Macmillan Books for Teachers

Test-teach-test

It is sometimes useful to adopt a 'test-teach-test' approach to vocabulary, especially with more advanced students. This approach is very useful when you want to revise vocabulary items or to remind students of words they may have already met before you go on to do some skills work.

1 Set a production activity for the students which is designed to find out how well they can understand and use vocabulary which is suitable for the task. It can be a creative activity - perhaps taking part in a discussion on a controversial topic such as Banning smoking in public places, or writing a letter to a friend describing a new job.

2 Monitor and evaluate the activity in order to assess whether the students are using the vocabulary accurately and appropriately. It is also important to note if the students seem to be avoiding any vocabulary that would be appropriate to fulfil the task.

3 If the students have no problem with the language you can then go on to something else. If they are having problems or avoiding it altogether then you can revise the vocabulary by focusing on the form, meaning and use.

4 Practice activities which consolidate the students' ability to use the language can follow. As when this approach is used to revise structures, the activities need not all take place on the same day.

Recycling vocabulary

Often students need a little time for the new item to 'sink in'- they may recognize it but often delay putting it into active use. For this reason it is useful to plan activities that recycle and reactivate the new vocabulary in subsequent lessons. You, or your fellow trainees, can introduce texts that contain some of the new language and organize speaking and writing tasks that require the students to use it. It is often appropriate to start off the lesson by doing a short activity which revises a lexical set presented the day before. Quick vocabulary revision games are a good way to warm up students at the beginning of a lesson.

Examples

Some ideas for five- or ten-minute activities include:

1 Put the students into groups of four or five. Ask them to recall as many words and expressions as they can from the last lesson on the topic of.....The group which can remember the most words is the winner.

2 Remind the students of the topic and ask them all to stand up, in a circle if possible. Clap out a beat and say One, two, three, followed by a word on the topic. After the next three beats the next student in the circle gives a word related to the topic, and so it continues. Anyone who can't think of a word or repeats a word already given has to sit down and it's the turn of the next person. The winner is the last to remain standing.

3 To revise occupations write the words doctor, hairdresser, truck driver, etc on cards and get the students to mime the job. The person who guesses correctly does the next mime. This can be done in front of the whole class or in smaller groups.

4 This revises occupations with higher level students. Attach a label, with an occupation written on it, to the back of each student: lawyer, politician, engineer, etc. Ask them to mingle and ask each other questions until they guess the word on their back: for example, Do I work with people? Do I wear a uniform? Is it a well-paid job? Would you like to do this job? etc. (It also, of course, revises the present simple.)

5 This game to revise the vocabulary of appearance and/or clothing is fun (but can be a bit wild!). Seat the students in circle. Start by saying All those (wearing jeans/with fair hair/who wear glasses, etc) change places. After a few-goes, give a command and then take one of the chairs away, leaving a student standing in the middle of the circle. This student must then give the next command and find a seat when the others change places. The student who cannot find a seat gives the next command.

Conveying meaning and checking understanding

As with the presentation of a structure, there are a number of ways of conveying the meaning of vocabulary and checking the students' understanding. Asking Do you understand? is not always helpful even if they say Yes because students may think they understand when they don't! Or they may be trying to please the teacher, or prevent the teacher from doing more work. So it is important to check the understanding of vocabulary which you think may be new to the students.

Realia and visuals

For concrete items it is usually much quicker to show the item than explain the meaning. Especially at low levels a quick board drawing is an efficient way of getting the meaning across. When you plan to introduce a vocabulary set take time to prepare some visuals rather than relying on wordy explanation and discussion. Visuals in themselves make the lesson more interesting and lively and can be put on the wall, with labels, as a constant reminder of the vocabulary. In addition to illustrating meaning, visuals can be used to check understanding: for example, students can be asked to match the picture to the word or phrase.

Mime and gesture

Mime is particularly useful to illustrate actions such as brushing teeth, riding a bike, painting a wall, etc. Some teachers seem to be particularly gifted in this area but practice makes perfect. Mime may seem frivolous at times but it is efficient and memorable.

