Lesson Planning and Planning Journal for English as a Second Language - Annotated Bibliography Example

Lesson Plan for Teaching English as a Second Language of Lesson Plan for Teaching English as aSecond Language Introduction The title of the course will be ‘English as a Second Language’. The course features the Adult Migrant English Program. Facilitation of the course will take place at TAFE. The classroom setting as per the resources available will be most suitable in the morning sessions. In addition, the principal Stake holders of the course are the students of TAFE and the institution. The main attributes of the students are that they have diverse cultures since they are new in Australia with backgrounds from different Diasporas. The students are of mixed gender with 20 students between 18 to 50 years of age. The students Proficiency is the intermediate level. The Students are mainly from Afghanistan, Spain, China, Iran, South America, India and other backgrounds. The main goal of the course is developing communication and demonstrating it in real life situations. The purpose is to develop conversational skills in the context of topics that attribute different functions in daily activities. Examples include conversation with a health practitioner, job interviews and shopping. Learners will be able to learn and utilize skills in listening and speaking particularly for the purpose of obtaining information and expressing personal feelings and opinions. The course involves a 10 week program whereby meetings will be once per week for a total to 15 hours. The outline of the meetings for the ten weeks are; week 1: personal identification week 2,3 :family life week 4,5: housing week 6: community and neighbourhood (local stores) week 7: communication (Telephone, Mail, E-mail) week 8,9,10: private and public services (health system, customs, banking). Annotated Bibliography Grapes, K. (2000). Designing a Language Course: A Guide for Teachers. Boston: Heine and Heine Press. The Authors, editors, researchers and the Heine and Heine Research Panel at the Heine and Heine Printing Press. They tend to use information from national surveys of practising teachers to test the hypothesis that the designing of a language is fundamentally dependent on the teaching context and the student’s needs. The hypothesis is well grounded in more experienced teachers’ more than new teachers who have joined the profession. The effects of increasing the time of contact with the students revealed to have a positive change to designing of the teaching activities. The studies thus coincide with other studies that reveal that the context that the teacher is in, and the needs of the students influence the design of teaching. Heiner, B. (2004). Language Assessment. New York: Pearson Educational Inc. The authors and researchers of Pearson Educational Incorporation tend to obtain their information and data from longitudinal researchers that conducted both locally in New York and nationally. Consequently, the data is used to test the hypothesis that the assessment of language is a significant activity in determining good teaching design. The argument is on the results that different teachers obtain from using different teaching designs. The findings are that teachers should negotiate with their students in order to have a teaching design based on the students’ goals, so as to produce a more results oriented plan for both the students and the teacher. This text would be sufficient for typically every setting. Nunan. (2004). Task Based Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The author and the researchers in the Cambridge University Press use national surveys that include questionnaires that are supplemented with personal and telephone interviews to obtain data and information. The baseline is to test the hypothesis that task based teaching of language is the best approach to use while teaching students. The research involves adult students who are learning the language particularly as a second language and the younger students learning the language from a firsthand position. The research’s findings are that the adults are best suited to the method although the younger students also perform better when the method. The ideas from this research particularly influenced the choice of tasks to involve the student groups into in my activity plan template. The research leads every teacher to take note to enhance activity-oriented learning in making the learning experience exciting and engraving ideas into the mind. Scrivener, J. (2002). Learning How to Teacher: A Guidebook for English Language Teachers. Shanghai: shanghai foreign language press. The author and the research group in Shanghai Foreign Language Press concentrate on carrying out a longitudinal research nationally in Thailand to test the hypothesis that a lesson’s quality is significantly dependent on how well a teacher propagates the lesson as per the lesson plan and design. The research is carried out in various educational institutions such as primary schools, secondary institutions and tertiary institutions. The findings are that there are different designs given the level of learning. The book contributed tremendously in the pointing out of teacher and student activities as well as supporting learning materials so as to increase the efficiency on the students’ part. Therefore, the book provides the best guidelines for every institution. It is important how this research discovers the particular designs as applicable to each and every level of learning. Yule, T. O. (1990). Language and Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know. London: Oxford University Press. The authors and researchers at Oxford University carry nationally extensive surveys that correspond with other international surveys carried all over the world in their branches. The results are used to test the hypothesis that the amount a teacher knowledge before establishing his particular teaching strategy. The strategy will determine the performance of the students and how successful the course is comprehended. The survey was carried out in educational institutes in practising teachers’ strategies and their students’ performance. The findings were that the knowledge of what and how each lesson is propagated is directly proportional to the efficiency of the course both in time and performance. This reference was of significance in the identification and establishment teaching strategies in the planning journal. The book is essential for every teacher. However, it may not be of substantial value to new teachers whose knowledge of student response could be minimal. ACTIVITY PLAN TEMPLATE SOL8004 PROCEDURE for ACTIVITY ACTIVITY TEACHER (T) STUDENT (Ss) TIME RESOURCES /MATERIALS Activity goals(s)and Outcomes: To prepare students to work in groups Improve conversational English in social life, learning language and students information gathering, 1 Introduction Welcome the students introduce the topic to be learnt during the session. Give the outline; explain the purpose of the activities. Listen 3min Whiteboard, markers 2 Step by step description of the activity and transition 1) Ask the students about their knowledge of the rental system in Australia and compare it with the systems of their home country. 2) Introduce three major concepts of the rental system. 3)Ask the class to work in groups of three and give Ss copy of the rental house advert from internet 4) Hand out the first page of the rental house application sample to Ss and ask them to fill out. Ask the question Ask the question ,explain the three concepts in the topic Give instructions, observe proceed by giving examples and ask for handing back of reports Give instructions, examples and observe. Listen, answer the question. Answer the question Work in groups, communicate in English, Ss use spoken English, report back Work individually ,Ss use written English 2min 3min 6min 6min White board, markers Copy of the rental house advertisement from the internet The copy of the rental house application form from the agent Break Give instruction Students listen 5min 3 1) Introduce the role play activity and familiarise the students to the activity through giving them authentic listening examples. Give information about the role play activity ,give instructions and observe the class during the listening activity Listen to the model of the conversation between a native speaker and an agent inquiring about the accommodation option. 5 I pad, tape or mobile to record the conversation 2) Provide free practice. Prepare the class for pair work. Students will be given a number of newspaper advertisements of renting accommodation pertaining different kinds. Examples include house, apartment, and studio apartments’ advertisements. Give instructions, observe and guides Students during their practice. Listen to the given instructions, read the given samples of rental accommodation advertisements and practice the role play activity with their partners. 10min Newspaper advertisement for renting accommodation. 3) role play activity Teacher asks for feedback from a few groups. Observe s the activity and assess the students speaking and listening ability for future references then give feedback. Students to play the part of potential tenants. Make a note of needs and then call rental agent .Student B plays the part of a rental agent. Use ads to offer partner suitable accommodation, according to the previous practice. The other students observe. 18 4 Conclusion Summarize the key points, HW and negotiate about the next session topics Listen and answer the question 2min %WORK AND TALK in your activity and explanation Teacher Student Planning journal My Personal View of Planning There are various approaches to lesson planning. Therefore, the way to plan a lesson is determined by a particular situation, context and the focus that is being considered. (Graves, 2000) Graves states that the course design is “an interrelated set of processes and products deemed as a system”. So, the plan of the course and the inherent lesson will be based on the view that the process of language design is a system whose parts are interlinked. Consequently, changes in one part of the system will influence the other parts included in the system. For instance, if the content is, it will be easy to write the objectives. Also, given that the objectives are clear, then designing of activities and lesson plans will be easy. The course plan and any parts can be refined and changed in anytime during the course. Teaching, planning and thinking are not actions that can be easily. Teaching is a challenging process thus any activity associated with teaching, including planning lessons or activities