INFORMATION COLLECTION & EXCHANGE

Peace Corps' Information Collection & Exchange (ICE) was established so that the strategies and 

technologies developed by Peace Corps Volunteers, their co-workers, and their counterparts could be made 

available to the wide range of development organizations and individual workers who might find them useful. 

Training guides, curricula, lesson plans, project reports, manuals and other Peace Corps-generated 

materials developed in the field are collected and reviewed. Some are reprinted "as is"; others provide a 

source of field based information for the production of manuals or for research in particular program areas. 

Materials that you submit to the Information Collection & Exchange thus become part of the Peace Corps' 

larger contribution to development. 

Information about ICE publications and services is available through: 

Peace Corps 

Information Collection & Exchange 

1111 20th Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20526 

USA 

Website: http://www.peacecorps.gov 

Telephone : 1-202-692-2640 

Fax : 1-202- 692-2641 

Add your experience to the ICE Resource Center. Send materials that you've prepared so that 

we can share them with others working in the development field. Your technical insights serve as 

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available to you and your fellow development workers. 

Prepared for the Peace Corps by the Center for Applied Linguistics under Contract No. PC-888-2244A, May 

1989. 

This Manual may be reproduced and/or translated in part or in full without payment of royalty. Please give 

standard acknowledgment. 

 Acknowledgments 

The authors would like to thank JoAnn Crandall of the Center for Applied Linguistics, and John Guevin and 

David Wolfe of the Peace Corps, for their valuable editorial comments. We would also like to thank Frank 

Harrison of the Center for Applied Linguistics for his help with the figures and diagrams. Finally, thanks are 

due to Peace Corps Volunteers who shared their experiences with us, helping to make this a manual which 

will show the way to future Volunteers. 

 
About this manual 

TEFL/TESL: Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language is for Volunteers who are currently 

teaching or who are about to teach English. It is a practical guide for the classroom teacher. 

The manual describes procedures and offers sample exercises and activities for: 

• a wide range of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills 

• whole-class, small-group, and individual participation 

• classroom testing and preparing students for national examinations 

It covers a great variety of teaching situations: 

• primary and secondary schools and college 

• the office or workplace 

• school and work settings which have limited facilities for instruction and those which provide ample 

support 

• any geographical or cultural setting where Peace Corps Volunteers may be found 

You may already have training in the teaching of English, or your specialty may be in another technical area. 

Regardless of whether you are an old hand or a newcomer, this manual was written for you. Clear directions 

are given for presenting the sample exercises. Possible problems are anticipated. Where different 

approaches and techniques of teaching are discussed, the reasons for using them are explained. In short, 

both experienced and novice teachers will be able to use the manual with confidence. 

When using the manual, you should keep one important point in mind. Because many different teaching 

situations are represented, you will find procedures and materials to meet the needs of every Volunteer. If 

you can lift an exercise from the manual and use it unchanged tomorrow morning with your students, well 

and good. On the other hand, you should not expect to use every procedure and exercise exactly as it is 

presented in the manual. Some suggestions will seem wrong for your class. But don't just discard those 

which appear unsuitable. It is often possible to change a technique or an activity so that it will work for you. 

So rather than look at the suggestions only in the forms presented in the manual, get into the habit of looking 

for ways to adapt the suggestions for your own purposes. 

You will probably turn to this manual because you need the answers to one or more questions. What better 

way then to explain how to use the manual than by trying to anticipate some of your questions? 

Your first question may be How do I find out how much English my students know? 

Chapter One begins with several possible answers to this question. It shows you how to go on a factfinding mission to discover not only what your students know, but also how much more they need to 

know. 

Next you may ask How can I teach a class of 50 students which meets only two times a week? 

The second part of Chapter One deals with these two problems and others, such as not enough 

textbooks, poorly motivated students, and the need to follow a prescribed syllabus. It also considers the 

special problems of teaching English to your co-workers or to their families. 
There are a number of approaches to the teaching of languages. You may find this variety more confusing 

than helpful, and you may wonder How can I sort out all these methods of language teaching? How can 

I tell one from another? 

Chapter Two describes ten approaches to language teaching. For each approach the distinctive features 

are given so that you will be able to recognize whether the approach is being used in your school. You 

will also learn what to expect if your students are already used to a particular approach, and what kind of 

impact that will have on your teaching. At the end of the chapter are some suggestions for using selected 

techniques. 

You may also wonder Which approach is the best for me to use? 

Perhaps the strongest point made in Chapter Two is that no single approach works all the time for all 

learners. Each of the approaches has its strengths and weaknesses. These are pointed out to you in 

Chapter Two and at various points in Chapters Three to Six, which discuss the teaching of the individual 

language skills. Another point which is made in Chapter Two is that you must exercise caution and tact 

when trying to introduce innovations into your language classroom. 

Once you have answers to these more general questions, you may look for help in the teaching of the 

language skills. You may ask What can I do to get my students to really speak English to me and to 

each other? 

This is quite a challenge, especially if you are teaching a large class and if your students are used to 

language lessons which focus more on the written language than on speaking. Chapter Three shows you 

how to set up speaking activities which will make your students want to participate and to interact with 

one another. Sample exercises aim at increasing your students' fluency and confidence. Realistic 

suggestions are offered for overcoming the limits of the classroom and the anxiety of your students. 

There are even suggestions for teaching pronunciation in a more meaningful, communicative way. 

Closely related to the problem of motivating your students to speak is the need to improve their ability to 

understand spoken English. You may want to know How can I get my students to feel more confident 

about listening to English, so that they won't just freeze when someone speaks to them? 

Chapter Four will help you ease your students into activities in which they are listening to "real life" 

messages. You will be able to give your students a lot of exposure to different kinds of natural spoken 

messages. They will gain in confidence as they learn to pick out what they need to understand from the 

message and respond in appropriate ways. 

School systems in most countries put a lot of emphasis on the written language. But you may be dissatisfied 

with the way your reading lessons have gone. In desperation you may ask Is there any way to teach 

reading so that it is more interesting? How can I make the reading of English more useful for my 

students? 

Reading lessons become tedious when the teacher and students have too narrow a view of what reading 

really is. Chapter Five shows you that reading is more than translating or discussing excerpts from literary 

works. Sometimes people read advertisements, instructions, timetables, or product labels. Sometimes 

they read in order to gather information for a report or to prepare for an examination. Greater variety in 

the types of reading selections and more purposeful tasks to follow up on the reading will make your 

reading lessons both more interesting and more useful. 

Your students may worry about learning vocabulary, and you too may want to know What is the best way 

to learn vocabulary? 
In Chapter Five you will see that memorizing vocabulary lists is not the most effective way to go about 

learning vocabulary. Sample exercises will also show you that there is more to know about a word than 

its meaning. 

Even experienced teachers may quail at the prospect of having to teach students how to write compositions 

in English. If you find yourself in such a position, you may have very basic questions, such as What should I 

teach my students about writing? How can I help them to write what they want to write, in a way that 

their readers can understand? 

Composing is hard work, even when you are doing it in your own language. First you have to get the 

ideas, then you have to express them in a way that really communicates with your readers. Chapter Six 

offers help in both these areas. You will find pre-writing activities in which your students generate ideas 

for their writing. You will see exercises and feedback techniques which help writers (from beginning to 

advanced levels of proficiency) shape their writing into appropriate forms. 

Your students will probably ask you a lot of questions about grammar, leading you in turn to ask How do I 

teach English grammar (especially when I'm not too sure about grammar questions myself)? 

English grammar is taught in a number of different ways, depending on the general approach to language 

teaching which is used. Chapter Seven looks more closely at three of the general approaches which are 

described in Chapter Two and, using excerpts from three textbooks for beginning students of English, 

shows you how grammar is taught in each of the approaches. The chapter also suggests ways to 

supplement your textbook, since none of these approaches taken by itself is ideal. Two other sections of 

Chapter Seven define some basic grammatical terms and tell you about reference grammars, where you 

can find the answers to knottier grammar questions. 

Another kind of advice you may want concerns lesson planning, or in other words, How can I organize my 

lessons so that my students will know what they are supposed to be learning and so that both they 

and I will know when they have learned it? 

Chapter Eight shows you how to put it all together. It tells you the kinds of information you need for 

setting instructional objectives. It shows you how to implement the objectives in individual lesson plans 

that incorporate review of previous work, presentation, practice, and application of new material, and 

assignments for work done out of class. A sample plan implements these principles in a lesson which 

focuses on listening and speaking skills and teaches a few closely related grammar points. Besides this 

extended discussion of lesson planning in Chapter Seven, there are three or four short plans for reading 

lessons in Chapter Five, and Chapter Six gives some general guidelines for planning lessons in writing. 

There is one major area of teaching which the questions so far have not touched upon. You will need to 

know How do I test my students? 

Chapter Eight gives guidelines for devising tests which you administer yourself in the classroom. It offers 

advice on test items for all four language skills, even listening and speaking. 

One question about testing you may not think of asking is How can I prepare my students for the national 

examinations? 

Nothing quite like the national examinations is found in the United States, but such examinations are 

quite common in other countries. They are usually set by the Ministry of Education, and they often 

determine the future educational opportunities which are open to your students. Chapter Eight tells you 

how to find out more about these examinations and how to help your students survive them. 

Following the eight chapters, there are three appendices which you can refer to as needed. The first 

appendix is a complete listing of all the textbooks and references that are cited in the manual. ICE 

publication numbers are given for those books which are available to you through Peace Corps Information 
Collection and Exchange. The second appendix lists organizations and publications which are dedicated to 

the teaching of English as a foreign or second language. Finally there is an appendix which explains 

acronyms (like EFL and ESL) which are common in this field. 

Still another way to orient you to this manual is to relate the contents of the various chapters to the structure 

of your language courses. In the simplest terms, you can think of the courses which you teach as a process 

with a beginning, a middle, and an end. 

The beginning is the needs assessment and school syllabus. These set the long-range objectives for you 

to meet during the course as a whole. 

The middle is the part which you are most concerned with on a day-to-day basis. You need lesson plans to 

help you organize your class time in an efficient and purposeful way. In making your lesson plans you can 

draw on a variety of approaches to language teaching for ideas on techniques for presenting the materials 

and activities which compose the lessons. You can supplement the materials and activities which you find in 

your textbooks with selections from the chapters of this manual which discuss the language skills and 

aspects of language. 

At the end of the process are the examinations. You need periodic tests to help you and your students 

judge their progress through the course. Very likely there will also be a final examination and possibly a 

national examination which your students must take. 

An overview of this process is shown in the figure below. 
 

APTER ONE

s: Needs and constraints

olunteers teaching English inside or outside of 

ds assessment, some of the

ised in a needs

large multilevel classes to the limitations of individual tutorials. 

(EFL), or English as a Second Language (ESL),

ha needs of their students, to students' attitudes 

tow s

suc n

academic subject in the school system and is not widely used outside of the classroom. The same attention 

in countries such as Malawi and Sri Lanka where English is taught as a 

ial to success.

or you, as a teacher stepping into a new educational system, it is important to inform yourself of your 

and attitudes towards learning English so that from the beginning you can play an effective 

CH

Teaching in different situation

This chapter looks at the concerns facing V

the school system. The chapter outlines the reasons for a nee

people to be approached for information, and some of the questions to be ra

assessment.

In addition, this chapter looks at some of the constraints facing Volunteers teaching English, 

from the demands of

Solutions are suggested which require the practical application of skills presented in 

pre-service training. 

In recent years teachers of English as a Foreign Language

ve been paying increasing attention to identifying the

ards English and their reasons for learning it. This attention to learners' needs can be seen in countrie

h as Zaire or Peru where English is regarded as a foreign language and is largely treated as a

to learners' needs can also be seen

second language, where English is widely used and is perceived as essent

F

students' needs
role in your classroom. Conducting a needs assessment, even an informal one, is therefore an important first 

tinguish between would-be learners who are serious and those who are more casual in their 

pproach. An accurate assessment of your learners' commitment could help you avoid frustration or an 

es g ol 

ch y ing can be carried out through a series of interviews and conversations with 

eag s, director, the head of the English department, your Peace Corps program manager, 

r V n ents. 

 asking your questions you may want to make it clear that you are not ev

rself so that you can serve your s l m ity th ost effective way 

kills will come into play as you both gather information and set the framework 

our colleagues and supervis r. 

 students before your firs classes will enable you to get an idea of 

not need a detailed analysis at this point, but it would be good to know how 

is will help you itch ur la gua e at n appropriate level 

ay for you o ga e y r s den ' attitudes towards 

ptions of what they need from you. If past records of students' 

ou build a pic re f w t to expect in the 

ey understand and how capable they are of handling English. 

 football? (past) 

u do when you leave school? (future) 

u do this evening? (future) 

nt clues about your students' ability to use 

er

In 

qu

ational educational system? 

Fo

 Ex

step in your job. 

For those of you who are teaching English as a secondary project, perhaps by tutoring coworkers or 

coaching their children, a needs assessment will help you establish a purpose for your classes. It may also 

help you dis

a

unwarranted sense of failure. 

 Ass sin needs in scho

Mu of our fact-find

coll ue the school 

othe olu teers and your stud

In aluating or passing judgment. 

Your purpose is to inform you un

possible. Your cross-cultural s

choo com in e m

for a good working relationship with y o

Creating the opportunity to talk to your t

their level of English. You do 

much they understand when you talk to them. Th p yo n g a

in your classes. These talks will also be a useful w t ug ou tu ts

learning English and to explore their perce

performance in English are available, these will also help y tu o ha

classroom. 

This informal approach to assessing levels is particularly effective with primary school children. These 

children are usually friendly and delighted to meet an American. Take advantage of their friendliness to talk 

to them and to assess their level of English. A few questions about their names, ages, brothers, sisters and 

homes will help you ascertain how much th

When you are asking these questions, remember to use different tenses. For example: 

1. What class were you in last year? (past) 

2. When did you learn to play

3. What will yo

4. What will yo

5. What's your favorite subject? (present) 

6. Who's your best friend? (present) 

7. How long have you been at this school? (present perfect) 

8. How long have you been learning English? (present perfect progressive) 

Listen carefully to the answers you get. They will give you importa

v b tenses in English. 

conducting a needs assessment in a school you are looking for answers to the following general 

estions: 

1. What do your students expect from an English class? 

2. What are the English language requirements of your school and of the n

3. What materials are available? 

r each of these general areas, you will have a specific set of questions. 

pectations 
Se le. For students who are beginners in English you might even 

consider using your students' native language. For more advanced students, you could use your 

qu -you lesson. Here is an example of the type of format you 

might use in a secondary school, a technical college, a teacher training college, a university, or in classes 

wit

2 = Strongly agree 

t up your questionnaire as simply as possib

estionnaire as a basis for a first getting-to-know

h adults. 

Do you agree or disagree with each of the statements below? Put a check under the number that indicates 

how you feel. 

+

+ 1 = Agree 

0 = No opinion 

-1 = Disagree 

-2 = Strongly disagree 

+2 +1 0 -1 -2 

1. I enjoy learning languages. 

2. I talk in English as often as I can. 

3. I read a lot in English. 

4. I want to be able to write in English. 

5. I enjoy listening to English. 

6. I can get a good job without knowing English. 

7. I have too many hours of English on my timetable. 

8. People will respect me if I know English. 

9. I would study English even if it were not required at school. 

10. My family wants me to learn English. 

If y

could write the statements on the board, ask your students to respond in their exercise books, and then lead 

a d

In o articulate their expectations. However, it would be worth 

you perceptions of what primary school children needs and 

exp

 Re

o t of information on national requirements during your Pre-Service Training, 

articularly in countries where there is a centralized system of school leaving examinations and the 

er, you may have questions, like the ones 

ation system. These questions will probably 

ies of past national English examinations that I can see? 

hese examinations? 

English examinations? 

ucation visit the school? 

ou do not have access to photocopying facilities to reproduce sufficient copies of this questionnaire, you 

iscussion on reactions to the statements. 

primary schools your students are less likely t

r while to talk to fellow teachers about their

ect from an English lesson. 

quirements 

Y u may have gained a lo

p

requirements are clearly laid out by the Government. Howev

below, about your school's track record in the national examin

best be answered by your head of department or school director. 

1. Do you have cop

2. If the national English examinations are based on oral interviews, can I talk to someone who is 

experienced in giving t

3. What do students think of the national 

4. Do you have records of students' national English examination results? 

5. Do the students have any particular weaknesses which show up in the national English examinations? 

6. Do inspectors from the English language teaching section of the Ministry of Ed

7. If so, are their reports available? 
8. What is the grading system within the school? How often am 1 expected to give tests? How often am I 

xpected to give homework assignments? 

. Are copies of past English tests available'? 

eports available'! 

Be s pushy, or if you 

think your informant is becoming uncomfortable, be prepared to let the questions drop, and to gather the 

info

Materials 

Once again, your head of department or school director will probably be the most useful in answering the 

foll

 are used in the school? When were they published? When did the 

school obtain these books'! 

lish books in the library? If so, what sort of books are they? Simplified novels? Technical 

texts? 

ds for use in English lessons? 

7. If not, would you like me to see if such gifts or loans are possible to arrange? 

8. Are funds available to buy more materials? 

9. How does the procurement system work in the school? 

10. Do you have any photocopying or stenciling facilities? Can I use these facilities? Are there any 

e? 

IDE OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM 

Fo

foll

urrent level of English? 

Sp

by 

an spoken English. Or a group of medical technicians 

may decide that they want English classes in order to understand the spoken English of expatriate doctors. 

Yo

or your job? 

e

9

10. Are student r

 careful while you are asking these questions. If you think that you are coming across a

rmation you want gradually during your first few weeks on the job. 

owing questions about the school's English language materials. 

1. What English language textbooks

2. Are there Eng

3. Are there tapes, films and visual ai

4. Does the Government supply hooks'! Or do students have to pay for their books? 

5. Do students share textbooks? 

6. Does the school receive gifts or loans of books from organizations such as the United States 

Information Service? 

restrictions on their us

 ASSESSING NEEDS OUTS

r those of you conducting a needs assessment outside of a school system, you will be looking for the 

owing information: 

1. Why do your students want to learn English? What tasks do they hope to accomplish with the English 

they will be learning? 

2. What is their c

ecific answers to the first questions will help you meet the needs of your students. For example, prompted 

your questions, an engineer may come to realize that he needs English to read articles on engineering, 

d that he has little need to speak or even understand

u can get at some of this information by asking the following kinds of questions: 

1. Do you need English f
2. How many hours a week do you use English? 

3. When was the last time you spoke English on the job? What were the circumstances? 

 last time you had to understand spoken English on the job? What were the 

circumstances'' 

t time you read English on the job? What were the circumstances? 

n was the last time you wrote English on the job? What were the circumstances? 

. Do you think that knowing English increases chances of getting promoted? 

On

rea

Using informal can-do assessments 

An on-threatening as possible. A simple 

onversation about your future students' needs and about the times and frequency of classes will help you 

n their level of comprehension and ability to communicate. You may also want to structure your 

onversation by using a Can-Do self-assessment scale. This technique has been found to be very effective 

with adults. Basically, in a Can-Do assessment you are asking your students to judge for themselves their 

abilities in English. If you have the option, you may want to consider using your students' native language for 

this

Sp

lease read the following paragraphs and decide which paragraph best describes your ability to speak and 

n understand simple questions if they 

are spoken slowly and sometimes repeated. My vocabulary is limited to basic needs, such as food, 

asking directions, greeting people, etc. 1 make many grammatical mistakes, but people can usually 

ut myself, my family, my job and current events. I can 

understand the main ideas in most conversations, except when speech is fast. My grammar is fairly good, 

omplicated constructions. 

spoken by a native speaker of English. My grammar is good, and 

ctions. My pronunciation is good, but I speak 

4. When was the

5. When was the las

6. Whe

7. Do you think you will be using English in the future for your work'? 

8. Do you use English outside of work? When do you do so'' 

9

10. Do you enjoy learning English? 

ce you have an idea of your students' needs you can focus on the appropriate skills of listening, speaking, 

ding or writing. 

 informal assessment of current levels of English should be as n

c

ascertai

c

 assessment. A possible format is as follows. 

eaking and Listening 

P

understand spoken English. 

1. My speech in English is limited to a few words. I have great difficulty in understanding English, even 

when it is spoken very slowly. 

2. I can ask and answer questions about very familiar subjects. I ca

understand me. 

3. I can talk with native English speakers abo

but I make mistakes with c

4. I can understand almost everything 

my mistakes are usually with very complicated constru

English with an accent. 
5. I can understand native English speakers, even when they are speaking quickly and using slang. My 

 even for technical matters. I make very few grammatical errors, and my 

pronunciation is good but not completely native. 

thing in English, or can read only a few words I have memorized. 

ome isolated words. 

3. I can get the general sense of business letters, news items and articles on subjects with which I am 

familiar, but I need to use a dictionary to do so. 

4. I understand the basic meaning of most newspaper articles, routine correspondence, reports, and 

technical material in fields with which I am familiar, without using a dictionary. However I need to refer to 

a dictionary to get the exact meaning of the entire text. I sometimes have difficulty with complex 

sentences. 

5. With only the occasional use of a dictionary, I can read without difficulty any prose directed at the 

general reader, and all materials in fields with which I am familiar. 

riting 

1. I cannot write in English. 

2. I can write a few sentences in English, using very basic vocabulary and grammar. 

3. I can write relatively simple items, such as a short note to a friend, that communicate basic messages, 

but usually containing lots of misspellings and grammatical errors. 

4. I can write fairly long personal letters, as well as uncomplicated business letters and simple technical 

reports, which contain relatively few errors. 

5. I can write complex personal letters, reports and business letters. There is only the occasional hint that 

I am not a native speaker of English. 

or additional ideas on assessing needs, consult ESP: Teaching English for Specific Purposes, in the Peace 

orps Information Collection and Exchange (ICE), Manual Series No. M-31. The Whole ICE Catalogue also 

ontains texts in its TEFL/TESL/ESP section which may be of particular use to those of you who are 

aching English to professionals. 

Figure 1.1 provides an overview of the needs assessment procedure. 

 CONSTRAINTS AND SOLUTIONS IN THE CLASSROOM 

The major constraints facing TEFL Volunteers are: 

• large multilevel classes 

• insufficient numbers of textbooks 

• strict adherence to a rigid curriculum 

• limited hours and low motivation for English instruction 

• special needs of students 

vocabulary is extensive

Reading and Writing 

Please read the following and decide which paragraphs best describe your ability to read English and your 

ability to write English. 

Reading 

1. I really cannot read any

2. I can recognize the letters of the alphabet. I can read some personal and place names, street signs, 

shop names, numbers and s

W

F

C

c

te
Large multilevel classes 

Teaching a class of fifty or more students requires considerable organization. In many cases students will be 

used to teachers who use drills, choral repetitions and rote learning as a means of teaching large classes. 

These techniques may achieve their purpose of keeping students busy, but their effectiveness as a learning 

tool is limited. However, there are other options at hand, all of which will require organization and planning in 

the initial stages but will offer more satisfactory results in the long run. These options fall into two main 

categories: group work and peer coaching. Both of these options require a sense of cooperation among your 

students. Your task will be to foster this sense of cooperation. 

Cooperation in Group Work 

Group work should be introduced gradually and used for teaching all of the language skills-listening, 

speaking, reading and writing. 
Large group work: Use your first sessions as a way of acclimatizing your classes to group work. For a 

beginners' level, include exercises such as What Time Is It? For this exercise you divide the class into two 

large groups and ask group A to draw a series of clocks on the board and then, as a group, ask group B 

"What time is it?" Group B members answer together. The two groups then switch roles. 
Exercises from Ja ham can also be used very effectively to build up a sense of 

energy in your classroom. In working on a jazz 

hant, Graham suggests that the following steps be taken: 

 sure that your students understand the context of the chant. This may entail explaining 

ch line of the chant once or twice as needed. Ask your students to repeat in unison. 

3. Establish a rhythm by clapping. Repeat step 2 with a firm heat. 

o large groups. Using the beat you have established give the lines. The two 

ents alternately repeat the lines as they are given. 

5. Take the first part in the chant dialogue; ask the whole class to take the second part. 

 two groups again and give the first part of the chant to group A and the 

 group B. 

 g

nts seem to he comfortable working in large groups, you will be able to 

introduce more sophisticated group language tasks. For this level of group work choose a task that allows 

diff es not have a single right answer, that does not 

vo A good 

re You Si ecipes for Tired Teachers edited by 

Christopher Sion. (See Figure 1.3.) 

Project work: P hese projects can include a 

lassroom newsp ol sports teams, or the 

ctivities of extra hese projects in with 

ther subjects. F r geography classes 

nd keeping trac in your English class. In this way 

eer coaching: P your class to 

elp other studen rsion of this approach, called "each one teach one," was advocated by Dr. Frank 

aubach, who us mote literacy in the Philippines. To be successful your advanced students need 

to be prepared. Their coaching task must be clearly defined and they should resist the temptation to do the 

work for their "students." Both students in a pair should be given credit for successes and care should be 

t d student. 

zz Chants by Carolyn Gra

dialogue and cooperation as well as to generate fun and 

c

1. Make

necessary vocabulary items and cultural items. 

2. Give ea

4. Divide the class into tw

groups of stud

6. Divide your class into

second part to

A ood beginning jazz chant is "Do You Know Mary?" (See Figure 1.2.) 

Small-group work: Once your stude

erent students to make different contributions, that do

in lve rote learning, and that cannot be done more efficiently by one person than by a group. 

example of this kind of task is "A tting Comfortably?" from R

roject work can stimulate your students with its variety. T

c

a

aper posted on the wall, with reports on the school farm, the scho

curricular clubs. You may also want to explore the possibility of tying t

o or example, if your students are studying precipitation patterns in thei

a k of local precipitation, you could cover the same topic

your students have the 

classes. 

advantage of transferring the concepts they learn in geography to their English 

P eer coaching means using the strengths of the more advanced students in 

h

L

ts. One ve

ed it to pro

taken to preven the weaker student from falling into the trap of dependence on the more advance
DO YOU KNOW MARY?

Do you know Mary? 

Mary who? 

Mary McDonald. 

Of course I do. 

Yes, of course I do. 

Do you know her little brother? 

Yes, of course I do. 

I know her brother, and her mother and her father too. 

Do you know her older sister? 

Yes, of course I do. 

I know her older sister, Betty and her younger sister, Sue. 

Do you know her husband Bobby? 

I know her husband and his brother and his father too. 

NOTES DO YOU KNOW MARY?

Focus Practice the question intonation patterns: Do you know Mary? Mary who? and 

notice the contrasting response pattern Yes, of course I do. 

Note that the h sound is dropped when we say know her, and her. 

Listen carefully to the pronunciation of little, brother, mother, father. 

Practice the intonation pattern for No, I don't, do you?

S

Notes 

tructure This chant offers practice in the simple present question Do you know...? and 

the emphatic short response Yes, of course I do. 

The entire chant may be practiced with negative answers plus tag questions. 

Example:

Do you know Mary?

No, I don't, do you?

Presentation 

Notes 

Repeat the chant, substituting students' names and the names of their families. 

Figure 1.2 From Jazz Chants by Carolyn Graham. Oxford University Press, 1978. Reprinted by 

permission.

This peer coaching can take place for approximately half an hour a week at the same time as the rest of the 

students are busy on some form of group work. An example of peer coaching would be to ask the advanced 

student to read a passage while the second student follows the text in his or her book. The two could then 

work on comprehension questions on the passage. Multiple choice or true/false questions are good since 

they test comprehension and not writing skills. 

Insufficient numbers of textbooks 

TEFL Volunteers frequently face the problem of insufficient or nonexistent texts, or the problem of trying to 

work from out-dated or poorly designed books. The basic strategy developed by many Volunteers consists 

of supplementing the books through creative use of other media. Rejecting the books outright may dismay 

your students, who consider their books their passport to educational success and who measure their 
progress by the number of pages covere

our students' needs and at the same tim

d in your classes. By supplementing these books, you can respect 

e accomplish your goal of offering good EFL classes. 

an take the form of displays of the classroom newspaper or other group project work of the 

 ground 

igger than Indra's. He's just put it on the floor in the corner.") 

 c are tried 

and true ways of explaining grammatical structures. is 

ava signed 

to writing 

ma M-20), 

emphasizes locally produced materials and 

var

Wh phasis 

aw in the 

cur method 

Total Physical Response (TPR), which can be used e

supplementary activities. 

St

Despite the fun and energy you bring to your classes, you may experience resistance to your innovations. 

Be es. You 

ma cational 

suc ition of 

ed marks in school and passing national exams. While not denying your 

own need to improve and innovate in your EFL classroom, you will need to take into account your students' 

perceptions of their needs and to be sensitive to the burden of family expectations they are carrying. 

y

Supplements c

type discussed in the previous section. In addition, introducing real objects whenever possible will

your classes in the physical reality of your students' world. A TEFL Volunteer in Nepal brings agricultural 

tools to his class and uses them to teach comparatives, possessives and prepositions of place. ("Shekhar's 

scythe is b

A reative use of your blackboard skills will help your students. Stick people and simple diagrams

Action English Pictures by Maxine Frauman-Prickel 

ilable through ICE (Manual No. ED 123). This book contains 66 reproducible picture sequences de

provide stimuli for listening and speaking while texts created by students provide reading and

terial. The Audio-Visual Communication Handbook, also available through ICE (Manual No.

provides examples and methods for producing and using a 

iety of audio-visual aids, including flipcharts, filmstrips and puppets. 

ere appropriate, that is if your students need oral communicative English, you can shift the em

ay from books to aural/oral activities. For example, while following the structures laid down

riculum you can add songs, story telling sessions and role plays. Chapter Two discusses the 

ffectively in situations where textbooks require 

rict adherence to a rigid curriculum 

cause of your different approach, you may have problems in maintaining discipline in your class

y hear that students say you are not serious in your teaching. For your students, their edu

cess is seen as vital to their economic advancement and to that of their families. And their defin

ucational success is getting good 
ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY? 

2. Read the story. You will find the text at the end of these instructions. Use any pauses or 

ad in the pages. 

. 

lion, won the 

fight, and then married the other woman anyway!" Circulate, helping the students express their 

" 

them. 

, 

. 

Before Class 

Prepare the story by reading it quietly to yourself and then going through it several times aloud so

that it will be "alive" when you come to present it to the class. 

In Class 

1. Teach any unknown vocabulary and set the mood for the story: quiet, calm, and comfortable. 

simple dramatic gestures for effect. Make sure you look up from the book. It will be far more

difficult to hold the group's attention if you bury your he

3. As the story is finished, ask the students in groups or pairs to write their own endings to it

Most students seem to want happy or trick endings such as: "The princess bribed the lion

keeper to feed the lion up so that it wasn't hungry," or "The King saw it as a sign from God when

the lion turned away." Others may prefer a more twisted ending: "He fought the 

ideas in writing. 

4. When the groups have finished their versions, read or let a student read: "...acting on the

decision she had made after days and nights of weighing the awful choice, she nodded to the

right. The young man saw and without hesitating walked to the right-hand door and opened it.

The groups then read their versions in turn, and share their feelings about 

5. This may lead to further discussion about why they wanted their particular end to the story

what kinds of stories they liked as children, or the fascination of ghost stories and fairy stories

Moreover, some students will probably have some stories they would like to tell or favorite

characters they want to describe. 

Figure 1.3 From Recipes for Tired Teachers edited by Christopher Sion. Addison-Wesley Publishing 

Company, Inc.. 1985.. Reprinted by permission. 
The Story

Many years ago in a country in North Africa there lived a king who had some very strange 

of them. 

he plan seemed most fair to the king. The accused could choose his own fate. He simply 

r. When the king found out that they loved each 

ther, he put the young man into prison and set a day for his public trial. Then the kind ordered 

e whole kingdom to be searched for the biggest lion and the most beautiful woman. 

rrived. The young man entered the field. He was so handsome that 

e crowd greeted him with a hum of admiration and fear. How terrible this was for him! 

ng into the field the handsome young soldier turn

 he fixed his eyes on the princess, who was sitting on her father's right. The young 

 her eyes that the princess knew on which side lion was and which the lady. There 

as not a moment to lose. His eyes asked her, "Which door shall I choose?" 

r had chos loveliest in the land. In the 

ances at the soldier. Sometimes she even 

w could se her lover to another 

w could she bear to see him torn apart by the lion? The princess paused. Then acting 

 days and nights of weighing the awful choice, she nodded to 

e right. The young man saw, and without hesitating, walked to the right-hand door and opened 

his is an adaptation of the well-known story, "The Lady n. It 

ed i ation set by the Ministry of Education of the United Republic of Tanzania. 

customs. One of these was the way he decided if a prisoner was guilty or not guilty. Whenever 

one of his subjects was accused of a serious crime, the king decided that the fate of the accused 

would be determined in front of the people. On the chosen day, the king, his followers, and all the 

people gathered on a small hill. In front of the hill was a big building with two doors, exactly alike, 

set side by side. At the king's signal, the accused would walk to the doors and open one 

Behind one door was a hungry lion which would eat the prisoner as a punishment for his crime. 

Behind the other door was a beautiful woman to whom the prisoner would be married 

immediately as a reward for his innocence. 

T

opened a door and was at once either eaten or married. 

Now it happened that the king's beautiful daughter, whom he loved above all things, had fallen in 

love with a poor but handsome young soldie

o

th

Finally, the day of the trial a

th

Advanci ed, as was his custom, and bowed to 

the king. But

man saw in the 

w

The princess knew that the woman her fathe

past she had seen this woman throw admiring gl

suspected that these glances were returned. Ho

woman? Ho

en was the 

 she bear to lo

on the decision she had made after

th

it...... 

Author's Note 

T and the Tiger," by Frank R. Stockto

appear n an examin

Mo Strangeman

gure 1.3 continues 

 and th al exams will reassure your 

You can demonstrate this how to explain simply and 

ing examination strategies, by holding mock exams, and by 

s. (Chapter Eight presents further guidelines for testing.) 

 ticking to a rigid curriculum leaves you feeling frustrated, an out-of-class English club could provide a 

outlet for your creativity. A play can be produced and presented to the school or even to other schools 

 the area. Debating teams within the school could challenge each other. Or you may be able to work with 

ther TEFL Volunteers to set up series of debates with teams travelling from school to school. If you have 

e connections with schools in the United States, an international pen-pal club can also be a popular 

ddition to extracurricular activities. 

ited hours and low motivation for English instruction 

 countries where English is taught as a foreign language, as opposed to a second language, some 

the science or technical sections, are allocated as little as one hour of English 

Fi

Showing that you are familiar with the curriculum

students of your seriousness.

e format of the nation

 familiarity by knowing

clearly the rules of English grammar, by teach

giving feedback on performances in these exam

If s

good 

in

o

th

a

 Lim

In

classes? particularly those in 
a week. This is typically the case in countries in Francophone Africa. Providing meaningful lessons and 

be going on to university or college will find that especially in the sciences, many of 

e textbooks and articles they will be asked to read will be in English. If possible, you could try to invite 

ection 1

When we want people to do things. we use

ifferent

ays. Spoken instructions can be very direct. for

exa

Open the window: Close the door. 

sing this table Make sure the instructions are

llowed correctly Make up some instructions of

stimulating motivation in this context is a challenge. 

But it is important that you should help your students understand the necessity of learning English. Those of 

your students who will

th

outside speakers, such as a librarian or science teacher from a local University. Their testimony should go a 

long way toward convincing your students that learning English could be very beneficial. 

Remember that in classes with such severe time constraints, your emphasis is likely to be on reading or 

listening comprehension. The opportunity for developing speaking or writing skills in approximately thirty 

hours of English a year is very limited. 

In teaching classes with limited hours and low motivation, a good strategy is to work closely with the science 

teacher to develop simple materials which mirror the materials covered in the science class. Textbooks such 

as Basic English for Science by Peter Donovan, provide a model of how you can do so. An example of an 

activity from that book is shown in Figure 1.4. 

Figure 1.4 From Basic English for Science by Peter Donovan. Oxford University Press, 1978. 

Reprinted by permission.

unit 6 

class work 

Now make up your own instructions with these 

verbs and prepositions: 

take. ..off 

switch/turn... off/on 

pick... up 

put... down 

turn.... round 

s

SECTION 1 simple instructions 

A

instructions. Instructions can be given in d

w

mple:

Give instructions to other people in the class. 

u

fo

your own. 

Open 

Close 

Shut 

Your book 

The window 

The door 

The cupboard 

 

Many verbs which are used for instructions are 

followed by a preposition. For example. Turn the 

light on.. Switch the radio off. 

Give more instructions. using this table Again. 

make sure they are carried out correctly. 

In everyday English we could say 

Put some sugar in your coffee. 

What verbs would we use for these instructions? 

1 some water into a beaker 

or 

a beaker with water 


Sp

ome of your students may suffer from some form of physical disability, and in mild cases of disability the 

spotted. For example, students with mild hearing or visual impairment often 

unconsciously develop coping strategies, and the only clue you have is that their performance in class may 

no

ou may be able to help these students. First, when a student is obviously struggling to keep up, check that 

demic career. By identifying and acknowledging the physical problem, and by being patient and by 

etting them up to succeed, you can help these students build up their self-image. 

professional ability to assess your students' needs, identify problems and 

evelop solutions. If there are programs for special education in your country, the Volunteers working in 

NS OUTSIDE OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM 

scusses these constraints and presents some solutions. 

ke, despite the fact that this interrupts the flow of work and the learner has little 

tention of internalizing the correction. 

give one-on-one lessons since many high level officials are reluctant to take 

lasses with junior officials. If this is the case, two features should be remembered: keep classes to a 

aximum of one hour per session and keep materials closely related to the learner's needs. 

 tutoring, a little and often is far less demanding on both teacher and learner than long sessions once a 

ecial needs of students 

S

problem might not have been 

t be up to standard. 

Y

this struggle is not caused by visual or auditory impairments. Sometimes moving a student to the front of the 

class where the blackboard is easily seen can be helpful. Or taking the time to stand near a student who has 

hearing problems and repeating your instructions clearly can make a difference. If it seems appropriate, you 

may want to contact the family of a student with disabilities, to see if the family will consider getting 

professional help. Glasses or a hearing aid could transform a student's performance. 

Second, you can also help by building up the confidence of students with disabilities. All too often these 

students have a low self-image, brought on by being told that they are poor students and not good enough 

for an aca

s

Third, you can expand your own 

d

these programs will be an invaluable source of information. The ICE catalogue also has a section on Special 

Education-Specific Disabilities. Many of the manuals in this section offer practical and relevant advice on 

how you can help students with disabilities move into the mainstream. Disabled Village Children by David 

Werner (ICE No. SE 046) is available free to all PCVs working with children with special needs. 

 CONSTRAINTS AND SOLUTIO

Two major constraints in this situation are: 

• tutoring 

• no suitable textbooks 

This section di

 Tutoring 

Language involves communication. Teaching one-on-one classes restricts the amount of communication. A 

learner in this situation also frequently becomes dependent on the teacher and has difficulty in 

understanding anyone else speaking English. A teacher in this situation has no opportunity to gauge how the 

learner interacts with others in English and may have difficulty in establishing the "space" in which to deal 

professionally with the learner's demands. For instance, a learner might insist on being corrected 

immediately after every mista

in

However you may be obliged to 

c

m

In

week. Establishing a system whereby the learner matches time in class with assignment work out of class 

will help the learner work independently and give you, the teacher, a way of assessing your student's 

motivation. 

 No suitable textbooks 
If there are no suitable textbooks, the materials covered should relate to the learner's professional interests 

and needs. This strategy also gives you an opportunity to use your student as an informant on projects and 

decision-making processes with the bureaucracy, and can help you be more effective in working in your 

office. Where possible, set up "real" communicative situations. Your student can write in English to agencies 

outside of the country for publications of professional interest. 

In some cases your students may tell you during your assessment of their needs that they simply want to 

learn some conversational English for a vacation in the U.S. or U.K. To meet the needs of these students try 

 imagine the situations in which they will need to speak English-at a hotel, in a restaurant, at an airport. Set 

, for instance between a receptionist and some newlyrrived guests. Your students will enjoy working with you when they see that you are meeting their needs, 

insufficient numbers of textbooks 

r further reading 

echniques and Principles in Language Teaching 

Freeman 

xford University Press, 1986 

ack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers 

s, 1986 

his book is academic in its approach. If you would like to know more about the theory underpinning 

to

up some role plays and build up some dialogues

a

and the lack of textbooks will not be a constraint on their learning. 

 Summary 

This chapter outlines who to ask and what to ask in a needs assessment. 

This chapter suggests solutions to the problems inside the school system, such as 

large multilevel classes 

strict adherence to the curriculum 

limited hours for English instruction 

special needs of students 

This chapter suggests solutions to the problems outside the school system, such as 

individual classes 

no suitable textbooks 

 Suggestions fo

T

Diane LarsenO

This book is both practical and user friendly. The author visited classrooms in which a variety of techniques 

are used. Methods are described in an objective way. The descriptions will give you ideas on how you can 

adapt methods to suit the needs of your situation. 

Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching 

J

Cambridge University Pres

T

different approaches and methods, you will find this book helpful and interesting. 

 
CHAPTER TWO 

srooms and English language 

teaching. 

ge learning days. Did you ever have a teacher who forced everyone to learn 

 the same way? Were all the students equally happy with that class? Probably not. The chances are that a 

acher who showed no flexibility and appreciation of variety in learning style was not very motivating or 

 chance to try speaking the new language. Others, more reserved, prefer to listen and understand 

efore speaking. Some people find that studying the grammar is an important step for them in establishing a 

ge learning. Others never study the rules, but find that putting themselves in 

ituations where they have to communicate is enough to trigger their learning. 

s you become more familiar with your job you will find that you learn to trust your instincts and your ability 

y need to read about methods and approaches, and you 

hould look for opportunities to talk to experienced teachers about what they think of different methods. 

dents and which ensures they get the best out of every lesson. 

arning; with 

yllabus, learning and teaching activities, learner and teacher roles, and instructional materials; and with 

lassroom techniques, practices, and behaviors. 

his chapter examines ten different approaches or methods, and identifies the choices offered by each of 

Grammar Translation Method 

Working with a variety of approaches 

his chapter examines the diversity found in language teaching today, looking at three 

traditional approaches to language teaching, four communicative approaches, and 

three innovative approaches. Each approach is discussed in terms of its background, 

distinguishing features, and the impact on Volunteers' clas

Think back to your own langua

in

te

successful. 

''There is no single acceptable way to go about teaching language today." This quote from Diane LarsenFreeman's writings on language teaching methodology sums up a major trend away from unity to diversity. 

There has been a growing realization that people learn in different ways, and that approaches which suit one 

person may not suit another. For example, some outgoing personalities love to experiment and can hardly 

wait for the

b

framework for their langua

s

Against this backdrop, teachers of English have concluded that no single approach or method is appropriate 

for all learning styles. A good lesson will therefore be one in which you use a smorgasbord of activities taken 

from a variety of sources. By varying your technique, you will give students of all styles the chance to shine 

some of the time. With this thought in mind, you can begin to appraise the language learning approaches 

used in the country in which you serve. Each approach has something to offer. Your task is to identify and 

exploit those elements. 