Action by the students can tell you whether they understand. You can ask them to point (to one of the pictures on the board), to touch or hold up something, to make a face or gesture (to indicate yes or no, perhaps). This approach is particularly successful to check the understanding of actions and of concrete objects, with children and lower level students.

Give examples

Often the meaning of more abstract or 'umbrella' terms can be conveyed by giving examples of their attributes or of what they do and do not 'contain': for example, to illustrate the word clothing you can list shirt, jeans, jacket, etc and you can ask questions to check that the students have understood the meaning (see also 'Concept' questions on p 150): /5 a skirl a piece of clothing? (Yes.) And a bag? (No.) etc.

Explanation or definition

Giving an explanation, definition or paraphrase is often the least successful way of conveying the meaning of a vocabulary item, especially at low levels where the words you need to explain or define may also be unknown. Also students may know the meaning of a word but be unable to explain it. So it can be very frustrating for them if you try to check their understanding by asking them to explain vocabulary.

If you know there are words you are going to explain, try to make sure you give the 'whole picture¹: when the word(s) can be used appropriately, in which contexts, how they collocate, etc. Giving partial information can be misleading rather than helpful. For example, if you tell students that, in Britain, white means with milk without telling them that it is only used to describe coffee, they may think you can also say white tea.

It is often better to get students to use a good learners' dictionary in order to find a definition of an unknown word, rather than always giving a definition yourself. Training in using such dictionaries will help the students find out about vocabulary independently of the teacher. (See below and also Chapter 5 Section 6: Learner development and study skills.)

Translation

It is much easier to use translation in a monolingual group, but even in multilingual groups it is worth spending some time helping students to make the most of their translation dictionaries.

Concept questions

Concept questions are particularly useful to check the understanding of vocabulary items. (See also the use of concept questions with structures on pp 139-40.) If your aim is to check understanding of a vocabulary item such as the noun building, the questions would have to determine what the word doesn't signify as much as what it does signify. In other words, you are checking and clarifying the limits of the meaning of the item. For example, here are some questions you could ask, though you probably won't want to ask all of them:

What are buildings used for? (Homes, hospitals ...)

Is a school a building? (Yes, usually)

A tent? (No)

Are they usually there for a long or short time? (Long)

Do birds make buildings? (No)

What are buildings made of? (Stone, brick, wood ...)

Can you give me some more examples of buildings?

You eliminate those things that could be confused with a building and leave the students with a clear impression of what a building actually is - something permanent made of bricks, concrete, wood, etc with walls, in which people live or work.

Developing students' skills and strategies

It is important that students should be encouraged to take responsibility for their own acquisition and learning of vocabulary and it is usually easier for them to be independent in their learning of vocabulary than in their learning of grammar or pronunciation.

Ways the teacher can foster this independence both in and out of the classroom include:

1 Encouraging strategies for dealing with unfamiliar vocabulary in texts

An important aspect of the skills of listening and reading is to be able to deal with unfamiliar vocabulary. This becomes increasingly important as students become more proficient in the language and 'acquire⁷ a lot of new vocabulary from authentic texts.

There are a number of ways in which teachers can help students to develop the necessary strategies. Students need practice in deciding which words are crucial to the overall understanding of the text and which they can ignore. For example, you can provide a reading text which contains a number of words which will almost certainly be unknown to most of the students and ask them to choose three or four words which they most want to know the meaning of. They can do this individually and then compare their lists in pairs or groups. The process of selection and deciding on a priority will force the students to examine which words they need to understand. You can then illustrate the meaning and check the students' understanding using one or more of the ways discussed above in Conveying meaning and checking undemanding.

Students also need help and practice in deducing the meaning of words: by comparing words with those in their own language; by looking at the parts of the unknown word and comparing it with English words which contain the same root or affix (for example, guessing the word unelectable from their knowledge of the root elect, the prefix un- and the suffix -able); by guessing the word from the context provided by the sentence and/or the whole passage. These strategies can be discussed and a number of vocabulary items picked out of the text which lend themselves to these processes of deduction.

2. Developing reference skills

If they meet words or expressions which they cannot deduce from the word itself or from the context (if they are 'unguessable')- or if they want to check that their guesses were correct, students need to be able to use dictionaries quickly and effectively. Activities which improve the students' reference skills can be very helpful in improving their ability to deal with new vocabulary. There arc a number of workbooks designed to be used with learners' dictionaries which contain such activities.

