge and behavior norms.

One of the professionally significant features of the lecturer is his / her speech etiquette: oral and written. During the oral presentation of the lecture the language pronunciation, grammar norms should be observed alongside with the expressive non-verbal means as: intonation: accent, pausation, gestures etc. Interactive method of teaching students-lecturer / presupposes setting problem questions, ability to listen and understand the students and to answer the students' questions.

Writing summary: A summary is the expression in a condensed form of the principal content of any piece of writing. In other words the summarizer should briefly render the main idea in his own words.

Writing reviews: there are a lot of review types. These writing strategy is for you to follow in your review writing:

Give a brief summary of the plot.

Recommended Literature:

Campbell, C. and H. Kryszewska. 1992. Learner-based Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Nuttal, C. 1996. Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. Oxford: Heinemann. Nolasco, R. and L. Arthur. 1987. Conversation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Longman. Ur, P. 1981. Discussions that Work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ur, P. 1984. Teaching Listening Comprehension. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wallace, C. 1992. Reading. Oxford: Oxford University Press. White, G. 1998. Listening. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Williams, E. 1984. Reading in the Language Classroom. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan.

LECTURE 15. Teaching testing and evaluation

The aim of the lesson:

- to develop innovative approaches and technologies for effective acquiring of communicative skills and habits

Objectives:

- to have SS share information and express their standpoints

- to help SS learn and practice in a friendly, non-threatening atmosphere

- to motivate SS effectively verbalize their thoughts and ideas

Plan

1. Teaching, testing, and evaluation

2. Teaching and testing

3. Testing and evaluation

4. Basic aspects of testing

5. Types of test

No important enterprise should just go on and on without some kind of evaluation. Teaching and learning are no exception. A lot of thought and effort are usually put into testing 'the learners' or 'learning', but it is important to think beyond that.

Teaching and testing

There is an intimate relationship between teaching and testing, but they are not the same thing. Unfortunately, some teachers convert teaching into a kind of continuous test. For example, the following excerpt from a 'conversation' session:

This is a very strange conversation. The teacher seems to be happy that Sofia did not go anywhere in the holidays, and he does not seem to believe that Giovanni went to Scotland. Of course, what the teacher is doing is responding only to the language of the learners' replies, not the information. He indicates that Sofia's sentence is linguistically Very good', but Giovanni's sentence is not. It is not real conversation practice at all.

Testing and evaluation

The two concepts testing and evaluation are expressed by the same word in many languages. However, the distinction that is conveyed by the two different words in English is important. Evaluation is a more general concept than testing. You can evaluate teaching, teaching materials, and even tests, as well as learning. Also, learning can be evaluated in several different ways, not only with the formal tests that you give the learners.

If the teacher of the 'conversation' session above had not focused exclusively on the language of the learners' replies, he might have been able to evaluate their progress much better:

A test is normally carefully designed for a specific purpose, while some evaluation may be spontaneous and handled very flexibly. A test normally consists of one or more exercises or tasks, each with clear objectives. The evaluation of learning usually employs formal tests, but it may also include other options, one of which is demonstrated above. When the evaluation of learning is based on class participation, progress tests, homework, and projects rather than final tests alone, the term 'assessment' or 'continuous assessment' is often used.

However, tests continue to be the main instruments for evaluation of learning in most teaching situations. They are part of the reality of the classroom everywhere. For these reasons, this chapter focuses mainly on tests and testing.

Basic aspects of testing

Types of test

The purpose of English language tests is to gather reliable evidence of what learners can do in English and what they know of English. This information may be required for different reasons, and these reasons govern the type of test used. There are five common types of test, each with a specific purpose. These are Placement test, Diagnostic test, Progress test (short-term achievement tests), Course tests (longer-term achievement tests), Proficiency tests.

Evaluating learning

Although they are useful, tests are only one way of evaluating learning. It is important to remember that you can also note how effectively the learners communicate in free conversation and group work, how well they use the language in homework compositions, and even ask them for their own impression of their progress. If it is possible where you teach, it is a good idea to combine 'teacher's impression' (i.e. your evaluation of each learner's overall performance during the course) with formal test results, for example, seventy per cent tests combined with thirty per cent teacher's impression.

Evaluating teaching

Learners' test results are one way to evaluate teaching. Good results should reflect good teaching, but the results are only as valid and reliable as the tests. Tests low in validity and/or reliability will give a false impression of teaching. In some institutions the learners take external proficiency tests at certain stages. These results are usually both reasonably valid and reliable. An institution or teacher with many learners getting increasingly good marks in the TOEFL tests, or passing successive levels of the UCLES exams can feel very satisfied.

But tests are not everything. Learners' opinions should also be taken into account. To some extent you can see their opinions on their faces and in their behavior. But you can also give adults and even adolescents a simple, anonymous questionnaire.

Project

Developing course tests

Purpose: to develop the ability to produce, evaluate, and improve course tests.

Procedure:

1. Select a textbook that you use now or might use in the future.

2. Study the contents up to a convenient point (for example, up to and including a review unit). If you are using the book now, choose a point that you will soon reach in the course.

3. Select four or five exercises that you consider cover the main points in the course up to that stage, and that are suitable for a test (for example, not repetitive structure drills).

4. Write the test, using parallel or similar exercises to those you have selected.

If you are able to give the test to a group of learners, do so and then analyse the results. Note which exercises and items in them the majority of the learners got right and which they got wrong. Consider how you would modify the test in its next version. If you are not able to give the test, leave it for a week without looking at it. Then go through it considering how it would seem to a real learner at that level and what changes might be appropriate.

Questions: What is the difference between testing and evaluation? What are the types of tests? Which one do you prefer to use? Why?

Methodological recommendations:

Lecture delivering is tended to the students' development of the professional creation and self-education activity.

The quality of the lecture and its delivering depends on a range of factors: the lecture's social activity, desire to work and socialize with the students, teaching skills, general and professional level of culture, intellect, knowledge and behaviour norms.

One of the professionally significant features of the lecturer is his / her speech etiquette: oral and written. During the oral presentation of the lecture the language pronunciation, grammar norms should be observed alongside with the expressive non-verbal means as: intonation: accent, pausation, gestures etc. Interactive method of teaching students-lecturer / presupposes setting problem questions, ability to listen and understand the students and to answer the students' questions.

Writing summary: A summary is the expression in a condensed form of the principal content of any piece of writing. In other words the summarizer should briefly render the main idea in his own words.

Writing reviews: there are a lot of review types. This writing strategy is for you to follow in your review writing:

Give a brief summary of the plot.

Recommended Literature:

Heaton, J.B. 1990. Classroom Testing. Harlow: Longman

Hughes, A. 1989. Testing for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Rea-Dickins, P. and K. Germaine. 1992. Evaluation. Oxford: Oxford University Press

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