is a work in progress. To identify the objectives for the course, one has to refine the activities a few times to articulate what the students should achieve in a lesson that is part of the course. The objectives were dynamic during a few times especially when planning so as to make them appropriate for the context. The objectives were also influenced by the students who made most of the context. Modifications in the objectives and lessons also occurred in order to make the lesson more responsive to the students need. Beliefs underlying the plan Beliefs influence the language of the course design. The selection of the course content, the goals and objectives, the way one teaches the course and course assessment are determined by the beliefs. Beliefs also enable the understanding of why someone makes a particular decision. According to Graves (2000, p. 26),” beliefs stem mainly from experience in two areas: education and work”. In designing the course and lesson plan, the prior learning experience strongly influenced the values, attitudes and the way that one organizes the activities. In the lesson plan, one tries not to teach, in a way, that he was taught in his home country. One tries to provide the learners with the opportunity to be creative and practice more communicative skills applicable in real life situations. Needs of stakeholders The language course must be according to the needs of learners. In order to teach a second or foreign language to adults, teachers should modify their methods and materials based on the student‘s need (Yule, 1990). The stakeholder input is essential to the course design and in addressing the learner needs. The stakeholder input is essential in identifying the learns needs. The course is designed to address all the students needs (Nunan, 2004). The activities performed in the classroom together offer a productive avenue that empowers students as the stakeholders. The role of the teacher is facilitator can lead to very innovative classroom work. One experiences a good deal of success by using authentic language learning activities that involve teams of students working together in the lesson and motivate students in the activities. The reason is that they could use language in real life situations. Also, one has to consider the institution‘s requirements as a stakeholder in designing a lesson plan as well. Source of lesson idea When one starts the process of planning the lessons, he or she finds out that the lesson should be communicative. The way to determine the shape and the course content is to consider what he wants the learners to acquire from the lesson. Previous experiences such as learning in Adult Migrant English Program and through the work experience with asylum seekers and considering their language needs as new arrivals to the country may give a direction to the initial brainstorming. Influential reading, experience and knowledge Reading the study guide, textbooks, notes from this topic and other topics, previous experience as an English second language learner and the other classmate‘s performance in the class provided adequate guidelines and resources for planning a lesson. Reasoning behind or justification for the choice of resources, sequences and student settings. Conceptualising the content is a matter of identifying what a person should teach or focus on during the course. Conceptualizing also provides the organising principles to link the contents together. Therefore, After articulating beliefs, analysing the context, setting goals and objectives and the needs assessment plan, a person tends to conceptualise the course and the lesson‘s content. That is, one should think about, decide on and organise the course content. According to the theory of the conceptualization of the content, one may think about what the students should learn in the lesson, their needs and the purpose of the lesson. Also, a person’s decision about what to focus on in the lesson and how to organize a lesson, in a way, that could make a decision about objectives, materials, sequence and students setting is also dependent on conceptualization. Materials should be from authentic resources that the students may encounter in real life situations such as rental house application forms or rental house adverts from websites. The content covered in the lesson. (Graves, 2000) States defines a mind map as a non-linear way used to represent content and factors affecting the content. Preparing a mind map enables the teacher to have a holistic view of the course, component functionalities and the relationship among the parts. To plan a lesson one has to start with the overall goal which is developing and demonstrating communication in real life situations. Then one has to establish the purpose of the lesson that involves developing conversational skills in the context of the topics or functions of life. The functions include attending a medical session, job interviews, shopping, renting a house and others that involve communications. So, a person should design the course for the period of 10 weeks long that should include meetings, once a week for a total of 15 hours. The sequence of 10 weeks lessons should be: week 1: personal identification week 2, 3: family life week 4, 5: housing week 6: community and neighbourhood (local stores) week 7: communication (Telephone, Mail, E-mail) week 