3 Encouraging the use of vocabulary records

You can demonstrate and discuss ways in which students can keep their own vocabulary records. For example:

* putting the words in groups according to topic - one page per topic;

* putting the new words in sentences;

* writing a dictionary definition or a translation next to the new word;

* using colour, symbols and pictures to distinguish categories of words;

* putting the words and expressions on one topic in a 'spidergram' to which new words can be added:

\

4 Demonstrating and discussing ways of memorizing vocabulary

You can teach the students mnemonics such as the rhyme to help spelling - 'i before e except after c'. You can explain the system of visually linking the word to be learned to a bizarre and memorable image - for example, an English speaker might remember the Spanish word col, meaning cabbage, by visualizing a huge cabbage, with a rucksack on its back, going over the col of a mountain.

You can encourage the students to find ways of 'learning' vocabulary. For example:

* recording words and expressions on tape and listening to them on a personal stereo or in the car;

* keeping a small box containing cards with the English word on one side of a piece of card and the translation on the other (the learner can test him- or herself and when the word is memorized the card is taken out of the box);

* sticking up words around a mirror or on the wall above the desk in the student's own room.

5 Giving choice

Different students often choose to note and remember different vocabulary items, depending on their interests and needs, and when you revise vocabulary you will probably find quite a variation in what individual students have remembered. You can foster student independence and responsibility, even at low levels, by sometimes giving students a choice as to how many or which items they note down and learn. They are much more likely to be motivated to remember words which they have selected and which they are interested in.

6 Helping learners devise their own revision plan for reviewing and learning vocabulary

This is particularly useful if they are using a coursebook which contains lists of words to learn. You can help the students by notifying them in advance of any tests you plan to give.

Task

Aim

To devise a vocabulary revision game.

Procedure

1 Think of a topic that the class you are teaching during TP is familiar with.

2 Write down about ten words or expressions that they have met which are related to that topic.

3 Devise a game or short activity that will revise that vocabulary.

4 Play the game with the class.

Comment

You may like to do this activity with a colleague and try it out with fellow trainees before doing it with the students.

3. Pronunciation

Work on pronunciation is important for two main reasons: to help the students understand the spoken English they hear, and to help them make their own speech more comprehensible and meaningful to others.

What elements go to make up pronunciation?

The various elements that go to make up pronunciation can be looked at under the following headings, although it is not necessary to teach the elements in this order.

Individual sounds

Each language has its own set of sounds or phonemes. There are 44 English phonemes. Sounds differ depending on how they are formed in the mouth, throat and nose and whether they are 'voiced' (when the vocal chords are used - as when you hum) or 'voiceless' (when the vocal chords are not used - as when you whisper). All vowels are voiced but some consonants are voiced and some are voiceless. The most common sound in English is /э/- the 'schwa' or'weak' sound. A table or list of phonetic symbols and the sounds they represent can be found in most learner dictionaries. Phonetic conventions vary slightly; the most commonly used system is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

Word stress

In words of two or more syllables, one syllable is normally stressed more than the other(s). This is the primary stress. For example, in the word pronunciation the stress is on the a, the fourth syllable. Often, sounds that are not stressed are pronounced with the /э/ sound: the first о and the to in pronunciation n/, for example.

Sounds in connected speech

In spoken sentences or utterances certain changes take place to some of the sounds as words are said at normal speed and linked together to make connected speech:

* The 'weak⁷ forms of words are used: was becomes /wэz/ not /waz/; oа becomes /эv/not/av/.

* Some sounds are often not pronounced, for example the or in comfortable, the d in handkerchief, the t at the end of first in first thing, etc. This is known as elision. When the missing letters are replaced by apostrophes they are known as contractions: for example, I am becomes I'm, could have becomes could've, etc.

* In order to make linking of words easier we sometimes insert a sound that is not present in the spelling. For example, a banana /r/ and two /w/ apples and three /j/ oranges. These are called intrusive sounds: /r/, /w/, /j/.