A

to judge when to switch techniques. At first you ma

s

Then, gradually as you get to know your students, you will find that you can sense when a class is tired, or 

confused, or in need of quiet time, or particularly interested. And you will find that you know when to dip into 

your repertoire of approaches, games and exercises to find the appropriate activity which suits the mood of 

your stu

The terms "method" and "approach" will be used interchangeably in this chapter. For example, the chapter 

refers to the Audio-lingual Method and the Communicative Approach. A number of different ways of 

distinguishing between methods and approaches have been proposed by experts in the field but the 

distinctions usually blur. Both deal with theory of the nature of language and language le

s

c

T

these ten. The approaches or methods are divided into: 

Traditional language teaching 

Direct Method 

Audio-lingual Method 

Communicative language teaching 

Communicative Approach 
Total Physical Response 

Natural Approach 

Competency-Based Approach 

Innovative language teaching 

Silent Way 

Community Language Learning 

Suggestopedia 

In this chapter the comments on each of the ten approaches or methods are divided into three parts. First, 

ound. This section gives a short history of each method and will give you an 

ea of the developments in English language teaching over the past fifty years. Second, the section on 

istinguishing features highlights the special features of each method and approach. Third, the section on 

 your classroom and your teaching concentrates on ideas in each method which may be 

elpful to you. This section owes much to conversations with TEFL Volunteers like yourself. These 

hing 

hose of you teaching English as a secondary project may find that your older students want to use the 

 adult students. A fundamental principle in teaching is moving 

om the known to the unknown. In this case, it means taking into account your students' previous 

the 

itial stages. 

s have limited fund ng from a 

ve year old reflects only one approach. As newcomers your role 

 hand, you offend with ou do 

ght of your goal to t olleagues vative 

 follow in ervice i yllabus? 

ivities fro gy. O ith your 

 that you re d good points ay he more 

ng their confiden t changes w other more 

Backgrou

as an intellectual activity. Until twenty years 

ago, t nly used in Europe to teach Latin in schools. Those countries which were 

still bear the traces of this association in the use of 

nguage classrooms. 

comes the section on backgr

id

d

the impact on

h

Volunteers, having faced initial hesitations about which method to use, have suggested the positive and 

practical ways in which you can judge the benefits and impact different methods will have on your English 

lessons. 

 Traditional language teac

The Grammar Translation Method, the Direct Method, and the Audiolingual Method have been included not 

to give you a history of language teaching, but because they still strongly influence English instruction in 

many parts of the world. You will doubtless come across educationalists, now in decision-making positions, 

who have successfully learned English using one of these approaches. And their thinking on language 

learning is likely to be influenced by their experience. Belittling these approaches as counter-communicative 

or out of date may arouse their suspicion of your abilities as a teacher and may diminish your ability to 

eventually bring about change. 

T

approach they knew at school. Dismissing this attachment will not help you develop the productive 

relationship you want to establish with your

fr

experience and using some of the activities from methodologies they feel comfortable with, at least in 

in

Many countrie s for buying textbooks. Consequently you may find yourself worki

syllabus based on a twenty-fi

 one. On the one

 textbook which

is a delicate do not want to 

r

your criticisms, but on the other, y

not want to lose si ansfer to your c your technical skills and your inno

ideas. A good strategy to

using some of the act

 the opening stages of your s

m the prescribed methodolo

s to be seen as covering the s

nce you have established w

colleagues and students s n

ce and in bringing abou

pect the traditions a of the system, you m

successful in winni hich lead to the use of 

effective teaching methods. 

Grammar translation method 

nd 

The Grammar Translation Method looks upon language learning 

his method was commo

closely associated with Britain or France sometimes 

modified forms of Grammar Translation in la

Distinguishing Features 
In a typical Grammar Translation class the main focus is on reading and writing, with little attention being 

iven to speaking or listening. The central text for each lesson is literary. Passages are selected from 

s Dickens, or modern writers such as Chinua Achebe 

nd V.S. Naipaul. These passages are read and then comprehension questions are asked and answered, 

rst orally, then in writing. Grammar is taught deductively, through presentation and study of the rules, 

llowed by practice through translations and exercises. Vocabulary selection is based on the reading text 

sed. Words are taught through bilingual lists and memorization. Students are often asked to write the new 

 expect Grammar Translation activities. Memorization 

e United States, where 

the on understanding concepts rather than memorizing texts, the role of memorization 

tends to be downgraded. However memorization does not exclude understanding, and as a teacher of 

languages it behooves you to play to syllabus followed in your school 

includes literary texts and you have presented a poem, explored its ideas and are satisfied that your 

tudents understand them, then asking your students to learn the poem is a good way to reinforce learning 

nd one that your students will be used to. 

Your students may also be used to the style of teacher-student interaction generated by the Grammar 

Translation Method. In this method the teacher initiates interaction and there are seldom any student-tostudent exchanges. The role of the teacher is a traditionally authoritarian one and the role of the student is to 

obey. Sudden changes to this dynamic can result in near chaos, so any alteration you want to make should 

be carried out cautiously. You may want to ask your supervisor if you can sit in on a few lessons given by 

your colleagues. Observing other teachers can give you an idea of the sort of student-teacher relationship 

which exists in your school and can give you the parameters of a model to follow. 

Direct method 

Background 

The Direct Method developed in the nineteenth century as educationalists attempted to build a language 

learning methodology around their observations of child language learning. These educationalists argued 

that a foreign language could be taught without translation or use of the learner's native tongue. The Direct 

Method therefore insists on thinking and communicating directly in the target language and does not allow 

translation. The Berlitz School of Languages is the best known proponent of this method. 

Distinguishing Features 

he four language skills are taught from the beginning, but a special emphasis is placed on speaking. 

 using full sentences. Students will then ask 

ach other similar questions. Other practice exercises include filling-in-the-blanks, dictation, controlled 

omposition or listening comprehension exercises. Grammar is taught inductively, that is to say, language 

h " rule can become an issue. Teachers complain that it is sometimes time consuming to 

mime vocabulary, when a simple translation would do. And some words are difficult to mime. Students 

become frustrated when some members of the class do not understand the teacher's explanations and 

when the whole class is held up until the meaning becomes clear to all. 

g

authors such as Mark Twain, George Orwell, Charle

a

fi

fo

u

words in a sentence. 

Impact on Your Classroom and Your Teaching 

Many of your students will he used to and may

particularly may be considered a valued teaching tool, especially in societies where oral traditions are 

strong, or where periods of study in Koranic or Buddhist schools are the norm. In th

emphasis is placed 

 your students' strengths. If the 

s

a

T

Classes often start with the reading aloud of a specially graded text which introduces the lesson's 

vocabulary and grammatical structure. Practice follows with exercises such as guided conversation, where 

the teacher asks questions on the text and the students answer

e

c

patterns are presented and practiced, but the rules are not explicitly given. The Direct Method teacher uses 

mime, demonstration, realia, and visual aids to help students understand grammar and vocabulary. 

Impact on Your Classroom and Your Teaching 

T e "No Translation
Wh e amount of your students' native language you use in class, you should use 

your common sense in this question of translation. If you judge that your students are not getting the point, 

or the meaning of a particular word, if you think that your lesson is straying from its objectives, and if you 

know the word in your students' language, then give a translation and get on with your lesson. 

Many of the textbooks based on the Direct Method, most of which are by now quite dated, were written for 

Western school children. This can be problematic since the method is heavily dependent on the text, and the 

texts are not guaranteed to be culturally accessible. A textbook used in Francophone Africa describes 

chi or breakfast, putting on their Wellington boots because it is raining, and catching 

a double-decker bus to go to school. It is not difficult to transfer this lesson into a cultural context that your 

students will understand, but it is an additional barrier for your students to overcome. And your role in this 

process will be to provide the necessary cultural translation. 

ere set up to teach American military personnel languages 

uch as German, French, Japanese and Tagalog. Strong emphasis was placed on aural-oral training. The 

rams. This method was also influenced by behavioral 

sychologists who believed that foreign language learning is basically a process of mechanical habit 

dialogue, then practice grammar patterns in drills such as listen and repeat, 

ubstitution, chain, and transformation. Accuracy in pronunciation is emphasized and fostered through 

pact on Your Classroom and Your Teaching 

 described above. For most Americans variety 

nd change is an essential part of their learning experience. Therefore, you may sometimes find yourself 

ur students' stamina and capacity to repeat drills in mantra-like fashion seemingly for hours at 

 time. 

 Chapter Four will 

elp your students focus on speedy comprehension, and a judicious use of group work with meaningful 

nts to demonstrate that they are thinking about what they are saying. 

he studies sought to evaluate how language itself is used-how native speakers of a language express 

ile monitoring carefully th

ldren having cornflakes f

 Audiolingual method (ALM) 

Background 

During the Second World War, army programs w

s

Audiolingual Method developed from these prog

p

formation. 

Distinguishing Features 

In the Audiolingual Method, skills are taught in the natural order of acquisition: listening, speaking, reading 

and writing. Audiolingual classes begin with a dialogue which introduces the lesson's sentence patterns. The 

students memorize this 

s

minimal pair drills where students learn to differentiate between sounds such as the vowels in "ship" and 

"sheep," "hit" and "heat," and "bit" and "beat." Lessons are sequenced according to grammatical complexity. 

Translation, considered to cause interference from the mother tongue, is not allowed. Learning is tightly 

controlled by the teacher, who follows the text closely. 

Im

Many of your students will be familiar with the type of activities

a

amazed by yo

a

To ensure that mindless chanting does not take over, you may wish to emphasize some of the speed and 

competitiveness promoted by the Audiolingual Method. Some of the games referred to in

h

tasks will oblige your stude

 Communicative language teaching 

The late 1960s saw a shift in focus from the Audiolingual Method and its prototypes to communicative 

language teaching. Figure 2.1 shows some of the differences between Grammar Translation, the 

Audiolingual Method, and Communicative Language Teaching. 

This shift evolved partly as a result of studies carried out by the Council of Europe, which began to identify 

the language needed in a variety of social situations by someone immigrating to Common Market countries. 

T

themselves in various situations. The studies had a major impact on the teaching of English as a foreign 

language. Teachers and curriculum designers began to look at content, at the kind of language needed 
when greeting or shopping. The emphasis on form, on explicitly learning grammar rules or practicing 

grammatical patterns, was downplayed in favor of an approach designed to meet learners' needs when 

using the language in daily interaction. 

There is no single text or authority on communicative language teaching. It is referred to as an approach that 

ims to make communication the goal of language teaching. Several models have evolved around this 

rinciple. This chapter presents the Communicative Approach, Total Physical Response, Natural Approach, 

nd Competency-Based Approach. As you will see, these approaches overlap. Communicative activities 

articularly are impossible to pin down to only one approach. 

 takes 

lace. For instance, different language will be used when complaining to a teacher than when complaining to 

aking skills the aim is to be understood, not to 

peak like a native. In the sequencing of lessons, priority is given to learner interests and needs. This is in 

contrast to a grammar driven method which may start with verb tenses, and work through from the present 

imple to the conditionals. In the Communicative Approach, if a learner needs to know how to give advice ("If 

ive many examples of the kind of 

ctivities to be found in a classroom following the Communicative Approach. Learners usually work in pairs 

r groups for role play, information sharing, or problem solving. 

igure 2.2 is an extract from Skills for Learning, written by a team of writers at the University of Malaya. The 

g activity. 

omparison of Distinguishing Features of Three Approaches to Language Teaching

a

p

a

p

 Communicative approach 

Background 

The emphasis is placed on using the target language to accomplish a function such as complaining, 

advising, or asking for information. Attention is also paid to the social context in which this function

p

a close friend. 

Distinguishing Features 

All four language skills are taught from the beginning. In spe

s

s

I were you, I would ....") then this conditional is taught. Interaction between speakers and listeners or readers 

and writers is at the root of all activities. Chapters Three and Four g

a

o

F

extract illustrates a problem-solvin

Figure 2.1 A C

 GRAMMAR TRANSLATION AUDIOLINGUIAL METHOD

GRAMMAR RULES Central feature Not explained 

MEANINGFUL COMMUNICATION Not important Limited 

PRONUNCIATION Not considered Target = native-like pronunciation 

USE OF TRANSLATION Central feature Forbidden 

SEQUENCING OF LESSONS Follows linguistic complexity Follows linguistic complexity 

TEACHER-STUDENT ROLES Teacher-centered Teacher-centered 

ATTITUDE TO ERRORS Accuracy emphasized Accuracy emphasized 

BALAN

SKILLS

CE OF LANGUAGE Reading and writing emphasized Listening and speaking emphasized

COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

Explained when necessary 

Central feature 

Target = comprehensible pronunciation 

Used when necessary 

Follows learners' needs 

Teacher facilitates student-to-student interaction 

Errors part of learning process 

Skills taught according to learners' needs 
SUGGEST A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM

A man needs to cross a winding river. He finds two planks of about the same length, but neither of 

them is long enough to stretch across the river. 

Suggest a solution to the problem. Express the solution in one of these ways: 

a. in words only 

b. in the form of a drawing 

c. in the form of a step-by-step chart 

Figure 2.2 From Skills for Learning: Development by a team of writers at the University of Malaya. 

University of Malaya Press, 1980. Reprinted by permission.

Exercises using authentic materials are a hallmark of the Communicative Approach. Authentic materials, 

such as newspapers or recordings from the radio, are selected so that learners can practice language in real 

situations where possible. Here are some announcements taken from the classified section of an American 

newspaper. 

Garage Sales 

Great for students. 6838 Floyd Ave. 

Sat. 9-2, rain/shine. Collectibles/ 

sofa/mower/bikes/household items. 
Firewood, Coal & Fuel 

Seasoned hardwood 1 year old. 

16-20" length. Delivered and 

dumped in driveway. 1 cord $125; 

2 cords $225; 3 cords $325. 

777-9576. 

 1 mo to 10 yrs. 

nacks, lunch incl. Academically 

These ads can be used as a basis for communicative activities at all levels. For example, at the beginners' 

vel a question and answer exercise could be on numbers. What time is the garage sale? How much does 

r level, the 

tudents could guess the meanings of words from the context ("shine," 'dumped," "driveway," "cord," 

nacks"). Or the advertisements could be used as a springboard for discussion on topics such as child care, 

atural resources, and student accommodation. 

pact on Your Classroom and Your Teaching 

he Communicative Approach will challenge your creativity to set up situations in which your students can 

eir competency in the four language skills. Group work is basic to this demonstration. But you 

ay face difficulties in the logistics of organizing your groups. Lack of space, or complaints from other 

g policy for group work will have to be spelled out and you will 

eed to monitor that everyone is contributing to the group effort. You should also leave the time and the 

for individual work. 

istinguishing Features 

ds, 

arners acquire a language through an unconscious process which involves using the language for 

ich results in 

nowledge about the rules of a language, but not necessarily in an ability to use the language. The learner's 

mo

red

suc

Th

the

Child Care/Nurseries 

Licensed day care provider has 

immed. opening ages

S

oriented. 221-0094, 710 am. 

le

a cord of wood cost? Would a two-year old be accepted by the day care provider? At a highe

s

"s

n

Im

T

demonstrate th

m

teachers about the noisy moving of desks, might feature in your first few weeks of asking your class to divide 

into groups. You will have to consider all of your options. Can you work outside? Is it possible to use the 

library for your lessons'? Can you set up a reward system to encourage your students to move quickly and 

quietly into their groups? 

You may also encounter resistance to group work from your students. Some of the better students may 

resent having to "share" their skills and grades. Some of the less motivated students may take the 

opportunity to do even less work. Your gradin

n

opportunity to earn grades 

 Total physical response (TPR) and the natural approach 

Background 

TPR is a language teaching method built around the coordination of speech and action. It attempts to teach 

language through physical activity. The Natural Approach shares with TPR an emphasis on exposing the 

learner to hearing and understanding the language before requiring the learner to speak. 

D

Language skills are taught in the natural order of acquisition: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Both 

the Natural Approach and TPR focus on the importance of listening comprehension as the basis for 

language acquisition. Both approaches believe that language is acquired, not learned. In other wor

le

meaningful communication. Learning, on the other hand, involves a conscious process wh

k

ther tongue is seldom used. Meaning is made clear by mime, drawing, etc. Great attention is paid to 

ucing learner anxiety. The Natural Approach stresses that self-confident learners with high motivation are 

cessful learners and that teachers should create a learning environment which promotes self-confidence. 

e sample lesson plan in Chapter Eight contains a TPR activity, where students are asked to demonstrate 

ir understanding by following the teacher's oral commands. ("Go to the board and point to the drawing of 
Jua

to ing the 

econd stage, individual students take over, directing the teacher and the other students in parts of or in the 

mediate level action sequence, look at Figure 2.3, giving 

structions in how to design boxes. 

the lesson in Chapter Eight contains a Presentation segment where the 

acher talks about his/her family before asking the students to talk about their families. In many instances 

our students will be curious about life in the United States, and this comprehensible input stage provides a 

 for you to build a good personal relationship with your class. 

hes can be useful and fun, especially when you are working with beginners, or with students 

t a technical or vocational center who only take one hour of English a week, or with students whose 

n's sister.") Action sequences in response to a series of commands are graded and vary from the simple 

the intricate. After the first stage of listening to the teacher, the students will be ready to speak. Dur

s

whole action sequence. For an example of a inter

in

Impact on Your Classroom and Your Teaching 

In both of these approaches, the role of the teacher is to generate comprehensible input. This means that 

when presenting new materials you have to be prepared to speak, mime, draw, or use real objects to get 

your meaning across. Only when you are satisfied that your students understand and are ready to speak do 

you ask them to do so. Again, 

te

y

way of satisfying that curiosity and a way

These approac

a

greatest need is for listening comprehension. It is also useful when you lack adequate textbooks. Very few 

institutions offer courses which use only TPR or the Natural Approach, but many teachers have commented 

that comprehension-based activities reduce learning stress. 
Figure 2.3 From Shifting Gears, Book 1, edited by Patrick Moran. Department of State and

Experiment in International Living, 1983. Reprinted by permission. 

Competency-based approach 

Background

e Competency-Based Approach focuses on acquiring life coping skills while developing the language to 

rform these skills. This approach is based on theories of adult learning which state that for effective 

rning to take place, adults need to know that what they are studying will improve their lives. The approach 

s been developed and applied in the United States to help

Th

pe

lea

a immigrants and refugees learn English and life 

ocational training.

Dis

Th

voc

com

materials are used and the learner is encouraged to practice the language by performing real tasks outside 

h

skills at the same time. It is also used in v

tinguishing Features

e learner's needs dominate the Competency-Based Approach. Language skills and grammar and

abulary are sequenced according to the learner's needs. Translation is used only if necessary for 

munication. Context is used as much as possible to help the learner deduce meaning. Authentic 
of 

Approach, the Competency-Based Approach bases its activities on interaction. Pair work and group work 

re used to generate communication in activities such as problem solving and filling information gaps. In one 

ise, the learner is asked to find someone with the same information he or she 

ha

tea

rai

qu

exa

pact on Your Classroom and Your Teaching 

Th

to 

use

Sh

United States. The practical, life skills orientation of the Competency-Based Approach is clearly shown in 

is exercise. Following this example, you could build an English lesson around giving instructions for your 

n changing a tire, building a level wall, making a chair, or making a flashlight. To conduct 

the

wo

tha

the

nnovative language teaching 

Th

lan

La sked yourself which elements of these 

pproaches could be used in your classes. 

the classroom, such as giving a message to another English speaking teacher. Like the Communicative 

a

type of information gap exerc

s. In ''Find Your Partners" the teacher hands out eleven pictures to learners and keeps the twelfth. The 

cher then describes his or her picture and asks any learners who think they may have the same picture to 

se their hands. The teacher questions those who raise their hands. Through this process of asking 

estions it will become clear that while all the pictures in the group are similar, only one other picture is 

ctly the same. 

Im

e Competency-Based Approach is a rich source of materials and ideas for those of you teaching English 

students in technical colleges, in vocational centers, or on the job. The approach is grounded in specific, 

ful tasks which cover a wide range of skills as well as language. Figure 2.4 is an exercise taken from 

ifting Gears, one of a series of books written for refugees in Southeast Asia preparing to move to the 

th

students to follow o

se lessons you might need to coordinate your choice of topic with the teachers giving courses in 

odwork, construction, or auto maintenance. You may need to prepare yourself, checking with colleagues 

t your technical instructions are in line with those taught in other classes. You will also need to organize 

 tools and materials your students will need for the class. 

 I

ese innovative approaches have been included in this chapter because in your pre-service or in-service 

guage training you may have been taught by language trainers using the Silent Way, Community 

nguage Learning, or Suggestopedia, and you may have a

a
Patrick Moran. Department of State and Experiment in 

ternational Living, 1983. Reprinted by permission.

eace Corps Trainees and Volunteers who have learned languages in these approaches tend either to love 

hould be shown for how learners feel about themselves as language learners. Negative 

feelings about the learning process can block learning. Enhancing a learner's self-confidence leads to 

e classrooms.

Figure 2.4 From Shifting Gears, Book 1, edited by 

In

P

them or hate them. Regardless of your feelings in the matter, the important task here is to examine your 

language learning experience and determine what implications they may have for you as a teacher of 

English. Feedback from Volunteers who have learned languages using these approaches leads to the 

following conclusions: 

• No one method is sufficient on its own. Different learning styles have to be taken into account. 

• Consideration s

successful learning. 

• Working together as a group is a vital part of language learning. Group members support each other, 

and the interaction between them provides a real need for communication and an opportunity to practice 

the target language. 

These are valuable guidelines which you can easily follow in your English languag
 The Silent Way 

Background 

In the Silent Way learners are actively responsible for their own learning. Learning a language is seen not as 

a process of habit formation, as is advocated by the Audiolingual Method, but rather a process whereby the 

learner discovers the rules of the target language and then applies those rules to understand and use the 

nguage. In other words, learning is more effective if learners discover the rules for themselves, rather than 

st remembering and repeating what is to be learned. A basic premise of the Silent Way is that the teacher 

d should encourage the learner to speak as much as possible. Mistakes 

re considered part of the process of discovering the rules, and the teacher should not interfere in this 

taught from the beginning, though reading and writing are sequenced to follow 

hat has been produced orally. Special charts are used to teach pronunciation. First, there is a sound-color 

rget language. The teacher and 

tudents point to blocks of color on the chart to form syllables, words and sentences. Second, there are the 

ich help students associate the sounds of the language with 

eir spelling. For example, "ay," "ea," "ei" and "eigh," which are all different spellings of the sound /ey/ in 

 Peace Corps Volunteer describes the Silent Way activities with rods used to teach her Thai: 

ach us the numbers. She put 

two rods on the table, said the Thai word for "two" and gestured that we should repeat the word. After 

Th ts charts are specially prepared by an 

organization in New York. Teachers using the method usually undergo intensive training in its techniques 

an

stu

ap

a m

stu

pre aterials, you stand back and let your students experiment with the rules and generate talk in 

English. Your only role during this group work is to make sure that the group atmosphere is open to the 

con

Co

la

ju

should talk as little as possible an

a

process by correcting the learner's mistakes. 

Distinguishing Features 

All four language skills are 

w

chart, containing blocks of color, each one representing a sound in the ta

s

word charts, containing words whose letters are color coded in the same way as the sound-color chart. The 

teacher and students make up sentences, point to words on the chart and read the sentences they have 

spoken. Third, there are color coded charts wh

th

English, are listed and color coded together. 

Cuisenaire rods (bits of wood of varying lengths and differing colors) are used to introduce vocabulary and 

structures. At the beginning level they can be used to teach numbers and colors ("Take two red rods."). At 

an intermediate level they can be used to teach comparatives ("The blue rod is bigger than the red one."). 

And at a later stages they can be used to teach conditionals ("If I had a blue one, I would give it to you."). 

A

Our teacher put the rods on the table, picked up each rod and told us the color of the rod. She used 

gestures to show when she wanted one of us to give the word for the color "red" or "blue." If the 

pronunciation was wrong she used gestures to get us to repeat the word again. Everyone in the group 

helped, offering his or her version until our teacher gestured that someone had the right version. When 

we had learned the colors, she used the same method with the rods to te

that she asked, for instance, for three blue rods or four green rods. We listened and then gave her the 

rods she asked for. It sounds pretty simple, but she could keep us busy for hours with those rods. 

Impact on Your Classroom and Your Teaching 

e Silent Way is designed to be used with small groups. I

d philosophy. Given these facts, what can you take from this method to use when teaching classes of forty 

dents? There are some sound pedagogical principles to consider in this method, principles which you can 

ply in your teaching. First is the idea that what students discover for themselves is retained and owned in 

ore permanent and meaningful way than are materials which have been packaged and only require 

dents to memorize them. Second is the idea of peer coaching in a noncompetitive environment. Having 

sented the m

tributions of all its members. 

mmunity language learning (CLL) 

Background 
In Community Language Learning, the aim is to involve the learner's whole personality. Affective and 

ht. CLL draws its insights and rationale from counseling 

chniques. The teacher is the counselor who gives assistance and support to the learners, who are the 

sitive energy and enthusiasm for learning. The relationships between the teacher and 

arner and between the learners themselves, therefore, take on great importance. 

Distinguishing Features 

The focus is initially on listening and speaking. Grammar rules are explained and translations are used when 

necessary to give learners a sense of security and control over the situation. The syllabus and materials are 

esigned mostly by the learners. A typical CLL class goes as follows: The learners form a small circle. A 

arner whispers, in his or her native language, what he or she wants to say to the teacher. The teacher 

the learner repeats the teacher's translation. The learner's repetition is recorded on a tape 

corder. This process is repeated with other learners in the group, until an entire group discussion, in the 

t in your lessons. First, CLL advocates that the teacher should acknowledge the stress and fears 

hich can be found in a language learning classroom. You can lower the stress in your lessons by making 

you

lively activities which make learning fun. Second, CLL encourages learners to produce their own materials. 

By helping your students to write short stories which are then published in the school magazine, organizing 

the

your students a sense of ownership and pride and you will sidestep the problem of trying to teach with few or 

inadequate textbooks. 

 Su

ackground 

u ia a n re efficient 

if the psychological barriers to learning are lowered. He believes that learners raise these barriers and limit 

emselves because of a fear of failure. In order to make better use of learners' capabilities, Lozanov has 

e

de

enthusiasm for language learning. 

Distinguishing Features 

 Suggestopedia, great attention is paid to the environment. The seating is as comfortable as possible, the 

 harsh, and music plays in the background. Colorful posters and charts are pinned to the wall. 

show attractive sights in the target language country. The charts contain grammatical 

es, students are invited to use their imaginations and to 

take on new names and new personalities in the target language. They are encouraged to visualize 

intellectual well-being are given equal weig

te

clients. The teacher's role is to understand the learners' fears and vulnerabilities as they struggle to master 

another language. By being sensitive to the learners' fears, the teacher can turn the negative energy of 

those fears into po

le

d

le

translates, and 

re

target language, has been recorded. This conversation is then transcribed and the teacher and learners 

discuss the transcription. Here, for instance, the teacher will point out that in French the adjective comes 

after the noun, and takes a singular or plural form. The group members then talk about how they have felt 

about their lesson. 

Impact on Your Classroom and Your Teaching 

Like the Silent Way, CLL is a method which works best in small groups and which requires special training 

for its teachers. But, also like the Silent Way, this method contains useful principles which you can easily 

implemen

w

r expectations and goals clear, by coaching your students in examination strategies and by providing 

m to write and act plays or skits, and developing project work, you will accomplish two goals: you will give 

ggestopedia 

B

The founder of S ggestoped , Georgi Lozanov, believes that langu ge learning ca be made mo

th

d veloped a process of "desuggestion," which he has applied to language learning. This process is 

signed to promote a relaxed frame of mind and to convert learners' fears into positive energy and 

In

lighting is not

The posters 

information which, in casual readings, the students will absorb without conscious effort. The Suggestopedia 

teacher's tone is always calm as students are reassured that language learning is easy and fun. At the 

beginning of the lesson, the teacher briefly presents the vocabulary and grammar. The text for the day is 

given to the students; in the left column the text is in the target language; in the right column it is in the 

students' mother tongue. The teacher reads the text, while music plays in the background. The students 

relax, close their eyes and listen. For homework, the students are asked to read the text just before going to 

bed and on getting up in the morning. The teacher leads the class in role play, question and answer, and 

other activities based on the text. During these activiti
the

com

Impact on Your Classroom and Your Teaching 

On vironment has a powerful impact on their 

learning. This principle raises interesting questions for you. When you first visited your school you might 

ha

Am

wo

try 

get posters of the United States from the USIS office? Could your family send you pictures of someone like 

Bruce Springsteen or Michael Jackson? Do you have artists in your classes who could illustrate the writings 

of ts you have recently 

resented'? 

rmally sit on the floor at home, consider bringing in mats to 

our next story telling class and asking your class to settle themselves comfortably on the floor to listen. You 

ay also want to bring your tape recorder to the class and to play music in the background. These features 

topedia are easy to imitate, and by introducing them into your classroom you will add enjoyment 

nd novelty to your lessons. 

 have them work through a set of audiolingual pattern drills which illustrate the 

feature. After they have done the drills, ask for volunteers to try to state the rule. If they have trouble 

 a tape recording of a 

short passage (two to three minutes at most), and ask for guesses about the meaning of the words. Have 

 apologies, compliments, and the like. Such materials are particularly useful in oneon-one tutoring situations. 

f the distinguishing features of the various types of communicative language teaching is that they 

emphasize the use of language in realistic ways. As you go about your daily routines, be on the alert for 

room activities which will motivate your students and allow them to demonstrate their use 

f English in real life tasks. 

To

ry to students using this method. It is especially effective with young 

arners but also useful in action sequences with adults. For example, any time you teach directions, 

ill improve both 

omprehension and retention. TPR activities are also a good way to break up a session in which students 

Na

hniques from the Natural Approach for the teaching of vocabulary. Decide on key 

ocabulary terms to be taught during the presentation phase of the lesson and plan how you will put 

ut? Can you show a 

mselves as successful people in their new identities, with exciting jobs and a good standing in the 

munity. 

e of the main principles of Suggestopedia is that the learners' en

ve been very conscious that the bareness of classroom walls contrasted strongly with your memories of 

erican schools, where typically the walls are filled with pictures, collages, and examples of students' 

rk. But maybe by now you are used to the bareness of the walls. The next time you walk into your school, 

to look at it with new eyes. Are you passing up the chance to visually stimulate your students? Can you 

their classmates'? And could you make charts encapsulating the grammar poin

p

If you are working in a culture where people no

y

m

of Sugges

a

 Suggestions for using selected language teaching techniques 

Grammar Translation Method and Audiolingual Method 

If your students feel that they must know the rule for a certain feature of grammar, try this adaptation of 

the Grammar Translation and Audiolingual Methods. Tell your students that they are going to discover 

the rules themselves. Then

expressing the rule, ask leading questions to guide them. 

Direct Method and Audiolingual Method 

Conversations, dialogues, or short narratives can be used to exercise the students' ability to guess 

meaning from context. Ask your students to listen for one or two specific words, play

your students justify their guesses by telling what clues they used. Conversations and dialogues are also 

an excellent way to practice conversational formulas such as greetings and leavetakings, simple 

requests, invitations,

Communicative Approaches 

One o

ways in which you use English to carry out simple tasks: for example, taking a phone message for a 

friend, or interpreting for someone who speaks English but doesn't know the local language. Adapt these 

tasks for class

o

tal Physical Response 

You can introduce new vocabula

le

have your students act them out, both with and without repetition of the directions. This w

c

have been sitting a long time. 

tural Approach 

Borrow some tec

v

across the meaning of each of the words. Is it a verb whose meaning you can act o
picture to illustrate the meaning? (Many teachers accumulate files of pictures specifically for this 

ompetency-Based Approach 

To help your students see how much they are learning, introduce real tasks or competencies and ask 

mplete these. For example, see if they can read a bus schedule and choose the best bus to 

take. Have them order a piece of equipment from a catalogue. 

ommunity Language Learning 

uggestopedia 

uggestions for further reading 

Se

Te

Dia

Ox

1986 

Ap

Jac

Ca

19

purpose.) Can you use stick figures drawn on the blackboard? Can you contrast or compare the meaning 

of the new word to that of words which the students already know? 

C

them to co

Silent Way 

Adapt techniques from the Silent Way for teaching pronunciation and basic literacy skills. If there is no 

sound-color chart available, make your own. Ask students to pronounce key words or to repeat 

sentences from the words that you or one of your students points to. 

C

If you want to encourage more of a team spirit in your class, you can borrow some of the activities from 

Community Language Learning. These will also promote real conversation. 

S

Suggestopedia techniques can be used to lower the anxieties of your students and to increase their 

ability to be ready to take in language, especially vocabulary. You might also try such a session during 

review before exam time to show learners how much they actually know. 

 S

e the end of Chapter One for comments about these references. 

chniques and Principles in Language Teaching 

ne Larsen-Freeman 

ford University Press 

proaches and Methods in Language Teaching 

k C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers 

mbridge University Press 

86 

 
Teaching speaking 

ks at overlapping of language skills in a Communicative Approach addressing the whole 

erson. It discusses the role of speaking in language learning and the qualities promoted by spoken 

mplementing spoken 

communicative activities are also outlined. The final section discusses the role of pronunciation in a 

verlapping skills and meaningful communication 

eat segments. They overlap. They 

ow in and out of each other. You may emphasize speaking in a particular activity, but at the same time you 

wil

ma

you iderably more messy than just reading books would 

lead you to believe. 

If y

complication of meaningful communication. In Chapter Two you read about the traditional approaches to 

language teaching (Grammar Translation, Direct Method, Audiolingual Method), which attempt to manage 

the

tea

language learning as interaction, elements of unpredictability naturally arise as the teacher opens the lesson 

 meaningful communication rather than focusing on practice of a grammar rule. 

 group of Volunteers from Honduras were talking about the reality gap between what students were 

pra

cla she was teaching the present simple tense, with "I eat my breakfast at 7 

o'clock" as her base sentence. As she was drilling the class, she noticed that despite the correctness of their 

res olunteer. "How 

ma ked. Less than half had eaten that morning. The Volunteer 

did anizing a program of school 

bre . As she said, "Their English 

wa But those kids talked non-stop for a year. They talked about themselves and their lives 

in the barrio. They translated jokes that never worked in English, and they didn't care. Neither did I. They 

we

 Sp

orking in an interactive mode means giving your students the opportunity to talk about themselves in 

ersonally relevant ways. In doing this you will be adding a new dimension to the language learning process. 

 intellectual and appealing to the emotions as well. Whether your students are 

dults, adolescents, or children, they will all respond to your interest in them. But working with the dimension 

irst of all you must feel comfortable in talking about feelings and opinions. 

held values with those 

ho are not members of the immediate family. 

CHAPTER THREE 

This chapter loo

p

interactive exercises. Practical solutions to overcoming the obstacles to i

Communicative Approach. 

 O

In your TEFL training, you may have been taught about the four language skills-reading, writing, listening, 

speaking-as separate items. But as might have occurred to you then, and must be obvious to you now that 

you are actually teaching, these four skills do not separate out into four n

fl

l also require your students to listen, and maybe to read and write. The tidy distinctions of TEFL training 

y be useful for packaging information. In the classroom, however, where you put that information to work, 

 will discover that language teaching, like life, is cons

ou are teaching in an interactive mode, to this overlapping of the four skills is added the richness and 

 language learning process by emphasizing a controlled, measured practicing of language items, with the 

cher very much in charge. When you use a Communicative Approach, on the other hand, emphasizing 

to

A

cticing in English class and what real communication would have covered. One Volunteer spoke of a 

ss she had been giving in which

ponses, her students all sounded mechanically sing-song. The truth dawned on the V

ny of you really had breakfast today?" she as

 not waste time berating herself for her insensitivity. Instead she began org

akfasts. And she learned to let the students' real life into the English lesson

s often incorrect.

re having fun, in English and in my class. And it was real." 

eaking to the whole person 

W

p

You will be moving beyond the

a

of feelings has constraints. 

F

Second, you must check that your students also feel comfortable in sharing their feelings and opinions. 

Some cultures do not consider it appropriate to talk about oneself, or to share deeply 

w
Th must create a classroom environment which is accepting and non-judgmental. To achieve this 

you should take on the role of an impartial facilitator: one who listens and acknowledges, but who does not 

impose views. If you expect students to trust you by talking about matters which are important to them, then 

ou must show that you respect their right to express their opinions, even if you do not agree with them. It 

ourth, the overall focus on feelings and opinions in discussions and activities should be constructive. This is 

ile allowing time for 

onsideration of the negative, you should also be prepared to move in positive directions. You can do this by 

asking questions such as "What do you like about yourself and your life?", rather than asking the kind of 

questions which focus on "What do you not like about yourself and your life?" 

Interactive speaking activities which revolve around your students' feelings and opinions can be used at 

lmost any time. But there are particular moments when they are especially useful. Tension builds up before 

2. Student A turns his back and students B and C talk about the good qualities of student A as a 

the cloze exercise." or "He's not afraid to speak English. 

Remember how last week we were all afraid to answer the question on shopping, and he was the only 

4. And finally it is the turn of student C to listen to the positive, specific comments of students A and B. 

ote: Since the purpose of this exercise is to build confidence, not English language skills, you may want to 

he role of speaking in language learning 

role of interactive speaking in my lessons? What do I want my students to be able 

 do in interactive speaking activities? You may well come up with a list which includes the following goals 

• confidence 

 Pa

Mo

Ho

dri

be re ways of loosening up your 

students. To do so you need to make your classes fun, but also to underline the benefits of your approach. 

Make sure that your students understand you are covering the school curriculum and you are serious about 

ird, you 

y

should also be acknowledged that your students have certain rights. They may opt out of certain 

discussions, and should not be forced to speak; they should be heard and respected; and they should 

extend the same courtesy to their classmates. 

F

not to say that you should deny expressions of negative feelings. Many of your students may be living in 

difficult conditions. Their problems are real and should not be avoided. But wh

c

a

examinations, making teaching difficult an your students nervous. The following exercise need take only 10 

minutes of your lesson; nevertheless, it can enhance your students' self-confidence. 

1. Divide the class into groups of three (students A, B, and C). 

language learner. For example: "He was very funny in the role play last week. He played the part of the 

old man very well." or "I know that she spends 30 minutes a night on her English homework. And she 

was the only one to get good grades on 

one to try." 

3. After students B and C have finished talking, Student B turns her back and students A and C talk about 

her. 

N

give students at beginners' levels of English the option of using their native language. 

 T

Ask yourself, what is the 

to

for your students: 

• participation 

• interaction 

• fluency 

• communication strategies 

rticipation 

st of your students will participate in your English lessons if you select activities which involve them. 

wever, a word of warning: some students may resist your efforts to involve them. They may be used to 

lls, which do not require much thought beyond a mechanical manipulation of the language, and they may 

 suspicious of your efforts to change their level of involvement. But there a
you

an tart out 

with activities like the following one called "The Route to School," which is suitable for beginning level 

cla

e city, town, or village in which you are teaching. Pin the map to the 

wall. 

2. Ask a student what time she started her trip to school and what time she arrived. Ask her to trace her 

n 

h which to record starting point and time, route, 

l tim given to you by your 

t. 

 po al Time Total Time 

r intention to help them succeed in learning English. Introduce interactive speaking activities with issues 

d topics which are personal, but also light-hearted. It takes time to build up trust in a classroom. S

sses. 

1. Bring to class a large map of th

route o the map. 

3. On t e black board construct a chart with columns in

arriva e at school, and total time of the journey. Fill in the relevant information

studen Your chart will look like this: 

Starting int Starting Route Time Arriv

Kwala market 7:00 Past market, left by shops, up hill to 7:20 

school 

nteraction 

to each other about what is 

are often marked by an 

l and mental changes. One 

ay pe is to create opportunities for them to speak out and to be heard. The 

following activity is simple but therapeutic. It requires from your students a willingness to share a little of 

themselves and gives them the opportunity to think about the values which guide their lives. 

1. Ask your students to bring to class three objects which are significant or important to them. (For 

example, a religious object, a stone from a significant place, a photo, a letter, an article of clothing worn 

ncy takes some priority over accuracy. Basically, being fluent means 

eing able to keep the language coming. There may be mistakes, fillers and repetitions, but there are no 

unusually long pauses in the flow of talk. In interactive speaking activities you are trying to get your students 

4. Divide your class into groups of five to seven. Ask each group to produce a chart with information from 

the group on the route to school. 

5. Ask each group to draw a map and to indicate on the map the route to school taken by each one of the 

group members. 

 I

Interaction can be stimulated if you give your students the opportunity to talk 

important to them. As you know, if you are working with adolescents, the teen years 

unevenness of mood, by dramatic swings in energy levels, by immense physica

w of helping adolescents to co

on a special occasion.) 

2. Divide the class into groups of four, and ask them to take turns in explaining to the group the 

significance or importance of the objects each one has brought. 

3. With the class as a whole, list on the board the names of the objects brought to the class. If you have 

objects of your own, add them to the list, too. Then ask students if they would like to ask other students 

about the significance or importance of the object they brought. If several students have brought the 

same object ask them to talk about the object, to see if they had different reasons for bringing the same 

item to class. 

[Adapted from Patricia A. Richard-Amato. Making It Happen. Longman Inc., 1988.] 

This exercise has been presented as a class activity for adolescents, but clearly it could be adapted and 

used in a tutorial situation with an adult as well. 

 Fluency 

In the communicative approach, flue

b
to communicate their own ideas, opinions and wishes. They are fully aware of the meaning they wish to 

the 

xact language they need to communicate. As a result your students will not always be accurate in their use 

ck on the message, rather than interrupting to correct pronunciation or grammar. This is not to say 

at errors should not be corrected, but interactive speaking activities is not the place to do so. You should, 

owever, keep notes of persistent problems and set aside time to deal with them later. 

econd, the activities you present should promote fluency. You want to find ways of stimulating your 

tudents so that they want to speak, and this wanting to speak overcomes their inhibitions about expressing 

1. Write on the board a list of 20-30 personalities. Ask students to select from the list six people they 

es, again calling on students to explain their reasons for the ranking. 

[Adapted from Friederike Klippel. Keep Talking. Cambridge University Press, 1984.] 

Co

A c

language learning experiences in pre-service training probably brought the same thought home to you. You 

el foolish because you are not in control, the way you are in your native language, and are reduced to a 

convey, but the exact content of their message is unpredictable, and you, the teacher, cannot give them 

e

of the language, but this is not important, so long as the speakers are able to be understood. This emphasis 

on fluency implies two things. 

First, your error correction policy should reflect this emphasis. Particularly in speaking, it is important that 

you should encourage the risk takers. This is often a simple process of listening to what is said and giving 

feedba

th

h

S

s

themselves in English. 

"Famous Personalities" is an activity that can be adapted to beginning, intermediate, or advanced levels. It 

requires your students to have opinions and wishes and to express them. The steps in the activity are as 

follows: 

would like to invite to give a talk. Students write their choices in order on a piece of paper. All the papers 

are collected. 

2. Go through the papers and mark on the board the number of "invitations" each personality on the list 

has received. Make a final list of the six people the class would like to invite. During this process, call on 

students to explain their choices. 

3. Rank the six invite

4. You could also add the step of dividing the class into groups to come up with questions they would like 

to ask their invitees. If you are teaching advanced students, you could then ask them to choose 

personalities from the list and to role play these personalities by answering the questions prepared by the 

rest of the class. 

Note: The list of names you give to the students is obviously dependent on the cultural background and age 

group of your students. It will be up to you to draw up a list of personalities your students really would like to 

talk to. 

nfidence 

ommon comment from people learning a foreign language is "l hate making a fool of myself." Your own 

fe

level of needy dependence which can be hard to tolerate. How can you reduce some of your students' fear 

of looking foolish and build up their confidence and pleasure in using English? How can you give them the 

confidence to start taking control of themselves as speakers of English? 

In Chapter Two, reference was made to the Natural Approach and Total Physical Response, which 

emphasize reducing learner anxiety and increasing confidence by providing comprehensible input and by 

not pressuring students to talk before they are ready. 

A very practical way of putting these two principles into practice is though storytelling, role play and drama. 

The comprehensible input comes from you, telling a story for instance. And while not pressuring your 

students, especially your beginners, to speak before they are ready, you can still build in an escalating 

degree of involvement. Look, for example, at the degree of student involvement generated in this "Sound 

Effects" activity, suitable for low intermediate students. 
1. Make sure that your students are sitting comfortably. Then tell a story like the one below. (You may 

want to make up your own story and add details to it which will be familiar to your students.) 

d his 

rk the children sat around the fire (a) and waited for 

The wind began to blow (b) and it started to rain. (c) They heard a scratching (d) noise at the door. The 

re were the family chickens which Mohammed had forgotten to shut in the chicken coop for the night. 

The children sighed (n) with relief and helped Mohammed put the chickens in the coop. 

, this time adding in sound effects where indicated by a number in the text. 