8,9,10: private and public services( health system, customs, banking). In each lesson, students are required to be communicatively functional. Therefore, the lesson belonged to week 4 (rental house system in Australia) in the sequence of the course. The lesson fits very well into the rest of the course. The activities in the lesson focus on the students speaking and listening skills. The lesson depicts a logical line type lesson. In the lesson there is a clear, logical path from one activity to the next (Scrivener, 2002). One should thus plan a lesson according to this theory. The initial stages of the lesson are to develop a scheme. The scheme should show building activities that introduce the topic, set the context of the task and introduce the key concepts that students need to complete the task. The lesson then facilitates the students practice in using the language vocabulary, structure and function. For the activity, students should listen to the conversation between two people discussing the accommodation advertised in newspaper articles for different kinds such as house, apartment, and studio apartment. They should practice these in pairs. Students in the last part are provided with the opportunity to be involved in creative language work. The role play activity encourages students to use whatever knowledge of the language they have in order to complete the activity. Students may use the language they are provided with and sometimes granted with a chance to innovate the particular purpose of communication in real life situations. Teacher’s role(s) and student’s role A decision regarding a language’s course should be through negotiation between the teacher and learners. The components and how they are to be leant arrives through discussion and compromise (Nunan, 2004). Therefore, a teacher should make the instructions clear to the learners and allow learners to create their own goals. The teacher encourages use of english language and shows the need of the language in real life scenarios, raise awareness of the learning process and encourage the learners’ choice and their participation in group activities. The teacher has the mandate to encourage the students attentively to listen, speak and be . Strategies The teacher needs to incorporate strategies into his or her teaching to help learners identify strategies and to train the learners in the use f strategies in addition to teaching language. (Nunan, 2004) In planning a lesson, one should adopt different strategies for students such as Interpersonal strategies as role-playing. Role-playing is pretending to be somebody else and using the language for the situation one is facing. Linguistic strategies, involve Practising that is listening to the conversation, and practice it with a partner and effective strategies: personalizing which can be sharing opinions and ideas about the subject (Nunan, 2004). Also, learners have diverse learning styles which must be catered for in the classroom. Therefore, one should use activities with different learning styles. Assessment links, achievement of goals and objectives Performance-based assessment (task-based assessment) will be applied to the lesson. The assessment involves learners in performing the behaviour that should be (Heiner, 2004). Consequently during the role playing activity, learners are evaluated through listening tests, speaking tests, requesting and responding the test. The assessment is time consuming. However, the extra effort’s result is a more direct and accurate way of evaluating. The reason is that students are as they performed actual or simulated real-world task. In conclusion, one is right to put forward that the lesson’s goals and objectives are achievable as per a particular plan. The lesson tends to encourage the learners to move to creative language use in real life situations. Learners also argued in the lesson in ways that could make the relationship between linguistic form and communicative form function. Problematic Issues The design of this lesson plan experienced a few challenges ranging from how to meet the requirements of students with differing personalities for example introverts; a case in which they would be uncomfortable with the implementation of group experiments. Other challenges included situations of slow learners and the effects of the first language’s accent on the learning and speaking of a second language. Assumptions The planning journal got designed under the assumption that most students have moderate capacity in the learning of acquired language and that all teachers will be willing to put maximum effort in its implementation. References Grapes, K. (2000). Designing a Language Course: A Guide for Teachers. Boston: Heine and Heine Press. Woodward, T. (2001). Planning Lesson and Course: Designing Sequences of Work for the Language Classroom, Chapter Seven Getting Down to the Preparation, pp. 180-211. Nunan. (2004). Task Based Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Scrivener, J. (2002). Learning How to Teacher: A Guidebook for English Language Teachers. Shanghai: shanghai foreign language press. Heiner, B. (2004). Language Assessmen: Principles and classroom practices. New York: Pearson Educational Inc. Yule, T. O. (1990). Language and Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know. London: Oxford University Press. Read More