* Sometimes when words are linked one sound is changed into another sound. For example, good morning becomes gubmorning, and Great Britain sounds like Grapebritain! This process is known as assimilation.

Rhythm and stress in utterances

English is generally considered to be a stress-timed language: some words-usually the 'content' words or those that carry information (for example, nouns and main verbs) - are stressed and others are not. For example: Throw the ball to Ben. However, sometimes the speaker can choose to stress 'non-content' words as in this utterance: Throw it to him, not ql him.

It is often said that in English we try to keep a fairly steady rhythm - spending about the same time to get from one stressed syllable to the next each time. To do this the unstressed syllables are 'squashed up' through devices such as contractions and weak sounds (see Sounds in connected speech on pi 53).

Intonation

Intonation is a pattern of rise and fall in the level (the pitch) of the voice, which often adds meaning to what is being said: for example, when we want to show interest or surprise in something, the pitch of our voice often rises.

Change of pitch takes place in the most strongly stressed word - on the 'tonic' syllable. The word containing the tonic syllable is often at the end of an utterance, but the speaker can shift the stress to affect the meaning of the utterance. (See the examples in Indicating intonation: By making marks on the board on p 160.)

Together with change of pitch, the quality or tone of voice we use when we speak conveys meaning. Even if we don't understand the words of a language, we can usually tell if someone is speaking angrily, tenderly, sadly, etc.

How do you know what aspects of pronunciation to focus on?

There are some aspects of pronunciation which need to be focused on with all groups: for example, stress in new words; contractions and weak forms; the intonation used for a particular function (a request for a stranger to pass the salt will have a different intonation pattern from a request for the children to stop arguing).

One advantage of a monolingual group is that it is easy to pick out the English sounds which are difficult for all the students in the class. A focus on sounds is more problematical in a multilingual class as students with different mother tongues have different problems. However, there are certain English sounds which many students from a number of different language backgrounds have difficulty with: /8,6, i, эо, э/.

If certain sounds are only a problem for some of your students you shouldn't spend long focusing on them with the whole class. Try to pick up any problems and give quick individual correction and practice where necessary, within the lesson, without spending too long on any one student. At times it may be possible to set individual tasks based on specific problems with sounds. Nearly all students will benefit from work done on stress and intonation.

When should you focus on pronunciation?

Wherever possible pronunciation work should be integrated into lessons in which the main focus is the presentation or practice of a grammar point, a function or a set of vocabulary items. Lessons practising the skills of listening and speaking are also excellent vehicles for pronunciation work. Authentic listening texts provide opportunities to acquire pronunciation patterns naturally; you can also use them to point out the techniques that native speakers use to be effective communicators: use of stress, linking and intonation in particular. These techniques can then be practised and evaluated during speaking activities. Also, it is sometimes useful to devote a slot or even a whole lesson to pronunciation work.

Opportunities should be seized for individual correction of pronunciation whenever it is possible to do this without seriously holding up the progress of the lesson. Don't forget, also, to give feedback on the good pronunciation of your students. (See Chapter 7: Giving feedback to students.)

Raising awareness

The first step is to help the students recognize the importance of pronunciation. It may be useful to do some awareness-raising activities with a group in which, depending on their level and degree of self-awareness, some of the following can be discussed:

How good do you think your pronunciation needs to be- like a native speaker, good enough to be understood by others, etc?

What are the different aspects thai affect your pronunciation of English?

Do you know which aspects of your pronunciation you need to work on?

Which English sounds do people who speak your first language usually have problems with?

Are there any aspects of stress and intonation which you find difficult} etc.

Focusing on how things are said

When the focus is on pronunciation it is usual to give the students the opportunity of hearing the language pronounced correctly, perhaps to have certain aspects of the pronunciation pointed out to them, and then have a chance to practise the word or utterance themselves.

Often, especially if the classes are taking place in a non-English-speaking country, an important model for pronunciation is the teacher. Obviously, clear modelling is important and is especially important in any lesson in which new language is introduced. (See Section 1: Structures: grammar and functions and Section 2: Vocabulary.) This is usually done directly by the teacher or with the aid of a recording, although sometimes the model can be provided by one of the students.