Get your students to help to create the noises: 

d. scratch the desk with your fingernails 

f. make a roaring noise 

. make a hissing noise 

rk 

k. sing softly 

n. sigh 

ll the story a third time. This time leave the sound effects up to the class. 

e sound effects. If they are ready 

t of group mimes. 

s m , they can organize the telling of their own stories complete with 

und

pted from Patricia A. Richard-Amato. Making It Happen. Longman Inc., 1988.] 

xperiences 

they forget the self-consciousness which 

lay r w g confidence, particularly if you focus on problem solving situations 

e st ef roles and use their judgment to determine a course of action. This 

role play is referred to as sociodrama. The enactment is open ended and centers around a clearly 

hich is relevant to the students. The steps are as follows: 

k will be 

ate in the role play. Read a story which 

the story at the climax. 

Mohammed's parents had to go to the city for the day, so they left him in charge of his sister Amal an

two young brothers Naceur and Sabri. When it got da

their parents to return. 

children gasped (e) and moved closer together. Maybe it's a lion (f). Maybe it's a snake (g). Maybe it's a 

wild dog (h). Mohammed could see that his sister and brother were scared. He switched on the radio to 

drown the scratching noise. The radio was playing a song (i). He turned the radio up loud (j). He turned it 

down low (k). But the scratching noise continued. Mohammed went to the door (l) and opened it (m). 

The

Use as much drama and as many pictures on the board as is necessary to make sure that everyone 

understands. 

2. Tell the story a second time

a. scrunch a large sheet of newspaper 

b. make hooing noises 

c. pat the desk with your fingers 

e. gasp 

g

h. ba

i. sing a song 

j. sing loudly 

l. stamp feet 

m. make a creaking noise 

3. Te

4. Divide students into groups and ask them to mime the story and to us

for it, individuals from each group can tell the story while the res

5. A groups become

 effects. 

ore proficient

so

[Ada

Second language students can easily become absorbed in the dramatic playing out of their own e

or experiences they can identify with. Through this playing out, 

inhibits their learning and can build their self-confidence. 

Role p

her

s can be anothe

udents have to d

ay of buildin

w ine their own 

kind of 

stated conflict w

1. Introduce the topic of your sociodrama; present the new vocabulary and structures you thin

helpful to your students' comprehension and ability to particip

identifies a problem, stopping 
2. Discuss the problem with your students. Select the students who demonstrate a special interest in 

cular roles to play those parts. Prepare the ether students to listen to the role play and to offer 

with the audience. If 

offered, replay the same drama using the 

ly s tegies. 

 s r sociodramas: 

aria comes home from school all excited. She has been offered a scholarship to go to university. She 

r, who is upset. 

ur brothers' school fees." 

the chance of a lifetime." 

"But we are too poor. And we need money now. And besides you are a girl. 

 w rr t y you earn will go to your husband." 

h m er ...." 

duku has a close friend Rubadiri. They come from the same village. They were at the same primary 

 together and they are now at secondary school together. Nduku is doing very well, but his friend 

ch him or 

Yo to develop two major communication strategies: active listening 

an

Ac m speaking. And being a good 

ill build the confidence necessary to taking a more active role in 

"Uh - huh." 

ary to ask a 

bed below. 

parti

advice. 

3. Ask the selected students to act out the rest of the story. Then discuss reactions 

plausible alternatives for dealing with the same problems are 

new uggested stra

Here are ample suggestions fo

1. M

tells her mothe

"You know that I am relying on you to get a job and help with yo

"But Mother, this is 

You ill get ma ied and then he mone

"O oth

2. N

school

Rubadiri is having trouble keeping up, especially with the math. Rubadiri expects Nduku to coa

even to do his homework for him, but Nduku is finding that this is taking so much time his own work is 

suffering. He is becoming angry with his friend. What should he do? 

Communication strategies 

ur students should be aware of the need 

d managing a conversation. 

tive listening is a good strategy for those students who shy away fro

listener in English conversations w

communication. Good listeners use phrases which encourage the speaker, such as: 

"Yes." 

"Of course." 

"Is that so?" 

List these phrases for your students, and give them opportunity to practice them, along with the correct body 

language-the smile, the nodding of the head, the eye contact. If your students have contact with native 

speakers of English, encourage them to observe these listening strategies and to mimic the body language 

when speaking English. 

As good non-native listeners of English, your students will also need the phrases necess

speaker for help, repetition, or slower speech. Phrases such as the following will help: 

"I'm sorry, what was that again?" 

"Would you repeat that please?" 

"Did you say _________?” 

"Could you speak more slowly please?" 

Practice in the communication strategies for managing a conversation should be woven throughout your 

lessons. Every one uses these strategies when speaking. Your task will be to make your students conscious 

of these strategies and of how much they use them in their native language, and then to help them use 

these strategies when speaking English. There are many basic communication strategies, some of which 

are descri
Choose the topic of conversation. Where possible, encourage your students to take the initiative and select 

the topic of conversation. By using this general strategy your students will be more in control, and in talking 

about a familiar topic, can feel more confident. 

Paraphrase. Encourage students to use words they do know to replace words they do not. 

Bo

ad

kno

Ge

As one directly: "How do you say ___?" or "What does ___ mean?" Or it can be 

one indirectly by constantly watching the other person's reactions, or speaking with a rising, questioning 

educe. Simplifying, changing, or even abandoning those parts of speech which are too difficult to handle is 

l, especially for a beginner. The longer the sentence, the more complicated the message, 

nd the greater the danger of not being understood. Some of your students may come from cultures which 

n activity which can help in the development of communication strategies is "What's It Called?" Here are 

g you use to do this? 

It's made of metal and it has a small hole in one end. The other end is sharp. Your students should be 

e. Repeat this demonstration with five other 

words, for example: 'thimble," "spool," "safety pin," "pin cushion," "zipper." 

 they do not know in English, using the 

ommunication strategies you have demonstrated. Write the following cue phrases on the board: 

ow do you say that in English?" 

An example of the kind of exchange you are trying to promote is as follows: 

Stu taxi. On Saturday I noticed something 

wrong with the taxi. A bit was missing. A bit near the wheel. What do you call it? 

u mean the tire had been stolen? 

It goes over the tire. (Student gestures.) 

 with four to seven students in each team. Take one representative from 

each team and ask these representatives to come to the front of the class facing everyone. Write 25 

rrow. Borrowing or inventing words from any language in the place of unknown English words and 

justing the form or pronunciation is a particularly useful strategy for students who can borrow from their 

wledge of Spanish or French. 

sture. Using gestures to get meaning across is a simple but most effective strategy. 

k for feedback. This can be d

d

intonation to check that what was said was understood. 

Ask for slower speech. It is often helpful to get native speakers to slow down. Saying "Could you say that 

again, slowly?" will help. 

R

an important skil

a

place a high value on ornate, complicated expression. Your students need to know that this is not the case 

in English. In English a high value is placed on clear, straightforward expression and simplicity of speech. 

A

the steps for this activity: 

1. Play the role of someone who wants to find out certain words in your students' native language. Use 

any communication strategies to ask about a few words, preferably some which your students do not yet 

know in English. For example: Mime sewing and ask: What do you call the little thin

able to give you the word "needle" in their own languag

2. Now it is your students' turn to find out from you words

c

"What's that called in English?" 

''What do you call it?" 

"H

dent: My father owns a taxi. It is my job to clean the

Teacher: A tire? Do yo

Student No, not a tire. It's made of metal. 

Teacher The fender? That's part of the car's body, it comes over the wheels. 

Student No, it isn't part of the body. It's very bright. You can see your face in it. You have to 

take it off (Student gestures, as if he has a crow bar in his hand) when you change 

the tire. 

Teacher Oh, you mean a hub cap. (Teacher writes words on board.) 

3. Divide the class into teams,

words on the board (calculate three words per team) where they can be seen by all. Show a picture of 

one of the words on the board to the class, but not to the team representatives. Give team A three 

minutes in which to use communication strategies to describe the picture to their team representative. 

The representative may ask questions and has to correctly identify the object described. If this has not 
been done by the time three minutes is up, the team does not score. It is then the turn of team B, and so 

on. 

 Overcoming obstacles to implementing spoken communicative activities 

The most commonly cited obstacles facing teachers of interactive speaking are: 

• restriction of the classroom 

• limited practice time 

 

Restriction of the classroom 

Traditional classroom seating arrangements often work against you in your interactive teaching of English. 

he flexibility of the seating arrangements would be a good point to bring up with your school director or 

articularly on small items such as classroom arrangements. However, if you 

hare a classroom with other teachers you must consider their needs and find a seating plan which is 

 are aiming for a situation in your 

nglish lessons which permits all students to see each other's faces, you, the teacher, and the blackboard. 

for activities such as role plays etc. 

In 

foll

Seating Plan A shows a traditional layout which would not need to be rearranged between classes. The 

dis

he

• learner anxiety 

T

head of department when you make a site visit. It is sometimes easier to bring about changes at the 

beginning of your teaching when your director may not know what to expect from an American teacher and 

is willing to accommodate, p

s

acceptable to them, or which requires a minimum of rearrangement. You

E

You also want a situation which permits easy transition between whole class, group, and pair work and 

provides space for you and your students to move between desks 

discussing your needs with your colleagues and your head of department, you may find reference to the 

owing seating plans helpful. (See Figure 3.1.) 

advantage for communication practice is that your students are listening to or speaking to the backs of 

ads or people sitting behind them. 
Figure 3.1 Adapted from Teacher Training: A Reference Manual Peace Corps Training Manual No. T-45 

Seating Plan B shows a horseshoe. It allows more eye contact between speakers in whole class practice, 

and more central space for role plays. 

Se ng Pla show a grou ayout. his pla

contact between listeners and speakers in whole-group work, and it needs no rearrangement for small-group 

work. 

time

 as possible to talk. This means group work. With 

 your students will quickly become accustomed to moving to groups 

lessons. And you will probably find that the physical movement of breaking into groups is a 

or you as well. Here are a variety of ways in which you can organize your groups: 

small groups, maybe by just turning around, to quickly discuss a 

r a few minutes before reporting their views or opinions to the whole class. By using these buzz 

 in your classroom and generate more involvement. 

se in class and someone has answered incorrectly,

ati n C s p l T n allows for easy movement between groups and good eye 

Limited practice

Your goal is to give your students as much opportunity

practice and encouragement from you,

during your

refreshing change f

Buzz groups. Your students break into 

problem fo

groups regularly, you can build up a cooperative spirit

For example, if you are correcting a homework exerci

instead of just asking "Does anyone know the correct answer?" ask the buzz groups to come up with an 

answer. Your students probably talk among themselves anyway during lessons. By developing a buzz group 

system you are channelling their energies and creatively controlling the underlying chat which is a feature of 

almost all classrooms.

Panels. Selected students sit on a panel at the front of the class and are questioned by the "audience" made 

up of the rest of the class. These panels can be a good platform for the more advanced students to show off 

their skills. And if you ask the class to center the questions around, for instance, a book which the whole 
class is reading, the less advanced students will benefit from hearing the better students talk about 

characters or plot development. 

Fishbowl. All members of the class sit in a trig circle. In the middle of the circle are five chairs occupied by 

students discussing a topic you have given them. Students from the outer circle listen to the debate and may 

replace speakers in the inner circle by tapping them on the shoulder if they feel confident they can present 

the case better. "A Quote to Live By" is an activity which works well with fishbowl groups. 

this activity 

by researching a little on local proverbs or quotations which could be stimulating discussion 

points. 

etwork. The class is divided into groups which should not have more than ten students each. Each group 

 of string. When the speaker has 

nished he or she passes the ball on to the next speaker, but holds on to the string. In this way a web of 

the least. A word of warning: in teaching speaking 

kills you are focusing on the outgoing, extroverted students. If at the end of a network session you see that 

a few students are dominating discussions, you may need to step in and facilitate making sure that the 

quieter students are not being constantly interrupted by their more talkative classmates. 

On s is divided into two equal groups. As many chairs as there are students are arranged in a 

double circle, with the chairs in the outer circle facing inward and the chairs in the inner circle facing 

utward. Thus each member of the inner circle sits facing a student in the outer circle. After a few moments 

ave a new partner to continue with. 

 moving from chair to chair seems too cumbersome, the Onion group can be formed without chairs. 

Students can sit on mats on the floor, or if there is not enough space inside, then move everyone outside. 

Here are some suggestions for discussion topics you can use with onion groups: 

What has been your best year in school? Why? 

e world to live in, which one would you choose? Why? 

Describe what you would like to learn to do well. 

g anyone ever did for you? 

 hear? 

Sta common view or solution. First, select a topic for discussion, such as, 

"How would you change this school if you could?" Each group discusses the topic then elects a speaker who 

mains in the group but enters into discussion with the speakers of other groups. The rest of the class 

stens to the exchange. These star groups are particularly helpful if you are dealing with multilevel classes, 

the chance to participate at levels appropriate to their English language 

kills. 

round the room talking to each other. An activity which works well for market 

ll." For this you need to prepare cards for each student, like the ones shown in Figure 

 have gathered. 

Each student receives voting cards with values from 1 to 5 (5 = to agree completely, 1 = to 

ly). After the issue, which needs to be phrased as a positive statement, has been 

 votes, and the distribution of different opinions in the class can be seen 

e other people in your class usually have for breakfast. 

Each of you prepares an interview card which could look like this: 

Have your students chose a favorite quotation, or proverb, such as "Let sleeping dogs lie," or "If 

you love something, you must set it free." Ask the inner circle to begin the discussion on 

accepting or rejecting these quotes as a rule for living. You may need to prepare for 

N

receives a ball of string. Whoever is talking on the topic holds the ball

fi

string develops, showing who talked the most, and who 

s

ion. The clas

o

of discussion all students in the outer circle move on one chair and now h

If

If you could choose any country in th

What is the nicest thin

Do you have any advice you think it would be good for me to

r. Four to six groups try to find a 

re

li

since they give all of your students 

s

Market. All students walk a

groups is "Opinion Po

3.2. Students should each have their own card, but you can prepare the same set of cards for groups of five 

to seven students. When students have finished their poll taking they can work in groups to write up the 

information they

Opinion Vote. 

disagree complete

discussed for a while, each student

at a glance. Suggestions for issue statements are: 

Fig. 3.2 Opinion poll

FOOD

Breakfast

You have to find out what th
Name food? drink? 

Lisa cornflakes milk 

FOOD

Drinks

You have to find out which drinks the people in your class like and dislike. 

Each of you prepares an interview card which could look like this: 

Name likes? dislikes? 

Tina milk, tea, water orange juice 

FOOD

Eating out 

You have to find out whether the other people in your class ever eat out and if so where they go. 

Each of you prepares an interview card which could look like this: 

Name eats out? where? 

Tim yes sometimes McDonald's 

FOOD

Favorite meals

ou have to find out the favorite meals (mai of the other people in your class. 

ac

Na

Y

E

n course and dessert)

h of you prepares an interview card which could look like this: 

me favorite main course? favorite dessert? 

Chris pizza ice cream 

FOOD

Food hates

You have to find out which meals or kinds of food the other people in your class dislike. 

Each of you prepares an interview card which could look like this: 

Name food hates? 

Freddie chocolate, spinach 

FOOD

Weight-watching

You have to find out if the other people in your class think they are too fat, just right or too thin. 

Each of you prepares an interview card which could look like this: 

Do you think you are: 

Name too far? just right? to thin? 

Bob x 

FOOD

Cooking

You have to find out which meals or drinks the other people in your class can prepare themselves. 

Each of you prepares an interview card which could look like this: 

Name can prepare/make? 

Peter tea, porridge, sandwiches, omelettes 

Childhood is the happiest time of life. 

School grades should be outlawed. 

Each school should have an elected student body to help in the running of the school. 

Most people cheat and are dishonest if you give them the chance. 
Arranged marriages are best. 

A more detailed discussion of group types is given in the introduction to Keep Talking by Friederike Klippel. 

 Learner Anxiety 

In teaching speaking you are asking your students to perform, to speak up in front of their classmates. As a 

result, many of your student's may experience stress during these activities. Whether the anxiety is a help or 

a hindrance often depends on the degree to which it manifests itself in your students. For example, no 

anxiety might result in a student's not caring or putting any effort into speaking English; too much might block 

arning. But a small amount will bring your students to an optimal state of alertness. Your role is to monitor 

while not aiming to eradicate it altogether, to make sure that this level is kept 

asonably low. There are various techniques you can use to prevent anxiety from taking over. 

int. Empty 

raise becomes meaningless very quickly. But by underlining a specific item that you know a student has 

orked hard at, you can offer the meaningful recognition that builds a student's confidence. An example of 

raise is: "Well done. You managed that conversation well. Did the rest of you notice how he 

as using those 'Uh-huhs' to keep his partner talking?" On the other hand, when you correct a student's 

 One." 

ive each student a number within the 

group. Depending upon the number assigned, each student does one small portion of the group's 

 for a passage describing 

eans recognizing that your 

tudents have different learning styles, and that whereas some like the hurley-burley of racing against the 

lock or each other, others prefer pacing themselves and work better in a quiet environment. You have to be 

th kinds of learning. 

ting pronunciation through tasks that focus on meaningful 

udents, such as role play, problem solving, and game activities. 

here are five main steps involved in teaching pronunciation: 

le

this level of anxiety, and 

re

First, you can provide in your classroom a sort of surrogate "family" which offers support and the sort of 

encouragement which leads to independence and enables your students to go out and use English in the 

real world outside of the school compound. 

Second, be specific in your feedback. When you praise a student, do so around a precise po

p

w

this specific p

w

English, make sure your explanations are clear and brief and that you deliver them at an appropriate 

moment. 

Third, while including, an element of competitiveness in some of your activities, you should take care to 

prevent this competitiveness from getting out of hand. To balance out the win-lose tendencies, which 

undoubtedly exist in your class, make sure that you are including cooperative activities such as "Two Heads 

Are Better Than

Divide the class into several groups of five to seven and g

work. For example, if your class is working on a project with the agriculture teacher, you could 

give the groups several short passages, each describing an important aspect of agriculture. The 

person who is assigned the number 4 in each group could be responsible for reading the passage 

about fertilizers. The same person is then responsible for sharing this information with the others 

in the group. The person assigned the number 3 could do the same

beekeeping, and so forth. 

Basically, maintaining the balance between cooperation and competition m

s

c

able to provide opportunities for bo

 Pronunciation 

In the Direct Method and the Audio-lingual Method, discussed in Chapter Two, a great deal of attention is 

given to achieving native-like pronunciation. This attention takes the form of drills such as minimal pairs. (For 

example, "ship" - "sheep," "hit" - "heat," etc.) 

Communicative language teaching, on the other hand, places more emphasis on being understood, rather 

than being taken for a native speaker of English. This has implications for your classroom. Your ultimate 

goal has a strong communicative bias, and your pronunciation teaching will be integrated with the rest of 

your English teaching. This can be done by presen

interactions between st

T
1. Identify the areas in which your students are having difficulty in being understood. You will be listening 

for problems with vowels, consonants, stress, and intonation. 

2. Find or write sentences that have a number of natural occurrences of the problem sounds. 

3. Develop communicative tasks that incorporate the words. 

 simply correct pronunciation problems as and 

hen they occur, you may end up spending time correcting features which are not crucial for intelligibility. 

hese on-the-spot repairs are being systematically absorbed by your 

tudents. You begin work on identifying problem areas by keeping notes, which you will later use as a basis 

der to show strong 

ontrast, with the relevant word or phrase moved to the beginning of the sentence. As a result, Arabic 

ve difficulty with the use of stress to show contrast. And Thai speakers may have 

ifficulty in forming final consonant clusters. The consonants most often deleted are /r, 1, t/ and /d/, so that 

es at your disposal. Listen to yourself or other Volunteers talking. 

evelop communicative tasks that incorporate the problem sounds 

ere is an example of a low intermediate level communicative task, called "I'm Not Well," that focuses on the 

who offers advice. Student A receives a card with a drawing of a body, with arrows pointing to the parts 

4. Develop exercises so that you can review the problem and provide students with practice of the target 

sounds in new contexts. 

5. Develop self-monitoring practices in your students. 

Identify problem areas 

If you do not systematically note down problem areas, and

w

And you have no guarantee that t

s

for your pronunciation teaching plan. The number of problem areas will vary depending on the number of 

hours you have with a class. For a class taking five hours of English a week, set yourself the goal of 

identifying five for each trimester. 

Some of these problem areas are predictable. For example, you can easily suppose that Spanish speakers 

may have difficulty in differentiating between the consonants /b/ and /v/ ("ban" - "van"). French speakers may 

have difficulty with the vowels /i/ and /I/,("beat" - "bit"). Arabic speakers use word or

c

speakers of English may ha

d

"hold" may become "ho." 

Find or write sentences that have a natural occurrence of the problem sounds 

Once you have identified your target problem areas, begin noting down sentences in which you these 

problems are likely to appear. Look out for examples in the literary or technical texts your students may be 

studying. Comb the grammar exercis

If, for example, you have identified the confusion between /1/ and /r/ as a problem (as happens with Bantu 

and Southeast Asian speakers of English), you may end up with a list that includes sentences like this: 

Fries carry germs. 

So much lain last night! 

Fled wants to see you. 

The meeting is on Friday. 

By the time you have collected 20 examples of each problem, or instances where the problem might arise, 

you will be ready to move on to developing tasks which allow your students to practice the problem sounds 

in a communicative context. 

D

H

voiceless /th/ sound in English (as in "mouth," "fifth," and "teeth"). 

1. Teach the names of body parts, making sure to include teeth, tooth, mouth, thigh, throat, and thumb. 

Present and write on the board cue sentences for giving advice, such as "You should ___," "Perhaps 

you'd better ___," "You must ___," "You ought to ___.” 

2. Divide your class into pairs. Student A role plays someone who is sick. Student B role plays a friend 
that hurt. Student B has to find out what's wrong and offer appropriate advice. The pair dialogue should 

develop like this: 

A: I'm not well. 

B: Perhaps you should see a doctor. 

ev structing student A to resist student role play is 

r, and st ent A has gone through ll his or her complaints, ask your students to form new pairs, only 

 time stu nt B role plays a sick person and student A gives advice. 

suse of stress. In spoken English a speaker gives a listener 

t parts of the message by putting stress on the words which 

ost information. The following exercise, "Headlines," will help your students identify the most 

arts of a message, and w es of which words to str

 Bring t s which consist of l f words 

d as Choose ple headlines 

ch as E RIME VICTIMS 

FIGHT BACK. 

 have been left out. Discuss why these 

words were not important. Contrast reading aloud the headline, where you will stress every 

. Ask your students to write headlines for news stories and events, and then to expand the headlines 

Re

Two weeks later, you may want to review the /th/ problem. This time you could use an exercise called 

"Da

2. Give student B a card with questions to ask student A, such as: 

How many days are there in this month? 

What's the date of the first Friday of this month? 

When is the school football match? 

 Monday? 

When are you meeting with the librarian? 

When is your history homework due? 

u go to the dentist? 

B: How are you? 

B: What's wrong? 

A: My throat hurts. 

You can d elop this role play by in B's advice. When the 

ove ud a

this de

Your list of problem areas may include mi

information about the importance of differen

carry the m

important p ill thus give them the clu ess. 

1. o class a few examples of headlines. Avoid headline ong sequences o

use modifiers, such as ACCUSED FELON IN MYSTERY BLAZE. instead sim

su FIRE KILLS SEVEN, PARENTS ANGRY OVER SCHOOL CLOSUR , and C

2. Present the headlines to the class and ask them what words

word, with reading aloud a full version, where the same words are stressed, but the others are 

unstressed. 

3

and to read them aloud to the class. In commenting on your students' readings, remind them of the link 

between importance and stress. 

view the problem sounds and provide students with practice in new contexts

tes," where you will he focusing on the /th/ sound in "Thursday," "month," "three," and ordinals. 

1. Divide your class into pairs. Give student A card containing a calendar, such as the one in Figure 3.3. 

When's the first English test? 

Is the tenth a Friday or a Saturday? 

When does the gardening club meet? 

What's the date of the second

When do yo

Figure 3.3 Dates

AUGUST 

S M Tu W Th F S 

 1 2 3 4 
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 

26 27 28 29 30 31 

2

 1st English Test 

3

 Dentist 

9

 History Homework 

13 Librarian 

developing an intelligible 

take themselves off to a quiet 

fluency 

dence 

ive steps in teaching pronunciation are: 

16 Gardening Club 

18 Football Match 

30 Dentist 

Develop self-monitoring practices in your students 

In the beginning stages your students are very dependent on you for help in 

pronunciation of English. But as they progress they should become less and less dependent on you. How 

you correct pronunciation will have implications for the growth of your students' self-monitoring practices. 

You may find yourself in something of a dilemma when it comes to correcting your students' pronunciation. 

Clearly you will not want to interrupt a student who is absorbed in an oral communicative activity. At the 

same time, if a student's pronunciation is making the message unintelligible, you cannot afford to let the 

situation continue. A very simple way of avoiding disruptive corrections is through use of the "action replay." 

If you have a tape recorder, use it while students are involved in role play, a debate, or an oral 

communication exercise. At the end of the exercise the recorded students can 

corner and listen to themselves and evaluate their own speech. Or, if you do not have a tape recorder, ask 

the students to repeat the exercise, this time paying special attention to their pronunciation, and in particular 

the problem sound you have been working on with your class. If you regularly allow time for these "action 

replays," you will have the benefit of knowing that you are addressing the problems you have identified, and 

your students will have the opportunity of developing their self-monitoring skills. 

The procedures and exercises in this section on pronunciation have been adapted from Current 

Perspectives on Pronunciation edited by Joan Morley (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, 

1987) and Teaching English Pronunciation by Joanne Kenworthy (Longman Group Ltd., 1987). 

 Summary 

In developing communicative speaking skills, speak to the whole person. 

The role of speaking in language learning is to promote: 

participation 

interaction 

confi

communication strategies 

Obstacles to the development of communicative speaking skills include: 

restriction of the classroom 

limited practice time 

learner anxiety 

F
identify problem areas 

write sentences where sounds naturally occur 

develop communicative tasks that incorporate problem sounds 

provide practice in new contexts 

develop self-monitoring practices 

 Suggestions for further reading 

Making it Happen 

Patricia A. Richard-Amato 

Lo

Ma

ha

inte

Ke

riederike Klippel 

hree sections: Questions and 

nswers, Discussions and Decisions, and Stories and Scenes. Each activity is accompanied by notes on the 

objectives, the level, and time and preparation required. 

Te

Joa

Lo

Th

ide

Wh

Jea

Ale

his is a fun cookbook of easy recipes for activities. As the title suggests this book contains helpful advice 

 faced forty students and wondered how to 

ducate and entertain without any textbooks at hand. 

 

This chapte posure to 

the spoken aker. The 

resources f f English, 

and tapes. ined, and exercises exemplifying 

these chara

he reason w d talk less." This 

chapter looks at the implications of this quotation from Diogenes on the teaching of listening. How much 

listening goes on in your classroom? Is your classroom a place where listening is considered an opportunity 

ngman Inc., 1988 

ny of the ideas on interactive teaching and addressing the whole person which you found in this chapter 

ve also been addressed in this book. Part II, Exploring Methods and Activities, may he of particular 

rest to you. 

ep Talking 

F

Cambridge University Press, 1984 

This book contains over a hundred games and activities, divided into t

A

aching English Pronunciation 

nne Kenworthy 

ngman Group Ltd., 1987 

is book is part of the Longman Handbooks for Teachers Series. The aim of this book is not to produce an 

al English pronunciation, but to focus on producing speech that is easily understood. 

at to Do Before the Books Arrive (and After) 

n D'Arcy Maculaitis and Mona Scheraga 

many Press, 1981 

T

plus a good dash of encouragement to anyone who has ever

e

CHAPTER 4 

Teaching listening 

r discusses the role of listening in language learning. It focuses on the need for ex

 language and for meaningful "real life" interaction between listener and spe

or teaching listening comprehension are discussed: the teacher, other speakers o

 The characteristics of good listening exercises are expla

cteristics are presented. 

"T hy we have two ears and only one mouth is so that we may listen more an
to learn some for your 

students' mista nged by 

what you hear s say? If so, do your students realize the extent of your receptiveness? Do your 

tudents listen This kind 

of listening is extbooks. This 

ind of listening involves listening for real messages. 

 working in a country where the majority of your 

And they didn't necessarily learn these languages at 

school. If you ask them how they learned, they will probably shrug their shoulders and say they just picked 

them up. Ask a little more about this process of picking up a language and you will find two common 

fea d to the language by people who were using it as they went about 

the students were required to do something which necessitated 

understanding and responding to messages in this language. Someone might have shouted at 

the may have been asked to pay for a bus fare, they may have had to ask the 

ric r students may not have understood every word that was said to them, the 

in a classroom or giving lessons at someone's work 

lace. But this does not mean that you should ignore the features that go into successful informal language 

consider is exposure to the language. Babies and young children are exposed 

 in their acquisition of a language. This same concept of listening in the early 

that you have to be prepared to include in your lessons segments where you talk a lot to 

ou

pro

practices. 

em ints and negative 

feelings about your host country, but the classroom is

ow

ts' brains work while they are doing something else 

thing useful? Do you ever catch yourself listening for long periods of time only

kes? Or do you really try to listen to what they are saying? Are you willing to be cha

your student

s to each other? Do you give them activities which lead to real exchanges of views?

a lot different from the listen-and-repeat drills you may have come across in t

k

 The role of listening in language learning 

The majority of Americans are monolingual. But you are now

students may speak two, three, or even four languages. 

tures. One, your students were expose

ir daily lives. Two, at some point your

meaningful 

m to get out of the way, the

e of food. And though you

y

p

context made the meaning perfectly clear. 

 Exposure 

You are working in a more formal environment, either 

p

learning. The first feature to 

to massive amounts of talk

stages of language learning is central the Natural Approach and Total Physical Response discussed in 

Chapter Two. In both these approaches, learners are allowed large blocks of time to listen before they are 

asked to speak. Learners' brains are allowed to assimilate, store and process aural information with the 

learners hardly being aware of what is going on. Think back to your first few days in country. If you didn't 

know the language which was being spoken all around you, you probably couldn't even tell where one word 

ended and another began. But after a week or so, while still not understanding most of what was being said, 

you had probably started to recognize units of sound as individual words. Your brain had been registering, 

sorting, and classifying thousands of impressions without your realizing it. When teaching English, provide 

your students with similar opportunities to absorb the sounds of English and to accumulate understanding. 

Provide plenty to listen to 

What this means is 

y r class. Talk about yourself and your family; talk about the Peace Corps, its goals and its different 

grams; talk about the United States, its educational system, its demography, its diverse agricultural 

Obviously you will not want to abuse your position by sounding forth on topics which might 

barrass or offend your students. It would be almost unnatural not to have some compla

 not the place for you to want your feelings. 

L er stress 

Stress can and does block learning. By making sure that your lessons are motivating you can relieve your 

students of the stress and boredom that often blocks learning. A teacher can be very informed, meticulously 

organized, and professionally conscientious, but much of this counts for nothing if her lessons are boring or 

are inappropriately difficult. Your energy and the pleasure you take in your job can transform a dull textbook 

and put life into a deadening syllabus, and at the same time lower your students' stress level. Your planning 

and awareness can ensure that your classes are pitched to promote progress and successful learning for 

your students. 

Let your studen
Pla

related to English language learning gives your students exposure to the language. For example, if you have 

a secondary project running the school's home economics club and your students are sewing or cooking, 

pla

lea

These ideas are discussed at greater length in an essay "Learning by Listening," by Eugene A. Nida, in the 

book I ed by Robert W. Blair. 

 Mean

Th to consider is meaningful messages. In the first 

step your students were exposed to the language, but were not necessarily expected to speak. In this 

sec

reason for doing so. The cyclist wanted room to pass, the bus conductor wanted a fare, the vendor in the 

market gave a price. The speakers' purposes were clear. The responses expected of the listeners were 

eq correct fare, or pay for food. Unfortunately 

many listening exercises in the classroom do not possess the reality of meaningful messages. The give and 

tak

or 

passage. In order to promote listening for meaningful messages you will need to include a number of real life 

features when developing your listening activities. 

Build in response time 

Many listening exercises are transformed into memory exercises because the listeners' responses come 

nly after long stretches of speech. You can avoid this by requiring short active responses occurring during 

ould develop an exercise 

alled "Detecting Mistakes," in which you tell a short story about the school in which you have included some 

info

a m

marked down the correct number of mistakes. Here is an example of a "Detecting Mistakes" story. 

ed out of the 

taff room and turned right down the corridor past the art room and the science laboratory 

 to listen for information. Your 

tory should not be more than about twelve sentences long. 

eaker 

he phone, or do not listen to English on the radio, then most of the time the speaker should 

e visible in your listening exercises. Only if your students need English for the phone or radio should you 

con

see

Pro

Clu use these clues unconsciously 

when they are talking to each other in their own language. Remember to provide clues and to help your 

stu

pla

you could draw the bus and its features, which you bring to your students' attention. ("It has six wheels. This 

ying a cassette of songs with English words while you are working with your students on a project not 

y one of your favorite tapes. Without paying attention to the music, your students will almost inadvertently 

rn the words and intonation of the song as they get on with their other work. 

nnovative Approaches to Language Teaching, edit

ingful "Real Life" messages 

e second feature of successful informal language learning

ond phase, your students were expected to respond. The people who spoke to your students had a 

ually clear. Your students had to get out of the way, give the 

e of real life communication is removed from exercises in which students are asked to "listen and repeat," 

asked to complete listening exercises without any preparation on the content and situation of the listening 

o

or between parts of the listening passage rather than at the end. For instance you c

c

rmational mistakes. Your students are required to listen to your story and to raise their hands if they hear 

istake, or to mark on a paper the number of mistakes they hear, and then to check that they have 

Yesterday was Tuesday (mistake # 1, it was Wednesday) and I decided to go and visit my friend 

Mr. Ngugui, the history teacher (mistake # 2, Mr. Ngugui teaches geography). I walk

s

(mistake # 3, the science laboratory is in another building). etc. 

In an exercise of this sort you should include approximately ten informational mistakes. Do not include 

grammatical mistakes in this exercise. Your only aim is to teach your students

s

Allow for the visibility of the sp

In real life situations, listeners can usually see the person or people speaking, and the visual clues offered 

by the speaker, such as facial expressions and gestures, help the listeners understand what is being said. 

The exceptions to this visibility come when using the phone or listening to the radio. If your students do not 

use English on t

b

sider sometimes using recordings as the basis of an exercise. (For further discussion on use of tapes, 

 the section of this chapter which deals with resources for listening comprehension.) 

vide background clues 

es provide a framework and context for a spoken message. Your students

dents use them when they are listening to English. Your clues could be as simple as a picture of the 

ce or thing you are talking about. For instance if your exercise involves talking about travelling by bus, 
is t

top of the bus and strapped down.") 

It m

are

stu if they do not understand each and every word. Pictures and other background clues 

will provide a framework and help them listen globally to the whole message. Gradually, as they begin to 

rea

the stand the whole 

essage just as they do in their native language. 

s help them 

nderstand, they will also help your students to retain any new words they may hear. 

s 

 You would be doing your students a 

isservice if you only gave them exercises in which the listening passage had been cleaned up and no 

lon

students are asked to listen to the teacher and to complete a chart describing the sources of vitamins and 

the diseases caused by diets deficient in these vitamins. (See Figures 4.1 and 4.2.) 

Fig

Listen to your teacher talking about sources of vitamins and the diseases which can result from not having 

enoug

VITAMIN SOURCE OF VITAMIN DISEASE CAUSED BY LACK OF VITAMIN 

he driver's seat. Here is the emergency exit. The seats are made of wooden slats. The luggage is put on 

ay seem surprising to think that your students need help in using these clues, but you may find that they 

 not used to listening for complete messages in English, and that they listen for words in isolation and get 

ck and stop listening

lize that you only want them to get the gist of what you are saying, they will relax and stop worrying about 

 words they do not understand, and they will begin to use background clues to under

m

You do not need to restrict yourself to visual clues either. If your listening passage has something to do with 

a market, then bring to class some of the spices, vegetables, and fruits you would find in a market. Give your 

students the time to smell and feel those objects as they listen to you talk. Not only will the clue

u

Allow for redundancie

In everyday conversation people use a lot more words than are really necessary to convey their messages. 

They repeat themselves, they restart sentences several times over, they correct themselves, and they use 

fillers such as "you see," "I mean," and "well." These repetitions, false starts, corrections, and fillers are 

redundancies. Your students need experience in identifying and separating the main ideas from these 

redundancies, which are part and parcel of everyone's speech.

d

ger contained redundancies. In the following exercise, adapted from Skills for Learning: Development, 

ure 4.1 Vitamins: Student Worksheet 

h vitamins. As you listen, fill in the chart below. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

Figur

VITA DISEASE CAUSED BY 

LACK OF VITAMIN

e 4.2 Vitamins: Completed Exercise 

MIN SOURCE OF VITAMIN 

1. A Eggs, dairy food (except butter), liver, vegetable oil Night blindness 

2. B1 Yeast (beer and bread), meat, cereals (except polished rice) Beri beri 

3. C Vegetables, fruit (especially citrus fruits, e.g. limes, oranges, lemons) Scurvy 

As you will see from the transcript below, the teacher is only casually consulting the list of vitamins and 

diseases. As a result, the listening passage is full of redundancies. 

OK, right, now first of all for vitamin A you need eggs, dairy foods, well not all dairy foods, butter isn't on 

the list. What else? Umm, liver, and there's one more item. Ah yes, vegetable oil. And if you don't get 

enough Vitamin A in your diet, you could suffer from night blindness. I don't say you will, but you could. 

On to the next vitamin, which is-let me see-ah yes, vitamin B1. And you will find vitamin B1 in yeast, 

which we use to make bread and beer, in meat, and in cereals. Now of course you already know that 

polished rice has lost its vitamin B1. So just remember meat, yeast, and cereals, except polished rice. 

And if you don't get enough B1 to eat you could find yourselves suffering from scurvy. No sorry, I mean 

beri beri. 
Now scurvy is caused by a lack of Vitamin C. And you can make sure that you have vitamin C in your diet 

by eating a lot of vegetables, vegetables of all sorts, and fruit. Now for the fruit, well, all of the fruits are 

important, but citrus fruits, that means limes, oranges, and lemons, are the richest in vitamin C, which as I 

just said, is important to include in your diet if you don't want to get scurvy. 

Penny Ur's book Teaching Listening Comprehension offers a lively discussion on the characteristics of real 

life listening and includes exercises to promote your students' listening comprehension skills. 

 Resources for teaching listening comprehension 

Students have access to three main resources for practicing listening comprehension: the teacher, other 

speakers of English, and tapes. 

 The Teacher 

You, as the teacher, are clearly the most important resource. Develop an awareness of yourself as the 

primary source of English for your students and tailor your teacher talk to meet their needs. This involves 

monitoring your vocabulary choice, your sentence structure, your speed and volume of voice, and your 

speech characteristics. 

Your vocabulary choice should be appropriate. Ask yourself if you are choosing words which are too abstract 

or too slangy. Try recording yourself as you teach, then listen to the recording to see if your vocabulary is 

appropriate. Check your sentence structure, too. Allow for redundancies, but as a general rule of thumb 

keep to straightforward structures. 

ometimes it may be necessary to slow down your rate of speech. Be careful not to fall into the trap of 

aking your speech sound unnatural when you slow down. Pause between phrases, not after each word. 

ake sure that your pronunciation is distinct and that you project your voice so that it carries to the back of 

resent 

a

an

 Other

Anoth

several ways. First, they will give your students the chance to hear other accents; second, they will offer you 

the ; and third, they can motivate 

you

evita k. Listening to someone else, perhaps 

ker to speak distinctly and to 

a ou are introducing your speaker, make sure that you are giving 

you aker and that you are also giving a preview of 

wh e talk, too, and let your students know how long 

the selves. 

rstood is the most important criterion for evaluating accents, and this comprehensibility 

 w vel. Be 

sen greatest 

S

m

M

the class.

Make your speech characteristics larger than life. Watch any good teacher at work and you will recognize 

the performance artist in her. Develop this same sense of performance in yourself when you p

m terials to your class. Do not be afraid to use gestures and dramatization to catch your students' attention 

d to get your message across. 

 speakers of English 

er source of listening comprehension is other speakers of English. These other speakers can help in 

 opportunity to talk about accents and the values sometimes placed on them

r students by talking about interesting topics. 

In bly your students will become accustomed to the way you spea

not from the United States, will give them the opportunity to expand their listening skills. It will develop their 

confidence and help reduce their dependence on you. At first they may he disconcerted by the difficulty of 

listening to another speaker, but you can prepare by asking your outside spea

p use and check comprehension. When y

r students time to take in visual impressions of the spe

at your students may expect to hear. Set a time limit on th

 talk will be. This will allow them to pace them

Some students may ask you about the values placed on different accents. What do native English speakers 

think of British, Australian, or German accents? And more importantly, what is thought of local accents in 

English'' In replying to these questions, the basic point to remember is that, in communicative language 

teaching, being unde

is hat you are teaching towards. But you may need to listen to questions on accent at a deeper le

sitive to your students' anxieties. Language learners put themselves on the line, and one of their 
fea y 

ccented English is not perceived as comical. Therefore, in selecting local speakers of English, choose good 

odels, people who are successful in their fields and who can speak well in public. Your students will 

dles the language well. They might not feel comfortable watching and 

stening to someone who is not proficient in English and difficult to understand. 

k for speakers among the expatriate business 

eople, or representatives of development agencies, or government experts in health, agriculture, road 

our third resource for listening comprehension is tapes. Unless you are teaching a very specialized group 

out 

ot having tapes. Frequently the use of tapes imposes a difficult task with insufficient reward to show for a 

m to draw a picture of it. This description should include 

ems, colors, and activities which can be simply represented by your students. The goal is to practice 

g, as soon as the neighbors' cock begins to crow. The sun is not 

high in the sky and it is still cool. He has to help his parents in their shop before he goes to school. His 

ple is just down the street, and when the monks come clown the 

street in their saffron robes, Uthai tells his brother Tongchai to bring rice to put in the monks' howls. 

At y Joan Morley in her book 

Listening and Language Learning in ESL, as shown in the following excerpt: 

"Semi-Serious" Mini-lectures 

"Semi-serious" mini-lectures are intended especially for elementary and low-intermediate students. The 

purpose is to give students experience with lecture-style listening, but on a very simple and very focused 

subject. The lecturer takes a paragraph of "straight" expository writing (even information from an 

encyclopedia, almanac, or similar publication), and ""dresses it up" and delivers it in a true lecture-style 

format. The lecturer is especially careful to use a very large amount of redundancy-saying the same thing 

over several times with slight rephrasing or changes in phrase structure-in order to use alternative but 

sion Information 

irections Listen and write the information about comparative measurements and amounts. 

rs is that of being ridiculed. What your students may be seeking from you is reassurance that their locall

a

m

happily identify with someone who han

li

Calling in outside speakers can also provide the opportunity for your students to learn about what is going on 

beyond the confines of the school community. If you can, loo

p

construction. Once you start asking, you may be surprised at the willingness of all sorts of people to come to 

your school. If you do not have access to many outside speakers, ask fellow Volunteers to come and speak. 

The change of pace and pick-up in energy levels generated by a new face never fails to stimulate a class. 

 Tapes 

Y

of learners such as air traffic controllers or international telephone operators, your use of tapes should be 

carefully limited. In many cases this limitation will happen naturally. You will not have access to recorders 

which can be heard by large classes, nor to commercially produced tapes suitable for your students. So 

unless your students have specific need to be able to listen to but not see the speaker, do not worry ab

n

lot of effort. 

