HOW TO DESCRIBE LEARNING AND TEACHING

HOW TO DESCRIBE LEARNING AND TEACHING

All children who are in contact with a language will in normal circumstances learn it. They do this unconsciously.

Most adults can learn a language without studying it when they are in contact with a language. However, not all adults who are in contact with a foreign language learn it, and they may have more trouble with the pronunciation and grammar than younger learners, although they may be able to communicate fluently.

The language learners need to be motivated, be exposed to language, and given chances to use it. Therefore there are three elements need to be present in a language classroom to help students learn effectively:

Engage: This is the point in a teaching sequence where teachers try to arouse the students’ interest, thus involving their emotions.

Children need to be amused, moved, stimulated and challenged with the activities prepared by the teacher. When students are Engaged, they learn better than when they are partly or wholly disengaged.

Study: Study activities are those where the students are asked to focus in on language (or information) and how it is constructed.

Students can study in a variety of different styles: the teacher can explain grammar, they can study language evidence to discover grammar for themselves, they can work in groups studying a reading text or vocabulary, but whatever the style, study means any stage at which the construction of language is the main focus.

Activate: this element describes exercises and activities which are designed to get students using language as freely and communicatively as they can.

The objective for the students is not to focus on language construction and/or practice specific bits of language (grammar patterns, particular vocabulary items or functions) but for them to use all and any language which may be appropriate for a given situation or topic. Thus, Activate exercises offer students a chance to try out real language use with little or no restriction- a kind of rehearsal for the real world.

Typical Activate exercises include role-plays (where students act out, as realistically as possible, an exchange between a travel agent and a client, for example), advertisement design, debates and discussions.

 These ESA elements need to be present in most lessons or teaching sequences, but this does not mean they always have to take place in the same order. The last thing we want to do is bore our students by constantly offering them the same predictable learning patterns, is our responsibility to vary the sequences and content of our lessons.

One type of teaching sequence takes students in a straight line “Straight Arrows” : first the teacher gets the class interested and Engaged, then they Study something and they then try to Activate it by putting it into production.

Straight Arrows can be used in the lower levels for straightforward language, but it might not be so appropriate for more advanced learners with more complex language.

Another type of teaching sequence of the ESA elements is a “Boomerang’ procedure”: In this sequence the teacher is answering the needs of the students.

Boomerang procedure may be more appropriate for students at intermediate and advanced levels since they have quite a lot of language available for them ate the Activate stage.

In straight arrows sequences the teacher knows what the students need and takes them logically to the point where they can Activate the knowledge which he or she has helped them to acquire. For the boomerang sequence, however, the teacher selects the task the students need to perform, but then waits for the boomerang to come back before deciding what they need to Study.

ACTIVITY 1

Reflection about a lesson plan

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