It is important to try to use natural speech in the classroom: you can grade your language so that you use simpler language at lower levels and you can speak a little more slowly, but you should avoid giving an unnaturally slow and deliberate pronunciation model. This is easier said than done, but gets easier with practice. So use contractions and weak forms except when analysing the language (see below) and even then make sure the students hear and practise the correct pronunciation immediately afterwards.

When providing a model, it is sometimes useful to contrast certain features of sounds, stress and intonation. A pair of words which differ by only one sound is known as a minimal pair, for example, pin and bin or hat and heart. A student can more readily perceive that a sound is voiced (the /b/ in bin) by placing it alongside a sound that is voiceless (the /p/ in pin). Attention can be drawn to stress on a particular syllable by saying it correctly and then repeating the word with the stress on a different syllable. A rising question tag becomes easier to recognize when it is heard immediately before or after a falling one. So, You haven't seen the film yet, have you? (with falling intonation because the speaker is expecting confirmation of the statement, not asking a question) can be compared to You haven 4 seen my glasses, have you? - with rising intonation because it is a genuine question. This can be taken a step further and students can be asked to identify which of a pair of words has a particular sound in it, which utterance has the rising intonation, which question starts with a stressed word, and so on.

How can you indicate individual sounds?

Mouthing the word

This involves exaggerated movements of the lips, teeth and tongue so that the students can see clearly what is happening. It can only really be applied to the consonants produced at the front of the mouth, /p, b, f, v, w, m, 8/, but it is very useful to show vowels-where the shape of the lips is important. Silently mouthing before saying a vowel sound focuses attention on how it is formed.

Using gesture

If you ask students to say some sounds with their hands on their throats or over their ears they will notice the difference between those that are voiced and those that are voiceless. For example, you can contrast /sssszzzzzssss/ as a continuous sound, switching the voicing on and off. Once students have learned about voicing then you can indicate that feature of the sound by making a gesture to remind them of it: for example, you might place your hand on your throat to indicate that the sound is voiced.

Emphasizing the syllable containing the sound

This has the advantage of bringing it clearly to the students' attention but the disadvantage of possibly distorting the stress pattern of the word, as well as possibly changing the production of the sound as it would occur in connected speech. This is a particular disadvantage in the case of sounds in unstressed syllables (the schwa /э/ is often heard as the weak form of another sound).

It is best, then, to follow the simple rule that if you stress sound unnaturally for any reason, it should immediately be repeated normally. In this way the final thing which stays in the students' mind is the sound produced as it would be in the context from which it has been taken.

Finger indication

A word can be broken down into sounds and each segment associated with one of your fingers. You can then point to the appropriate finger and say the sound:

The sound can be isolated by going through the word slowly, finger by finger, then going back to the finger representing the important sound and getting the students to pronounce it in isolation. At the end you should always put the sound back in its context in the word by either giving a sweeping gesture across all the fingers or closing the fingers and giving a clear, normal model.

Visuals

A diagram of the mouth can be put on the board or displayed on the wall and used whenever a problem occurs with a particular sound.

Pictures representing problem sounds: for example, a picture of a man called Jim to represent /i/ can be put next to one of a woman called Jean /i:/, and the students asked Is that a Jim sound or a Jean sound? Pictures representing other words containing that sound can be added below when they occur: for example, fish, lips, swim under Jim and meat, knee, ski under Jean. This is obviously more useful in classes where pronunciation problems are common to the group. This activity is also useful in pointing out the fact that the same sound can be spelled in different ways.

A chart can act as a useful reminder (if sounds and their spellings. As new words are presented to the class students can suggest which column they should be added to and write them in;

feet/i:/
ее	ea	ie	ey	e
bee	meat	thief	key	she

Hands

For consonant sounds such as /р/ one hand can represent the top teeth and the other hand the tip of the tongue to show the light contact the tongue has with the teeth.

Phonetic or phonemic symbols

Students and teachers alike are often put off by the apparent difficulty of a phonetic, or more correctly, a phonemic transcription. It is worth remembering that the symbols were developed as a kind of short cut, a way of representing sounds without having to give an explanation each time. They are also in common use in dictionaries and in coursebooks. Even if you don't feel you have time in TP to teach all the symbols to a class of students who don't already know them, it is useful to have a chart on the wall for reference and to be able to introduce and refer to the symbols for common or difficult sounds: for example, /Э, 5, эи, i, 3/.