However, you may find some use for tapes in a multilevel class. You could give work to do with a tape to the 

advanced section (preferably no more than seven students), while you work with the rest of the class on 

another project. If you do not have a commercially produced tape and accompanying textbook, you might 

consider making some of your own tapes. You could give your advanced group a tape of a song, such as 

Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al," from his album Graceland, and ask them to write clown the words. You 

could record a reading of a story or short passage and ask them to write answers to questions as they listen 

to the tape. You could describe a scene and ask the

it

listening comprehension, not to test artistic skills. An example of this kind of listening comprehension "aural 

picture" at a beginning level is as follows: 

Uthai gets up very early in the mornin

parents sell all sorts of things-pots and pans, umbrellas, matches, sugar, shirts, sandals, candy, soap, 

and batteries. His sister sweeps the sidewalk, while he opens the shutters. The shutters have recently 

been painted a bright green. The tem

a more advanced level, you could follow the mini-lecture model laid out b

relatively equal ways to say the same thing. The lecturer also uses pauses, stress, variations in rhythm, 

and variations in intonation to make the meaning explicit. In addition, the lecturer writes notes on the 

board as the lecture proceeds and draws diagrams or pictures as needed. 

Example 1. Weights and Measures Conver

D
Worksheet A Visitor's Guide to U.S. Weights and Measures 

1. Length: 

 2. Length: 

 3. Weight: 

4. Weight: 

 5. Liquid: 

 6. Liquid: 

7. Distance: 

8. Temperature: 

Script Many countries of the world use the metric system of weights and measurements. 

However, the United States uses quite a different system of weights and 

measurements. Visitors to the U.S. often are confused by the new system they

find. The following eight items are the ones that are used the most. The 

conversion guide for these eight items is: 

In LENGTH: (1) one yard in U.S. measurement is equal to .91 meters, and (2) one 

inch in U.S. measurement is equal to 2.54 centimeters. 

In WEIGHT: (3) one ounce in U.S. measurement is equal to 28.35 grams, and (4) 

one pound in U.S. measurement is equal to .45 kilograms. 

In LIQUID: (5) one quart in U.S. measurement is equal to .96 liters, and (6) one 

gallon in U.S. measurement is equal to 3.78 liters. 

In DISTANCE: (7) one mile in U.S. measurement is equal to 1.6 kilometers. 

Finally, in the measurement of TEMPERATURE: (8) the freezing point-32 degrees 

entigrade. 

in the Fahrenheit measurement used in the U.S.-is equal to zero degrees 

C

 [Joan Morley. Listening and Language Learning in ESL. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1984. 

Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.] 

 Characteristics and examples of good listening exercises 

Good listening exercises: 

• p

 in

s 

• communicate real meaning 

• re

Most of the exercises in this section involve more t exercises you are trying to 

cre teraction. Two people in a conversation 

take turns in listening and speaking. In the same way you will see that while the main focus is on listening, at 

a certain point in most of the following exercises your students are expected to respond by interacting in 

some way with whoever is speaking. 

Pr

ming up with a correct answer to that question tests 

our awareness of your students and 

nderstand their values. One thing you c tter where you are, people take a great 

 stories from their daily 

lives to catch their attention fo

rovide interesting content 

•

• 

clude listening preparation 

offer visual support 

• encourage whole-message listening 

• encourage listening for specific detail

quire listener response 

han just listening. In your 

ate "real life" situations, and in real life, listening is part of an in

ovide interesting content 

The question here is, what interests your students? Co

y measures how far you have been able to enter their world and 

u an be sure of, though, no ma

deal of interest in the affairs of others. You may have featured in stories circulating in the village where you 

live. This interest in the affairs of others seems to be particularly true of places that do not have television or 

much radio, where the news is passed by word of mouth and where oral traditions and story telling are still 

admired skills. If you know what's going on in your students' community, you can use

r a listening comprehension exercise. 
Fo example, if you hear about an incident where a cow is struck by lightning, or travelers get stranded 

be

"Pi

. Prepare by drawing a simple strip cartoon version of the story, using about 10 pictures, each picture 

be

2. Divide your class into groups and give each group a complete set of the 10 pictures. 

3. Tell your story of the cow and the lightening to the group. Ask them to listen to the story and then, as a 

gro

You c s to use the 

picture cards as prompts and to give a dramatized telling of the story to the rest of the class. 

If y

mo

to s using mathematicsbased language to stimulate English language acquisition. Lessons can be built around specific language 

skills how 

this can work. 

1. Set up a market stall in the front of the class with as many items as possible, each with a price marked 

on it. 

2. Develop questions that refer to these marked items using terms such as "more than," "less than," "as 

mu reater than," 

dd,'' "subtract." Sample questions based on the market situation will include the following: 

re, three tomatoes or three piles of rice? 

Is it true that one orange costs twice as much as an eggplant? 

Yo

3. h 7) to each team 

ember. 

 one of your questions and then call out "Number 2." 

5. Student number 2 from each team then has to run up to the stall, calculate the answer, and shout it 

 it on a piece of paper and give it to you. The first student to give a correct 

answer wins a point for her team. 

e most accurate guess scores a point. 

3. Repeat this activity until the guesses of all the groups become more accurate. 

r 

cause a bridge is washed out, you can use these incidents in your class as is shown in this exercise, 

ctures in Order." 

1

ing on a separate piece of paper or card. Work on developing a dramatized version of your story. 

up, to put the pictures in the right order. 

an develop variations, too. For example, after telling the story, you could ask the group

our students are receiving very few hours of English, you will want to pay special attention to raising their 

tivation by using materials which will interest them. You may be able to tap into your students' motivation 

learn science or math. For example, you could develop problem-solving activitie

such as practicing special mathematics vocabulary. The following "Shopping" exercise illustrates 

ch as," "most," "equal to," "as many as," "altogether," "twice as much as," "fewer than," "g

"a

Name one item that costs more than $0.25 each. 

How many mangoes can you buy with $0.35? 

What costs mo

u should develop at least three questions per student. 

Divide your class into teams of approximately seven and give a number (1 throug

m

4. Read

out, or if you prefer, write

6. Keep the tally and continue the exercise until you have asked all the questions. 

[Adapted from "Integrating Language and Math" in JoAnn Crandall (Ed.). ESL Through Content - Area 

Instruction. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1987.] 

Another exercise involving simple mathematical language is "Guess the Distance." 

1. Divide your class into groups. Give each group some kind of equipment for measuring distances. 

Indicate any two objects in the room and ask each group to guess how far apart the objects are. Write 

down the groups' guesses on the board. 

2. Ask a representative from each group to measure the distance between the two objects. Compare the 

guesses with the actual distance. The group with th
The minilectures referred to earlier are also a useful technique for classes with limited hours of English, 

particularly if you choose subjects related to materials taught in other classes. 

 Include listening preparation 

Taking the time to prepare your students means taking time to work on their motivation. You will be aiming to 

ions, which could be written on the board. "I want you to listen carefully and 

then tell me the answers to the following questions: What was life like in the mountains? Why did the 

family decide to visit the city? What did the family think of life in the city?" 

3. Develop your students' ability to predict what might happen. Discuss with them: "Do you think a farmer 

m in the discussion and by writing them on the board after you are sure everyone 

understands them. 

 of the story." Or "I'm going to ask you to complete a true/false exercise." 

Ta

suc erstand what you are saying 

throughout this process and generate as much participation as possible, particularly in the predicting stage, 

wh

 Offer

If you el of difficulty facing your 

studen difficulties facing your students. And in 

doing cess in 

listening and completing their assignments. You do not have to he a gifted artist to produce visual clues. For 

exa

uares on the board, each square containing shapes as in Figure 4.3. Label the 

squares with the letters A through F. 

d a square. The circle is above the square. 

below. The small 

circle is in the bottom right hand corner. The large circle is directly above. 

stimulate their interest, to make the purpose of the listening clear, to explain the specific post-listening task, 

and to convince them that they can and will be successful listeners. Your preparation will progress through 

various stages. 

1. Give an overview. For example, if you are going to tell a story you can say: "This is a story about a 

farmer and his family living in the mountains who decided to visit relations in the city." 

2. Add some guiding quest

in the mountains will have an easy life? Why do you think a farmer and his family, might want to visit the 

city'? What might surprise the farmer and his family about life in the city? Do you think the family will want 

to stay in the city?" 

4. Preview vocabulary items or key phrases or sentences which will come up in the story. You can do this 

by including the

5. Make your post-listening task clear. "When I've finished telling you this story, I'm going to ask you to 

draw a cartoon

ke your time over this preparation. It's an important part of laying the groundwork for your students' 

cess in developing their listening skills. Check that your students und

en your students have the opportunity to develop their expectations of the listening passage. 

 visual support 

remove visual clues, as in a listening task with tapes, you increase the lev

ts. Conversely, if you add visual clues, you lower the level of 

so you will also lower the level of stress and increase the likelihood of your students' suc

mple, look at the following "Shapes" exercise. (See Figure 4.3.) 

1. Draw a series of sq

2. Tell your students that you are going to describe the configuration of shapes in each of the squares. 

Their job is to listen carefully and to write down the order in which you describe the squares. 

3. Describe the configurations as follows: 

Number 1: There is a rectangle on the left hand side. To the right of the rectangle are two shapes, a 

circle an

Number 2: There are four shapes here: a large square, a large circle, a small square, and a small 

circle. The small square is in the top left hand corner. The large square is directly 
Number 3: There is a small circle in the bottom left hand corner. To the right of the circle is a small 

square. 

(Your students will end up with these answers: 1. = F, 2. = A, 3. = D.) 

Once your students are familiar with this exercise, you could ask individual students or groups of students to 

run the exercise, that is to draw the diagrams on the board and give the descriptions to the rest of the class. 

 

re 4.3 Shapes

If y rials, and your students have colored pencils or markers, you could organize a 

"Color the Picture" exercise. This exercise is particularly appropriate for younger students of English. 

1. Give out copies of a picture and give instructions on coloring the picture. For instance, if you have a 

picture of a busy market, your instructions could be something like this: 

If y

exe

ehind the table, to the left, is a window.

Figu

ou can photocopy mate

Find the man who is selling pineapples and color his shirt red. 

Find the boy who is carrying a big basket on his back and color the basket brown.

Find the woman who is sitting on the ground next to the water pump and color her skirt blue with 

yellow flowers. etc. 

2. Exploit this exercise during the correction stage by asking your students: 

What's the color of the shirt of the man selling pineapples? etc. 

ou do not have the luxury of photocopies and colored pencils, you could develop a "Draw the Picture" 

rcise. In this exercise you "dictate" a picture to your students. For example: 

I want you to draw a picture of a table. 

On the table are three things: a cup, a book, and spoon.

B
On the window sill is a vase of flowers. etc. 

You can vary this exercise by running it as a team activity. Divide your class into three teams. Divide your 

bla eam member. Then 

ictate" as follows: 

Number 4, to the blackboard please. I want you to draw a house. Thank you. Back to your seats. 

 En

Whole-message listening is the aural equivalent of skimming a text in reading. Just as when you skim a text 

to 

dis

Su ll your class about your weekend, and you want them to 

understand the main ideas, to see the big picture. You want them to understand that you went to visit a 

frie

about some of the problems in selling fish, had a great meal with your friend, and came home. You may well 

include details about the fish-the type, the size, the food they eat, the rate of growth. You may also want to 

talk ey face, but you will 

ot expect your students to understand and retain all the details. 

tail they do not understand. Help 

our students make intelligent guesses about what is going on and encourage a tolerance of ambiguity. 

 training and your first six months on the 

b, you will probably remember some of the frustration you felt at not being able to understand everything 

go

for

an

str

wo rtain control of 

e details and concentrate on the main points the speaker is making. You want to encourage the strategies 

owever, you need to recognize that for some learners this giving up of control makes them anxious. You 

l listening, but you should make it clear that you consider that these errors, and risk taking in 

eneral, are part of the learning process. 

Gu

an

"De

It belongs to_____(owner). 

ckboard into three sections, allocating one section to each team. Number each t

"d

Now, number 10, to the blackboard please. I want you to draw a tree next to the house. Thank you. etc. 

courage whole-message listening 

get the main idea, so in whole-message listening the goal is to listen for the main ideas and not to be 

tracted by details or failure to understand individual words. 

ppose that on a Monday morning you decide to te

nd working on a fish pond project, met with some of the farmers interested in setting up fish ponds, talked 

 about the farmers' reasons for wanting to build ponds and some of the problems th

n

When you check for comprehension, make sure that everyone understands the major events of your story 

and make it clear that in this instance, global listening and understanding is what you are after. Encourage 

and praise those students who do not shut down as soon as they hit a de

y

If you think back to your language learning days during pre-service

jo

ing on around you. You may also have noticed that Trainees and Volunteers had two different strategies 

 dealing with ambiguity. Some went after the details, interrupted speakers when they did not understand, 

d constantly consulted their dictionaries, intent on finding the exact meaning of every word. Others did not 

ain after the meaning of every syllable and seemed content to go with the flow. But in fact they were 

rking hard, tracking the main ideas of conversations. These learners tolerate having unce

th

of this second type of learner among your students. 

H

can counteract some of this anxiety in the way you deal with errors. Your students will make mistakes in 

their globa

g

essing games are a good way to foster risk taking and intelligent guessing. Some of them are very short 

d simple and could be included as a wrap-up activity at the end of your lessons. For example, the exercise 

scribing an Object" has simple steps. 

1. Think of an object, which may be in the room or in a picture on the wall, and describe it. Tell your 

students to raise their hands if they think they know what you are describing. 

2. For beginners it might help to write on the board examples of the language you will be using: 

It's______(color). 

It's______(size). 

It's______(shape). 

It's made of_____(substance). 

It's used for_____(purpose). 
Yo

abstract items. To define these items you might want to use antonyms ("It is an adjective and it means the 

pposite of intelligent."), or synonyms ("It is an adverb and it means the same as 'wonderfully'."), or 

 as 

ell as for encouraging intelligent guessing. 

xercises in which students listen to a passage and then complete charts or graphs encourage listening for 

1. Tell your students you are going to read the passage three times: first at normal speed, then at a 

. Ask the students to follow carefully and to fill in the blank spaces in the chart as they listen. 

Second, you must make a detailed list of what you have to study. I think you will have to concentrate on 

mar points, and 

(3) vocabulary items. 

times you are free. This means you have to mark: 

 y riods, 

 y nd 

 a the weekend. 

Fourth, you must decide what are the most important items to be i T t make a 

(1) what you are going to study, and 

area. Try to find somewhere: 

this ay e lt m ch more in 

u can adapt this same exercise for intermediate or advanced students by choosing to describe more 

o

comparisons ("It's like an extremely strong wind."). These exercises are useful for reviewing vocabulary,

w

 Encourage listening for specific details 

E

specific detail. This kind of exercise complements whole-message listening. The emphasis in this case is on 

carefully detailed listening. 

In the "Chart" exercise (see Figure 4.4) you will need to adapt the details to your situation, but basically you 

would follow these steps: 

slightly slower speed, and finally at normal speed again. 

2

Imelda is worried. She has an English test next week and she is afraid that she won't be able to organize 

her time well to prepare for the test. She went to ask her friend Cecilia for some advice. Here is Cecilia's 

advice: 

First, you must plan. This means two things: 

(1) you must decide how much time you have to study, and 

(2) what you have to study. 

three areas: 

(1) reading passages, 

(2) gram

Third, you must get out your calendar and mark the 

(1) our study pe

(2)

(3)

our free evenings, a

ny time you have on

 stud ed. hen you mus

timetable for yourself and write down: 

(2) how long you are going to spend on each item. 

Fifth, you must arrange your work

(1) which is quiet, and 

(2) which has good light. 

Imelda was pleased with this advice. When she organized herself i

control of the situation and much less anxious about the English test. 

n w sh fe u
Figure 4.4 Cecilia's Advice 

The next exercises are listening comprehension versions of True or False. The format is the same for each 

exercise, but as you will see, Texts A and B are for upper intermediate students who have some familiarity 

with concepts of purpose and consequence, whereas Text C is at a beginner's level. 

Read each short text to your students and ask them to decide which of the four statements you have 

written on the board agree with the views expressed in the text and which do not. 
Text A: Carlos is a clerk in a government office. Although the climate is hot and the office does not have 

air conditioning, most clerks wear long, dark trousers, white shirts, and ties at the office. Carlos has 

several ties and wears a different one on each day of the week. 

1. The climate is hot; consequently, most clerks wear long, dark trousers, white shirts, and ties at the 

office. 

2. Most clerks wear ties at the office, so Carlos also wears a tie at the office. 

3. If Carlos wears a tie to the office no one is surprised. 

4. Carlos has a number of ties, so that he 

Text B: One day Carlos decided to wear jeans and a hot 

 comfortable. 

1. It was such a hot day that Carlos decided to wear jeans and a T-shirt and sandals to the office. 

ear jeans, a T-shirt, and sandals. Therefore, he 

If your 

can wear a different one each day of the week. 

T-Shirt and sandals to the office. It was a very 

day and he thought everyone would understand why he made the decision. In fact, he expected his 

supervisor to praise his good sense. He was most surprised when his supervisor asked him to go home 

and change, even though the clothes he was wearing were cool and

2. His supervisor understood why he had decided to w

asked Carlos to go home and change. 

3. Carlos can wear jeans providing he does not wear them at the office. 

4. In order to be safe rather than sorry, it is better to wear what everyone else is wearing. 

Text C: Leonora wants to be a primary school teacher. She is the eldest child in her family. She has 

seven brothers and sisters. She spends a lot of time helping her young brothers and sisters with their 

homework. They all like to work with her. She makes homework seem fun. They all get good grades for 

their homework. 

1. Leonora is a primary school teacher. 

2. She helps her young brothers and sisters with their homework. 

3. She gets very cross when she is helping them. 

4. The teachers are pleased with the homework of Leonora's brothers and sisters. 

[Adapted from Skills for Learning Development. Thomas Nelson & Sons and University of Malaya Press, 

1980.] 

 Communicate real meaning 

Whether they say it aloud or not, it's very probable that your students have at some time or other asked 

themselves "What's the point of learning English?" This is particularly true of students in countries of 

Francophone Africa, where students know that French is the important language to learn if they want to get 

ahead, and where English is of secondary importance. You can, and probably do, spend time working on the 

motivation of such students by pointing out the advantages they will have in being able to read books written 

in English once they get to the University or any other institution of higher learning. But for adolescents the 

motivation frequently has to be more immediate. They want to see the benefits right now. 

One way you can fuel this motivation and satisfy the need for immediate feedback is by setting up real life 

scenarios in which your students have to participate in some task which requires them to understand and 

speak English. You might, for instance, ask a student to go to another English teacher and ask for a book. 

You will make your request in English, and you will ask your student to ask for the book in English. 

colleagues in the English Department agree to cooperate with you, you could set up a network of errands 

being carried out in English on the school compound. 

A TEFL Volunteer in Gabon, central Africa, once spoke about the breakthrough he had with a group of his 

students who had been educated in French, were not motivated to learn English, and would only do the 
minimum they considered necessary to pass the English examinations. As it happens the Volunteer had a 

motorbike, and the tools and mechanical knowledge to maintain his bike. His students were interested in 

otorbikes and would drop by the Volunteer's house when he was working on his machine. The Volunteer 

ould only talk about his bike in English and he lent magazines on motorbikes, written in English, to his 

ecause they 

ad something to say and had an interest in hearing what was said. This attitude spilled over into the 

 Re

A response is the listener's way of saying "I hear you." As was said earlier in this chapter, listening is not 

taught in isolation. Speaking comes into play as the listener responds and interacts in a conversation. These 

listening exercises which call for a response from your students allow them to demonstrate their 

understanding and to develop interactional skills. This section presents exercises with four types of 

respo n response, the longer spoken response, and the extended 

spoke

The action response exercises are based on the Total Physical Response Approach. An example of this is 

"Cl n excellent exercise for energizing a sluggish class, though it does require space if you 

have a

1. Ask your students to walk around the room. Give a signal like a clap of the hands and then give a 

ommand, for instance: form a group of people of about the same height. 

. When the students have sorted themselves into groups, ask them to walk around again, until another 

. Other commands could be: 

Get into groups of five and decide on a song you want to sing. 

e same month. 

de bikes and those who can't. 

lves look like elephants. 

e; stand in a line with the tallest at the back and the shortest at the front. 

3. After about five to eight commands which involve everyone, the game can be finished off by calling out 

umbers, such as "Seven." That means that groups of seven have to be formed. Anyone who is not in a 

 out. 

Exam "General Knowledge Quizzes," "Aural Clozes," 

and " " are very popular because you can ask 

questions about other courses. Ask your family to send you the junior version of the game Trivial Pursuit or 

the are excellent sources for questions. 

The following "Aural Cloze" exercise is for a beginning level class but the principles can easily be adapted 

for an

 school event. If you do not have a photo, draw a picture on the 

blackboard. Tell your class a story about it. Repeat this story two or three times. 

2. n it, but with several blanks instead of words. 

Read the story again, line by line. The students fill in the blanks as they hear the words. Repeat the story 

on takes while it is being read. 

m

w

students. 

Gradually the Volunteer realized that his students were talking in English to each other about motorbikes. 

Several students began bringing bikes to the Volunteer for repairs and the repair work and conversations in 

English went ahead hand in hand. The Volunteer had stumbled on a context in which his students listened 

and talked in English. The messages were about carburetors, fuel lines, brakes, and batteries and were all 

meaningful. The subject had become real. The students wanted to communicate in English b

h

classroom and the Volunteer was delighted to find himself teaching a really motivated group who made 

excellent progress in English. 

quire listener responses 

nses: the action response, the short spoke

n response. 

usters," which is a

 big class. 

c

2

command is given

Get into groups of people born in th

Get into groups of seven, of those who can ri

Get into groups of three; make yourse

Get into groups of fiv

n

group of seven is

ples of exercises which require short responses are

Hidden Sentences." The "General Knowledge Quizzes

Guinness Book of Records. You will find they

y level. 

1. If possible use a photo of a recent

Give your students a paper with the same story written o

e more time, with the students trying to correct mis
3. An example of the kind of Cloze text you can write to accompany a picture of some students working in 

 is: 

This is Mazrui working in the (garden). He is holding a (hoe) and he is digging up the (weeds). He has 

be eds he has (already) dug up. Alem is (also) working. He 

ha d he is watering the (onions). The onions have been (planted) in rows. And Saad 

isn't (doing) anything! He's just (standing) and watching. Is he (giving) advice? I (think) so. 

3. Choose a topic card and announce the topic to the class. The two students start off a conversation with 

each other on this topic. They have to guide the conversation in such a way that they can use the 

th teams listen attentively and try to guess the 

hidden sentence of the students from the other team. If they think they hear it, they shout "Stop" and 

n sentence correctly = 1 point; using the 

hidden sentence correctly without being detected = 1 point; failing to use the sentence = minus 1 point. 

We have too much homework these days. 

[Adapted from Friederike Klippel. Keep Talking. Cambridge University Press, 1984.] 

hese 

are written down by everyone. 

3. Using their notes, the students who were listening report on the changes in the story. Then the original 

story is read again. 

[Adapted from Friederike Klippel. Keep Talking. Cambridge University Press, 1984.] 

the school garden

en (working) hard. You can see the (pile) of we

s a watering can an

The words in parentheses would be omitted in the version given to the students. 

The "Hidden Sentence" exercise is for advanced level students. 

1. Prepare approximately 10 cards with sentences and 10 cards with topics. 

2. Divide your class into two teams. Two students, one from each team, come to the front of the class. 

Each student chooses a sentence card. They do not show their cards to anyone. 

sentence on their card without anybody's noticing it. Bo

repeat the sentence. if they are correct, they score a point. Each team is allowed to shout "Stop" twice 

during each round. The conversation continues until three minutes are up. 

4. Scoring can be organized as follows: guessing the hidde

5. Suggestions for sentences: 

The rains are late this year. 

I hate cooking. 

I think Egypt will win the World Cup for Soccer. 

I'd love to go to America. 

Suggestions for topics: 

Family life 

Television 

Hobbies 

The environment 

Examinations 

Examples of listening requiring longer responses are the "Shrinking Story" and the "Messenger." The steps 

for the "Shrinking Story" are: 

1. Five students are asked to leave the room. The rest of the class listens to a story which you tell them 

twice. After the second reading, the students agree on a few main points summarizing the story. T

2. The first student is asked to come in and listens to story one. The second student is called in and 

hears the story from the first student, while the class notes down which of the important points have been 

mentioned. Student number 2 then tells the story to student number 3, student number 3 to student 

number 4, and student number 4 to student number 5. Student number 5 tells the story to the class. 
The steps for the "Messenger" are: 

1. For this exercise you will need a set of wooden building blocks for yourself and a set for each group. 

Before the class begins, build something out of these blocks. Place the construction on a tray and cover 

it. 

2. Divide the class into groups of five and give each group a set of blocks. Then ask for one messenger 

from each group to look at your construction. 

3. Each messenger reports back to her group and tells them how to go about building the same 

construction. The messengers are not allowed to touch the wooden blocks, nor to demonstrate how the 

construction is done. The messenger can take a second look at your construction. When all copies are 

completed, they are compared with the original. 

4. If you do not have wooden blocks, arrangements of pieces of cardboard or other objects and drawings 

[Adapted from Friederike Klippel. Keep Talking. Cambridge University Press, 1984.] 

s q g t e es n a generally more suitable for advanced students. Two 

examples ng" and "Values Clarification." In "Creative Problem 

Solving" y t o n o a re t ase study and ask your students what they think should 

be done, or you can tell part of a story and ask the students to complete it. 

For the case study, describe a critical incident to views on the next step. For 

example y uld k a he u f a to hool property. 

The school Prin pa o ng er n because students keep writing graffiti on the walls 

of the school. In a recent incident, a student went to the Principal and told him that a certain 

group o tude s re boasting that they were the ones responsible for the graffiti. When 

broug Principal, mitted that they had boasted, but said that they were 

not in fa t he o s o d itten the graffiti. What should the Principal do now? 

The facts of the case can be el or a ou ish to make them. The discussion of the case study can 

be done as a whole-group activity s sm g p activity. 

For the story telling, the incomplete story can really call on your students' creativity, as in the following 

example. 

Many r ago m ch t f nd im lf debt to a moneylender, a cruel and unpleasant man. 

The merchant had only one child, a daughter, whom he loved dearly. One day the moneylender 

came to the merchant wi e merchant should pay his debts, go to debtors' 

prison, or permit the moneylender to marry his daughter. 

el path and to discuss the idea a little further. Here 

he proposed that Fate should decide the issue. 

nd your daughter will never see me again. However, if she picks out the 

cussion on what the merchant's daughter should do. 

can be used. 

The exercise

of this type are ''Creative Problem Solvi

 re uirin ex end d r po ses re 

ou have wo ptio s Y. u c n p sen a c

your students and ask for their 

ou co loo t t iss e o dam ge sc

ci l is bec mi v y a gry

f s nt we

ht before the the students ad

c t ne wh ha wr

as ab ate s y w

or a a all- rou

 yea s a er an ou h se in 

th an ultimatum-either th

Realizing that both the merchant and his daughter were horrified at the idea, the moneylender 

invited them both to walk with him along a grav

"I shall take two pebbles from this path, one black and one white," he said, bending down to pick 

up two stones. "I shall drop them both in this bag. And then, if your daughter agrees, she will pick 

one of the stones from the bag without looking. If she picks out the white one, I shall forgive all of 

your debts, and you a

black stone, your daughter is mine." 

The merchant's daughter was distraught. She did not trust the moneylender. She was almost sure 

that he had put two black stones in the bag. Her position seemed impossible. What should she 

do? 

At this point you can have a class or small-group dis
(The "correct" answer is that the daughter put her hand in the bag, withdrew a stone, and dropped it 

"accidentally" on the gravel path. "I'm sorry," she cried, "but you can tell the color of the stone I chose by the 

color of the one remaining in the bag.") [This story is told by Edward de Bono as part of his work on lateral 

inking.] 

Th ens and early twenties, 

since it gives them the opportunity to express their views on issues they often feel strongly about. In 

cho

you xercise is found in Figure 4.5. You can adapt it as a 

listening exercise by reading the statements to your class. In exploiting this exercise you can go through the 

foll

ents. 

sk the members of each group to discuss among themselves the reasons for their 

responses. 

arny, and JoAnn Crandall. 

rentice-Hall, Inc., 1984. Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New 

2 = Strongly agree 

th

e "Values Clarification" exercise is usually very popular with students in their late te

osing a subject to discuss, he sure to limit the choice to subjects that are appropriate for discussion in 

r particular situation. An example of this type of e

owing steps: 

1. Read through the statements once, asking your students to work individually in reacting to the 

statem

2. Read through the statements one by one, and at the end of each statement, ask students to group 

themselves according to their responses-with +2's together, + 1 's together, 0's together, -1 's together, 

and -2's together. A

3. A spokesperson from each group will then give a summary of these reasons to the rest of the class. 

Figure 4.5 From The American Way by Edward N. Kearny, Mary Ann Ke

P

Jersey. 

VALUES CLARIFICATION 

Do you agree or disagree with each of the statements below? Put a check under the number that indicates 

how you feel. 

+

+1 = Agree 

0 = No opinion 

-1 = Disagree 

-2 = Strongly disagree 

+2 +1 0 -1 -2 

1. Arranged marriages are better than ma

ir own. 

rriages where the couple - - 

have met and dated on the

- - - 

2. It is very important for my family to approve of the person I marry. - - - - - 

3. If my parents disapproved of my choic

y much in love. 

e, I would not marry that - - 

person even if we were ver

- - - 

4. A woman's place is in the home. - - - - - 

5. Married women with small children should not work. - - - - - 

6. Some women are better mothers if they 

children all day. 

work and are not with their - - - - - 

7. Children should be spanked if they misbehave. - - - - - 

8. Parents should put the needs of their children before their own - - - - - 

personal needs. 

9. Children should put the needs of their families before their own - - - - - 

personal needs. 

10. Equality between a husband and wife causes divorce. - - - - - 

 Summary 

In developing your students' listening skills, allow for exposure to English: 
provide plenty to listen to 

let your students' brains work while they are doing something else 

tening compre

other speakers of English 

encourage whole-message listening 

encourage listening for specific details 

essages 

 response 

Cambridge University Press, 1984 

or commu

The Listening Approach 

er 

atu ed in Chapter Two of this manual. It 

ree

lower stress 

Provide meaningful "real life" messages: 

build in response time 

allow for visibility of the speaker 

provide background clues 

allow for redundancies 

Use the three resources for lis

the teacher 

hension: 

tapes 

Develop listening activities which: 

provide interesting content 

include listening preparation 

offer visual support 

communicate real m

require listener

 Suggestions for further reading 

Keep Talking 

Friederike Klippel 

This book presents many good ideas f nicative fluency activities. 

J. Marvin Brown and Adrian S. Palm

Longman Inc., 1988 

This book is based on the theory of the N

or the creative, stress-f

ral Approach discuss

includes many ideas f teaching of listening skills. 

 
ls of reading may be developed. 

The chapter ends with special notes on the teaching of vocabulary. 

 Ro

Yo own previous language learning 

experiences. For example, if your teacher used the Grammar Translation Method, reading probably figured 

pro

line . At home you would read laboriously 

through the text, conscientiously looking up all the words whose meanings you didn't know. In the next class 

me original 

language and then to translate the passage into E

tra l 

onstructions, new vocabulary, stylistic nuances, and the like. 

l 

ourses are usually confined to two main types. One type includes dialogues and other drills. Students are 

. Students who continued 

ey unconsciously use in 

eir first language are automatically transferred, but the use of others must be explicitly taught. 

lieve that the types of reading done in the language classroom should 

flect the many uses to which reading is put in real life. You use reading not only for study purposes but 

tages in the development of reading proficiency 

CHAPTER 5 

Teaching reading 

This chapter first examines the variety of roles played by reading in the learning and use of a language. 

Next a number of sample exercises show how the underlying microskil

les of reading in the learning and use of language 

ur definition of "reading in a foreign language" probably depends on your

minently among the typical activities. As part of each lesson, the teacher probably assigned a number of 

s or pages of text for you to prepare for the next class meeting

eting the teacher would call on the students one by one to read the assigned text aloud in the 

nglish (the students' native language). The reading and 

nslation might be followed by a discussion of some of the features of the text: noteworthy grammatica

c

On the other hand, if your teacher was using the Audiolingual Method, it is very likely that reading was 

minimized in favor of listening to and speaking the language. Reading materials in beginning Audiolingua

c

allowed to see these in printed form and read them after they have been practiced orally. The second type 

includes short conversations and narratives which are constructed to parallel closely, but not to duplicate, 

the oral drill materials. Thus, in reading the second type of materials, students learn to process partially 

unfamiliar texts. 

The Audiolingual Method was rarely extended beyond the elementary level of language learning, and 

techniques for teaching more advanced reading skills were never fully developed

their language study beyond the elementary level might find themselves in courses using pre-Audiolingual 

techniques for the teaching of reading. That is, reading lessons might consist of the read aloud-translatediscuss procedure employed in the Grammar Translation Method. Or they might involve the kind of literary 

analysis commonly found in literature courses taught through the medium of the students' native language. 

In recent years, language teaching methodologists have gained a greater appreciation of the nature of the 

reading skill. They have come to understand that in fact it is not a single monolithic skill. Rather it is a 

behavior which is made up of a large number of component skills, sometimes referred to as microskills. 

These range from such foundational skills as the ability to recognize the letters of the alphabet and to match 

spoken words and sentences with their written representation, to quite sophisticated skills such as skimming 

a piece of writing to gain a general idea of its content, or evaluating a text for its general tone or bias. When 

language learners read in their second language, some of the microskills which th

th

Methodologists have also come to be

re

also for daily living. You read not just novels, essays, and poetry, but also newspapers, instruction manuals, 

and the labels on the products you buy in the supermarket. Thinking of this variety of reading tasks, you can 

see that different tasks require different approaches. For maximum efficiency, students must be taught to 

vary their approach to suit the purpose of their reading. 

 S
Before looking at specific techniques and materials which you can use for teaching different types of reading 

tasks, you need a long-range overview of how reading proficiency may be developed, beginning with the 

lowest level of reading proficiency and proceeding to the most advanced. The part of this progression where 

your own students appear to fit will of course he the most interesting to you. However, you will be better able 

to help your students if you can see the whole sequence of development of reading proficiency. 

It is helpful to view each of the three main phases of the sequence in terms of reading proficiency level, skills 

Skills and features of English to learn 

Associate spoken forms with their written representation 

Use reading for everyday tasks 

Basic literacy materials 

Proficiency level 

Pick out main ideas 

Pick out main ideas 

Understand logical relationships between parts of a text 

Extract information relevant to a specific purpose 

terials 

Journal articles and professional publications 

Technical reports 

and features of the language to he learned, and materials which are appropriate for that phase. 

Early stages of reading 

Proficiency level 

Low beginners 

Recognize letters and punctuation marks 

Materials to use 

Exercises which follow up on listening and speaking activities 

Everyday and general interest reading materials 

Transition to longer texts 

High beginners and intermediate students 

Skills and features of English to learn 

Use background knowledge to interpret text 

Discover author's purpose or theme 

Understand sequence of events 

Guess at meanings of unfamiliar words 

Materials to use 

Texts dictated to the teacher by the students 

Narratives of local folktales, history, national events 

Shorter selections from narrative and expressive writing 

Reading academic and professional texts 

Proficiency level 

High intermediate and advanced students 

Skills and features of English to learn 

Discover author's purpose 

Survey, skim, scan a text 

Evaluate a text 

Materials to use 

Extracts from school textbooks 

Reference ma
Give careful thought to the appropriateness of the activities and materials which you use for teaching 

reading to your students. For example, while your students may be beginners, they will not need to spend a 

lot of time in basic literacy activities in English if they already have literacy skills in another language. By the 

same token, if you are teaching a class of students whose language proficiency is quite high, you would not 

want to devote a lot of time to academic reading tasks if your students never do this kind of reading in 

nglish for their other courses (science, mathematics, social studies, and the like). 

he following sections will present several broad categories of reading tasks. Examples will show how some 

 Ba

Th

of , you may have forgotten how it was to learn to read. It just seems natural to pick up a 

newspaper and scan the headlines, to read street signs as you walk along, to look at a piece of paper 

mo

It i

rea

un

con

even be able to recognize whether two symbols are the same or different from each other. If you try to learn 

the writing system, you may at first be able to recognize only a few well known words. It may take quite a 

lon

Yo

(th ed rudimentary 

reading and writing skills in some language, or if they are fully literate in their own language but need to 

lea

stu

ava

sug

wri

Le

rea

the

lea me or different. (From several letters, pick out those 

which are the same. From several letters, pick out one which is not the same.) They should he able to follow 

left

he new language which is taught during the earliest stages of literacy training should consist of vocabulary, 

s within a given period of time, both of 

hich are useful life skills. 

E

T

of these tasks may be incorporated into language lessons and how bridges may be built between classroom 

reading exercises and the day to day experiences of the students. 

sic literacy and reinforcement of listening and speaking 

e starting point for all reading activities in any language are the basic literacy skills. As an educated user 

a language

ney and tell at a glance whether it is a one dollar bill or a five. 

s only when you find yourself in a country where the local language is unfamiliar to you that you begin to 

lize how important the basic literacy skills are. If that language uses a writing system which is also 

familiar to you, you can more fully appreciate the position of learners who need literacy training. When 

fronted with an unfamiliar writing system (e.g., Arabic, or the system used for writing Thai) you may not 

g time to sort out the connections between the spelling of words and their pronunciation. 

ur students will need literacy training in English if they have no reading and writing skills in any language 

e most serious need), if they have a few years of formal education and have develop

rn the writing system of English. There are several approaches to the teaching of basic literacy. If your 

dents need literacy training, you should consult the Peace Corps Literacy Handbook (Manual M-21 

ilable from Information Collection and Exchange) for detailed guidance. However, here are a few 

gestions for literacy training for those students who are already literate in a language which uses a 

ting system different from the Roman alphabet which is used for English. 

arners who are not experienced in reading the Roman alphabet require a considerable amount of preding instruction. They need extensive practice in listening skills, since the auditory channel will at first be 

 major medium for new learning. Skill in visual perception also needs to be developed. In particular, 

rners need to he able to categorize letters as sa

-to-right and top-to-bottom progression. All of these skills are practiced in the exercise in Figure 5.1. 

T

formulate expressions, and sentence patterns which the learners can put to immediate use. They should be 

able to identify themselves and he able to give a few personal details such as age, marital status, residence, 

and occupation. They should learn to follow simple directions and to ask for clarification or help when 

needed. They can learn about timetables and completing assignment

w
RECOGNITION OF LETTERS 

Directions: Circle the letter in the sentence that is the same. 

EXAMPLE S C L S O T S D 

1. A C G I A E A A 

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

2. m o m r v m h n 

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

3. r r n r m h r t 

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

4. k l h k k o r k 

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

5. g p g b g q d g 

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

6. b b g q p d b b 

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

7. e o c e a e e c 

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

8. w x w v u i w v 

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

9. a d b a g a p q 

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

10. f t l f h f f k 

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

 

Figure 5.1 From ESL/Literacy for Adult Learners by Wayne Haverson with Judith Haynes. Center for 

Applied Linguistics and Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1982. Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., 

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 

Language lessons of this type have several advantages in addition to their obvious relevance. The language 

sed is likely to be concrete in reference, and therefore more easily understood by the learners. Further, 

ate reading with education itself, and they will not take seriously a 

acher who does not recognize the importance of reading. 

Sa

ou will base the earliest reading lessons very closely on the oral language which you have taught to your 

ain phases, as follows: 

u

lessons can be short and well structured, an important consideration if the learners are not accustomed to a 

formal classroom situation. 

If your students are already literate in another language, you should not delay for long in introducing the 

writing system of English. Adult learners in particular may feel frustrated if they do not begin learning to read 

immediately. Many people also equ

te

mple Lesson Plants for Early Stages of Reading 

Y

students. The general procedure for these early lessons in basic literacy is demonstrated in Figure 5.2. 

When teaching your students to read sentences which they have practiced orally, you will proceed through 

three m
1. After your students have learned a few sentences in oral language practice, teach them to recognize 

the written form of each sentence as a whole. (See steps 1 and 11 in Figure 5.2.) 

2. Next teach your students to recognize the written form of each of the words which make up the 

3. Finish by having your stu entences again (steps 8-10 and 18-20, Figure 5.2). Also, if 

g learne have your students practice pairs or short 

ences (ste will get the feel for continuous 

our students have built u hey can recognize at sight' they can 

en begin to learn the corre iation. The lesson plan in Figure 5.3 

is. 

can use the .3 for any short sample of 

each the lang Two), then follow up with 

cognition of the written form o correspondences between spelling and 

onunciation by using words wh h the students have already learned to read. 

tra care is taken in literacy tra ing to ensure close ties between what the learners master in listening and 

king practice and what they in writing. These links are 

equally important for literate le . Once you have learned to read you 

unconsciously come to depend on the written word as an aid to comprehension and as a means of helping 

gs that ar mber addresses and telephone 

umbers without writing them do ading stage into the listening and 

peaking activities of your lessons. 

sentence. (See steps 2-7 and 12 17 in Figure 5.2.) 

dents read whole s

the sentences bein d

sequences of sent

 are part of a conversation, 

ps 21 and 22, Figure 5.2). In this way they

text. 

When y

th

p a small store of whole words which t

spondences between spelling and pronunc

shows how to do th

Remember that you 

language. Simply t

 procedures demonstrated in Figures 5.2 and 5

uage first in oral language activities (see Chapter

re f sentences and words. Teach the

pr ic

Ex in

spea are subsequently asked to recognize or produce

arners, and especially for adults

you to remember thin e presented to you orally. (Can you reme

n wn?) You should regularly incorporate a re

s

TEACHER ACTIVITY/RESPONSE 

1. This is the question "How are you?" 1. Show sentence card. Learners listen and repeat 

three times. 

2. This is the word "how." 2. Cut off "how" from sentence card. 

3. Please read this word. 3. Show word card "how." 

4. This is the word "are." 4. Cut off "are" from sentence card. 

5. Please read this word. 5. Show word card "are." Learners respond. Give 

word card to learner. 

6. This is the word "you." 6. Cut off "you" from sentence card. 

7. Please read this word. 7. Show word card "you." Learners respond. Give 

word card to learner. 

8. Let's make the question "How are 8. Ask learners to sequence question on you?" 

flannel board. 

9. After the question there is a question 

mark. 

9. Put question mark after question. 

10. Please read the question. 10. Point to question Learners read in chorus and 

individually. 

11. This is the answer "Fine, thank you." 11. Show sentence card. Learners listen and repeat 

three times. 

12. This is the word "fine." 12. Cut off "fine" from sentence card. 

13. Please read this word. 13. Show word card "fine." Learners respond. Give 

word card to learner. 

14. This is the word "thank." 14. Cut off "thank" from sentence card. 

15. Please read this word. 15. Show word card "thank." Learners respond. Give 

word card to learner. 

16. This is the word "you." 16. Cut off "you" from sentence card. 

17. Please read this word. 17. Show word card "you." Learners respond. Give 

word card to learner. 

18. Let's answer the question "How are 18. Ask learners to sequence answer on you?" 

flannel board under question. 
19. After an answer there is a period. 19. Put period after answer. 

20. Please read the answer. 20. Point to answer. Learners read in chorus and 

individually. 

21. Please read the question. 21. Point to question Learners read in chorus and 

individually. 

22. Please read the answer. 22. Point to answer. Learners read in chorus and 

individually. 

Figure 5.2 Summary Lesson Plan for Teaching Sight Words From ESL/Literacy for Adult Learners by 

Wayne Haverson with Judith Haynes. Center for Applied Linguistics and Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1982. 

Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 

LESSON ONE: M m / m / 

TEACHER ACTIVITY/RESPONSE 

1. This is the letter m. 1. Print letter m on board. Learners listen. 

2. This is a man. 2. Show visual. Learners listen and repeat three 

times. 

3. This is the letter m. 3. Point to letter m on board. Learners listen. 

4. The sound of the letter m is /m/ as in the 

word "man." 

4. Learners listen. 

5. m-an man, m-iss miss, m-op mop (much, 

my) 

5. Teach learners to make the sound /m/. Model 

sound and each word separately. Learners listen 

and repeat three times. 