From Sound Foundations by Adrian Underhill (Heinemann 1994)

Indicating stress in a word

You can indicate word stress to students in a number of ways:

1 'Where's the stress?'

It is important that students realize that words consist of one or more syllables before you work on word stress in the classroom. You can demonstrate the number of syllables by clapping out the word - students generally get the idea very quickly You can then say, for example: In 'hotel', where's the stress -first or second syllable? You can also point out where parts of words are not pronounced: for example, the word vegetable has three, not four, syllables as the second e is not pronounced.

2 By overstressing

This technique makes stress in words more easily perceived and experience suggests that there is little danger of them repeating the exaggeration outside the classroom. There is also little danger of distortion, unlike when a particular sound is stressed.

3 By gesture

This is done by any of the following ways:

* moving the hand, like a conductor, on the stressed syllable;

* clapping the word - with a louder clap on the stressed syllable;

* clicking the fingers on the stressed syllable;

* tapping the desk.

4 By using Cuisenaire rods

Each syllable in the word can be represented by a rod. A taller one is used for the stressed syllable.

5 By making marks on the board

There are a number of possible ways. For example, take the word hotel, where the stress is on the second syllable:

a Capitalization: hoTEL

This could be confusing for students having difficulty with the Roman script.

b Underlining: hotel

This is simple. However, you may want to save underlining for showing stress

within a sentence or utterance.

с Stress marks: ho'tel

These are used by most dictionaries for word stress, with marks at the top

indicating primary stress and those at the bottom indicating secondary stress.

However, these can easily be confused with apostrophes-and speech marks in sentences.

¦ d Boxes: hotel

This is useful because the pattern can be shown without the word, like this:

Be careful to place the box above the vowel in the syllable, as this is where the stress takes place.

Whichever you choose, your system should be clear and immediately understandable to students. It is advisable to keep it consistent within any one teaching institution to reduce the possibility of confusion.

Indicating rhythm and stress in sentences/utterances

Some of the same techniques for indicating stress in words can be used to indicate rhythm and stress in utterances: overstressing, gesture (this is particularly useful to indicate the rhythm), Cuisenaire rods (a rod for each word) and marking on the board.

When marking on the board it might be useful to indicate stress in the utterance differently from stress in the word - although the two overlap. For example:

1 By exaggeration

When you exaggerate the main features (for example, a falling tone in some wh- questions) the pattern is more easily recognized and more memorable for students. It also encourages them to widen their own range. When they try to imitate it, however, it is important that they don't make it too silly or they won't think of transferring it to their normal speech behaviour.

In long utterances it is useful to use a technique called backchaining to maintain the intonation pattern and at the same time practise a long sentence in manageable chunks. For example, in the utterance If I'd caught the bus I wouldn't \ have been so late - you can say the whole sentence then get the students to repeat after you in sections, beginning at the end of the sentence: 50 late (students repeat), / wouldn't've been so late (students repeat), caught the bus I wouldn't've been so late (students repeat), If I'd caught the bus I wouldn't've been so late (students repeat).

2 By gesture

It is possible to 'draw' an approximation of the whole intonation pattern in the air with your hand, but this is usually unnecessarily complicated. It is far easier, and perhaps more useful, to give a clear sweep of the hand either up or down in order to indicate the general direction the voice should take on a particular syllable. Hands can also be used to show whether the voice starts on a high or low pitch.

3 By making marks on the board

Again, there are a number of possible ways. For example, take the sentence It's a lovely day, isn 't it? with a fall on each part.

Curved writing

This is difficult to do neatly, but what it means is clear. However, it can interfere with students' writing development.

Arrows

This is clear and simple and can be used by students. If it is tied in with sentence stress it emphasizes the fact that pitch change takes place on the tonic (or most stressed) syllable:

This is particularly useful when you want to indicate that sentences have different meanings, depending on where the tonic syllable is. For example:

Again, select one system according to the sophistication, the level and the needs of your students, and stick to it.