6. What is the sound of the letter m? 6. Learners respond /m/. If learners have 

difficulty with the formation of the sound /m/, 

repeat steps 1-6. 

7. What is the name of the letter? 7. Point to letter m. Learners respond /m/. 

Prompt, if necessary. 

8. Listen to some words with the sound /m/. 8. Learners listen. 

9. Listen and repeat. 9. Model each word separately. Learners listen 

and repeat three times. 

10. This is the letter m. 10. Show 3 x 5 card with the letter m on it 

Learners listen. 

1

w

1. The sound of the letter m is /m/ as in the 11. Distribute 3 x 5 cards printed with letter m to 

ord "man." learners. Learners listen. 

12. Hold up your card when you hear the 

sound of the letter m. 

12. Demonstrate activity. Learners listen. 

13. What is the sound of the letter m? 13. Learners respond /ml. If learners still have 

difficulty with the formation of the sound /m/, 

repeat steps 7-13. 

14. Hold up your letter card when you hear 

the sound /m/. "Man, hello, miss, my, last." 

14. Model each word. Learners hold up letter m

card for appropriate word. 

15. This is the word "man." 15. Print "man" on board under letter m.

16. Please read this word. 16. Point to word "man." Learners read in chorus 

and individually. 

Figure 5.3 Sample Lesson Plan for Teaching Spelling/Pronunciation Correspondences From 

SL/Literacy for Adult Learners by Wayne Haverson with Judith Haynes. Center for Applied 

ses 

this is to incorporate into your lessons authentic examples from a wide range of print media: 

E

Linguistics and Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1982. Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood 

Cliffs, New Jersey. 

 Everyday u

Your students will feel more motivated to read and to practice their developing reading skills on their own if 

you can demonstrate to them that reading is not just a classroom exercise. The most convincing way to do 
announcements, notices, signs, labels, brochures, instructions, timetables, maps-there are endless 

possibilities. (An added advantage of such everyday materials is that they may often be used for oral 

communication exercises as well as for the teaching of reading.) To make reading activities even more 

otivating, use print materials as the basis for realistic, purposeful tasks, rather than falling into the timeworn 

• Use newspaper advertisements to plan an evening's entertainment, to choose the destination for a 

to teach your students to interpret the writing conventions which are used for each of these 

ifferent types of text: for example, the rows and columns used in timetables and schedules, or the 

d the basic literacy skills in English, and as their reading 

ompetence grows, you will want to encourage them to read on their own in addition to the reading activities 

s popular in its appeal and likely to 

ttract and hold the interest of your students. It will be easier to collect such materials in countries where 

nglish is used as a second language, but not impossible even where English is not so widely used. 

sk friends and relatives back home to send these materials to you. Once your students 

tart using the collection, some of them may want to add materials to it themselves.) Students can browse 

ou can use reading to reinforce the listening and speaking skills of students with any degree of English 

ks, journal articles, technical reports. You will 

ave to teach them the language and the skills needed to give them access to these texts. 

 the organization (how the selection is put together). 

m

procedure of simply quizzing your students with comprehension questions. 

Here are some examples of realistic tasks based on authentic reading materials: 

• The students use airline timetables to plan a trip from, for example, Manila to Tokyo to San Francisco. 

Use cities that will have meaning for your students. The trip becomes more interesting as more cities are 

added and changes of planes and layovers must be taken into account. 

vacation, to locate a suitable apartment, to scout job possibilities. 

• Read product labels to compare cost per unit of measure or to check nutritional values of foods. 

• Follow a set of written instructions to set up and fill in a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule of activities. 

As you can see, while most of these suggestions start out as reading activities, they may easily lead into oral 

communication activities with students working in pairs or small groups. Later in this chapter you will find a 

discussion of how to use short texts which the students create themselves as the basis for reading lessons. 

You will have 

d

abbreviations found in product labels and advertisements. You will also teach them how to locate the 

specific information needed to carry out a particular task, disregarding irrelevant information. You will teach 

them how to assess the information which they gather in terms of how factual it is, or how useful. Note that 

the reading materials which are used are quite ordinary; they certainly are not literature. But some of the 

reading microskills which are developed through their use are quite sophisticated. 

As soon as your students have develope

c

scheduled for the whole class. For this purpose, you need to create a lending library of general interest 

reading materials. This does not have to be anything elaborate, just an informal collection of pamphlets, 

brochures, newspapers, magazines, the Sears catalogue-anything that i

a

E

(Perhaps you can a

s

through the collection during a few idle minutes before or after class, pick out something that interests them, 

borrow it to read as little or as much of it as they like, and return it to the collection. 

 Making the transition to longer texts 

Y

proficiency. Likewise, reading tasks connected to everyday purposes will be motivating to students at any 

level of the language curriculum. However, in most instances you will probably be teaching students whose 

reading needs are not satisfied by these relatively limited types of text. They will want and need to read more 

extended texts: short stories, novels, plays, school textboo

h

What problems do your students face when they try to read extended stretches of text? Unfamiliar 

vocabulary, of course. Probably also grammatical features which they have not studied or which they have 

not thoroughly mastered. But even if a particular reading selection does not present vocabulary or grammar 

difficulties, your students may still have trouble comprehending it. This is because there are two further 

aspects of written discourse which may cause problems for the language learner: the content (what the 

reading selection is about) and
Experts in the teaching of reading emphasize that when you begin to read a text, usually you already know 

something about the content. The title of a short story or the headline of a newspaper article calls to mind a 

ertain area of previous experience. Thus even before you read the first sentence, you have some 

exp

un mation is lacking in any way, 

comprehension of the text becomes more difficult. This type of comprehension problem is not unexpected 

wh

ha

To

Do

"Na rport is located virtually in the heart of the 

ashington metropolitan area, there is a long history of conflict over the noise created by the heavy traffic of 

r had added the word "Airport" to the headline. In that case, many more people would be 

ble to predict something about the content of the article. Washington's National Airport is not unique in the 

roblems of noise which it creates. But if you have never lived in the vicinity of a busy airport, you may be 

sures must be taken to control airport noise. 

ou may well ask yourself what the fuss is about. Isn't it worth a little noise to have an airport nearby? 

aware of this pattern of organization, you might become confused as you proceeded 

rough the article and found that the writer seemed to circle back to the "same" facts one or more times. 

u can use to compensate for your students' deficiencies in 

ackground information and lack of familiarity with conventions for organizing various types of discourse. 

On

fam

an ular texts and provide them 

with the information which they will need for better comprehension of the texts. It is best to use a 

com

 Na

It is very common to use narrative and expressive types of text for initial teaching of extended reading. Such 

tex

dis

seq

hu

Yo

bridge the gap is to use texts which the students construct themselves, as is done in the Language 

Experience Approach (LEA) to the teaching of reading. Because the students generate the reading selection 

in 

mu

language activities. You will find a lot of use for the LEA in beginning level classes. 

Sample Lesson Plan for Transition to Longer Texts 

c

ectation of what the story or article will contain. You have background information which will help you to 

derstand what you are about to read. However, if that background infor

en you try to read a text from a specialized field for which you have no training, but you may not expect to 

ve such problems when reading texts of a less technical nature. 

 illustrate how a lack of background information may hamper the reader, consider the following headline: 

The Noise from National Isn't Getting Any Better 

es that mean anything to you? Probably not, unless you have lived in Washington, DC and you know that 

tional" refers to National Airport. Because National Ai

W

aircraft which use it. Anyone living in the Washington area for a while soon learns of this problem, and the 

two words "National" and "noise” would call it instantly to mind. 

Suppose the write

a

p

puzzled by the underlying assumption of the article: that mea

Y

Reading comprehension is hindered not only by a lack of background information on content but also by lack 

of familiarity with the pattern by which the text is organized. You know, for example, that a newspaper article 

is organized in a kind of inverted pyramid fashion. The important facts are presented early in the article, with 

the most important facts of all coming in the first paragraph and the least important details at the end of the 

article. If you were not 

th

You might not notice that the writer was simply filling in less important details as the article progressed. 

There are two general procedures which yo

b

e procedure involves controlling the texts-using reading selections whose content and organization are 

iliar to the learners. The other procedure is to provide various kinds of support to the learners-trying to 

ticipate gaps in their knowledge about the content and organization of partic

bination of the two approaches which suits the needs of your students. 

rrative and expressive literature 

ts when carefully chosen can avoid many of the problems of content and organization which we have just 

cussed. These texts could deal with familiar or easily imagined events which develop in an orderly 

uence of time, or they might deal with ideas, attitudes, and emotions which are part of the common 

man experience. 

u may find, however, that even these types of text are beyond the reach of your students. One way to 

this approach, they control the difficulty of troth the organization and the content; whatever they create 

st by definition be familiar to them. An additional bonus is that reading lessons develop naturally from oral 
Carol Dixon and Denise Nessel in Language Experience Approach to Reading (and Writing) explain the LEA 

and present detailed plans for its use with students of various levels of language and reading proficiency. 

We will give here a simplified adaptation of the procedure for developing and using a reading selection: 

1. You and your students discuss an experience which all or most of them share: a class field trip, a 

t students have the vocabulary and grammar which they need for the creation of the reading 

material. 

eresting ideas, suggest that the class help 

a story. As they collaborate in dictating the sentences of their story, you 

 makes no 

orrections of the language which the students dictate. The aim is to create a reading selection in the 

etter able to read it. It 

probably would do no harm, however, if in the next step you unobtrusively guide the students into 

st sentence has 

een dictated, read the entire selection aloud to the students and ask them if they want to make any 

ity. 

y the words for them. Each 

student keeps a personal list of troublesome words which require special attention. (What to do about 

g these iscussed in a section on vocabulary later in this chapter.) 

po nt-made reading selection may be treated in the same way as you would treat 

en sk follow-up questions which assess whether the students understand the 

t and th n of the text. Don't go after small details. Look for comprehension of the main 

nd abili e sequence of events. 

 Dixon Nessel. Language Experience Approach to Reading (and Writing). Alemany 

83.] 

An

et

here English is used as a second language and a local English-language literature has 

recent storm, plans for some school event soon to take place. The oral discussion generates ideas and 

ensures tha

2. After the discussion has generated a sufficient number of int

you to write them down to make 

write what they say on the blackboard. In a strict application of the LEA, the teacher

c

language of the students, since if it is in their own language, the students will be b

correcting the language themselves. 

3. Aim for a reading selection of eight to ten sentences in length. Immediately after the la

b

changes. When all the changes have been made, have the students take turns reading parts of the story. 

This is the end of the first phase of the procedure. The students go on to another activ

4. Make a copy of the story for later use. For the second phase of the procedure, duplicate the story so 

that each student has a copy. Now the students read through the story silently on their own. Then they 

take turns reading aloud. If they have trouble reading any of the words, suppl

learnin words will be d

5. From this 

more conv

int the stude

a tional text. A

conten e organizatio

ideas a ty to follow th

[Carol N.

Press, 19

 and Denise

other technique for avoiding the problems of unfamiliar content is to use reading selections which are a 

r elling of fables and folktales from the students' culture. Examples would be the Ananse tales from 

equatorial Africa, stories about Mullah Nasruddin in Moslem countries, or picaro tales in Latin America. Still 

another possibility is the retelling of local or national historical events. 

As the reading ability of your students improves, they are ready for less sheltered reading experiences. In 

those countries w

developed (e.g., in India, Nigeria, and other countries), selections from that literature may be used to help 

students gain an understanding of the values of their culture. When students are better able to handle texts 

with partially unfamiliar content, you can begin to use narrative and even drama from American (or British, or 

Canadian, etc.) literature as a basis for developing crosscultural understanding. 

In assessing your students' needs to read English, you may find that they have to advance no further than 

the ability to understand and enjoy narrative and expressive texts of a few hundred words in length. Other 

students, however, may eventually need to be able to handle the types of expository prose which are used in 

academic and professional writing. Or they may be expected to extend their language studies into advanced 

literature courses. 

If you know that long range goals such as these lie ahead of your students, you should help them to begin 

the development of strategies which may be transferred into these more demanding types of reading. The 

foundation may he laid even while students are working with simpler narrative selections. Ask questions and 

set up exercises which lead students to discover the author's purpose or theme. Guide them into picking out 

the organization of the text: the major divisions, the main ideas, the sequence of events. Help them to 
understand the contribution made by supporting details: examples to clarify a difficult concept, description to 

ma

 Ac

So

ed

mu e way in 

which a reader approaches these more academic types of 

narratives. 

Some Significant Features of Expository Prose 

You will have to familiarize your students with the patterns of organization commonly used in expository 

prose. Although the patterns may differ somewhat from one academic discipline to another, the kinds of 

writing which students usually deal with-the expository prose of their college and university textbooks-are 

quite similar regardless of the field of study. 

It should also be noted that the kinds of writing which your students may need to do in other courses

(es ch of the following 

is of advanced writing 

is divided into three main sections: 

tr lusion. In a short essay, the introduction may be only one paragraph long. The 

conclusion may also be only one paragraph, or it may be a single sentence attached to the end of the last 

paragraph of the body. Sometimes, if the essay is short enough, the concluding statement is omitted entirely. 

The body of the essay is usually more than one paragraph in length. In longer essays (for example, a 

cha

intr

The most important part of the introduction is the author's statement of the focus of the essay. (In textbooks 

for

con

reader 

tre

sta

d 

Alt of the war were not of equal importance. Thus, 

the in the body of the 

essay

There were numerous causes underlying the conflict between the North and the South. However, the 

most important of these were economic; the war was essentially a conflict between two economic 

sys l. 

Figure 5.4 The Discourse Map for an Academic Essay 

ODUCTION

ke a scene more vivid or to bring a character to life. 

ademic purposes 

me learners will eventually have to use English as the medium through which they receive their advanced 

ucation. Some will also need to use English in their professional careers. The type of discourse which they 

st learn to handle differs in significant ways from narrative and expressive literature. Moreover, th

writing also differs from the usual way of reading 

says, reports, reviews, and the like) will follow these same patterns. Therefore, mu

d cussion about common features of academic prose is just as relevant to the teaching 

skills as it is to the teaching of reading. In fact, you will find that many of the textbooks for high intermediate 

and advanced learners of English are intended to teach both reading and writing. 

The most common pattern for organizing an academic essay is shown in Figure 5.4, which may be referred 

to as the "discourse map." You will note, first of all, that the map 

in oduction, body, and conc

pter of a textbook, or a research paper), the body of the essay is greatly expanded, and even the 

oduction and conclusion may increase in length. 

 the teaching of reading and writing, this statement of focus is variously referred to as the purpose, 

trolling idea, thesis, thesis statement, and still other terms.) In one or two sentences the author tells the 

precisely what the topic of the essay is, as well as the point of view from which the topic will be 

ated. For example, in an essay on the causes of the American Civil War (18611865) the author might 

te the focus in the following way: 

In the sections which follow we will examine the causes of the conflict in terms of the political an

economic differences between the North and the South. 

ernatively, the author may wish to argue that the causes

 statement of focus would probably incorporate a thesis that the author will defend

. 

tems: one industrial, the other agricultura

INTR

Opening statements: Capture the reader's interest 

Orient the reader to the topic of the essay 
Fo

ssay: 

cus statement for the Identifies the topic of the essay 

e

Indicates how the topic will be treated 

BODY of the ESSAY 

Focus statement: Topic sentence identifies the purpose of the 

first major division of the body 

Focus statement: Topic sentence identifies the purpose of the 

second major division of the body 

- 

- 

- 

etc. Each major division of the body has its own 

focus statement (topic sentence) 

CONCLUSION

Closing statements: Summarize the major points of the essay 

Sometimes repeat the focus of the essay 

Us

aca

au

Im

mu

intr

Th

the

sta

making it far easier to pick out the author's main ideas. 

In the same way that the introduction ends with a statement of the focus of the essay as a whole, each of the 

major divisions of the body of the essay also has a statement of focus, usually referred to as the topic 

sentence. However, these topic sentences in the body of the paper usually come at the beginning of their 

respective sections. Placing the topic sentence at the beginning of its section is a very efficient technique. 

The re

remem

Teach imes poses problems. The greatest difficulty is that, 

although the body of the essay may consist of a large number of paragraphs when viewed in terms of its 

physic y few major divisions. For 

example, in an essay about the American Civil War which has either of the two statements of purpose given 

above

or the ral system of the South. How can students determine 

where the breaks between major divisions occur? 

So up section headings for the major 

ivi pick out 

 the most general in scope. Topic sentences which begin major divisions of the body of the essay 

 general, since their scope is only part of the scope of the whole essay. Within a major division, each 

 concept of the outline. Teachers 

and outlining is often recommended as a study skill. Unfortunately, teachers too often fail to recognize the 

conceptual difficulties involved in learning to outline. Students must first learn to discriminate between 

different levels of generality, between main ideas and supporting ideas, before they are able to lay out those 

conceptual relations in outline form. 

ually the author does not state the focus in the first sentence or two of the introduction. Instead, the typical 

demic essay opens with a few sentences which set the scene and capture the interest of the reader. The 

thor may give some historical background or otherwise try to orient the reader to the topic of the essay. 

portant as these opening sentences are in terms of establishing a general frame of reference, the reader 

st remember that the most explicit statement of the focus of the paper is usually found near the end of the 

oduction. 

e first step in teaching the organization of academic essays, therefore, is to acquaint your students with 

 idea of the author's statement of the focus. Students will need a lot of practice in recognizing these 

tements. It is a crucial microskill. It sets up the expectations with which the reader approaches the essay, 

ader is immediately alerted to the focus of the section and finds that it is easier to comprehend and 

ber the content. 

ing students to recognize topic sentences somet

al makeup, when viewed conceptually it may consist of only two or ver

, the body of the essay might have only two divisions: political differences and economic differences, 

 industrial system of the North and the agricultu

metimes the designer of the textbook helps the reader by setting

d sions in the body of the essay. However, it is a great aid to reading comprehension to be able to 

major divisions without the help of such typographical devices. The trick lies in being able to recognize 

differing levels of generality from one sentence to another. The sentence which states the focus of the whole 

essay is

are less

physical paragraph is likely to begin with a general statement, but its scope will be still less general than that 

of the topic sentence for the whole division. 

These differing levels of generality are of course what underlie the

sometimes require their students to outline a reading assignment as a way of ensuring better understanding, 
There ssay, you 

need isions. By 

exerc iscourse. 

Skille cess the 

suppo details to 

cloud

d s with the 

kinds ing ideas. 

 f statement 

w s up two 

subdi the topic 

sente be the 

tic nts over 

es nd major 

division of the body might set up a similar classification for economic causes. 

e

de

om s its distinctive 

ha tion is the relationship between a class and its 

me sily recognized vocabulary. The classification 

rel as "may be divided into," 

or 

Re

Wh utside the classroom, that is)? Most 

com , simply for pleasure, or perhaps to pass the 

tim ew as you read for pleasure, the gathering of 

info

sure reading, most academic reading tasks involve the gathering and processing of 

 retention. 

he chances are very good that your students will have learned one all-purpose strategy for attacking a 

t, whether a few paragraphs, several pages, or a whole book, 

h the first word and proceed sentence by sentence, page by 

earch paper, how 

o

the

If t

we

bo

a e specific chapter title looks promising. Turn to that chapter and page through it quickly 

g at s ings, tabl figures, illustrations and photographs. These will give you a better 

fore, in addition to teaching your students to recognize the statement of focus for a whole e

to teach them to recognize the topic sentences which express the main ideas of the major div

ising these skills, readers are able to lay bare the conceptual map of a piece of academic d

d readers comprehend and retain what they read in terms of just such a map. They pro

rting details as they read and use them to aid comprehension, but they do not allow the 

 their perception of the main ideas. 

In a dition to teaching the features of the discourse map, you will need to acquaint your student

 of logical relationships commonly used to establish links between main ideas and support

The

that 

ocus statement of an essay may, for example, set up a classification. The first sample focus 

e suggested above looks at the causes for the Civil War (this is the class) and set

visions, political and economic (these are the two members of the class). Within the body,

nce for the first major division might also set up a classification. This time the class would 

poli

stat

al causes as a whole, and the members would be the specific causes such as disagreeme

' rights, arguments about strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, and so on. The seco

B sides classification, other types of logical relationships commonly found in academic discourse are 

finition, generalization and exemplification, physical description, function or process description, 

c parison, contrast, cause and effect, and chronological order. Each logical relationship ha

c racteristics. For example, the essential feature of classifica

mbers. Each relationship also is frequently signaled by ea

ationship is often introduced with sentences containing verbal expressions such

"consists of," or "includes." 

ading to Gather Information 

y do you usually read narrative and expressive types of writing (o

monly, people read short stories, novels, even biographies

e on a long plane trip. While you may also learn something n

rmation is not your primary goal. 

In contrast with plea

information. You read a textbook to acquaint yourself with the body of knowledge that makes up a college 

course. You search reference works and journals to amass the information needed for a term paper. You 

review your reading and lecture notes to prepare yourself for an examination. 

The information-gathering uses of reading require some microskills which your students may not need as 

long as their reading is confined to narrative and expressive literature. However, if your students expect to 

use English for academic purposes, you can teach them how to read larger quantities of expository prose 

more efficiently and with better comprehension and

T

written text. Regardless of the length of the tex

the strategy remains the same. They begin wit

page to the end. Patient and persistent readers can cover a lot of pages in this way, but it is an inefficient 

procedure. 

You can set up exercises which show your students a variety of ways to approach a written text, teaching 

them to suit their reading strategy to their reading purpose. For example, it is sometimes more sensible to 

begin a reading task with a global approach. If you are gathering information to write a res

d you know whether a particular book is going to he of any use to you? The best way to find out is to survey 

 book to get a general idea of its contents. 

he book is a paperback, look at the back cover. Often there will be a general summary of the contents as 

ll as information about the particular approach to the subject matter which the author has used. Open the 

ok to the table of contents, another important source of information about the coverage of the subject 

m tter. Perhaps on

lookin ection head es and 
idea of whe pter cont n which you can use. Perhaps there are references to the 

pic you ar n scatter d in other parts of the book. An examination of the index will tell you if this 

 so. Surve book in this wa can save a lot of time and help you to locate the information you need. 

n a smalle learn through appropriate exercises to skim an article or a chapter of a 

ook in ord ie of its content. The skimming microskill makes deliberate use of the 

iscourse m discus d earlier. You read quickly through the first paragraph looking for the 

uthor's sta t of the focus o the essay. Having found the focus statement, you read the first sentence 

r u read the entire last 

pa estates his focus and 

summarizes skimming microskill in order to determine whether a 

pa ser reading (or if they must read the 

ess better comprehension and retention 

becau ontents. The map will provide the context which gives meaning 

to the

In add ming, another way to approach a reading selection is scanning. Readers 

scan a text in order to locate a predetermined item of information. In an article about the use of insecticides, 

do rition give the minimum daily requirements for 

vita t the regions affected by acid rain? To find the 

answers to questions such as these, you run your eyes rapidly over the text looking for key words: "DDT," 

"minimum daily requirements," "acid rain." When you hit the key word, you stop and read more closely to see 

if the author gives the information you want. 

Lat r l find examples of exercises to develop the reading microskills, including those 

use

con

 Ex

Mo

sel

discourse structure, style) which the students should learn. The act of reading itself is often a matter of 

practicing important microskills. All 

usu

na

Ea eral interest reading 

ma the students hooked on reading, even when they have not 

advanced very far in their reading competence. This idea of a lending library may be expanded to meet the 

needs of students whose reading ability is more developed. 

Alongside the intensive reading which your students do under your direct supervision, they need the chance 

to read more extensively on their own and at their own pace. For this purpose you need to provide a wide 

variety of reading material of varying degrees of sophistication and difficulty, which your students can read 

for sion of their knowledge of English and the practice of their 

reading microskills. You may want to use as the core of this extensive-reading library a selection of titles 

from the greatly varied graded readers which are available from most of the major publishers of English 

language teaching materials. 

There are a number of points to keep in mind if want to encourage your students to become more 

en

1. Don't hold your students strictly accountable for what they have read (e.g., by quizzes or book reports), 

or otherwise make extensive reading into just another school assignment. 

ther the cha ains informatio

to e interested i e

is ying a y 

O r scale, students can 

h er to get an overv

hich we 

w

d ap w

temen

se

a f 

o two of each paragraph (that is, the topic sentences) to discover the major ideas. Yo

ragraph, since that is where the author often makes a concluding statement which r

his main points. Students can use this 

rticular essay is worth reading more closely. If the essay is worth a clo

ay ecause the teacher requires it b ), they should be able to read with

se they will have a mental map of the c

 details. 

ition to surveying and skim

es the author discuss DDT? Does this article about nut

mins and minerals? Does this chapter about pollution lis

e in this chapter you wil

d for gathering information. Students need considerable practice with these strategies before they feel 

fident of them and learn to suit the strategy to their reading purpose. 

tensive reading 

st of the reading that is done by second-language learners is obligatory, assigned reading. The reading 

ections are chosen primarily because they contain features of the language (vocabulary, grammar, 

of this is pedagogically necessary. It is also quite artificial. In "real life" we 

ally read because we want to, not because we have to. There should be some way of providing more 

tural, and possibly more enjoyable, reading experiences for your students. 

rlier in this chapter, a recommendation was made concerning a lending library of gen

terials. The idea of such a library is to get

 pleasure and, not incidentally, for the expan

you 

thusiastic readers. 

2. Do, however, encourage them to write short comments about what they have read to serve as 

guidance and recommendations for their classmates when they choose their books to read. 
3. Read the books yourself so that you can add your own written comments and make suggestions to 

students who have trouble making their selections. 

4. Keep the books attractively displayed and readily accessible, perhaps featuring one or two books each 

week and "advertising" them with slogans to arouse the students' curiosity. 

5. If you judge that it would not be counterproductive within the culture of your students, stimulate 

ompetition in the number of books read by each student. 

As wit ich were described earlier in the chapter, the 

aim is to make the students want to read more and to provide plenty of materials for them to use. Although 

the

an

lthough the specific content of reading lessons varies enormously, once your students have passed 

eyond the materials for basic literacy and for everyday reading, the overall organization of a reading lesson 

rdless of content. For texts created by the Language Experience Approach, 

r short narratives, for academic essays-for all these varied types of reading selections, you can use a 

t to make 

inferences and see implications, and even to assess and evaluate the text. When used before the 

 will note basic 

features of text organization as they read. 

th type of exercise leads the student to extract salient features of the text to be used for other 

purposes: for example, to study for examinations or to incorporate into original research papers. 

Here is an example of the use of questions at the beginning of a reading lesson in order to make your 

stu

to pyright restrictions, only the exercise is given for this 

example and for some of the others which follow. It has not been possible to include the reading selection on 

wh

tes about the following 

questions: 

c

h the more informal, everyday types of reading matter wh

 teacher knows that such reading is "good for them," what the students should think is that it is interesting 

d pleasurable. 

 Examples of exercises to develop the reading microskills 

A

b

stays pretty much the same rega

fo

reading lesson which divides very simply into pre-reading activities, the reading of the selection itself, and 

post reading activities. 

There are four main types of exercises for developing the reading microskills. Some exercises are better 

used as pre-reading activities, some as post-reading activities. Others may be used, with differing effect, 

either before or after the text has been read. 

• Some exercises are well suited as opening strategies for a reading lesson. They arouse the students' 

interest and activate any knowledge they may already have which is related to the content of the reading 

selection, as well as introducing them to the general organization of the text. 

• A second type of exercise aims at ensuring a better overall understanding of the text. They direct the 

students' attention to the main ideas, the author's purpose or theme. They ask the studen

students read the text, exercises of this second type guide and support the students through the reading. 

Used after the text has been read, the exercises often serve as a comprehension check. 

• A third type of exercise looks at the text more from the point of view of form than of content. Such 

exercises help the students to pick out the formal signals of the discourse map. They focus on the ways 

in which logical relationships are expressed, and the various grammatical and lexical devices used to knit 

the text together into a coherent and cohesive discourse. The more detailed exercises of this type are 

done after the text has been read so as not to interfere with the reading process. Sometimes very simple 

exercises of this type are placed at the beginning a reading selection so that the students

• The four

Exercises of this type are usually done after the text is read. 

dents aware of what they already know about the topic, as well as what they do not know and might like 

learn about it. (Due to space limitations and co

ich the exercise is based.) 

Directions: Before you read the article on robots think and talk with your classma

1. What is a robot? 
2. Is there any difference between a robot and an automaton? 

nother example of an opening strategy is the use of skimming to discover the general structure of a text. 

h 1). First nutrients are defined. Then the five general groups of 

nutrients are listed. In what order do you think the author discusses these nutrients? 

3. What can robots be used for? 

4. Do you think they can ever completely replace human beings for some jobs? Which ones? 

[Francoise Grellet. Developing Reading Skills. Cambridge University Press, 1981.] 

A

1. Number the paragraphs in "The Nutrients in Food." How many paragraphs are there? 

2. Read the introduction (Paragrap

3. Quickly read only the first sentence of each paragraph. From these sentences, guess which 

paragraphs are about each of the topics listed below. Give the numbers of the paragraphs which are 

about each general topic. Paragraph 1 is an introduction. Finish the exercise. 

Topics Paragraphs 

Introduction ____1____ 

Carbohydrates _________ 

Fats _________ 

Proteins _________ 

Minerals _________ 

Vitamins _________ 

Conclusion _________ 

[Adapted from Amy L. Sonka. Skillful Reading. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1981. Reprinted by permission of 

Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.] 

Exercises which guide the reader to discover the author's overall purpose and main ideas may be presented 

before students read the selection or after they have read it. Doing such an exercise as a pre-reading activity 

is particularly helpful when your students are still developing the skill of discovering the discourse map of an 

academic essay. 

Even young children can be asked to tell the main idea of a paragraph after they have read it. You can ask 

them "What do you think this story is about?" or "What would be a good title for this story?" When they 

volunteer their opinions the students can discuss the various possibilities and evaluate why one is better 

than another. 

Older learners and learners with more reading proficiency can do pre-reading exercises to predict the 

uses and effects, and the purpose of the follow-up exercise is to 

nsure that the reader understands this interrelated sequence. 

of development of civilization lie outside the 

ization. One does not therefore need to look for psychological explanations 

or to consider low cultural development as the result of geographical isolation from centers of 

diffusion. The explanation is provided by the series of causes and effects just mentioned. 

author's overall purpose and anticipate the main ideas of a reading selection. For example, a multiple-choice 

question can ask them to predict the content of the passage based on the information they gain from the 

title. Further multiple-choice questions based on key sentences from the passage (mostly topic sentences) 

can alert them to the main ideas. 

When the information in a text has a complex logical structure, it often helps comprehension to visualize the 

relationships among the ideas in terms of a diagram. The following paragraph explains why centers of 

civilization do not develop in tropical rain forests where slash and burn agriculture is practiced. The 

explanation is presented as a chain of ca

e

It has been noted many times that the centers 

boundaries of the tropical rain forests. The explanation for this is that the limitations of slash and 

burn agriculture in tropical rain forests prevent cultural development from advancing beyond a 

relatively simple level. Gardens can be productive only for a short time. Consequently, 

settlements are small and have to move frequently. These two factors prevent the growth of 

occupational special
[Adapted from John Moore et al. Discourse in Action. Oxford University Press, 1980.] 

Be

tex they expect their readers to share. Thus,

readers must often infer bits of 

aft

r calling "Help! Help!" He ran to the kitchen. His mother had burned 

ree children.

2. Yusof was three years old. 

3. Yusof was playing in the kitchen. 

4. Rahman's wife was frying something. 

5. Rahman was a clerk. 

Y d a brot d sister.

. R house ot isolated.

Th bor wa .

Y other n edical treatment.

tine Nuttall. Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. Heinemann Educational Books, 1982.] 

le a er

asked to judge a newspaper article for the accuracy and completeness 

f

kno

presentation, differences in the audience for whom each 

ccount is intended, and the like.

ing able to make inferences and see implications can contribute greatly to a reader's understanding of a 

t. Writers usually do not make explicit all the assumptions which

information which are not stated. The next exercise, which would be done 

er the text has been read, gives practice in making such inferences. 

Read the following text. 

A Son to Be Proud Of 

Last week, Rahman's wife had an accident. Rahman's youngest child, Yusof, was at home when it 

happened. He was playing with his new toy car. Rahman had given it to him the week before, for his third 

birthday. 

Suddenly Yusof heard his mothe

herself with some hot cooking oil. She was crying with pain and the pan was on fire. 

Rahman had gone to his office. Both the other children had gone to school. Yusof was too small to help 

his mother, and she was too frightened to speak sensibly to him. But he ran to the neighbor's house and 

asked her to come and help his mother. She soon put out the fire and took Yusof's mother to the clinic. 

When Rahman came home, his wife told him what had happened. He was very proud of his son. "When 

you are a man, you will be just like your father," he said. 

Now read the statements below. Say which statements can be inferred from the text. 

1. Rahman had th

6. usof ha her an

7 ahman's was n

8. e neigh s a nurse

9. usof's m eeded m

[Chris

Exercises which ad a learner to evaluate text may require a rath sophisticated use of critical thinking

skills. For example, learners may be 

o the account which it gives of a particular event. This works best when the learners have personal 

wledge of the event. A similar exercise would have the learners compare two or three accounts of the 

same event. They can look for signs of bias in each 

a
The next sample exercise is similar to one discussed earlier in that it deals with logical structure. However, 

where the earlier exercise focuses only on the semantic aspects of a logical relationship (a series of causes 

and effects), the exercise which follows makes the student aware of the language forms used to express a 

gical relationship, in this case the chronology underlying a process. The student must look for words like 

awards he 

endowed are to be selected. First, each year the Swedish Academy of Sciences (physics and 

, and other experts from all 

over the world. The second step is the review of recommendations received and the selection of 

i n by c es within the two Swedish institutions. The committee 

members are specifically instructed that those chosen "shall have conferred the greatest benefit 

en to the candidates' nationalities. Next, after 

l choices are made for each discipline. Finally, 

 are sent to the new Nobel laureates about one month 

 to the award ceremony. 

h 

suggests that the paragraph will be explaining a process?) 

[Martin L. Arnaudet and Mary Ellen Barrett. Paragraph Development. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1981. Reprinted 

ronouns and other types of substitute words can interfere with comprehension if the reader fails to 

un following exercise is one of 

sev preting substitute words and make them 

con er. 

5 

suggest that there is a basis for their grievances. According to recent figures compiled by 

lo

"step," "stage," or "phase," which refer to the parts of a process. (In the exercise, these are called 

"enumerators.") Also important are ordinal words like "first," "second," "next," "last," which signal that a list is 

being presented. 

In his will, Alfred Nobel left specific instructions as to how the winners of the science 

chemistry) and the Caroline Medical Institute (physiology and medicine) solicit nearly two 

thousand recommendations from past laureates, university professors

prelim nary ca didates special ommitte

on mankind," and that no consideration be giv

lengthy investigation and discussion, the fina

telegrams informing them of their awards

prior

Now ask yourself: 

1. What are the key words in the topic sentence? (Is there anything in the topic sentence whic

2. Can you find any enumerative listing signals? 

3. Have any enumerators been used (i.e., words like "steps" or "stages")? 

4. Between the first step (soliciting requests for recommendations) and the last step (informing the 

new laureates), how many steps can you find? 

by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.] 

Calling your students' attention to such features of language is doubly beneficial. Not only does it contribute 

to better reading comprehension, but it also adds to the resources which students can use in their own 

writing. 

P

derstand which word, phrase, or clause the substitute word replaces. The 

eral types which may be used to give learners practice in inter

scious of the ways in which substitute words tie sentences togeth

Why is it that American working women complain about job discrimination? Statistics 

the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor, nearly 40 percent of all women of 

working age are in the labor force. Although the median education of all women is higher 

than that of their male counterparts, women are highly concentrated in underpaid and 

menial jobs: 75 percent of all clerical workers are women; 55 percent of all service workers 

are women; 27 percent of all factory workers are women. 

10 Of the women with college degrees, 70 percent are working. Of this number, only 2 percent 

are executives, while 40 percent are employed in clerical, sales, or factory positions. Their 

median income is only 51 percent of that of men. 
15 Only twenty-five states have laws requiring equal pay for equal work, and these laws are 

often circumvented by giving a woman a lesser title. In contrast, forty-three states have 

laws which limit the number of hours a woman can work (usually eight) and thereby prevent 

women from earning overtime pay and promotions. 

20 Finally, while the percentage of women in the labor force increases, the income gap 

between male and female workers has been widening at the rate of one-half percent per 

year for the past twenty years. 

n of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.] 

abo the following questions: 

 th le counterparts (line 6) What does 'that" refer to? 

2. of this number (line 11) Of what number? 

cumvented (line 16) Which laws? 

avy cognitive demands of exercises which require students to gather 

firs

[Text adapted from Martin L. Arnaudet and Mary Ellen Barrett. Paragraph Development. Prentice-Hall, 

Inc., 1981. Reprinted by permissio

Refer to the ve text to answer

1. higher than at of their ma

3. only 51 percent of that of men (line 14) Only 51 percent of what? 

4. these laws are often cir

5. thereby prevent women from earning (line 18) How do laws prevent women from earning overtime pay 

and promotions? 

As we have said earlier, when people read for academic or professional purposes they usually read to 

gather information. The ability to extract information from written texts depends on several of the microskills 

we have already discussed: identifying the author's purpose; picking out the main ideas and understanding 

the logical relations among them; making inferences and seeing implications; and evaluating a text for 

accuracy, completeness, bias, and other qualities. Moreover, the information which has been gathered is 

often put to use in a writing task of some kind: research reports, summaries or critical reviews of written 

sources, study notes for examinations, and so on. 

Sample Lesson in Reading an Academic Text 

You should be aware of the he

information and then process it in some way in order to produce their own discourse. Students have to be 

brought along gradually in a series of steps leading to the culminating activity or task. Here is how the author 

of one widely used reading textbook (Skillful Reading by Amy L. Sonka) lays out such a sequence. Sonka's 

careful development can serve as a model for reading lessons treating academic essays. 

1. The centerpiece of the lesson is a thousand-word reading about experiments in which the nature of 

short-term memory is studied. 

2. The pre-reading activities alert students to the fact that experiments are processes. Processes consist 

of steps which are carried out in chronological order. Descriptions of processes usually contain signal 

words such as: 

t after that finally 

to begin afterwards in conclusion 

at that time 

 later 

next 

second, third, etc. 

subsequently 

then 

3. As the students begin the reading selection itself, they see these ''reading hints": 
An experiment is a process. 

As you read the first two experiments ask yourself these questions: 

What do I do first? 

Thus the students are prepared to pick out the organization of the text, to find the main ideas and 

When you take notes on an experiment, your notes should include the objective of the study, the 

Directions: Take notes on the three experiments described in "Short-Term Memory." 

Procedure: 

ts: 

irections for a Short-Term Memory Experiment 

5. Students do further post-reading exercises emphasizing the signal words which are used in 

g oral descriptions of the three experiments discussed in the reading 

 notes they made in Step 4. 

rcise the students practice asking and answering questions about the steps in 

 their notes as they devise and answer the questions. 

8. Finally, in a writing task the students answer sample examination questions: 

What was the experimenter studying? 

What did he do first? 

Then what did he do? 

What was his conclusion? 

In the final section, ask yourself the following questions: 

What am I studying? 

Then what do I do? 

Finally what do I do? 

understand the logical connection among them. 

4. One of the follow-up activities to the reading is an exercise in taking notes. The author carefully leads 

the students through this activity. 

procedure, and the results. 

The procedure of an experiment is a process. Your notes should reflect the order of the process. When 

you look at your notes, it should be clear what happens first, second, third, and so on. 

Animal Experiment of Short-Term Memory 

Objective: 

Resul

Human Experiment of Short-Term Memory 

Objective: 

Procedure: 

Results: 

D

Objective: 

Procedure: 

Results: 

descriptions of process. 

6. The students work in pairs givin

selection. While doing these descriptions, they refer only to the

7. In another pair-work exe

the experiments. Again they refer only to

Explain one way researchers study short-term memory of animals. 
Explain how human short-term memory can be studied. 

, Inc., 1981. Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., 

ding, speaking, and writing 

ctivities are used to reinforce each other. 

 Sp y 

Many people have unpleasant memories of learning vocabulary. Do you remember memorizing long lists of 

words in a foreign language, each one matched with its meaning in English? Do you remember studying 

vocabulary with the aid of flash cards, methodically going through the pack, trying to remember the meaning 

f the words and flipping the cards to see if you had recalled (or guessed) correctly? Do you remember 

r to understand and use the 

nguage, but there are better ways than these to learn vocabulary. 

derstand that it is easier to learn and remember vocabulary when it is 

resented within a context, rather than in a list or in a set of flash cards. "Context" means the other words in 

nlinguistic situation in which the words are used. 

tic and nonlinguistic context contribute their own meanings and set up 

 makes it possible at least to guess at the meaning of unknown words and later to 

ave to know. True, a lot of effort is spent in beginning courses on supplying the learners with a 

tock of basic vocabulary. But once the learner has a vocabulary of, say, 2000 commonly occurring words, 

ing to one well-known frequency list of English words, adding 1000 more words 

g to teach words which occur as infrequently as 30 times per million running words. 

 naturally occurring written text (one which has not been especially 

 several conclusions we can draw about the teaching of 

re effective to introduce and practice new words within a natural context-at a minimum, within a 

phrase or a sentence; a longer context is better. 

3. In a particular written text, unknown words are o three types: words which are central to the meaning 

of the text (key words) and should be explicitly taught; words which are also important but whose 

meaning may be inferred by the reader; and words which may be safely ignored. 

 Explicitly taught words and inferred words 

Explicitly teaching unknown words means either through a gloss in English (i.e., a 

ictionary-like definition, perhaps simplified) students' native language. Don't 

fee

wil

of 

hoose to teach explicitly the key words of the text, probably no more than five to ten words, depending on 

e length of the text. Quite often the teaching of these words may be made part of the pre-reading 

[Amy L. Sonka. Skillful Reading. Prentice-Hal]

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.] 

Even this brief sketch will show how a sequence of exercises is constructed so that there is ample 

preparation for the more demanding tasks. It is worth noting also how rea

a

ecial notes on vocabular

o

vocabulary quizzes? Of course, we have to understand the words in orde

la

For one thing, we have come to un

p

a text which surround the unknown words, and also the no

The familiar aspects of the linguis

associative links. This

recall their meanings by mentally associating them with the context in which they were first seen. 

Another thing that we have come to understand is that no course can possibly teach all the words that 

learners h

s

what happens next? Accord

would mean havin

Putting it another way, in a given

constructed for language learning purposes) most of the words would not be found in a list of the 3000 most 

frequent words in English. Nearly one-half of the words in the text would occur in that text only once. Clearly, 

it would be an enormous burden to have to learn all the new words in every new written text. 

In the light of these observations, there are

vocabulary: 

1. Memorizing vocabulary by means of lists or other devices which divorce the words from their context is 

of limited value. 

2. It is mo

f

to give the meaning

d or through translation into the 

l that you have to avoid translation entirely, but try as much as possible to use English for definitions. This 

l make it easier for your students to begin using an all-English dictionary at intermediate and higher levels 

language proficiency. 

C

th
questioning and discussion which you do to make sure that your students have adequate background 

formation for understanding the text. 

 should 

e alert to the fact that authors frequently define words which they expect their readers not to know. 

w energy, feeling hungry, getting sleepy, and waking up. 

ll these clues taken together can supply enough of the meaning of "circadian" to make it unnecessary to 

fer to the dictionary. 

egular practice in guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words will gradually increase your students' skill and 

 is acceptable as long as the sentence as a whole 

 understandable. 

Insisting on a precise, dictionary-like definition or a native-tongue translation of every word in a text is likely 

to have one of two undesirable results. Some of your students may simply give up after a page or two, 

frustrated by having to thumb the dictionary for every unfamiliar word. On the other hand, the more 

persistent ones may bash through to the end of the text. However, their comprehension of the text as a 

whole may not be much better than if they had simply ignored the unknown words. This is because their 

readin g the text only sentence by sentence. 

They he conceptual structure of the whole discourse, while 

worryi

 Samp ercises 

Vocab tion within each type. One type 

focuses on the meanings of words and the other deals with the forms of words and the contexts in which 

they occur. Some of the variations of the first type are exercises to practice the skill of guessing the 

meanings of unfamiliar words, exercises on synonyms and antonyms, and exercises on words which are in 

the same semantic field. 

Exercises which teach the skill of inferring unknown words are set up in such a way that students are made 

aware of the clues that they are using to guess the meanings. In the following exercise, for example, the 

att he various definitions which the author supplies for the underlined 

techni

Dir which defines the underlined technical terms. The 

firs

e with its associated plants and animals] forms a [large ecosystem] called a biome

in

In addition to the explicitly taught key words, pick out five to ten additional words which are slightly less 

important and guide your students to guess at the meanings. In guessing at the meaning of unfamiliar 

words, they should learn to use the meanings of known words in the surrounding parts of the text, as well as 

the additional help which may be provided by grammatical clues such as word parts (prefixes, roots, 

suffixes) and the order of words in sentences. They should learn to draw on background information, that is, 

the knowledge which they already have about the subject matter of the text. Last but not least, they

b

Suppose your students meet the word "circadian" in a reading selection on a biological topic. Through 

careful questioning, you can prompt them to guess at its meaning. (Don't look it up; see if you can guess it 

yourself.) Here is a sentence in which the word might appear: 

One of the biological clocks which scientists have studied is the 24-hour circadian cycle of body activity. 

Note that the word ends in "-an," a suffix which, in either this form or the variant "-ian," is often found on 

adjectives and nouns (e.g., urban, pedestrian, egalitarian). Next, note that the word occurs just before the 

noun "cycle." This is a position where adjectives are often found. The words "clock" and "cycle," and 

especially "24-hour" indicate that "circadian" has some connection with time, probably a daily cycle. Your 

students may already have read or heard about biological clocks elsewhere, and they probably have noticed 

that they themselves have daily cycles of peak or lo

A

re

R

confidence. Your questions can guide them to notice the lexical and grammatical clues and prompt them to 

call on their existing knowledge of the subject matter. It is important not to insist on a precise, tight definition 

of the word. A little vagueness in the meaning of one word

is

g speed will have slowed to the point that they are processin

will have lost sight of the discourse map, t

ng about the less significant details. 

le types of vocabulary ex

ulary exercises fall into two very general types, with lots of varia

ention of the students is focussed on t

cal terms. 

ections: Put square brackets around the information 

t answer has been done for you. 

1. [A major climat . 
2. The tundra is a vast water-soaked region, with permanently frozen ground several feet down, and with 

ext

. The taiga

ensive bogs in summer. 

3 is the northern coniferous forest. 

4. Temperate deciduous forests, such as those of the Eastern United States, are dominated by 

deciduous trees-oaks, hickories, elms, chestnuts, and maples. 

5. Grasslands are drier regions. They are variously termed prairies, plains, pampas, steppes, and velds. 

[Da , Inc., 1974.] 

In ma is to supply another word which has the same (or 

opposite) meaning. More sophisticated exercises point up the fact that there may be no such thing as a true 

synonym or true antonym. Taking the case of synonyms, the words "progeny," "issue," "offspring," "children," 

and "k only a moment's reflection will show that 

they d h they are likely to occur. Would you 

xpect to read "He died without kids" in a legal context? Would the brave crew of a sinking passenger liner 

ges to studying words in terms of the 

emantic fields to which they belong. The first is that the associative links among the words makes it easier 

ntrast and compare words of similar meaning. 

rb in 

the correct column. 

heat alf-fill 

ta from Stanley L. Weinberg. Biology. Allyn and Bacon

ny exercises on synonyms and antonyms the task

ids" could be said to have the same general meaning. Yet

iffer in formality, in connotation, in the kinds of contexts in whic

e

call out "Women and progeny first"? 

Another meaning-oriented type of vocabulary exercise treats words which belong to the same semantic field: 

names of foods, ways of preparing food, sports and the equipment used to play them, adjectives describing 

emotions, and thousands of other examples. There are two advanta

s

to recall them. The second is that it is possible to co

The following exercise from a textbook for medical technicians points up the differences in meaning of 

several verbs which are often found in laboratory procedures involving liquids. 

Directions: Look at the following verbs. All 21 verbs have a place in the table below. Write each ve

pour away h

fill dilute boil 

agi te ta cool add 

bathe wash rinse 

shake invert pour off 

deliver steep freeze 

warm stir soak 

Mixing Liquids Cleaning with Liquids Transferring Liquids Changing the 

Temperature of Liquids 

[Adapted from John Swales and Paul Fanning. English in the Medical Laboratory. Thomas Nelson & 

Sons, 1980.] 

Whereas the first general type of vocabulary exercise deals with words in terms of their meaning, the second 

Exercises on the form of words lead students to recognize commonly occurring prefixes, roots, and suffixes. 

Th

me

pra

in T

Directions: One of the listed words is needed for completing each sentence. The underlined prefix

type treats words in terms of their form (prefixes, roots, suffixes), their occurrence in common combinations 

or collocations, and their role in linking together the parts of a sentence or sections of a discourse. 

e word in which the prefix, root, or suffix is illustrated should be presented in a larger context so that the 

aning is clear and the appropriate use of the word within the sentence is shown. The following exercise 

ctices the use and meaning of certain prefixes. (The book from which the exercise is taken, Techniques 

eaching Vocabulary, is available through Information Collection and Exchange, No. ED 106.) 

 will tell 

you which word is needed. The first sentence has been completed for you. 
across again poorly before below 

1. A subway does not go above a city; it goes below. 

2. Maladjusted people are people who adjust ___. 

3. A transatlantic flight goes ___ the Atlantic. 

etc. 

[Virginia French Allen. Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary. Oxford University Press, 1983.] 

Asking students to recognize prefixes, roots, and suffixes is safer than supplying the word parts and asking 

the students to produce the words. Unless the production type of exercise is carefully controlled, the 

students may end up inventing nonexistent words. For example, on the analogy of "biology-biologist," 

ition may be equally troublesome: "suspicious of," "mad at," "thankful for," "loyal to," 

 simply used to hearing the 

o

Wi plenty of practice in hearing and seeing the 

combinations of words before you call upon them to 

col

ad

practiced, you can do a consolidation exercise in which students have to recall the proper combinations. 

Here is part of one such exercise on adverb plus verb: 

Lin

be

is o thought of another one, that a second sentence states the result of an action or 

condition 

the

mp words in signaling relationships between sentences. In the following sample exercise, the 

"anthropology-anthropologist," and dozens of similar pairs a student might invent a new word "theologist." 

Collocation exercises teach commonly occurring combinations of words. Some of these combinations are 

quite arbitrary, and for that reason are difficult to remember. Take for example the set combinations of verb 

plus preposition: "depend on," "consist of," "succeed in," "profit from," and hundreds of others. Combinations 

of adjective plus prepos

"disgusted with," etc. Another type of collocation consists of adjective plus noun: "calculated risk," 

"considered judgment," "voluntary retirement." Combinations such as these may not be obligatory, in the 

sense that a given noun absolutely requires a particular adjective. Rather, we are

tw words used together in certain contexts. 

th collocations it is especially important to give your students

produce the combinations themselves. Because many 

locations are arbitrary, a student would have to be very lucky to hit on the correct verb plus preposition or 

jective plus noun without any previous practice. Once a number of collocations of one type have been 

How many ways can a person drive? (carefully, carelessly, dangerously. . .) 

How many ways can a person talk? (softly, loudly, excitedly. . .) 

How many ways can a person eat? (slowly, quickly, hungrily. . .) 

[Adapted from Michael Wallace. Teaching Vocabulary. Heinemann Educational Books, 1982.] 

k words (also called sentence linkers, conjunctions, and conjunctive adverbs) signal thought relationships 

tween clauses or sentences. By interpreting the link words, a reader knows that the thought of one clause 

ffered in contrast to the 

described in the first, and so on. The most effective exercises for the practice of link words show 

m occurring in short texts. Given a discourse context, the learner can more readily appreciate the 

i ortance of link

student cannot select the appropriate link work without understanding the logical relationship between the 

linked clauses or sentences. 

Directions: Read the following text and select the most appropriate link words from the lists given below: 

A color consultant from Toronto explained to the Inter-Society Color Council meeting in New York an 

ingenious scheme which a client company had conceived for increasing the sale of potato peelers. He 

began by pointing out a puzzling fact. 1 potato peelers "never wear out," enough are sold in two years in 

his country to put one in every home. What happens to them? He gave this answer. "Investigation 

revealed that they get thrown away with the potato peelings." One of his colleagues, he added, had then 

come up with a dazzling plan for helping along this throw-away process. He proposed that their company 

paint their peelers "as much like a potato peeling as possible." 2 , a potato colored peeler wouldn't have 

much eye appeal on the sales counter. They decided to solve that by displaying the peeler on a colorful 

card. Once the housewife got the peeler home and removed the bright card, the chances that she would 

lose the peeler were excellent. . . 

1 (a) because 2 (a) in addition 
(b) although (b) for example 

(c) for example (c) however 

(d) since (d) thus 

[Adapted from Francoise Grellet. Developing Reading Skills. Cambridge University Press, 1981.] 

 Using a learner's dictionary 

Although language learners are often too dependent on them, dictionaries are underutilized resources 

available to language learners. Even most teachers may not be aware of how helpful dictionaries can be. 

Thinking of all-English desk dictionaries which they may have for their own use, they may rightly assume 

that such native-speaker reference works are too difficult for their students. On the other hand, they may 

 imagine. 

of proficiency are designed to supply not just 

any other types of information especially useful to the 

have had bad experiences with certain bilingual dictionaries (especially the short, pocket-sized variety) 

where meanings are given in terms of single-word translations from one language to the other. And of 

course, for some pairs of languages it is not even possible to find bilingual dictionaries. 

Learner's dictionaries are a different sort of reference, however, and in the last decade or so some truly fine 

works have been published for learners of English. (In particular, it is worth looking over the wide range of 

dictionaries and related teaching materials published by Longman and by Oxford University Press.) 

Dictionaries for beginners avoid the definition problem by using pictures or photographs. Together with their 

supporting workbooks, they offer an excellent way to help learners build a basic vocabulary. Moreover, the 

pictures and photographs show everyday scenes which might be difficult for learners from quite different 

cultural environments to

Dictionaries for students at intermediate and advanced levels 

spelling, pronunciation, and meaning of words, but m

second language learner. Let's take verbs as an example. Here are some questions which the student may 

have about a particular verb. 

• In the past tense and past participle forms, is the verb regular or irregular? If irregular, what are the 

forms? 

• When you add "-ing" to the verb, do you drop the final e (compare "dying" and "dyeing")? Do you double 

the final consonant ("travelling" or "traveling")? 

• Is the verb always used with an object, never used with an object, sometimes used with an object and 

sometimes without? (We can say "The price includes breakfast" but not "The price includes." We say 

"The license expired" but not "The license expired the time." A verb like "read," however, may be used 

either with or without an object: "I always read the newspaper" and "I always read before going to sleep.") 

• What kinds of constructions can follow the verb? A preposition? Which one? ("That depends on the 

weather.") Is the verb followed by an infinitive ("The guests decided to stay.")? By an "-ing" form ("I enjoy 

listening to music.")? By a "that"-clause ("She insists that we help her.")? 

• For phrasal verbs (verbs composed of a verb plus adverb or preposition and having a different meaning 

from the verb on its own, e.g.: "call on," "call off," "blow up," "run over," "turn out") may the two parts of 

the phrase be separated? (We say "call on them" but "call it off.") 

• What is the difference in the meaning and use of "say' and "tell," ''borrow" and "lend"? 

In addition to providing information on the spelling, pronunciation, meaning, and grammatical characteristics 

of a word, learners' dictionaries also give help in choosing the correct word from related alternatives. The 

student reads, for example that "kid" is informal and would thus not be appropriate to use in a school essay. 

A student who is more familiar with the British English "notice board" finds out that the American term is 

"bulletin board." Another student who is trying to choose between the similar words "alone" and "lonely," 

learns that while "alone" is a relatively neutral term, "lonely" has a connotation of sadness. Students can also 

find words which are significantly different in meaning but which may be confused because of superficial 

similarities of form, e.g., "homework" and "housework." Most entries include example sentences, which not 

only help to explain the meaning of the head word, but also show collocations in which the word occurs. 
Perhaps most important of all, learners' dictionaries use a limited and carefully chosen defining vocabulary. 

The Longman Dictionary of American English, for example, uses only 2000 commonly occurring English 

ords to give its definitions and examples. 

Of course, this marvelous storehouse of information will be of no use at all unless you teach your students 

e ictionaries are 

asily available to them to be used when needed. You can introduce the various reference features of the 

elling and 

pronunciation ents how 

to use alphab g you for 

spellings, the consult the dictionary. Although this may seem inefficient at first, as students gain 

 th

All of this has a double payoff. Students take a few more steps toward becoming independent learners of the 

nguage, an ts are not 

yet ready for 

ummary 

Reading plays a variety of roles in the learning and use of language. 

Literacy training is needed for students who are illiterate or semiliterate in their first language, or who 

s (signs, labels, instructions, brochures) serves to motivate students 

to read and to teach them useful life skills. 

ent skills, sometimes referred to as 

icroskills. Some microskills have to do with aspects of the language, such as: 

matching spoken words and sentences with their written form 

ent 

picking out main ideas and supporting details 

ocabulary exercises are quite varied, with some of the most common types being: 

w

how to us it independently as a reference and, moreover, see to it that at least several d

e

dictionary one by one and, after having introduced a feature, require the students to look up such information 

for themselves. 

Spelling is a good place to begin. You will have to teach the more common correspondences of sp

, at least for initial consonant and vowel sounds. You will also have to teach your stud

etical order if they are not already familiar with it. From that point on, instead of askin

y can 

experience ey more quickly find what they need to know. 

la d some of your time is freed so that you can focus on those areas where your studen

independence. 

 S

need to learn the writing system of English. 

Reading of everyday print message

Narrative and expressive texts help students make the transition to extended reading, where they must 

learn to cope with problems of unfamiliar content and new patterns of text organization. 

For academic and professional purposes, students must learn how to process expository texts to gather 

needed information. 

Reading is a behavior which is made up of a large number of compon

m

recognizing letters of the alphabet 

understanding sentence structure 

understanding vocabulary 

recognizing signals of text organization 

recognizing signals of logical relationships 

Other microskills have to do with processing the text in some way, such as: 

surveying a whole printed work (brochure, book) to determine its relevance 

scanning a text for specific information 

skimming a text to get the gist of its cont

evaluating a text for accuracy, completeness, point of view 

The exercises found in reading lessons aim at developing these microskills to the point where students can 

use them independently in their own reading tasks outside the language class. 

V

guessing the meanings of unfamiliar words 

synonyms and antonyms 

words in the same semantic field 
common prefixes, roots, and suffixes 

collocations 

link words 

In addition one may find many practical exercises in the use of the dictionary. 

 Suggestions for further reading 

Language Experience Approach to Reading (and Writing) 

ssel 

lemany Press, 1983 

Grellet 

ambridge University Press, 1981 

nd classifies various types of reading comprehension exercises, including all those types which 

re described here in Chapter Five. Provides a variety of examples for each type, giving the specific aim, the 

omprehensive guide to teaching vocabulary, for beginning, intermediate and advanced students. 

CHAPTER SIX 

irst the roles of writing in the learning and use of language are examined. The next sections discuss 

kills and for helping learners gain control of the 

ri suggestions for ways to respond to students' writing and 

sample exercises for teaching writing skills. 

 Roles

Let's begin by putting writing into perspective in relation to the other language skills. Where your native 

language is concerned, in ordinary, everyday use, you are far more likely to be listening to, speaking, or 

reading the language than writing it. This is true even though you are a professional with a job which 

equir ks: memos, letters, reports, lesson materials, and the like. When 

 comes 

the

mo

In the English language classroom, writing activities 

he ng which they will use in 

Carol N. Dixon and Denise Ne

A

The Language Experience Approach is a very effective way to teach reading to students with limited 

language proficiency, and it may be used with learners of all ages from elementary school children to adults. 

Dixon and Nessel explain the approach and provide abundant examples of lesson plans, topics, and 

activities. 

Developing Reading Skills 

Francoise 

C

Describes a

a

skills involved, and the purpose served by each exercise. All reading proficiency levels are represented. 

Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary (ED 106) 

Virginia French Allen 

Oxford University Press, 1983 

C

Discusses aids to vocabulary teaching, deciding which words to teach, and how to determine which words 

students know through practical tests. Provides simple illustrations and is a good guide for daily classroom 

instruction. 

Teaching writing 

F

techniques for teaching basic and expanded writing s

w ting process. The chapter concludes with 

 of writing in the learning and use of language 

r

it

es you to carry out frequent writing tas

to a second language, professional people may find that a good reading ability is essential, but for 

ir on the job writing tasks they may be more likely to use their native language. Thus in practical terms, 

st people do not need to be as proficient in writing as they need to be in the other language skills. 

serve two different purposes. On the one hand, they 

lp your students to learn the kinds of personal, academic, or professional writi
their daily lives. On the other hand, writing in English has a more purely pedagogical role. It reinforces the 

 the classes which you teach, whether for beginners or more advanced students, you will probably find that 

addition, students in the higher grades (secondary school and above) may need to learn how to 

rite well organized, carefully reasoned essays. The writing of one or more essays is often a requirement on 

na

ad

ava

ha

 St

 t of how 

) 

Learn general spelling and punctuation rules 

Proficiency level 

inners and intermediate students 

Academic writing skills

learning which goes on through the medium of the listening, speaking, and reading skills. 

In

you often give writing assignments as a way of following up on listening and speaking exercises or reading 

activities. In 

w

tional examinations. Widely used standardized English proficiency examinations also require such 

vanced writing tasks. (For example, the Test of Written English, requiring a half-hour composition, is now 

ilable as a part of the Test of English as a Foreign Language. The Cambridge First Certificate in English 

s a composition paper of one and a half hours.) 

ages in the development of writing proficiency 

In he teaching of writing, just as in the teaching of reading, it is helpful to have a long-range overview 

proficiency develops. You will notice that the links between reading and writing become closer as students 

progress through the three main phases of the sequence. 

Early stages of writing 

Proficiency level 

Low beginners 

Skills and features of English to learn 

Use printed/cursive forms of Roman alphabet (as appropriate

Use simple word, phrase, and sentence forms 

Materials to use 

Basic literacy materials 

Writing tasks to follow up on oral and reading exercises 

Short narratives/descriptions using Language Experience Approach 

Dialogue journals 

Expanded writing skills 

High beg

Skills and features of English to learn 

Use commonly occurring word, phrase, and sentence patterns 

Write paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting details 

Use link words to signal organization of paragraphs 

Practice techniques for pre-writing, revising, editing 

Materials to use 

Dialogue journals 

Compositions using Language Experience Approach 

Exercises to teach organization of paragraphs 

Paragraphs of narration, description, simpler logical relationships 

Proficiency level 

High intermediate and advanced students 

Skills and features of English to learn 

Use discourse patterns expected in academic writing 

Develop a thesis with appropriate supporting details 
Become more independent in the writing process 

ercises to model and guide students' essays 

Writing tasks simulating assignments in subject-matter courses 

Yo

sho atures of advanced writing tasks are present in embryonic form at 

wer levels of the sequence. Further, most students find that as they become more skilled at writing in one 

d language to the first. 

General Lesson Plan for Composing Assignments 

It is difficult to give a lesson plan which will cover all types of writing assignments. When your students are 

composing (as opposed to doing writing tasks to reinforce oral or reading activities) you should always have 

a p

sep

ive of this manual has a section on basic literacy training, and the Peace Corps Literacy Handbook

lower case, has the advantage that there will be 

as well as the use of common punctuation marks (especially the period, question mark, 

Even beginning students can handle simple writing assignments, once they are able to form English letters 

in ep in mind 

that your students should be able to 

to 

wh

Materials to use 

Sequenced ex

ur students may not need to learn the most advanced forms of writing in this sequence. However, you 

uld keep in mind that many of the fe

lo

language, their writing in any other language they may know also improves. Perhaps surprisingly, this 

increased skill may even transfer from a secon

re-writing phase and you should always allow plenty of time for revising. In fact, it is so difficult to 

arate writing and revising that the most appropriate lesson format consists of just two main phases: 

Pre-writing 

Brainstorming in various forms, oral and written 

Analysis of models 

Reading 

Notetaking 

Writing and revising 

Time for multiple drafts 

Feedback from teacher and other students 

 Basic writing skills and reinforcement of speaking and listening 

Your students may need writing instruction at the most basic level-learning to form the letters and other 

symbols of the English writing system. Students needing such instruction range from those who have neither 

reading nor writing skills in any language to those who are fully literate but who happen not to have learned 

a language which uses the Roman alphabet. 

Chapter F

(Manual M-21 available from Information Collection and Exchange) provides detailed guidance. Here are 

some general points to consider when teaching writing at this very basic level: 

• Teaching the printed forms of letters, both capitals and 

a closer match between the shapes which the students write and the shapes which they must read. 

However, older learners may feel that printed letters are for children and insist on learning the cursive 

forms which they associate with adult handwriting. Choose the forms which work best for your students. 

• When you began to learn to write in English, you may have learned the letters in alphabetical order. A 

more efficient way is to group the letters according to their shapes. For example, a number of lower case 

letters in their hand printed form are "ball and stick" figures: a, b, d, p, q. 

• At the same time that students are developing a legible handwriting, they can also learn spelling rules of 

wide applicability, 

comma, and apostrophe). 

a legible and consistent way and can recognize a few English words in their written form. Ke

understand everything that they are asked to write. Thus it makes sense 

present new content first via the listening and speaking skills, and to use reading and writing to reinforce 

at has been mastered in the aural/oral activities. 
In ay of teaching reading to 

eginners. It is easy and natural to extend this technique as a way of teaching writing to beginners. When 

the writing assignment and to provide support in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and 

ocabulary as needed. 

At 

Th

meaningful topics, in the same way that you use students' dictation 

f their own experiences as the texts for beginning reading. 

. Have talk precede writing. Because writing is more difficult than dictating stories for the teacher to 

 a form of communication, not a series of drills. 

cal details such as spelling and punctuation. 

of unrelated sentences, either as practice 

o 

are

wa

ha

Th irst, but it is just as important. Composing is viewed as an 

iterative process. Writers information, rehearse vocabulary and 

ph

of 

con

pro

punctuation. 

Note how much of this process is concerned with meaning. Note also that the writer usually does not "get it 

rig

the

product. They fail to appreciate the importance of the pre-writing activities, and they are likely to think of 

revision solely in terms of proofreading for grammatical and mechanical errors. 

If you lmost guaranteed that you will encourage your students to 

communicate through their writing. But you must remember two key points. First, give your students enough 

time i

establish the focus of the compositi

concern is the message they are trying to convey. You will defeat your purpose if you immediately start 

marking up the grammatical and mechanical errors that you find. 

Chapter Five, the Language Experience Approach (LEA) was discussed as a w

b

used for writing, the LEA allows your students to express their own ideas, but it also permits you to control 

the difficulty of 

v

this point you should return to Chapter Five to refresh your memory of the use of the LEA for reading. 

en look at the following guidelines for using the LEA in basic writing activities. 

1. Base student writing on personally 

o

2

write, students should be given many pre-writing opportunities to review orally what they want to say in 

writing. 

3. Emphasize the act of composing. Present writing as

4. Recognize errors in usage, awkward phrasing, and difficulties with mechanics as natural outcomes of 

limited mastery of English. Handle errors very sensitively, placing more emphasis on helping the student 

make the meaning clear than on perfecting mechani

5. Relate writing assignments to reading and oral language activities. At first, writing should be directly 

related to stories dictated by the students. As students are later exposed to a greater variety of reading 

material, the additional models of English can be used to refine written expression and broaden the 

content of written work. 

[Carol N. Dixon and Denise Nessel. Language Experience Approach to Reading (and Writing). Alemany 

Press, 1983.] 

Two themes which appear in Dixon and Nessel's guidelines deserve further comment. The first is the 

emphasis on getting the students to communicate through writing. They recommend that even the earliest 

writing assignments be tied to narratives about personally meaningful topics. Contrast this type of 

assignment with another type in which the student writes out a list 

t reinforce a particular grammar topic or as an exercise in the application of certain translation rules. If you 

 required to use textbooks which present writing as drills rather than as communication, you will certainly 

nt to devise supplementary writing activities which allow your students to communicate on topics which 

ve meaning for them. 

e second theme is not as explicit as the f

gather their thoughts, search out additional 

raseology, put something into rough written form, review what they have written, evaluate it for adequacy 

content and coherence of organization, ask for critical feedback from another reader, add or delete 

tent, reorganize to make the narrative or argument easier to follow, review and revise again (in fact, 

bably several times), and finally, edit to check for accuracy in grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and 

ht" the first time around. Unfortunately, because of the way composing is most often taught, students get 

 impression that once they start putting words on paper, the result should be very close to a finished 

 teach writing as a process it is a

n pre-writing activities to gather their thoughts, discover the language needed to express them, and 

on. Secondly, show by your response to their writing that your first 
Many teachers find it unnerving to return a composition to a student in which there are errors which have not 

been cked out with red ink or otherwise commented upon. Perhaps it will help to view your students' 

composin f learning the writing skill, the goal is to 

gradually on't expect polished productions. Instead, place the 

emphasis down on paper. As your 

students' hniques for revision and you can 

set up wr ore non-final drafts. Even then, as you 

respond to an early draft you should think primarily of how clearly and effectively the message has been 

pre

stu

nswers to questions on reading 

ssignments are two other types of controlled writing. Even when you use the LEA to teach writing, you are 

ontrolling the composing efforts of your students. 

hese controlled writing assignments play an important role in developing the basic language proficiency of 

ting details, or discovering an appropriate way to 

rganize their compositions. 

So e purposes, your students' writing activities need 

to e expanded in two ways. They must be allowed to be more communicative and they must be 

en

Learning to Write While Learning to Communicate 

In 

wri

form of interactive writing between the teacher and the student. The beauty of the technique is that you can 

use it with students of any degree of language proficiency, even with beginners. This is the way it works. 

Each student has a composition book which he or she uses as a diary or journal. On a regular basis, 

referably every day, students write in their journals as much or as little as they want to write, on whatever 

he dialogue aspect of dialogue journals results from the way the teacher responds to the students' entries. 

aura: Ms. Reed, I like dis room and I like you Bekes you are a good teshir and teach my 

Te book? We will read every day. 

pi

g efforts in the following way. In the earliest stages o

 increase the length of the compositions. D

 on the prewriting activities and on helping the students to get their ideas

 writing proficiency increases, you can gradually lead them into tec

iting assignments so that they have time to produce one or m

sented. In a later section of this chapter you will find some specific suggestions on ways to respond to 

dents' written work. 

 Expanded writing skills and reinforcement of reading 

If you are teaching very young students, or absolute beginners of any age, most of the writing assignments 

which you give will be under careful control. Students may do copying exercises to learn letter formation, 

spelling, and punctuation. Written grammar exercises and written a

a

c

T

your students. Of course, controlled writing also has its limitations. It doesn't allow your students to be 

creative or to go very far in expressing their own thoughts. Controlled writing has even more serious 

limitations if you rely on it for teaching essay writing skills. Students don't get the independent practice they 

need in selecting a topic to write about, finding suppor

o

, while controlled writing assignments are useful for som

b

couraged to be more independent. 

recent years, many language teachers have tried an interesting technique for encouraging students to 

te more, and to communicate more through their writing. The technique, called dialogue journals, is a 

p

subject interests them at the moment. They can return to the same topic in a later entry if they like, or they 

can treat a new topic each time. They can ask the teacher questions about features of language or culture, 

or about personal matters if they need to. They can express opinions and make requests. 

T

As frequently as possible, depending on the size of the class, the teacher asks to read the students' journals 

and writes an answering entry in each one. In effect, the teacher and the students carry on a conversation 

via the journal. Here are examples of two exchanges. The first example shows the third daily entry from the 

journal of Laura, a sixth grade student from Italy who has had no prior English language training. 

L

English. I like evryBety. 

acher: Everybody likes you, too, Laura. Did you read the 

The second example is from the journal of Kazutomi, an adult Japanese student studying English in an 

intensive summer program in the United States. 
Ka

om. 

Teacher: Good. Let's go to the bookstore on Friday at 4:00. I will meet you there. I can't go 

 I said, we'll have several lessons about prepositions. There are some rules we 

can study hut often you just have to memorize them. 

No

to be corrected. At the same time, the teacher's re

ro

greater mutual understanding with their students. On the 

ploring their own ideas and interests, they are building up a store of topical material 

h

Ma

As writing, the links between reading and writing become 

inc

tho

wri

features of discourse in reading a iting activities which employ the 

sam

complete the circle, when students have tried to incorpor

become more aware of those features when they in subsequent reading assignments. Thus reading 

an

In Chapter Five of this manual, among the 

mic es. Such exercises are an aid 

 r operly used, they can help 

der, once the tale has been told the 

comparison, 

st be matched to the writing patterns which we conventionally use for presenting it. 

 Learning the writing process 

zutomi: I don't buy a dictionary yet. If you take me bookstore and choose my dictionary, I 

am delightful. Prepositions are very difficult for me. In Japan, when I take English 

Examinations, I lose points due to prepositions. Also, I want to know about an 

idi

today because we have a faculty meeting. So Friday at 4:00 outside the bookstore, 

OK? 

As

Idioms are a lot of fun. I'll try to use more when I write to you. Then if you don't get it 

(understand it) (an idiom) you can ask. OK? 

[Jane Staton. "Dialogue Journals: A New Tool for Teaching Communication." ERIC/CLL News Bulletin

6(2), March 1983.] 

tice how in each case the teacher treats the student's entry as a message rather than as a writing sample 

sponse subtly reshapes parts of the student's entry and 

p vides a model of correct language. 

Teachers who have used dialogue journals with their students throughout a semester have found that they 

bring many worthwhile results, both personal and pedagogical. Because the written dialogues are informal 

and private, most teachers feel that they achieve a 

pedagogical side, the students gradually increase their writing competence, moving toward greater 

independence as writers. Thanks to the feedback provided by the teacher, they gain a greater understanding 

of the features of written English. Their entries become longer and more complex. At the same time, 

because they are ex

w ich they can mine for later writing assignments of a more formal sort. 

stering Features of Written Discourse 

your students advance to more complex forms of

reasingly important. The texts that you use for instruction in reading provide your students with food for 

ught and topics for oral and written discussion. At the same time, the formal features of different types of 

tten discourse serve as models which your students can use in their own writing. As you take up different 

ssignments, you can introduce parallel wr

e features. (See the section "Some Significant Features of Expository Prose" in Chapter Five.) To 

ate new formal features into their writing, they 

crop up 

d writing play mutually enhancing roles. 

examples of exercises for the development of the reading 

roskills is one type which helps students to pick out formal discourse featur

to eading comprehension, but they also have a purpose in writing instruction. Pr

students learn to organize their thoughts and present them in writing according to commonly used patterns 

of written discourse. 

Students learn, for example, that in a narrative the sequence of events is a central factor. Although the writer 

may deliberately choose not present the events in strict chronological or

sequence of events must be understood Another type of writing where chronology must be taken into 

account is in the description of a process. For maximum clarity, each step of the process should be 

described in order; otherwise confusion may result. Chronological order also figures in the explanation of a 

chain of causes and effects. 

Other types of logical relations hinge on the perception of similarities and differences: contrast, 

analogy, the classification of like things together, and the definition of things, where distinguishing 

characteristics are pointed out. Whatever the logical relation, a certain thought pattern will be called for, and 

this in turn mu
In 

En ill 

ake the process work more smoothly for them. In particular, you can show them various devices to use 

uring the pre-writing ph h unch them more confidently into the first rough draft. Further, you 

ive them guideline hn for the revising phase of the process which will encourage them to 

ub tantive d iciencies in their writing, rather than simply making a clean copy of the 

he

wri

wh

o e of the students, and the level of their language proficiency, a 

ariety of techniques may be us launching the p t. 

f the most flexible these techniques is brainstorming. It can be done with either novice or 

oun idu mall groups, or as a whole class. The point of a 

sion is to to ideas on a given topic as possible, as quickly 

yi e qualit out grammar, spelling, or punctuation. 

nn Raimes points out that, with any one of a number of different points of departure (a personal 

 a young girl and an old man are sitting together on a park bench 

ion by Edward Steichen, The Family of Man.) 

grandfather. 

r about five minutes. Then they make written 

o ize them, and develop them into a topic for a more focused discussion. 

After the second, more focused discussion they do a writing assignment. 

[Ann Raimes. . Oxford University Press, 1983.] 

A v ri brainstorming has the students asking speculative questions about a reading selection. The 

qu

ading selection for intermediate level 

h at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, the fireman Bill 

g out of a first-floor window 

cream. A boy, about ten 

order to become independent writers, your students not only must master the formal features of written 

glish, but must also become more conscious of the writing process itself and learn techniques which w

m

d ase whic

and tec

 will la

can g s iques

look for and remedy s s ef

first draft. 

Pre-writing 

T purpose of the pre-writing phase of the process is to get the kettle boiling. When your students begin a 

ting project they need ideas, a purpose or plan which will provide a focus for the ideas, the language with 

ich to express the ideas, and enough interest and enthusiasm to sustain the effort of getting the ideas 

d wn on paper. Depending upon the ag

v ed for rojec

One o of 

experienced writers, y g or old, indiv ally, in s

brainstorming ses free associate, produce as many

as possible, without worr ng about th y of the ideas or ab

A

experience, a picture, a map, a reading selection, a textbook topic, even an examination question), 

brainstorming can be used to start the writing process. You can vary the type and content of the prompt 

according to the nature of the writing assignment and the language proficiency of your students. Here is how 

Raimes uses brainstorming together with a picture as a prompt. 

The students see a photograph in which

and playing checkers. (The photograph is from a collect

They are asked to observe and talk about the picture. 

Examples of responses from a group of four students: 

- She is probably about four years old. 

- I wonder who's winning? 

- Where is her mother? 

- Does her mother know she's playing with the old man? 

- He's her 

- I like his face. 

- He looks like my grandfather. 

- She's pretty. 

- What time of day do you think it is? 

T

n

he students make comments and free associations fo

tes, examine them, summar

Techniques in Teaching Writing

a ation of 

estions lead to discussion, which is then followed by a writing assignment. 

Ann Raimes shows an example of speculation as applied to a re

students. 

W en the fire engine left the fire station on Hicks Street 

Roscoe did not know that he would return a hero. Flames were leapin

of the corner house on Livingston Street. Neighbors, police, and firemen stood outside on the 

sidewalk. Suddenly they all looked up and shouted as they heard a s
years old, appeared at a third-floor window. It wouldn't open. He was very frightened. Bill Roscoe 

d the bottom rung of the metal fire 

escape ladder. Then he climbed up to the window, broke it, pulled the boy out of the window, and 

In 

qu

Wh hat does a fireman do every day? How would the boy 

escribe the event in a letter to his grandmother? What letter would the owner of the house write 

 company? What precautions should everyone take to prevent fire at home? How 

ould the boy describe the incident? Would you like to be a fireman/woman? Why or why not? 

The m those which can set off a discussion generating lots of ideas, which the 

studen

Still another variation of brainstorming is a technique called loop writing or looping, which is more 

appropriately done on an individual basis with students at an intermediate or advanced level of proficiency. 

Each n minutes, putting down anything that comes to mind on a 

given no editing. No worry about the aptness of the ideas, the 

brilliance of the prose, the accuracy of the grammar, spelling, and punctuation. The student then stops, 

reads what has just been written, reflects on it, and then sums it up in a single sentence. This sentence 

becomes the kernel idea for the next loop. After going through this procedure two more times, the student 

should have arrived at a summary sentence which he can use as the focus for an essay. The following 

example shows looping as used by Julio, a college ESL student in the United States, but the technique 

works well also for students in secondary school and for adult learners. 

ecause I arrived late to class I am very sorry but I had to talk with a person of Mexico who is 

elp for the time he will 

eed to find a home for he and his family. Then I came running to class. And I am writing same 

d I was listening to some of them I am very 

sky's 1812 simphony, the best of 

iberace in which he plays the always 

It takes Julio some time to settle into the routine, but he then starts to roll with the description of the 

cassettes he has just bought. Upon reflection he decides he wants to write about why he likes music, and 

 next loop. 

ainst the situation in Chile, 

 are some of the reasons for which I consider music a kind of communication 

Reflecting on the second loop, Julio decided that the most important idea was feelings, and this led him to 

think of music in a more metaphorical sense. 

dropped the hose, stepped forward, jumped, and grabbe

carried him down the ladder. Both were safe, and the crowd cheered. 

asking speculative questions, students have to think beyond the given text. These are some of the 

estions which could be asked about this reading selection. 

y was the boy alone in the house? W

d

to the insurance

w

ore promising questions are

ts can then incorporate into a follow-up writing assignment. 

student writes without stopping for five to te

topic. As in all forms of brainstorming, there is

Loop 1 

B

going to come to study here the next month and I opened my house and h

n

thing I did yesterday. I received a cassets I bought an

happy with the music I bought and I enjoyed listening to Chakov

the classics played by the most famous piano player L

beautiful Tehowcorsky number one concerto. Also a bought another about jazz. . . 

this is shown in the first line of the

Loop 2 

I like music because is a kind of communication. 

Music was used for our ancestors to express their feelings in situations such as religion, war, 

love, etc., and music is still used for the same purposes now a days. For example, you can know 

the feelings of Schuber when you listen to some of the famous Schuber's senatos which are blue 

and become you sad. 

Music is also used to express protest about political situations. For example, "The Jolckloristas" 

which is a latinamerican music group, sing several songs ag

Argentina, etc. 

In my opinion these

and for this reason I use music to communicate my feelings too by means of songs I wrote to my 

father, my mother and my wife. . . 
Loop 3 

What do you need to listen to music? 

eed just be quiet for a minute and you can hear your own music which can tell you if you are 

ad or happy. This can result you so funny that you aren't going to try but think, which music is a 

t know how to 

produce it: they don't know the noise. Nevertheless I tell you they have their own internal song, 

ause we have more noise outside that is 

impossible we hear the beautiful song our heart play when he works. 

. 

Besides being an individual rather than a group technique, looping takes a longer time to work properly than 

oth

an focus for his essay. 

However, it is apparent from the way the third loop dev

thir

will be more interesting to his readers than an essay based on the second loop would have been. 

evising

he purpose of the revising aspect of writing is to make sure that you have actually said what you intended 

mpared with pre-writing activities) you have to be 

 ideas are expressed. 

while others are retained and more fully developed. 

 in the same way that their teacher does. You can set the example 

riting assignments so that there is clearly more than one revision stage. Show them through 

ents, suggestions, and other responses in the earlier revision stages should 

1. When you pick up a student's piece of writing, don't immediately reach for a pen or pencil. Read the 

whole piece through before you write anything. 

2. Look for strengths as well as weaknesses, and let the student know what the strengths are. 

3. Your main job is to help the writer see what to do next. Ask yourself: What should the writer do now to 

improve this paper? What does this paper need most? 

[Ann Raimes. Techniques in Teaching Writing. Oxford University Press, 1983.] 

Here is an example of a student composition, the way Raimes responded to it, and the subsequent revision 

by the student: 

Ever since I was a small child the magic of tricks always were mysterious to me. One person who 

I believed was a master of it is Harry Houdini. He was the greatest and his magic will live on as the 

greatest. If I was to meet him at my magic dinner, all my mysteries would be answer. Maybe he 

will even teach me a trick to amaze my friends. I feel I'm the person who should find out the 

secrets that were buried with him. 

You n

s

deaf and dumb person listen to? You can answer any music because they don'

their heart, stomach, etc. they can feel more than us bec

We can listen to a beautiful music authors play but I recommend you try to be quiet for a minus 

during your busy day and get a chance to heard your heart sing when he works it will be the best 

of all experiences you can hear our all fascinating musics there are in the world

[Jane B. Hughey et al. Teaching ESL Composition. Newbury House Publishers, Inc., 1983.] 

er forms of brainstorming. You and your students must allow for this and give the ideas a chance to flow 

d develop. If Julio had stopped after the second loop, he might have had a workable

elops that Julio's thoughts had not yet jelled. In the 

d loop Julio has finally found a focus that interests him, and it is quite likely that the essay he now writes 

R

T

to say. The focus is still primarily on ideas, though (as co

more critical of the way in which the

Students often think of revision as being one single step, the last step before handing in the assignment. It is 

more realistic to think of revision going on constantly as you write. Even in prewriting activities, one can often 

find revision going on, as some ideas are discarded

Your students are likely to think of revision

by planning w

your own reactions that comm

be directed at the message. Grammar and spelling can wait until the end. Ann Raimes gives some practical 

suggestions: 
Comment: 

You have made me very interested in Houdini. What did he do that was so great? What mysteries 

do you want to be answered? What exactly we ere buried with him? I'd like to 

know. 

This is a real success story. The student not only reacted to the specific questions of the teacher, but she 

also corrected the subject-verb agreement problem in the first sentence without having it called to her 

attention. 

Ever since I was a child the magic o s mysterious to me. One person who I 

believed was a master is Harry Houdini. All his escapes from chains and jails shocked millions. 

His death in the water tank truly wa people think he did not know how to 

escape; others believe he suffered a bad cramp. I will find out at my dinner. I would like him to 

Th

res

You may feel that it is not practical to try to carry out Raimes' suggestions in large classes, but there are 

ways to cut down on the teacher's work load in reading student compositions while still preserving the 

emphasis on revising to clarify the message. 

• Each student working independently uses a checklist to guide the revision of the paper. The checklist 

might consist of a series of questions. What is your purpose? Which sentence states the purpose? 

re they clearly stated? Have you given examples where they are 

needed? etc. For more elaborate writing assignments, more elaborate checklists may be devised. 

ir problems for themselves in this way. The other members of the group, serving as the 

audience with whom the writer is trying to communicate, ask questions about anything in the paper that 

 The partners use a checklist such as the following to 

respond to each other's paper. 

3. Underline the thesis statement and the topic sentences in the essay Circle the controlling ideas in 

information is needed? 

b. Are there places that you find confusing? 

d. Are there examples that do not relate to the thesis statement? 

oy M. Reid. The Process of Composition. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1988. Reprinted by permission of Prenticere the secrets that w

f tricks always wa

s a mystery. Some 

even teach me a trick to amaze my friends. 

e story doesn't end there. The student, bothered by the mystery of Houdini's death, went to the library to 

earch the question. She found out that Houdini had died of peritonitis. So she revised again. 

Where are your supporting ideas? A

[Raimes. Techniques in Teaching Writing.] 

• Students work in pairs or small groups, reading their papers aloud to each other. Students sometimes 

discover the

they don't understand. (They should not critique the grammar.) 

[Raimes. Techniques in Teaching Writing.] 

• Each student exchanges papers with a partner.

1. Who do you think is the audience for this essay? 

2. What is the purpose of this essay? 

each. 

4. What is the best part of the essay? 

5. What questions could you ask the author? 

a. Are there places where more 

c. Are there details that do not contribute to the main ideas in the essay? 

e. Is there information that the audience will already know? 

[J

Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.] 
After your students have revised their work under the prompting of one of the above techniques, you can 

en read the papers and will probably find fewer problems to deal with. Another suggestion is to designate 

ractice compositions," not requiring your students to polish them to 

erfection. As the semester progresses, the students will become more proficient at managing the writing 

xamples of exercises to develop the writing skills 

Ex to the students. The prewriting l tual writing done by the students should be limited 

and co e ns for beginning writing activities which are guided 

y the technique of the Language Experience Approach. 

• Give students copies of cartoons from which the characters' dialogue has been omitted. Have them 

compose orally, experimenting with various things the characters might say, and then write their ideas on 

ch to Reading (and Writing). Alemany 

Press, 1983.] 

find that the LEA is so effective you will want to use it for most of 

our less controlled writing assignments. However, you should not forget the value of dialogue journals in 

tudents to write more extensively and communicatively. Remember also that as your students' 

riting proficiency develops, they need more assignments to help them to become independent writers. 

s purpose, 

any writing textbooks contain exercises in which the students are instructed to combine two or more simple 

sen mple, the exercise might contain pairs of sentences 

wh lative clause which is then used to modify 

som

 is the course. + It causes me the most trouble. 

= History is the course which causes me the most trouble. 

oppy sentences. Combine some of 

the sentences to increase the unity and coherence of the paragraphs. It may be necessary to 

ome of the sentences; use coherence devices, and perhaps even rearrange the 

sentences. 

ack of my money. I have to be careful how much I spend. If my decisions are 

th

some writing assignments as "p

p

process and you can set higher standards for their output. You might then ask them to use their greater 

writing skill to return to the earlier practice compositions and revise them. 

 E

ercises for beginning writers should build on material which is already familiar 

 phase should contain a lot of ora work and the ac

ntrolled in various ways. Here ar some suggestio

b

• Have students dictate the first part of a story. After three or four sentences have been dictated, give the 

students the story to complete independently in writing. 

the cartoons. 

• Have students invent and act out brief social exchanges: asking directions, making a purchase in a 

store, greeting someone in the street, ordering food at a snack bar. Then have them write these in 

dialogue form. 

[Carol N. Dixon and Denise Nessel. Language Experience Approa

If you are teaching beginners, you may 

y

encouraging s

w

Expanded writing skills require students to produce longer and more complex sentences. For thi

m

tences into a single more complex sentence. For exa

ich the student is to combine by making one sentence into a re

e noun in the other sentence. 

History

This type of exercise can be quite helpful, but you should be aware of its limitations. The focus here is more 

on the grammatical form of the sentences than on the way sentences are strung together to form a 

discourse. For this reason, students should also sometimes do sentence combining exercises within the 

context of a whole paragraph, as in the following example. 

Directions: The following paragraphs are written in short, ch

rewrite s

1. It's snowing outside. I feel a kind of loneliness. Everything looks lonely outside. No one is on 

the streets. All I see are empty cars and snow. The trees are bare. They look cold. They look 

lonely, too. 

2. This is not my first time away from home. It is the longest. Maybe it is the most helpful. I have to 

learn to be independent. I have to solve my own problems. That will make me more responsible. I 

have to keep tr
wrong, it's my own fault. It's no one else's fault. Being alone is the best way to learn 

otice that combining sentences within the context of a paragraph is much more like an authentic revision 

2. Issue a muddied sentence sequence to Group B. Tell them to put the sentences in the correct order, 

independent of Group A. 

re sequence matches the order of their sentences. Encourage class 

discussion as to the correct order of events in the story. 

4. When an order is agreed, tell members of Group B to stand with their "partner" in Group A. Ask 

individual students to read sentences from the story. 

5. Tell the groups to return to their seats, and then display the picture sequence at the front of the room, 

together with verb cues in the simple past tense. Tell the class to write the story. 

[Ronald V. White. Teaching Written English. George Allen & Unwin, 1980.] 

The next exercise also makes students more conscious of patterns for organizing discourse. It uses the 

technique of guided analysis of a model essay. After the students have been led to understand the 

organization of the model essay, they write an essay of their own guided by the model and by a new set of 

data provided by the teacher or the textbook writer. 

This technique has wide applicability, but would probably not be usable with very young learners, since 

some degree of abstraction is needed for discovering the author's organization and then applying it in one's 

own writing. On the other hand, analysis of a model works well for logical relationships such as comparison 

and contrast or cause and effect. Relationships such as these do not lend themselves as readily to the type 

of "physical" representation which was used for chronological order in the previous exercise. 

The following example shows how to use analysis of a model in an essay organized to present a comparison 

and contrast. 

1. The students read an essay describing two brothers. (It could be two towns or cities, two books, two 

holidays-any two things which may be compared and contrasted.) 

2. The students analyze the essay with the help of a table such as the following, a list of the 

characteristics on which the two brothers are compared. Extracting details from the essay, the students 

become aware of how the author presented the similarities and differences between the two brothers. 

Robert 

responsibility. 

[Joy M. Reid. The Process of Composition. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1988. Reprinted by permission of PrenticeHall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.] 

N

activity. There is no single correct answer to an exercise such as this. Students can compare their results 

and discuss the differences. 

Students need help in organizing their paragraphs and longer essays into coherent patterns of discourse. 

The following is an exercise which points up the need when writing a narrative to put events in a 

chronological order. 

1. Issue a muddled picture sequence to Group A. Tell them to put the pictures in the correct order. 

3. Call Group A to the front of the room. Tell them to hold up their pictures in the order they have decided 

upon. Ask Group B whether the pictu

John

Age 

Physical appearance 

Way of dressing 

Occupation 

Favorite pastime 
3. Now the procedure is reversed. The students are given a second table already filled in. Using the data 

in the table, and following the model of the essay about the brothers, they write their own comparison and 

contrast essay about two young girls. 

Marie Ruth

Age 12 12 

Physical appearance short, chubby tall, thin 

Way of dressing neat, feminine careless, casual 

Performance in school star pupil indifferent student 

Favorite pastime reading alone playing with friends 

The type of text which may be taught by using the analysis of models ranges from personal and business 

letters, through various types of expository paragraphs, to longer texts such as critical reviews and 

descriptions of laboratory experiments. In the following example, the technique is applied to a paragraph of 

description. 

First the students see a model paragraph. 

The librarian for the children's section of the City Library will have a variety of responsibilities. 

Duties will include planning, organizing, implementing, and evaluating children's programs and 

services. The librarian will be responsible for building and maintaining the library's children's 

collection as well as supervising the staff of the children's section. The candidate for this position 

must have a bachelor's or master's of library science degree from an accredited library school 

and 3 to 5 years' professional experience. This person should enjoy working with children and 

should also be able to supervise adults. The salary will be commensurate with qualifications and 

experience. 

The students analyze the paragraph by answering a series of questions: 

1. According to the topic sentence, what position does this paragraph describe? 

2. Fill in the spaces with information from the paragraph. 

Duties and responsibilities: 

Qualifications: 

Salary: 

3. For what audience was this job description written? For what purpose was it written? 

In the next step, the students see a format for this type of paragraph: 

Format for Writing Static Description Job Description 

Topic Sentence: a statement naming the job and the place of employment 

Support: duties and responsibilities qualifications (professional and personal) 

Concluding sentence: a statement about salary for the position 

Finally, they are given information to write into a paragraph similar to the model paragraph: 

A head nurse is needed in the intensive care unit of the University Hospital. Use the following 

information to write an advertisement describing the position for the newspaper. 

Responsibilities: 

HEAD NURSE-INTENSIVE CARE UNIT 
Planning, organizing, and directing all intensive care unit activities 

Teaching staff and patients 

Performing surgical, postoperative, and medical procedures 

Qualifications: 

3 to 5 years' experience in critical nursing 

Registration with the State College of Nurse 

Managerial skills 

Interested Applicants Apply to: 

M. N. Smith 

Director of Personnel 

University Hospital 

1 Belmont Avenue 

392-21 46 

Topic Sentence: State the position available and the place where it is available. 

Support: Describe the responsibilities and qualifications. 

Concluding Sentence: Tell applicants how to apply for the job. 

[Joyce Pagurek. Writing Workshop. Newbury House Publishers, Inc., 1984.] 

 More advanced writing tasks 

Many of the techniques and exercises which we have already examined may also be used in connection 

with the types of writing tasks carried out by college and university students and professional people. In each 

of the following types of written text, students will need help with prewriting and revising activities and 

techniques. The study of model texts will give them patterns for the overall organization of the discourse. 

Attention to logical relationships (description of processes, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, 

classification, and so on) will help them focus their thoughts and match them to patterns for expressing the 

relationships in writing. The following are some of the types of advanced writing tasks for which you may 

need to prepare your students. 

• Objective reports: e.g., a report on a field trip, or a description of a laboratory experiment. (See Peace 

Corps Manual No. M-31 ESP: Teaching English for Specific Purposes.) 

• Summaries: e.g., summarizing (with or without critical commentary) a short story or an article done as a 

reading assignment. 

• Research papers: using appropriate reference material to support a chosen thesis through 

argumentation. 

 Summary 

Writing activities serve two purposes in the English language classroom: 

Learning the types of personal, academic, and professional writing which students need in their daily 

lives. 

Reinforcing the learning which goes on through the medium of the other language skills. 

In planning and conducting writing activities with your students: 

Be sure to include activities that allow your students to communicate ideas that are meaningful to them. 
Include exercises which help your students understand and master the features of written discourse: 

overall patterns of organization, ways of expressing logical relationships, and so on. 

Use pre-writing activities to generate ideas and provide the language resources needed for the writing 

Respond in the first instance to the message of the piece of writing, rather than going immediately for all 

the mechanical errors you can find. 

 for further reading 

eginners. The last chapter of this book shows how to organize writing lessons. It looks upon writing as a 

room instruction. Useful ideas, suggestions, and 

xamples of teaching techniques that have proven successful in the classroom. 

CHAPTER SEVEN 

task. 

Show your students individual and group techniques for revising their written drafts so as to present their 

ideas in forms which take into account the needs and expectations of their readers. 

 Suggestions

Language Experience Approach to Reading (and Writing) 

Carol N. Dixon and Denise Nessel 

Alemany Press, 1983 

With very little adaptation the Language Experience Approach may be used for teaching composing skills to

b

process including pre-writing, writing, and revising. 

Techniques in Teaching Writing (ED 107) 

Ann Raimes 

Oxford University Press, 1983 

Presents practical information relating to daily class

e

 
Teaching grammar 

ter begins by explaining the differences between grammar for native speakers and grammar for 

language learners. It continues with a description of the grammar aspects of the Grammar Translation 

t Method, Audiolingual Method, and Communicative Approach. It discusses the problem of 

 the classroom. The chapter concludes with a 

description of reference grammars and an annotated bibliography of grammar exercise books and 

reference grammars. 

ome de , terms, and differences 

rammar as seen by the non-specialist 

ative sp kers usually think of English grammar as a subject studied in school. Studying grammar teaches 

ou how t lk and write correctly. Note the word "correctly." You already know how to talk, having learned 

e langu s a toddler. And you had at least the rudiments of writing well in hand before you started 

tudying ar. The study of grammar was sort of an embellishment and refining of something you 

lready kn

 large pa grammar for the native speaker is learning the names for elements of the language nouns, 

erbs, pre like-and learning how they work together in prepositional phrases, sentences, 

lauses, p on. This aspect of grammar can be compared to an anatomy class in which you 

muscles successfully since you were horn. Now you 

ing w a actually do. 

art speaker is fine tuning the language already used. Such things as 

 in which you choose the correct form of "lie" or "lay," activities teaching you to use "whom" in the 

es, ti and eliminating dangling modifiers (e.g., "I saw an accident standing 

droo mpts to correct tiny mistakes in your use of the language. 

s th marian 

words and phrases are 

e language is parallel to a biologist's study 

f a nimal. What are the various organs in this organism? How do they work? What do they do? 

approaches a language in the same way. Some of the 

 are: 

 are the words, prefixes, suffixes, etc.? 

ine to communicate such things as negatives, 

mething happened, etc.? 

ements interact with one another? In what order do they occur in a phrase or sentence? 

Gr FL/ESL context 

age learner, learning the grammar of the language is closer to the 

ng ition than the non-professional native speaker's. The learner needs to know what the words of 

know how to combine these words to say what he 

later that in English the verb comes in the middle 

he end of the sentence as it does in Japanese: 

r This is a book. 

This chap

Metho

sequencing and suggests ways to deal with grammar in

d, Direc

 S finitions

 G

N ea

y o ta

th age a

s gramm

a ew. 

A rt of 

v

c

positions, and the

aragraphs, and so

learn how your muscles work. You've been using your 

are learn hat you nd your muscles

Another p

exercises

of grammar for the native

right plac or instruc on on identifying 

at my be m window"), are really atte

 Grammar a seen by e linguist or gram

To a professional in the field of grammar-a linguist-grammar is the study of how 

arranged in the expression of thoughts and ideas. This study of th

o plant or a

How do they interact with one another? The linguist 

questions which a linguist might ask

What are the basic elements in this language? What

How do the basic elements work? How do they comb

questions, the relative time that so

How do the el

What combinations communicate what ideas? 

ammar in an E

From the point of view of the langu

li uist's pos

the language are and what they mean. He also needs to 

wants to say. 

Example: A speaker of Japanese has to learn sooner or 

of the sentence rather than at t

English statement word orde
Literal translation of Japanese This a book is. 

pproaches to teaching English, all textbooks, and all EFL/ESL teachers, deal one way or another with 

aching of English grammar as it is defined by linguists-the words of English and their combinations. 

t thing for you to remember is that grammar in an EFL/ESL context is quite different from the 

rammar you knew and loved (or didn't love) in school. 

rammar aspects of major approaches to language teaching 

This section will give examples of textbooks written within the three broad categories of language-teaching 

approaches discussed in Chapter Two and show how grammar is dealt with in each approach. Each 

example is an excerpt showing only the grammar presentation aspects of the lesson. In all three examples 

the same grammar point is taught, the sentence pattern "This is a ___." You will he able to see the 

differences in the way the three approaches teach the same feature. 

 Traditional grammar translation method 

Description 

The essence of this approach is that the grammar of the language is presented explicitly by rule (generally in 

the native language of the student), with example sentences in the target language. The student: 

• learns this rule by studying the example sentences

• translates sentences exemplifying the rule into his language; 

• translates sentences from his language into the target language. 

Example 

Figures 7.1-7.4 are taken from a textbook for Japanese junior high school students written within the 

Grammar Translation Method. The point to be taught, as mentioned before, is the sentence pattern "This is a 

______ ." The student reads the explanation of the pattern in Japanese. Note the model sentence "This is a 

piano." (See Figure 7.1.) The student then studies the example sentences given in Figure 7.2, and practices 

the pattern by translating parallel sentences from Japanese (Figure 7.3). In Figure 7.4 there is further 

explanation of the grammatical structure of the sentence. As you can see, there is very little English used. 

The discussion in the textbook, and in the classroom, is in Japanese. 

Comments 

tudents who have learned English well via this approach typically have the grammar of English down pat. 

 write it well. Such students are often weak, however, in the oral aspects of 

language. Their pronunciation tends to be difficult to understand, they have great difficulty understanding 

ative speakers, and their fluency is quite low. These last two problems tend to lessen if students are in an 

ips between the oral and written language. Fluency comes with practice in 

ny circumstances. 

out England and the United States, and have led 

 the abandonment of the Grammar Translation Method in EFL and ESL teaching. However, Grammar 

All a

the te

The importan

g

 G

; 

S

In fact, they generally know much more English grammar than native speakers do. They can read English 

quite well and in many cases can

n

English-speaking environment for any length of time. The solid grounding in grammar and written English 

allows them to establish relationsh

a

Critics of the Grammar Translation approach point out that hearing and speaking a language are what 

language learning is all about, and if an approach doesn't allow the student active practice in hearing and 

speaking, there is something, dreadfully wrong with the approach. They also contend that learning all that 

grammar is a waste of time. Just as young children learn to speak a language without benefit of grammatical 

instruction, the language learner can do the same. 

These criticisms have been pretty much accepted through

to

Translation is extremely widespread in other countries, largely because it is the only approach that does not 

require the teacher to speak the target language well. Given the emergence of English as a world language, 

and the consequent great demand for English instruction in third world countries, it is inevitable that people 
who know only a little English will find themselves teaching it. These teachers will naturally opt for a 

language teaching approach that puts the least pressure on their English abilities. The Grammar Translation 

Method meets their needs admirably and, in addition, is probably very familiar to them as the way in which 

they themselves learned the English they know. 

Figure 7.1 From Grolier English Study Course for Junior High School Students. Grolier International, 

Inc., 1978. Reprinted by permission. 
 

Figure 7.2 From Grolier English Study Course, Book 1. Grolier International, Inc., 1978. Reprinted by

permission. 
Figure 7.3 From Grolier English Study Course, Book 1. Grolier International, Inc., 1978. Reprinted by

permission. 
Figure 7.4 From Grolier English Study Course, Book 1. Grolier International, Inc., 1978. Reprinted by

permission.
Ramifications 

The textbooks currently being published are almost all based on more modern approaches to language 

aching which do not involve a direct treatment of grammar. On the other hand, your students are highly 

d and audiolingual method 

 oral 

rills and exercises. This practice is supposed to lead them to "internalize" the grammatical structure of the 

d, so that the 

tudent is exposed to sentences of gradually increasing complexity. The native language of the student is 

acher is expected to use only English. 

is/that is a _____” is presented, along with the corresponding 

es/no questions and answers ("Is this/that a______ ? Yes, it is./No, it's not.") The format of the lessons is: 

on of the model sentence; 

• a series of oral drills which practice the model. 

omments 

who has learned English solely through this approach. It is an "ideal" approach in 

e sense that even those who espouse its principles augment it in the classroom with activities which are 

igure 7.5 From English for Today, Book 1, edited by William R. Slager. McGraw-Hill Book Company, 

nit I. DESCRIBING THINGS AND PEOPLE

te

likely either to have studied English (or another language) via the Grammar Translation Method, or at least 

to know about the approach. Many will come to class or to your sessions firmly believing that they will not 

learn English unless you give them rules and require them to translate from one language to the other. 

 Direct metho

Description 

The essence of both the Direct Method and the Audiolingual Method is that the best way to learn a language 

is through habit formation. Students are exposed to model sentences which they practice in a variety of

d

sentence as a habit, after which they presumably can use the sentence type to express their own thoughts. 

In the Audiolingual Method, oral language (including careful work on pronunciation) is stressed; written 

practice is considered secondary. In fact, in some Audiolingual curricula, written work is postponed entirely 

until the student has reached an intermediate level. While grammar is never dealt with overtly in the 

classroom, the sequence of presentation of sentence types and vocabulary is rigidly controlle

s

not used. The te

Example 

Figures 7.5-7.7 are from English for Today, an ESL textbook written within the Audiolingual framework. In 

the sample pages, the sentence pattern "Th

y

• presentati

Note that the meaning of the sentences is conveyed entirely by pictures. The presentation and drill result, it 

is hoped, in the student's ability to use the pattern "This is a ______ " to express his own ideas. 

C

It is hard to find a student 

th

counter to those principles. In any event, students who have studied English through this approach 

apparently find it hard to extend what they have learned into natural language situations. While they can do 

the drills well, they cannot use the language on their own without considerable additional work. 

F

1972. Reprinted by permission.

EXAMPLE OF THE AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD

U

L

I This is a book. That's a door.

This is a book, and that's a door.

I.I ts with This is a (book) and That's a (door). Use the pictures above or objects in the 

cla

Lesson One

THINGS IN THE SCHOO

Practice statemen

ssroom. 
nouns book 

 box 

 chair 

door 

map 

 pencil 

picture 

 table 

wall 

window 

a 

and 

 is 

that 

 this 

 

that + is = that’s

1. book a book This is a book. 

2. box ______ ____________ 

3. chair ______ ____________ 

4. ___________ 

5. ____ 

6. door 

7. ______ 

8. ___ 

9. window 

10 _ ____________ 

1.2

 _____________ 

 not.

it 

o 

pencil ______ _

table ______ ________

a door That's a door. 

map ______ ______

picture ______ _________

______ ____________ 

. wall _____

 Practice statements with This is a (book), and that's a (door).

book/door

1. This is a book, and that's a door. 

chair/ map

2. _____________,

pencil/picture

3. _____________, _____________ 

table/window

4. _____________, _____________ 

box/wall

5. _____________, _____________ 

II Is this/that a book? Yes, it is.

Is this/that a chair? No, it's

n

not 
yes 

it + is = it's 

1.3

Us ow, etc.).

 Practice "yes-no questions" with Is this/that a (book)? And the short answers Yes, it is and No, it's not. 

e the pictures and objects in the classroom. S1 means "Speaker 1" (may be student, group, r
Figure 7.6 From English for Today, Book 1, edited by William R. Slager. McGraw-Hill Book Company, 

1972. Reprinted by permission. 
Figure 7.7 From English for Today, Book 1, edited by William R. Slager. McGraw-Hill Book Company, 

1972. Reprinted by permission. 

Practical experience with the "pure" Audiolingual Method shows that, one way or another, sophisticated 

tudents will demand grammar explanation from the teacher. In a class of able Japanese students being 

ught the lesson from English for Today, one would expect that sooner or later one of them would ask for 

ord order of "This is a______ " is different from the order of its counterpart in 

apanese. Practical experience using the approach with unsophisticated students shows that they have no 

oint out that the material learned in class is of little relevance in real-life situations. 

hey also point out how boring and artificial drilling is, and how little classroom language drills resemble 

rk is ill advised, in that the postponement denies both teacher and students the 

use n on the student accustomed to 

riting things down. 

If y are likely to need or 

ant some grammatical explanation, and if grammar isn't your forte, you'll need some help. Later on in the 

gual your text is, you might also have to augment it with materials to make the lessons more relevant 

nd interesting to your students. If you have students experienced with Grammar Translation, you might 

 Co teaching 

here are many variations of communicative language teaching, some of which were discussed in Chapter 

in common is that grammatical aspects of the language are considered 

less important than language use. Students are taught sentences and vocabulary appropriate to situations 

ey find themselves in. In this kind of approach, model sentences and grammatical explanation and practice 

unication. 

xample 

igures 7.8-7.10 are from ExpressWays, a typical communicative textbook. The lessons in the book consist 

 information they 

need to create variations on the model. As a final step, students are instructed to provide their own 

info

s

ta

an explanation as to why the w

J

idea how to extract the abstract sentence pattern from the model or drill sentences. They are likely to wind 

up not learning very much at all unless the teacher supplements the drill with translations and direct 

explanations of the meaning of the sentences and words. 

Critics of the approach p

T

actual use of the language. It has also been argued that, with students literate in their native language, the 

postponement of written wo

 of well-developed learning tools and places a heavy memory burde

w

Ramifications 

our textbook is based on the Direct Method or Audiolingual Method, your students

w

chapter there is a section on reference grammars, the source of such help. Depending on how purely 

Audiolin

a

have to supplement the textbook with grammar discussion and explanation. 

mmunicative language

Description 

T

Two. What all the variations have 

th

are built in, but they are secondary to the major purpose of comm

E

F

of a series of one-page segments, followed by a one-page summary of the vocabulary and grammatical 

points taught in the segments. In each segment, students are given a model conversation on a useful 

subject. To practice the model, several situations are set up, in which students are given the

rmation as they create further conversations on the model. 
Fig for Communication, Book 1 by Steven J. Molinsky and Bill 

Bli on of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New

Je

ure 7.8 From Express Ways: English

ss. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1988. Reprinted by permissi

rsey. 
Figure 7.9 From Express Ways: English for Communication, Book 1 by Steven J. Molinsky and Bill 

Bliss. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1988. Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New

Jersey. 
Figure 7.10 From Express Ways: English for Communication, Book 1 by Steven J. Molinsky and Bill 

Bliss. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1988. Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New

Jersey. 
Figures 7.8-7.10 show lesson segments in which "this" 

which covers the topics of the telephone, ge

question "Is this 328-7178?" as the way to

'This" comes up again in Le

and "that" first occur. Figure 7.8 is from Lesson 2, 

tting around town, and social communication. Students learn the 

 ask if the caller has reached the right number. 

sson 3, in the segment "Is This Bus Number 42?" (see Figure 7.9). Again, 

his" and "that" is presented in 

involves a different use of "this" 

-rather than pronouns). 

nicative language teaching argue that it improves on earlier 

se the language in natural situations and therefore leads to 

ent for situations not covered in the textbook or 

class, and that it is difficult to predict in adv ich the student will need language. 

ithout being 

e the wrong 

e taught at this point in the book, but students need the phrase if they use 

out analysis of its components. While this practice 

 to memorize an arbitrary set of words, which has 

tterned or structured items. 

d if your students expect grammar explanations, 

f the 

 the 

the sentences as you go along. 

hes, and one that you will deal with on a daily basis as you 

lse. Common sense suggests that simpler things 

 a variation on X, it is reasonable to 

book" is easier than the complex sentence "If books consisted of loose sheets 

od determine a sequence of sentence patterns from simple to complex according to 

rammatical criteria alone, then arrange lessons around that sequence. 

lessons shown in Figures 7.1-7.4 and 7.5-7.7, the sentence "This is a____ " is 

students learn the word in a particular context. The relationship between "t

Lesson 4 (see Figure 7.10), "Where Do You Want This Sofa?" This segment 

and "that" (as adjectives-"this chair," "that sofa"

Comments 

Proponents of the various kinds of commu

methods because it teaches students to u

fluency. Critics comment that it does not prepare the stud

ance the situations for wh

Critics also comment that the approach requires students to memorize a great deal of material w

shown the systematic aspects of that material. The grammatical aspects of the phrase "You hav

number" may be too complex to b

the telephone. They are to memorize it in its entirety, with

saves them a lot of grammatical bother, it requires them

been demonstrated to be much more difficult than remembering pa

Ramifications 

If you find yourself with a communicative textbook, an

chances are that they will initially be uncomfortable with not knowing about the grammatical aspects o

components of a sentence. You will either have to help them overcome those feelings or explain

structure of 

 Sequencing 

A notion that winds through the various approac

teach English, is the problem of what to teach before what e

should be taught before more complex things and that if you are teaching

have taught X first. 

 Grammatical sequencing 

In grammar studies, some sentences are simpler, and therefore easier, than others. You dealt with this 

notion in your English classes in school when you studied simple vs. compound or complex sentences. The 

simple sentence "This is a 

stuck together any old which way with chewing gum, this would be a book." 

The various approaches to teaching English deal with the problem of sequencing (arranging items from 

easier to harder) in various ways. Textbooks within the Grammar Translation Method, Direct Method, and 

Audiolingual Meth

g

In the two example grammar 

the first sentence type presented. From there, the textbook for Japanese junior high school students uses 

the following sequence: 

This is a hat. 

This is my hat. 

I have a hat. 

These are hats. 

This is an egg. 
Is this a hat? 

This is Mr. West. 

He is a tailor. etc. 

English for Today, on the other hand, sequences as follows: 

book. 

That is a door. 

 

Is this/that a book or a chair? It's a chair. 

 in each textbook progresses from simple to more complex, but in different 

irections. 

 exist, and that sequencing determined solely by grammar 

roduces uninteresting, irrelevant lessons. These texts do not completely abandon grammatical sequencing, 

owever. A great many post-Audiolingual textbooks (like ExpressWays, Figures 7.8-7.10) sequence loosely 

cording to verb tense. Such sequencing often goes as follows: 

present tense of "be" 

"Is

This is a 

What's this/that? It's a hook. 

The book is yellow. 

Is the book yellow'? Yes, it is./No, it's not.

What color is it? It's green. 

Is it green or blue? It's blue. etc. 

You can see how the sequence

d

Approaches to language teaching developed after the Audiolingual Method reject the notion of such rigid 

sequencing as is illustrated above. Proponents of these newer approaches argue that more important 

aspects of language than grammatical structure

p

h

ac

 this 3287178? No, it isn't." 

present progressive tense 

"This bus is going downtown." 

simple present 

“This bus goes to Westville." 

Imperatives 

"Go down to the corner." 

he sequencing of other grammatical features-nouns, prepositions, question forms, etc.-is determined by the 

ontent of the conversations. 

ther parameters 

hile sequencing according to grammatical complexity is of great concern to EFL/ESL textbook authors, 

ey consider other parameters as well. 

s you can see from the ExpressWays example, the usefulness to the student of words and phrases is very 

portant. It's a very rare textbook, for example, that doesn't teach "Hello. How are you?" "Fine, thanks" 

arly on, simply because English speakers use these phrases time and time again during a day. The authors 

f English For Today chose to teach the question pattern "What's this?" in the first lesson because it allows 

e student to ask for vocabulary items-something the authors considered of use to the language student. 

ase of explanation is another parameter, especially important in approaches (and classrooms!) where the 

tudent's native language is not used. Sentence types that are put into the first few lessons have to have 

eanings which can be demonstrated or pantomimed. You might explain the difference in meaning between 

his" and "that" in this way: 

"This is a book." point to a book in front of you 

“That's a book." point to a book across the room 

T

c

 O

W

th

A

im

e

o

th

E

s

m

"t
After the first lessons, sentences must be explainable in language the student can understand. For example, 

e standard way to explain "must have" is to set up a context: 

I went to the drugstore. I bought a paper. I paid for the paper with money from my wallet. I came here 

from the drug store. I don't have my wallet now. I must have

th

 left my wallet in the drug store. 

nother parameter is a progression from things the student knows to things the student doesn't know. It is 

tandard practice, for example, to start out with the verb "be" in simple sentences, because they are easily 

dard practice to go from "be" sentences to 

ings, that tense uses 

ent has already learned. 

wn sequence, taking materials from several books. Others follow the 

particular tex scribed syllabus (which means simply that they teach the lessons in the 

 or syllabus), and amplify the lessons with material from other sources. You 

om 

icky instances, you can easily tell when a sentence is correct and when it has mistakes in it. You know, for 

exa

know how to correct the sentence: to "This is a book" if only one book is under consideration, and "These 

re than one book is. 

judgment, and therefore don't have to check with grammar 

legitimately set yourself up as an authority in questions of 

atical. Your intuitions can save you endless arguments and 

question "Why do you say it that way?" The answer is "Because English 

hapter and several helpful reference grammars are annotated at the end of the chapter. 

 Th

A

s

demonstrated and occur with alarming frequency. It is also stan

the present progressive ("I am going," "you are going," etc.) because, among other th

the forms of "be' the stud

 Practical choices 

As you can gather from the previous discussion, the sequencing of materials to be taught is a complex 

issue. Some teachers make up their o

sequencing of a t or pre

order they are given in the book

will probably prefer the latter course, feeling that your energies are better devoted to classroom matters than 

to wrestling with the problems of sequencing. 

If you are required to teach from a book that is hopelessly chaotic in sequencing-that is, if you can't yourself 

perceive a pattern to the sequencing-it is probably worth your while to find a book whose sequencing you 

like and teach according to that sequence. You can still use your required book. You merely skip around in it 

while following the order of your preferred book. 

 Grammar in the classro

 Your intuitions as a native speaker 

However much grammar you know, you have a great advantage as a native speaker. In all except the really 

tr

mple, that the sentence "This is a books" is wrong ("ungrammatical" is the technical term). You also 

a books" if more 

Your ability to tell whether a sentence is grammatical or not is part of being a native speaker of English. In 

the vast majority of cases you can trust your own

hooks to see if a sentence is correct. You can 

correct/incorrect, grammatical/ungramm

explanations that result from the 

speakers do." 

In those few instances where you hesitate to pasts judgment on a grammatical question, you can consult a 

reference grammar to clarify your understanding. The use of reference grammars is discussed later in this 

c

e students who want grammar 

In many cases, you will be teaching from a textbook that does not present grammar overtly in terms of rules, 

explanations, exercises, and drills, whereas your students will expect such a direct presentation of grammar 

and will be uncomfortable without it. Some students will be persistent in their requests for grammatical 

explanations. Others will simply drop out on the grounds that your class doesn't meet their needs. 
There are several ways of dealing with this situation. It makes good pedagogical sense to meet your 

students' expectations as far as you can. If you can't, you have to change their expectations one way or 

another, or risk your credibility. 

If you opt to change your students' expectations, you can try explaining that in their previous experience with 

language learning, the teachers were not native speakers of the language. You are, and so you can teach 

em how to speak English without having to load them down with grammar. 

If y eaking in your class, you can explain to students that listening and 

speaking classes differ from reading and writing classes and that your approach is better suited to listening 

and speaking than a more grammar-based approach. This explanation can be followed by a demonstration 

tha

If 

com

On alization" process. In every lesson, set aside time in which you allow 

tudents to work out the grammatical rules for themselves, from the model sentences you have been 

it on the discussion, and give it a structure by telling students that they are to 

rrive at a translation of the model sentence in the native language, and to observe the ways in which the 

 let them conduct their discussion, with you providing 

ples of English when required and correcting errors in the English they come up with. You 

 monitor such discussions. You can follow what's going on by the 

vailable locally.) You 

ight have to set aside time in class to go over the exercises. 

gy in your lessons 

. You don't, however, have to use extensive 

rammatical terminology to do it. (A parallel is your doctor, who talks about your sore muscles with his 

, but who talks to you about them in ordinary language.) In fact, one of 

 against the Grammar Translation Method is that the students are required to learn too much 

 sample (Figures 7.57.7), there is no grammatical terminology 

y. 

n in that place in the sentence. 

th

ou intend to focus on listening and sp

t being able to understand and speak is of great value. 

you choose not to change expectations (often the most realistic choice), there are ways you can 

promise between the demand for grammar and the approach that doesn't emphasize grammar. 

e way is to make overt the "intern

s

working with. Set a time lim

a

English and native language versions differ. Then

additional exam

don't need to speak the native language to

English words and sentences. At the end of the allotted time, have students summarize by asking what the 

agreed on translation is and how the English and native language sentences differ. 

Another way to build grammar into a non-grammar approach is to find a grammar exercise book and to 

assign relevant exercises as homework. (There are several listed in the bibliography at the end of this 

chapter. There are undoubtedly such exercise books published in your country and a

m

 Using grammatical terminolo

Grammatical terminology (everything from definitions of "noun" and "verb" to a description of the word "as") 

is the jargon developed by linguists and teachers to talk about languages. All fields have jargon, and 

grammar jargon serves the same purpose for linguists that, say, medical jargon does for doctors. It lets you 

talk easily about the things you need to talk about. 

In the language classroom you have to talk about the language

g

colleagues using medical terminology

the arguments

terminology. Note that in the English for Today

used. 

On the other hand, experienced language teachers find that the use of some terminology saves endless 

circumlocutions. 

Example: Your student comes up with the sentence, "I have a pretty." You tell him the sentence isn't 

correct and he wants to know wh

If your student knows the term "noun," you can easily explain that "pretty" isn't a noun, and that you have 

to have a nou

If your student doesn't know the term, you have to give examples with nouns and hope that the student 

will figure out that "pretty" isn't like any of the examples. 
As you continue to teach, you will undoubtedly find yourself using as a matter of course the grammatical 

terms you and your students need. The important thing to remember is that you are not obligated to use 

rminology if you don't find it useful, or to avoid using it if you do find it useful. 

 is a humorous

te

 

Some basic grammar terms 

Here are a few of the most common grammar terms, in case you didn't study grammar in school, or 

suppressed the grammar you did study. The entry for each term takes the following form: definition of the 

term, additional discussion if needed, and one or more sentences containing underlined examples of the 

term. If you run across a term that isn't defined here or in a reference grammar, look for it in one of the big 

all-English dictionaries. 

adjective: a word that describes (the technical term is "modifies") a noun. In the following sentence, the 

adjectives are underlined: 

Nasreddin Hodja figure in Middle Eastern oral literature. 

 doesn't fit into the other seven parts of speech 

rb. The most obvious adverbs are words that describe or modify verbs. In the 

d: 

adverb: kind of a "wastebasket" class of words. Anything that

(see below) is called an adve

following sentence, the adverbs are underline

A neighbor respectfully and politely asked the Hodja if he could borrow his donkey. 

article: In English, the words a, an, and the are articles. a and an are indefinite articles; the is a definite 

article. 

be: The verb be (also called a linking verb, or a copula, or "the verb to be") is one of the more interesting-or 

roblematic, depending on how you look at it!-grammatical aspects of English. It is highly irregular, as verbs 

in t

p

he language go. It's the on]y verb that has separate forms like: 

am, is, are, was, were

It plays a part in the progressive tenses, e.g.: 

was talking, am listening, has been writing, etc. 

It is part of the passive voice, e.g.: 

was hidden, be seen

And it serves as a sort of linguistic equal sign in sentences like: 

Hodja stories are a part of Middle Eastern folk literature. 

For all these reasons, be is the focus of a lot of attention. 

clause: a sentence stuck inside another sentence. ooked at from another point of view, a clause is a 

sentence which functions as a noun, an adjective, or

the sentences below, the clauses are underlined and their function is given in parentheses: 

The Hodja said that his donkey wasn't there

L

an adverb. Clauses have subjects and predicates. In 

. (clause functioning as a noun) 

At that moment, the donkey that they were talking about brayed from behind the house. (clause 

functioning as an adjective, i.e., modifying the noun donkey) 

When the neighbor heard the donkey he was puzzled. (clause functioning as an adverb, i.e., modifying 

the other clause in the sentence) 

conjunction: a word that connects phrases, clauses, or sentences. The most used conjunctions are and

and but. In the sentence below, the conjunctions are underlined: 

"Hodja, you said that your donkey wasn't here, but I just heard it bray." 

direct object: the noun or noun phrase that immediately follows a verb and refers to something the verb has 

acted on. In the sentence below, the direct objects are underlined: 
The Hodja shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. 

indirect object: a noun or noun phrase that comes between the verb and the direct object. In the sentences 

below, the indirect objects are underlined: 

We are telling you a Hodja story. 

The Hodja did not want to lend his neighbor his donkey. 

interjection: a part of speech that includes expressions like Gosh!, Drat!, etc. In the sentence below, the 

interjection is underlined: 

"Allah! May you be forgiven your lack of faith!" cried the Hodja. 

noun: a word that refers to or names someone or something, e.g., dog, Winston Churchill, happiness, etc. In 

the following sentence, the nouns are underlined: 

"You will believe the word of a donkey, and you will not believe the word of a man whose beard is white!" 

pa

diff

be

rt of speech: In traditional English grammar study, the words of the language are divided into eight 

erent classes. These eight classes are called parts of speech. They are the following, each of which has 

en defined in this section: 

nouns adjectives pronouns prepositions 

verbs adverbs conjunctions interjections 

ph bject and 

pre

rase: a group of words (different from a clause or sentence because it doesn't contain both su

dicate). Typical phrases are: 

noun phrases (book of stories about the Hodja) 

prepositional phrases (at the bottom, of the boat, about the Hodja) 

verb phrases (might be looking, should have been seen) 

plural: referring to more than one. Nouns and pronouns can be plural, and so can the verb be. In the 

following sentences, the plural words are underlined: 

One day the Hodja planted some saplings in his garden. 

When evening came and he had finished his task, he uprooted them all and carried them into his house. 

"We are living in bad times," he explained to his children. 

It is better to keep our belongings where we can see them." 

below) and a predicate. The predicate usually 

b and whatever follows it in the sentence. In the sentences below, the predicates are 

predicate: Sentences are composed of a subject (see 

consists of the ver

underlined: 

One night a thief entered the Hodja's house.

The Hodja's wife whispered that there was a thief in the next room

The Hodja told her to he quiet.

"Maybe he will find something worth taking. 

Then we can easily take it from him." 

preposition: a limited class of words like at, for, behind, etc. Prepositions often refer to locations. They are 

followed by nouns in prepositional phrases like to the store, of the story, and like an idiot. In the following 

sentences, the prepositions are underlined: 

The Hodja was once traveling in a sailboat during a fierce storm, which tossed the boat from side to side 

and tore the topsail. 

When the Hodja saw the sailors rush up the mast and start to tie down the sail, he shouted at them. 

"If you want to keep the boat still, you should tie it at the bottom, not at the top!" 

pronoun: a word that can be used instead of a noun or noun phrase. In the following sentences, the 

pronouns are underlined: 

The village gossip, a notorious sponger, ran up to the Hodja. 

"I just saw a gigantic stuffed turkey carried by on a plate." 

"What is that to me?" asked the Hodja. 

"They carried it to your house," answered the gossip. 

"What is that to you?" asked the Hodja. 
se

up er definition is "a group of words that 

cludes a subject and a predicate," i.e., something that is being talked about, and what's happening to that 

er as to what a sentence is. In the 

llowing examples the first is not a sentence, whereas the second is: 

sin nouns can be singular, and so can the verb be

ntence: traditionally defined as a group of words that expresses a complete thought. (No one ever came 

with a good definition of "a complete thought," however!) Anoth

in

something. In general, you can trust your intuition as a native speak

fo

The Hodja, a famous figure in Middle Eastern folk literature. 

The Hodja is a famous figure in Middle Eastern folk literature. 

gular: referring to only one thing. Nouns and pro . Verbs in 

the present tense can also be singular. In the sentences below, the singular forms of nouns, pronouns, be, 

and present tense verbs are underlined: 

The Hodja was once asked what was the more useful, the sun or the moon. 

"The sun shines in the daytime when there is a lot of light already," he replied, "whereas the moon shines

when it is dark. 

The moon is therefore much more useful." 

subject: the first part of a sentence, usually including a noun or pronoun. The subjects of the sentences 

be

Ten men

low are underlined: 

 offered the Hodja ten pennies to take them across a river in a boat. 

Although not a skillful boatman, he started to row the ten men across. 

The boat lurched in midstream. 

One of the ten fell out and was carried away by the current. 

The lost man's friends began to shout at the Hodja. 

"All right," he said. "I'll accept just nine pennies!" 

ten e action takes place. The traditional tenses in English 

are listed below, with an example for each. Note that the progressive tenses are sometimes called 

con

se: the trappings on a verb that indicate when th

tinuous tenses. 

present: The Hodja walks to the mosque. 

present progressive: The Hodja is walking to the mosque. 

past: The Hodja walked to the mosque. 

past progressive: The Hodja was walking to the mosque. 

future: The Hodja will walk to the mosque. 

future progressive: The Hodja will be walking to the mosque. 

present perfect: The Hodja has walked to the mosque. 

present perfect progressive: The Hodja has been walking to the mosque. 

past perfect: The Hodja had walked to the mosque. 

past perfect progressive: The Hodja had been walking to the mosque. 

future perfect: The Hodja will have walked to the mosque. 

future perfect progressive: The Hodja will have been walking to the mosque. 

 sentences, the verbs (not the verb phrases!) are underlined: 

verb: traditionally defined as a word that expresses an action or a particular state. ("A particular state" is one 

of the phrases grammarians use to talk about the verb be, which clearly behaves like a verb, but somehow 

doesn't express action.) In the following

The Hodja was preaching at the mosque. 

He pointed out that it is sinful for a woman to wear makeup. 

Someone in the audience commented that the Hodja's wife wore makeup all the time. 

The Hodja replied, "But it looks good on the hussy!" 

 Using reference grammars 

Fo ar of 

English. Thousands of reference grammars of English have been written over the last two hundred years, 

r your own interest and possibly peace of mind, you might want to invest in a reference gramm
inc reference grammars of 

English available in the language of your country. 

 W

Reference grammars describe a language the same way that, say, a textbook on human anatomy describes 

the us kinds of words: nouns, pronouns, 

djectives, etc. It will define each kind, give examples, and discuss the ways in which the relevant words 

ehave. A reference grammar will tell you, for example, that nouns change form when more than one is 

eing talked about, and will go into the changes that occur: regular ones ("cat" - "cats") and irregular ones 

mouse" - "mice"). After discussing the word classes, the grammar might go on to discuss kinds of 

ements, 

to discuss the ways sen into other sentences, i.e., complex and compound phrases and 

A reference grammar is tructed accordingly. 

ragraph n 

grammars, explanations e read what has come beforehand to 

understand the point being made. In the ar, for example, the index contains the 

following for "this/that": 

se: rness/distance 4.33; as 

adjectives/pronouns uns 4.36, 13.19n.7, by which 

1.42; common uses 10; this Sunday (no preposition) 8.12, 

App 48. 

IVES AND PRONOUNS

 you are actually holding or that 

 close to you, or that you consider to be close to you, or to something that is present in a situation. 

d these with here: 

Th e (now): 

Go and tell him now, this instant!

'Di e physical. That and those can refer to something that is not close to you, or that 

ou do not consider to be close to you. We can associate that and those with there: 

re I am referring to is that one there

tographs I meant are those there

perations were difficult in the 18th century. In those days there were no anaesthetics.

e can be adjectives: that is, they can be determiners [>3.1] and go before a noun or 

ne ones [>4.10]; or they can be pronouns used in place of a noun or noun phrase [>4.2.1]: 

luding many written specifically for the EFL/ESL teacher. There are probably 

hat reference grammars are 

 body. A reference grammar might start out describing the vario

a

b

b

("

sentences: stat questions, negative statements, negative questions. Then the grammar might go on 

tences are inserted 

sentences. 

 meant to be skipped around in like an encyclopedia, and is cons

The sections, pa

in the index refer the reader to these 

s, examples, or explanations are usually numbered. The terms and examples give

numbers, so that it is easy to find any given topic. In the best reference 

 are written so that you don't have to hav

Longman English Gramm

this/that/these/tho demonstratives 4.32-36, form 4.32, for ne

placed by subject prono

a

4.34, determiners, 3.1, 4.22; re

2.52, 4.35, App 7; this one/these ones, etc. 4.

.

DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECT

4.33 'This/that' and 'these/those': nearness and distance

'Nearness' may be physical. This and these may refer to something

is

We can associate this an

The picture I am referring to is this one here

The photographs I meant are these here

is and these can refer to nearness in tim

stance' may b

y

The pictu

The pho

That and those can refer to distance in time (then): 

O

4.34 Demonstrative adjectives/pronouns compared

Demonstrativ

o
adjective + noun: I don't like this coat

adjective + one: I don't like this one

ronoun: I don't like this

ratives used as pronouns normally refer to things, not people: 

hat's this/that? What are these/those?

 as pronouns after Who? Refer to people: 

ho's this? Who's that?

ple/men/women/children?

 wish to go now may do so quietly.

n uses of 'this/that' and 'these/those'

re these/those yours? Yes, they are. (Not *Yes, these/those are*) 

She's/He's in charge here.

p

Demonst

I found this wallet. I found this. (pronoun) 

I know this girl. (this cannot stand on its own here) 

Demonstrative pronouns after What? Refer to things: 

W

This and that

W

These and those referring to people are followed by a (plural) noun. Compare What are 

these/those? (i.e. things) with: 

Who are these/those peo

But those, closely followed by who, can be used on its own: 

Those (of you) who

4.35 Commo

This/that/these/those used as adjectives or as pronouns have many different uses. For examples 

[>App 7]. 

4.36 Subject pronouns replacing demonstratives

Demonstratives are replaced by it or they in short responses when the thing or things referred to 

have been identified [compare > 13.19n.7]: 

Is this/that yours? Yes, it is. (Not * Yes, this/that is*) 

A

He/she can replace this/that when the reference is to people: 

This/That is Mrs/Mr Jones. 

Figur

epri

e 7.11 From rammar by L.G. Alexander Longman Group Limited, 1988. 

nted by permission.

this ref "this" and 

rring to ave been 

reproduced as Figu there are 

lots of examples. 

ce g

he primary use of particular 

et of sentence ty sked you questions. (By the way, if you are 

mbarrassed to be s you can explain to students that native 

peakers can't alwa s hen ask a question or two about their 

nguage to illustrat y

ringing a referenc g problems. You can't teach from it. That is not its purpose. A 

ference grammar ish speakers is probably beyond the English abilities of your 

Longman English G

R

If you have 

"that" by refe

erence grammar and you are teaching "This is a _," you can find out about 

 the indicated sections. Sections 4.33-4.36 of the Longman English Grammar h

re 7.11 to show you the sorts of information you can expect to find. Note that 

 Using a referen rammar 

T a reference grammar is for your own instruction, either before you approach a

s pes in c]ass, or after students have a

e a ked questions you can't immediately answer, 

s y answer questions about their language-and t

la e our point!) 

B

re

e 

 w

rammar to class has its

ritten in English for Engl
students, and if you r them. A 

reference grammar and in a contest 

etween you and s c very cogently indeed to convince students that the 

ook might be wron . 

ummary 

his chapter discus s ts of several approaches to language teaching: 

Grammar Transl ti

Direct Method an 

Communicative 

 also discusses ways to deal with the teaching of grammar in class. You can satisfy your students' 

emands for direct mar activities t spending most of your class time explaining grammar rules 

nd doing grammar

eachers can mak mars to clarify their understanding of grammar topics which 

ppear in their sylla u . Reference grammars may also be used as a supplement to 

xtbooks and clas siderable 

 let them use it in class you will spend endless amounts of time interpreting it fo

 written in the native language of the students is not always reliable, 

b u h a grammar, you have to argue

b g

 S

T se the grammatical aspec

a on Method 

d Audiolingual Method 

Language Teaching 

It

d gram withou

a exercises. 

T e use of reference gram

a b s and lesson materials

te

proficiency in English to be readily understood. 

s discussions. However, most all-English reference grammars require a con

 
Notes on reference g

Reference Grammars

Note: Reference grammars assume that readers understand simple grammar terms like "noun," "verb," 

ubject," and "pre ic ssary of 

grammar terms in this 

ongman English G

L. G. Alexander 

ongman Group UK

 down-to-earth, ve le grammar, merous examples set in blue ink for ready identification. The 

ook is aimed at a d ESL stude t is probably most accessible to the native English speaker. 

xplanations are c nimum of 

terminology. The appendices include lists of words and phrases referred to in the text, e.g., lists of irregular 

erbs, verb + partic index includes grammar terms as well as 

 particula

ESL Grammar Han o Advanced Students of English as a Second Language 

t 

 Inc., 1

As the title indicates into short 

(typically a page an arranged 

from simple to complex, and the author suggests that, whereas advanced students can use the book as a 

ference grammar in d work through the chapters in order. Careful attention is 

aid to defining and llu

An uncountable

rammars and grammar exercise books 

"s d ate." If your understanding of such terms is shaky, consult the short glo

chapter, or look them up in a good dictionary. 

L rammar (ED 133) 

L Ltd., 1988 

A ry usab with nu

b dvance nts, bu

E lear and matter of fact, and are couched in ordinary language with a mi

v le combinations ("bring up," "call off," etc.). The 

words with r grammatical characteristics and functions, e.g., "would," "see," etc. 

dbook for Intermediate t

Allan Kent Dar

Prentice-Hall, 982 

, a grammar written specifically for the student. Grammar points are organized

d a half) chapters, with very clear explanations and examples. The points are

re , termediate students shoul

p i strating terms. For example: 

 noun describes something that we cannot count: "Give me liberty or give me death." 

(Patrick Henry) 

his would be a nic c vel of English used in the grammar explanations 

ally is accessible quizzes for each chapter in a parallel volume, ESL 

rammar Quiz Boo f

 Communicative G a

eoffrey Leech and a

p Ltd

sed o

fers to the autho e.g., their 

efinition of mass n

Mass nouns (sometimes called "non-count" nouns) typically refer to substances, whether liquid or solid: 

oil, water, butter

T e lassroom reference book, since the le

re to intermediate students. There are 

G k, rom the same publishers. 

A r mmar of English 

G J n Svartvik 

Longman Grou

A grammar ba

., 1975. 

n Grammar of Contemporary English, described below. The "communicative" in the title 

re rs' attempt to look at English grammar from the point of view of meaning, 

d ouns (the same thing as the uncountable nouns in the Dart handbook described above): 

, wood, leather, iron, rock, glass, etc. Mass nouns are always singular: it makes no sense 

to "count" the qu n ot naturally divisible into separate objects. 

s you can see? th l plex, and so the grammar is beyond the 

ach of students with less than an advanced command of English. English speakers who already know 

uite useful. 

 G

Ra Svartvik 

Lo

a tity of a mass substance which is n

A e anguage of the explanations can get very com

re

what the example sentences mean will find it q

A rammar of Contemporary English 

ndolph Quirk, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan 

ngman Group Ltd., 1972. 
A very dense, very comprehensive grammar, certainly the most exhaustive grammar published recently, and 

one found on the shelves of people serious about English grammar. It describes the standard English 

spoken by educated people around the world, and deals in detail with the differences between British and 

American writing and usage. The terminology and depth render it inaccessible to all but teachers with 

considerable grammatical background, and the most advanced (and grammar-happy) students, e.g., the 

xplanation of mass (uncountable) nouns: 

ass nouns do not have a plural. It is, however, more accurate to say that they are 

invariable and lack number contrast: 

ouns. Count nouns, which can be counted, (one pig, two pigs, several pigs

e

We have noted that m

Music is/ *Musics are my favorite hobby. 

As the term "mass" implies, the notion of countability (of "one" as opposed to "more than one") does not 

apply to mass n ...) show the 

speaker as able to distinguish these items as separable entities. Mass nouns, on the other hand, are 

seen as continuous entities (much pork, *one pork, *few pork...) and show the speaker as regarding 

s or concepts as having no natural bounds. They are subject to division only by means of 

certain "gradability expressions." 

rammar Work 1 - 4: English Exercises in Context 

for the 

al beginner, 2 for the high beginner, 3 for the intermediate, and 4 a review of the points covered in the first 

ises are correlated with numbered sections in 

rammar Guide from the same publisher, and can be used out of sequence if desired. 

Gr

rthur A. Burrows 

nsive additional written exercises, including "challenge" 

xercises at the end of some chapters. The exercises in a lesson range from easy to difficult, so that the 

he Grammar Handbook Part One. 

rises. A feature of 

e book is the inclusion of blank worksheets, which the student is to fill with material presented and/or 

hese are textbooks teaching the grammar of English. Each grammar point is explained via diagrams or 

these substance

Grammar Exercise Books 

G

Pamela Breyer 

Regents Publishing Company, Inc., 19X2 

A series of four exercise books, in which the grammar is presented in meaningful contexts. Book 1 is 

re

three. Each lesson consists of the presentation of a grammar point via a diagram or chart, practice in which 

the student manipulates sentences along the lines of the model, and "Make It Work," in which the student 

uses the model in a (usually) illustrated context. The exerc

G

ammar Exercises, Part One 

A

ProLingua Associates, 1984 

This book is a self-study augmentation of Nancy Claire's The Grammar Handbook, described immediately 

below. It supplements her lessons with exte

e

needs of students at varying levels of ability will be served. In addition to the grammar focus, each lesson is 

made more interesting by a topic focus. All the exercises in the lesson "talk" about the topic, and the 

necessary vocabulary is listed in the vocabulary summary at the end of each lesson. Topics range from 

"How to use this book" (Lesson 1), to banking, to occupations. 

T

Nancy Claire 

ProLingua Associates, 1984 

A basic grammar exercise book, with delightful illustrations. A particular point is explained very simply, then 

followed by various oral and written exercises. The grammar points are basic enough that the book can be 

used with beginners. Lessons are not sequenced, and can be dipped into as the need a

th

discussed in class. Another feature is the inclusion of references for teachers after each chapter. Students 

are assumed to have had some English. Many of the written exercises require the student to create 

sentences along the models given. 

ESL Grammar Workbooks I and II for Intermediate Speakers and Writers of English as a Second Language 

Allan Kent Dart 

Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1978 

T

charts and followed by a series of written exercises (mostly fill-in-the-blank), each of which has a particular 

focus. The first lesson, for example, is an explanation of the forms of be in the present tense. The second 

lesson's focus is the verb be in statements, and is a fill-in-the-blank exercise. The third lesson's focus is 
yes/no questions and answers with the verb be, and is also a fill-in-the-blank exercise. The book could easily 

be used as a supplementary text for homework or self-study on the part of intermediate students. 

A Basic English Grammar with Exercises 

John Eastwood and Ronald Mackin 

Oxford University Press, 1988 

A book of lessons, each of which consists of a described point of grammar and exercises in which the 

student is to practice the grammar point. Lessons range from simple (the first lesson is on word order in 

simple sentences) to complex (the last lesson is on emphasis, as in "I did do it; you didn't see it."). 

Descriptions of the grammar point are very clear and include examples. Exercises range from standard fillin-the-blank-with-the-correct-verb-form to more "fun" activities like picture exercises in which the student 

uses the grammatical form to interpret the picture. At the beginning of the book there is a glossary of 

grammatical terms defined via examples (verb: in the sentence "I go to work by bus," the word go is a verb). 

The last chapters in the book give examples of functions (apologizing, complaining, etc.), a list of irregular 

erbs, punctuation rules, word building, and lists of money and other number terms. The language is very 

Bri

Am

Ma

uth Pierson and Susan Vik 

 a class for intermediate or advanced students interested in 

rammar. The lessons are sequenced according to grammatical structure (they provide a thorough review of 

e simple structures, tenses, etc., and introduce more complex ones), but include hefty reading passages 

ctice. Grammar points are explained via easy-to-understand diagrams and charts. 

he reading passages and dialogues are much more difficult than the grammar, e.g., the first sentence in 

he alcohol and tobacco they consume. 

 

v

tish, which might get in your way if you are not comfortable with the differences between British and 

erican English. 

king Sense in English: Intermediate Grammar in Context 

R

Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1987 

This could easily serve as the main text in

g

th

and oral and written pra

T

the first lesson: 

People in the United States today know that many things about the way they live affect their health: the 

food they eat, the medical attention they get, t
ve been met. 

t in Alice In Wonderland, Alice meets the Cheshire Cat, sitting on the bough of a tree in the fork 

ould she go left or right Alice wondered. 

lk from here?" 

where," Alice added, as an explanation. 

 that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough." 

Un s approach is shared by some teachers, who think that if they just begin a lesson and talk 

long enough they are bound to get somewhere. However, working without long-term goals and short-term 

objectives leads to lessons that lack focus and direction. Your students look to you for a sense of purpose. 

Your goal setting will reassure them that you are aware of their needs and will demonstrate a thoughtful 

 Long-term goals 

Long-term goals reflect what you intend your students to be able to do with their English at the end of the 

cou hool term. Your goals should therefore be relevant, motivating, and concrete. They need to 

e to reflect the effort you have put into understanding both the individual needs of your 

educational goals of the country in which you are serving. They need to be 

d by your students as being reasonable and leading to successful learning. 

Th t is to say specific and measurable. "To understand past tenses in English" is 

not specific enough. "Students will be able to talk about past events" is both specific and measurable. 

In writing goals and objectives you need to include three components: 

ected of the student 

 the behavior must be demonstrated to be acceptable 

Here is an example beginning level objective for listening: 

ge on "Walking to School" (condition), students will be able to draw a 

with fewer than five mistakes (criterion). The task 

). 

 for speaking: 

CHAPTER EIGHT 

Lesson planning and testing 

A major responsibility of any teacher involves mapping out the long-term goals for the course and the 

school term, as well as the outlines and plans for each lesson. The function of testing is then to check 

that goals and objectives ha

At one poin

of a road. Sh

"Cheshire Puss," she began, "Would you tell me please, which way I ought to wa

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. 

"I don't care much where . . . ," said Alice. 

"Then it doesn't matter which way you walk," said the Cat. 

"So long as I get some

"Oh, you're sure to do

fortunately Alice'

management of the classroom. 

rse or the sc

b

s

 relevant and

tudents and the national 

motivating and to be perceive

ey need to be concrete, tha

• type of behavior: the specific action exp

• condition: the circumstances under which the behavior is to be demonstrated 

• criterion: the degree or level to which

After listening to a simple passa

picture and color 10 objects in the drawing (behavior), 

will be accomplished in 10 minutes (criterion

Here is an example of an intermediate level objective
After selecting a topic (condition), students will be able to give a one-minute presentation (behavior and 

criterion), using correct pronunciation of the /th/ sound (criterion). 

Here is an example of an upper-intermediate level objective for writing: 

ollution" and a phrase outline of the same passage (condition), students 

change the outline into a sentence outline by rewriting each phrase as a complete 

wer than 10 mistakes in the construction of the sentences (criterion). The 

he basic information which you need to write your goals may be found in the following sources: 

1. a copy of the syllabus for your classes for the year (if one exists) 

2. copies of the textbooks available to your class 

ou are teaching a class which will be taking these exams within 

5. information on communicative approaches to the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and 

6. information you have gathered on the needs of your students 

hese outlines are your drafts and foundations for your lesson plans. For these outlines you will need to 

ry, as in a science class which has one hour of English a week) 

• lesson objective, including reference to condition, behavior and criterion 

ng 

• materials: textbook and supplementary materials 

e of a lesson plan. This outline is based on an extract from a syllabus used by a 

n country. Volunteers teaching English in schools in that country are expected to follow this 

ollows: 

ship!. 

dents must be able to: 

 the verb characteristics-present tense in English with the structures "have" and "has"-affirmative 

• Understand and use "have" and "has" with different nouns and pronouns in affirmative sentences. 

After reading a passage on "P

will be able to 

sentence (behavior), with fe

task will be completed in 20 minutes (criterion). 

You will find additional information on instructional objectives and lesson planning in the Peace Corps 

Manual Teacher Training: A Reference Manual (ICE Manual No. T-45). 

T

3. back copies of the national exams, if y

the next two or three academic years 

4. ideas for sources of supplementary materials 

writing (see Chapters Three, Four, Five, and Six) 

Once you have written your goals, your long-term plans are in place and you can move on to outlines and 

lesson plans. 

 Outlines 

T

select your: 

• topic (where necessa

• language skill focus: listening, speaking, reading, writi

• vocabulary 

• grammar focus 

• activities 

• assignments 

Figure 8.1 shows the outlin

Central America

syllabus. The extract reads as f

Lesson VII -Talking about Family Relation

By the end of the lesson the stu

• Use

and interrogative. 
• Complete the set of possessive adjectives by adding "our" and "their" to nouns. 

• Use the possessive for persons: "Robert's wife." 

ssive adjectives and use them in comparison to possessive pronouns: "my/mine," 

," answering with "mine," "hers," etc. 

STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO ASK AND ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR 

. 

• Recall posse

"your/yours," and so on. 

• Understand and use "whose

OBJECTIVES 

FAMILIES

LANGUAGE SKILLS A) LISTENING AND SPEAKING: EXAMPLE: HOW MANY BROTHERS DOES MARIA 

HAVE? FOUR. 

B) READING AND WRITING: READING, FILLING IN BLANKS 

VOCABULARY FATHER, MOTHER, BROTHER, SISTER, SON, DAUGHTER, HUSBAND, WIFE 

MY, HIS, HER, OUR, YOUR, MINE, THEIR 

MINE, HIS, HERS, OURS, YOURS, THEIRS 

GRAMMAR FOCUS 1) POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES: THAT'S MY FATHER. 

2) POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS: THAT BABY IS MINE. 

3) WHOSE SISTER IS THAT? 

4) GENITIVES: THAT'S JUAN'S BROTHER. 

5) HAS/HAVE AFFIRMATIVE/INTERROGATIVE 

MATERIALS FLIP CHARTS OR BLACKBOARDS FOR FAMILY TREES 

ACTIVITIES YES/NO QUESTIONS, TPR, FILLING IN THE BLANKS, DRAMATIZATION OF STORY 

ASSIGNMENTS DRAW A CARTOON STRIP OF THE JOSE/MIGUEL STORY 

Figure 8.1 Outline: Lesson VII, Family Relationships 

There are no differences between the content of Figure 8.1 and the extract from the syllabus, but the column 

on the left hand side of the figure adds an organizational dimension which makes it easier to read and which 

will act as a reminder for you to include all the elements in your outline. 

 Steps in a lesson plan 

With your outline clearly established, you can develop your lesson plans by following these steps: 

• review 

• presentation 

• practice 

• application 

• assignment 

 Review 

Reviewing previous work allows you to check on understanding of the previous lessons and gives students 

an opportunity to ask for clarification. 

In a fifty-minute lesson you should allow approximately ten minutes for review. 

 Presentation 
Setting a familiar context is an important part of presenting new material. This step of your lesson should 

therefore be closely tied to your Review. Your objective at this point is to move your students from the known 

to the unknown. 

 Practice 

Practicing new material requires guidance and control from the teacher. Exercises in this section of the 

lesson will need to be carefully prepared and include exercises such as multiple choice, substitution drills, 

true or false, and filling in blanks. You will need to monitor activities, checking that new information has been 

understood and that students are putting their new skills correctly into practice. 

 Application 

Applying new material is different from practicing it in that the teacher steps back and allows the students to 

take control. Your students will have had time to absorb your input and they can now focus on their output. 

Exercises in this part of the lesson will be more open ended. They will include role-plays, written reports, 

complex group activities. 

In a fifty-minute class these three steps, Presentation, Practice, and Application should take approximately 

thirty-five minutes. 

 Assignments 

Explaining assignments should not be left until the last minute. Give yourself time to prepare your students 

for the work they will be doing out of class. When your students understand what is required of them they 

have a better chance of succeeding and achieving the objective of the lesson. Your assignment should 

reflect the materials presented in your lesson. 

Traditionally, assignments have consisted of exercises from the text. However, you may want to explore 

some of the options offered by a communicative approach and give your students a real task to perform. For 

example, in a country where English is widely spoken, such as Kenya or the Philippines, you might ask your 

students to find out details of upcoming events and to report back to the class. 

In a fifty-minute class, you should allow at least five minutes for this step. 

 A sample lesson plan 

Title Family Relationships 

or 

Who's Who in Your Family'' 

Objective Students will be presented with illustrations of family trees and will be told a 

story. They will be asked to demonstrate their understanding of simple 

instructions and to ask and answer simple questions on family members, 

using the correct forms of possessive adjectives and pronouns. 

Review Review assignment and materials covered in previous lesson. 

Presentation A. Teacher tells story of own family and draws a family tree with cartoon 

faces, names, and relationships on the board. 

B. Teacher asks questions of one student and draws a similar family tree on 

board. Sample questions will include: 

 What's your father's/mother's name'' 

 How many brothers and sisters do you have? 

 Is your brother Vicente married'.' 

 What is his wife's name? 

 Does he have children? 

 What are their names? 
C. Teacher checks comprehension of class by asking Yes/No questions 

about the family tree. For example: 

 Is Juan's mother called Maria? 

 Does Juan have three sisters? 

 Is this Vicente's son? 

 Does Juan's sister Alta Gracia have two sons? 

D. Teacher checks comprehension by asking individual students to go to the 

board and: 

 Point to Juan's sister. 

 Draw a pair of sunglasses on Juan's face. 

 Change the hairstyle of Juan's oldest brother. 

 Draw a big smile on the face of Juan's father. 

E. Teacher writes chart of possessive adjectives on board: 

my your his her 

our your their 

and uses them in sentences describing family relationships in the family tree 

which is still on the board. 

 This is their mother. 

 This is his father. etc. 

F. Teacher describes the rule governing the use of the possessive form of 

nouns: 

 Add an apostrophe plus s ('s) to singular nouns. Example: Juan's sister 

 Add an apostrophe (') to plural nouns. Example: The brothers' mother 

G. Teacher writes the verb "to have" on board, in present simple affirmative 

and interrogative, and drills students, using the family tree on the board. 

I have Do I have _________? 

You have Do you have _________? 

He/She has Does he/she have _______? 

We have Do we have ______? 

You have Do you have_____ ? 

They have Do they have______ ? 

Practice A. Teacher asks students each to draw their own family tree. Then, using the 

example sentences on the board, each student describes the family tree to a 

neighbor. 

Example sentences will include: 

 This is my father/mother/brother/sister. 

 This is my brother's wife. 

 This is my sister's husband. 

 This is my brother's son. etc. 

B. Teacher asks each student to use the same sentences to describe the 

family tree of the first neighbor to a second neighbor. This time the 

possessive adjective will be "his" or "her" or a possessive noun form, for 

example, "Juan's." 

 This is his/Juan's father. 

C. Teacher asks each student to fill in the blanks in sentences. (Sentences 

will contain blanks for possessive adjectives, possessive noun forms, and 

"have" or "has.") Example: 

 1. ___sister is called Maria. 

 2. My mother____ three sons. 

 3. Does Enrique _____ two or three brothers? 

Presentation A. Teacher tells the following story, using dramatization and pictures on the 

board to make sure that the main ideas are understood: 

 Two boys, Miguel and Jose, were friends. They both had baby sisters. 

One day, Miguel's mother asked him to take his baby sister for a walk. And 

Jose's mother asked him to take his baby sister for a walk, too. The two 

boys met at the soccer field. They decided to put their baby sisters under a 

tree and to play soccer. When they finished playing soccer they came 

back to the tree. But they could not tell the difference between the baby 

girls. 

"Which one is my sister?" cried Miguel. "Which one is mine?" 
"Which one is my sister?" cried Jose. "Which one is mine?" 

"I think this little one is yours," said Miguel. 

"Then this big one must be yours," said Jose. 

 "Oh no," said a passing man. "The little one looks like Miguel. It must be 

his. And the big one looks like Jose. She must be his baby sister." 

 Miguel took the little baby girl back to his mother. His mother screamed 

and said to Miguel's father, 'This isn't our baby. Where's ours?" 

 Jose took the big baby girl back to his mother. His mother screamed, too, 

and said to Jose's father, "This isn't our baby. Where's ours?" 

 Miguel ran to Jose. "Quickly," he cried, "my mother says this little baby 

isn't her baby. And she wants hers back." 

Jose said, "My mother says this big baby isn't hers. She wants her little 

baby back." 

 Later, Miguel and Jose sat and talked. "Mothers and fathers are very 

clever," said Jose. "They knew which baby was theirs. They only wanted 

their baby." 

B. Teacher checks comprehension either by asking Yes/No questions, or by 

asking four students to mime the story for the class. 

C. Teacher writes chart of possessive pronouns on board: 

mine yours his hers 

ours yours theirs 

Teacher uses classroom objects to drill possessive pronouns and possessive 

adjectives. 

Whose pen is this? It's mine. / It's my pen. etc. 

Practice Teacher distributes texts of Miguel/Jose story, asking students to fill in the 

blanks. (The possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives will have been 

deleted from the text.) 

Application Teacher distributes cards and asks students to circulate asking each other 

the questions given below. As students find a classmate who can give an 

affirmative answer to a question, they ask that classmate to sign beside the 

question. The object of the exercise is to see who can get all the questions 

signed off first. 

 Do you have two sisters? 

 Does your mother have two brothers? 

 Is your sister's name Maria? 

 Does your sister have three children? 

 Do you have one brother? 

 Is your father's name Pablo? 

 Do your parents have four children? 

 Is your brother's name Eduardo? 

 Does your mother have three sons? 

 Do you have a baby sister? 

 Are your brothers' names Carlos and Vicente? 

 Is your mother's name Maria Elena? 

Assignment To draw a strip cartoon of the Miguel and Jose story, and to put the following 

sentences in the speech balloons: 

 Which one is my sister/mine? 

 This little one is yours. 

 This big one is yours. 

 No, this one is his sister/his. 

 This isn't our baby/ours. 

 My mother wants her baby/hers. 

 My mother and father knew their baby/theirs. 

 Summary of guidelines for planning lessons 

• Build in student success by setting achievable objectives. 

• Provide input before expecting output. 

• Provide needed vocabulary. 
• Teach all four language skills. 

• Provide a variety of activities. 

• Allow for absorption time of new materials. 

• Teach from known to unknown. 

• Cover the syllabus. 

 Guidelines for testing 

This section looks at two aspects of testing: classroom tests and national examinations. These national 

examinations are usually set by the Ministry of Education. Practices vary, but in most countries the two most 

important national examinations are at the end of six years of primary school, and at the end of six years of 

secondary school. 

 Classroom Tests 

The first and most important principle in writing tests is to test what you have taught. What you teach should 

in turn reflect your long-term goals for your course. In this way, tests check your ability to keep to your longterm goals and to transform those goals into lessons. 

While the emphasis may vary, in most situations you will be teaching all four language skills. Your tests 

should be devised to test these four skills. While testing reading, writing, and listening is relatively straight 

forward, the testing of speaking, particularly with classes of 50 and over, requires a little organization. 

The Royal Society of Arts Examinations Board in England has developed a format which can be adapted to 

meet your needs. First, divide your class into groups of threes. Then give each group approximately five 

minutes in which to prepare a task. An example of a task is: 

The teacher is going to visit your village for a week. Ask the teacher some questions about her plans. The 

teacher will ask you some questions about your village. 

Another example would be to give a group a picture or photo of a recent school activity? such as weeding 

the school garden, the official opening of the school fish pond, or the winning of a sports event, and to ask 

the three interviewees to talk about the picture. 

Then interview the group of three for approximately five minutes. If possible work with another teacher on 

these interviews, so that while your colleague is interviewing you can assess and take notes on student 

performances. If no other teacher is available, you could record these interviews to play back and assess 

later. It is also important that the interviewer make sure that each of the three interviewees is given 

opportunities to speak. 

When writing long tests, make sure that you sequence test items from easy to more difficult. Students 

suffering from test anxiety could be completely unnerved if the first questions they read seem beyond their 

capabilities. This sequencing of your test items could be done by first asking your students to fill in blanks or 

answer multiple-choice questions, then by including test items which require your students to write sentence 

answers, and finally by moving on to test items which involve writing paragraph answers. 

Make your directions clear. In a classroom test you may want to check orally that students have understood 

the directions. Many Volunteers report that in moments of panic students misread directions and fail tests 

because of this. The sound of your voice reading the directions slowly and clearly can be calming. 

Knowing the anxieties that surround tests, help your students by developing their review practices. The 

ideas discussed in Chapter Five, particularly the section on reading for academic purposes and the 

exercises to develop reading microskills, lend themselves well to the development of review practices. 

Figure 8.2 outlines some basic examination strategies for your students. The most important of these 

strategies revolves around a planned use of time. When giving classroom tests, tell your students at regular 

intervals how much time has passed and how much time they have left to complete the test. 
To get full benefit from the learning experience of tests, take time to go over corrected tests with your class. 

The advantages in this for your students generally outweigh the inevitable discussions over grades which 

some students will raise. You can control this situation by setting aside 10 minutes at the end of the session 

for questions on grades. Clearly though, you will need to think through and explain your grading policy to 

your classes well in advance. It also behooves you to familiarize yourself with the grading system of your 

colleagues. The American system tends to be more generous in its allocation of points than other systems, 

and you may wish to adjust so as to be more in tune with local expectations. 

For your own benefit, particularly when working with large numbers of students, make your tests easy to 

grade. Essay tests may be easy to prepare, but they take a long time to grade. So unless the essay format is 

required by the school, choose testing exercises such as multiple choice, completion, and cloze. The cloze 

test consists of giving students a passage to complete in which every nth word is deleted. However, you 

need not keep rigidly to a set pattern of deleting blanks when writing craze tests for your students. Here is an 

example of a cloze test. (When given, the words in parentheses are omitted.) 

Rikyia and Fatima decided to (take) a walk. They (had) wanted (to) walk by the river, but the wind 

was (blowing) too hard. So they walked downtown instead. They met (some) friends near (the) 

market, and decided to (stop) for a Coke in their favorite cafe. The wind had dropped a (little) and 

the sun was (shining), so they sat at a (table) outside. 

Finally, make sure that your students understand the school policy on cheating and the consequences for 

anyone caught breaking these school rules. 

 National examinations 

The success of your students hinges on their ability to do well in the national exams. A high school diploma 

is frequently the reward for a whole family who have provided financial support to put one of their members 

through years of schooling. Your ability to prepare students for national exams is therefore an important 

response to your students' most pressing need. 

Figure 8.2 Examination Strategies

ALL TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS

Read the instructions. 

Plan your time - have a watch or clock with you. 

ESSAY EXAMINATIONS

Read all the questions carefully at the beginning of the exam. 

Leave space at the end of each essay answer so that if you have time you can go back and add 

more information. 

Outline your essay in rough. If you do not have enough time to write a full answer, write your 

outline on your answer sheet. 

Answer the questions that you know best, first. 

MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAMINATIONS

Be sure that you mark the correct number/letter next to the correct number on the answer sheet. 

Read all possible answers carefully. 

Find out whether guessing answers will work against you. 
Look for the opportunity to serve as an examiner in the national exams. You could be an interviewer in oral 

exams or a grader of essay exams. The educational authorities usually work through the school principals 

and it would be easy to indicate your interest to your principal. The experience will stand you in good stead 

when it comes to coaching your students for these exams. 

If this option is not open to you, familiarize yourself with the content and format of the examinations. Keep 

abreast of any changes in the examinations. Make sure that you cover the content in your lessons and that 

your students are aware of your doing so. Build into your lessons mock examinations with test questions in 

the national examination format, and when you go over the corrected copies of these exercises discuss both 

content and format errors with your students. An example of format error would be answering five questions 

when only asked to answer four. 

Examination anxiety is hard to overcome completely. But you may help you students master some of their 

anxiety by discussing and implementing examination strategies. Strategies range from the practical to the 

esoteric. Practical strategies might involve developing your students' sense of timing, helping them plan how 

they will use their time during an exam, and helping them stick to that plan. At the more esoteric end of the 

spectrum come relaxation exercises or exercises where students visualize their success during the weeks 

leading up to an examination. 

 Summary 

This chapter discusses long-term goals, lesson outlines, lesson plans, and testing. 

Long-term goals should be relevant, motivating, and concrete. 

Lesson outlines include: 

objectives 

language skill focus 

vocabulary 

grammar focus 

materials 

activities 

assignments 

Lesson plans have five steps: 

review 

presentation 

practice 

application 

assignment 

Testing principles include: 

test what you have taught 

test course goals 

test all four language skills 

sequence test items 

make directions clear 

develop students' review practices 

develop students' test-taking strategies 

go over corrected tests with students 

make policies on cheating clear 

 Suggestions for further reading 

Teacher Training: A Reference Manual (T 45) 

The Center for International Education 

Peace Corps, Information Collection and Exchange 
This Manual is full of practical ideas and was written with your needs in mind. The sections on instructional 

objectives and lesson planning are particularly relevant to this chapter. You will also find the sections on 

assessment of student learning and classroom teaching techniques easy to read and helpful to any 

Volunteer involved in teaching. 

Techniques in Testing (ED 108) 

Harold S. Madsen 

Oxford University Press, 1983 

Designed to improve skills in constructing and administering classroom tests for adult ESL students. 

Provides specific explanations, descriptions, examples, and precautions for preparing tests. Part I 

emphasizes vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, and Part II covers tests of reading, writing, speaking, 

and listening. Appendix lists tests used worldwide, such as TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). 

 Appendices 

 Appendix A - Textbooks and references 

The textbooks and reference materials which are cited in Chapters One to Eight are listed here in 

alphabetical order by their titles. (Ignore "the" or "a" at the beginning of a title. Use the second word of the 

title to find a publication.) 

Titles of works which are suggested for further reading are marked with an asterisk (*) and followed by a 

chapter number in parentheses. Turn to the end of that chapter to find a short description of the book. 

Titles of books are given in bold face type if they are ICE publications. These books are described in The 

Whole ICE Catalogue and are available to you free of charge through Peace Corps Information Collection 

and Exchange. The ICE publication number is given in parentheses following the title. 

Action Pictures (ED 123) 

Maxine Frauman-Prickel 

Alemany Press, 1985 

The American Way 

Edward N. Kearny et al. 

Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1984 

* Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (1, 2) 

Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers 

Cambridge University Press, 1986 

Audio-Visual Communication Handbook (M 20) 

Peace Corps Information Collection and Exchange, n.d. 

Basic English for Science 

Peter Donovan 

Oxford University Press, 1978 

* A Basic English Grammar with Exercises (7) 

John Eastwood and Ronald Mackin 

Oxford University Press, 1988 

Biology 

Stanley L. Weinberg 

Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1974 

* A Communicative Grammar of English (7) 
Geoffrey Leech and Jan Svartvik 

Longman Group Ltd., 1975 

Current Perspectives on Pronunciation 

Joan Morley (Ed.) 

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, 1987 

* Developing Reading Skills (5) 

Francoise Grellet 

Cambridge University Press, 1981 

Disabled Village Children (SE 046) 

David Werner 

The Hesperian Foundation, 1987 

Discourse in Action 

John Moore et al. 

Oxford University Press, 1980 

English for Today, Book 1 

William R. Slager et al. 

McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1972 

English in the Medical Laboratory 

John Swales and Paul Fanning 

Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1980 

* ESL Grammar Handbook for Intermediate to Advanced Students of English as a Second Language (7) 

Allan Kent Dart 

Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1982 

* ESL Grammar Workbooks I and II for Intermediate Speakers and Writers of English as a Second 

Language (7) 

Allan Kent Dart 

Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1978 

ESL/Literacy for Adult Learners 

Wayne W. Haverson and Judith L. Haynes 

Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1982 

ESL Through Content-Area Instruction 

JoAnn Crandall (Ed.) 

Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1987 

ESP: Teaching English for Specific Purposes (M 31) 

Peace Corps Information Collection and Exchange, 1986 

Express Ways, Book I 

Steven J. Molinsky and Bill Bliss 

Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1988 

* Grammar Exercises, Part One (7) 

Arthur A. Burrows 

ProLingua Associates, 1984 

* The Grammar Handbook Part One (7) 

Nancy Claire 

ProLingua Associates, 1984 

* A Grammar of Contemporary English (7) 
Randolph Quirk et al. 

Longman Group Ltd., 1972 

* Grammar Work 1 - 4: English Exercises in Context (7) 

Pamela Breyer 

Regents Publishing Company, Inc., 1982 

Grolier English Study Course for Junior High School Students, Book 1 

Grolier International, Inc., 1978 

Innovative Approaches to Language Teaching 

Robert W. Blair (Ed.) 

Newbury House Publishers, Inc., 1982 

Jazz Chants 

Carolyn Graham 

Oxford University Press, 1978 

* Keep Talking (3, 4) 

Friederike Klippel 

Cambridge University Press, 1984 

* Language Experience Approach to Reading (and Writing) (5, 6) 

Carol N. Dixon and Denise Nessel 

Alemany Press, 1983 

Listening and Language Learning in ESL 

Joan Morley 

Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1984 

* The Listening Approach (4) 

J. Marvin Brown and Adrian S. Palmer 

Longman, Inc., 1988 

Longman Dictionary of American English 

Virginia French Allen et al. (Consultants) 

Adrian Stenton (Coordinating Editor) 

Longman, Inc., 1983 

* Longman English Grammar (ED 133) (7) 

L. G. Alexander 

Longman Group UK Ltd., 1988 

* Making It Happen (3) 

Patricia A. Richard-Amato 

Longman, Inc., 1988 

* Making Sense in English: Intermediate Grammar in Context (7) 

Ruth Pierson and Susan Vik 

Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1987 

Paragraph Development 

Martin L. Arnaudet and Mary Ellen Barrett 

Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1981 

Peace Corps Literacy Handbook (M 21) 

Peace Corps Information Collection and Exchange, 1984 

The Process of Composition 

Joy M. Reid 
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1988 

Recipes for Tired Teachers 

Christopher Sion (Ed.) 

Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1985 

Shifting Gears, Book 1 

Patrick Moran (Ed.) 

Department of State and Experiment in International Living, 1983 

Skillful Reading 

Amy L. Sonka 

Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1981 

Skills for Learning: Development 

Thomas Nelson and Sons and University of Malaya Press, 1980 

* Teacher Training: A Reference Manual (T 45) (8) 

The Center for international Education 

Peace Corps Information Collection and Exchange, 1986 

* Teaching English Pronunciation (3) 

Joanne Kenworthy 

Longman Group Ltd., 1987 

Teaching ESL Composition 

Jane B. Hughey et al. 

Newbury House Publishers, Inc., 1983 

Teaching Listening Comprehension 

Penny Ur 

Cambridge University Press, 1984 

Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language 

Christine Nuttall 

Heinemann Educational Books, 1982 

Teaching Vocabulary 

Michael Wallace 

Heinemann Educational Books, 1982 

Teaching Written English 

Ronald V. White 

George Allen & Unwin, 1980 

* Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (1, 2) 

Diane Larsen-Freeman 

Oxford University Press, 1986 

* Techniques in Testing (ED 108) (8) 

Harold S. Madsen 

Oxford University Press, 1983 

* Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary (ED 106) (5) 

Virginia French Allen 

Oxford University Press, 1983 

* Techniques in Teaching Writing (ED 107) (6) 

Ann Raimes 

Oxford University Press, 1983 
* What to Do Before the Books Arrive (and After) (3) 

Jean D'Arcy Maculaitis and Mona Scheraga 

Alemany Press, 1981 

Writing Workshop 

Joyce Pagurek 

Newbury House Publishers, Inc., 1984 

 Appendix B - Organizations and publications 

These organizations and publications are some of the more helpful sources of information on the teaching of 

English as a foreign or second language. 

William Royer Or contact the USIS office in your area. 

English Language Division 

United States Information Agency 

301 4th Street, SW 

Washington, DC 20547 

USIA publishes English Teaching Forum (4 times/year) 

Room 312 Distributed by ICE through country offices to all PCVs 

teaching Washington, DC 20547 

301 4th Street, SW 

English. 

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) 

1600 Cameron Street 

Suite 300 

Alexandria, VA 22314 

TESOL members receive the TESOL Quarterly (4 times/year) and the TESOL Newsletter (6 times/year) and 

they are entitled to discounts on TESOL and other publications. 

International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) 

3 Kingsdown Chambers 

Kingsdown Park 

Tankerton, Whitstable, Kent CT5 2DJ 

England 

IATEFL members receive the IATEFL Newsletter (4 times/year) and they are entitled to discounts on other 

publications. 

British Council Or contact the British Council 10 Spring Gardens office in your area. 

London SW1A 2BN 

England 

SEAMED Regional Language Centre (RELC) 

30 Orange Grove Road 

Singapore 1025 

Republic of Singapore 

RELC publishes the RELC Journal (2 times/year). 

Three more publications are: 

Language Teaching (4 times/year). 
Cambridge University Press 

The Edinburgh Building 

Shaftesbury Road 

Cambridge CB2 2RU 

England 

English Language Teaching Journal (4 times/year) 

Journals Department 

Oxford University Press 

Walton Street 

Oxford OX2 6DP 

England 

EFL Gazette (12 times/year) 

Harington's Subscription Agents 

7 Vale Grove 

London W3 7QP 

England 

 Appendix C - Acronyms 

EFL (English as a Foreign Language) and ESL (English as a Second Language) 

From the point of view of language teaching, the most important difference between these two terms lies 

in the amount and kinds of exposure to English which your students have outside the classroom. In an 

ESL situation, they will hear and see a lot of English being used around them because it is a major 

language in the community and has an official or semi-official status. Large numbers of people use 

English on a daily basis. Typical ESL countries are Nigeria and Kenya, India and Pakistan, Malaysia and 

Singapore, and the Philippines. 

In contrast, in EFL countries such as Indonesia, Nepal, or the Latin American countries, the use of 

English is much more restricted. Your students are not as likely to hear English on the radio or find 

English being used in the daily newspapers. Most of the population may go along most of the time 

without using English. 

ESP (English for Specific Purposes) 

This term refers to English-teaching situations in which the range of language which is taught is restricted 

or specialized in various ways. For example, engineering students in university courses may need 

English only for reading their textbooks. Technicians may need just enough English to use instruction 

manuals for maintaining and operating equipment. People in international business need to communicate 

and negotiate with each other. The students in ESP courses are likely to be adults rather than younger 

learners. 

TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) 

ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and ELT (English Language Teaching) 

These are general terms meant to include both EFL and ESL. 

TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) or (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other 

Languages) 

The second meaning of the term is the name of an international organization of teachers of EFL and ESL. 

See Appendix B for more information about this organization and its publications. 

FCE (First Certificate in English) and CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English) 
These are two standardized examinations administered by the University of Cambridge Local 

Examinations Syndicate. They are taken by thousands of candidates yearly in over 60 countries. The 

FCE represents a general standard of competence in English at an intermediate level. Many British 

publishers gear their textbook series to this standard. The CPE represents an advanced level of 

competence. It is recognized for matriculation by universities in Britain and in many English speaking 

countries. 

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) 

This standardized test from the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey, is administered 

every year to thousands of candidates from hundreds of language backgrounds. Many American colleges 

and universities require a TOEFL score of 500 or above for admission to undergraduate study. The 

TOEFL is part of a larger program which also includes the Test of Written English (TWE) and the Test of 

Spoken English (TSE). 

ALM (Audiolingual Method), CLL (Community Language Learning), LEA (Language Experience Approach), 

and TPR (Total Physical Response) 

These are just a few of the approaches, methods, and techniques which are used in the teaching of 

languages. See Chapter Two for an explanation of ALM, CLL, and TPR. The LEA is discussed in 

Chapters Five and Six.