Task1

Aim

To think of some minimal pair words which can be used to contrast two sounds.

Procedure

1Write down three minimal pairs for each the following:

/ P / / b /

/v/ /w/

/l/ / r /

/ i / / i: /

/o/ /o:/

For example: /b/ /v/ boat/vote; beer/veer; bet/vet; lubber/lover;

hobble/hovel.

2 Compare your minimal pairs with those of another trainee.

Comment

Could your minimal pairs be used with students at a low level? Would they know the words? Is it useful to use words which the students don't understand?

Task 2

Aim

To practise marking the stress on words on the board.

Procedure

1 Choose one of the methods for marking word stress described on pl59.

2 Write these words on the board and mark the stress: photograph, photographer, photographic music, musician, musical politics, politician, political

Comment

1 What do you notice about the position of the stress in these words which have the same root?

2 How many 'weak' sounds are there in each of the words?

Task3

Aim

Procedure

1 Decide how you might say these utterances (it's possible to say them in more than one way):

What's the time? They're always late. Is Alice coming?

2 Mark the stressed syllables.

3 In each utterance, decide which syllable is the tonic {most stressed) syllable and mark whether your voice goes up or down on this syllable.

4 Practise saying the utterance and getting your colleagues to repeat it after you.

Comment

Did you manage to be consistent in the way you said the utterances each time?

Further reading

Ur, P. and Wright, A. 1992 Five-Minute Activities (CUP)

Grammar

Aitken, R. 1992 Teaching Tenses (Nelson)

Frank, C. and Rinvolucri, M. 1991 Grammar in Action Again (Prentice Hall

International)

Harmer,J. 1987 Teaching and Learning Grammar (Longman) Morgan, J. and Rinvolucri, M. 1988 The Q Book (Longman) Rinvolucri, M. 1984 Grammar Games (CUP)

Vocabulary

Gairns,R. and Redman, S. 1986 Working with Words (CUP) Howard-Williams, D. and Herd, C.

1986 Word Games with English (Heinemann) Morgan, J. and Rinvolucri, M. 1988 Vocabulary and Language Teaching

(Longman) Taylor, L. 1990 Teaching and Learning Vocabulary (Prentice Hall International)

Pronunciation

Bowen, T. and Marks, J. 1992 The Pronunciation Book (Longman) Kenworthy, J- 1987 Teaching English Pronunciation (Longman) Tench, P. 1991 Pronunciation Skills (Prentice Hall/Macmillan) Underbill;, A. 1994 Sound Foundations (Heinemann) Underbill, A. 1994 Sound Foundations Chart and Guide (Heinemann)

Chapter 7. Giving feedback to students

Giving feedback is one of the most important responsibilities of a teacher. By providing ongoing feedback you can help your students evaluate their success and progress. Feedback can take a number of forms: giving praise and encouragement; correcting; setting regular tests; having discussions about how the group as a whole is doing; giving individual tutorials; etc. Some of these types of feedback are easier to incorporate into the TP situation than others.

The type and extent of feedback and its timing depends on a variety of factors:

* individual students. Different students respond to different types of feedback. Unconfident students may need more coaxing and encouragement, whereas students who are more self-confident and perhaps have an external exam to pass usually appreciate more direct correction from the teacher - advanced students usually feel they don't get enough correction;

* the culture you are teaching in and the expected roles of the teacher;

* the stage of the lesson and the type of activity. For example, structured or controlled activities require a different type of feedback from guided or freer activities. Written activities require a different type of feedback from oral activities;

* the stage in the course.

In this chapter we look at the role of feedback (including correction) in TP, and practical correction techniques are described. We also examine ways of evaluating and testing student performance and progress.

1. Giving positive feedback

The aim of feedback is to bring about self-awareness and improvement. Everyone thrives on genuine praise and encouragement. When giving feedback on oral or written work, always be on the lookout for positive points to comment upon. For example:

* successful communication - where students have expressed themselves clearly (and been understood by others);

* accurate use of grammar points recently learned;

* use of new vocabulary, appropriate expressions;

* good pronunciation - expressive intonation;

* language in the appropriate style - good use of colloquial expressions in conversation;

* good use of fluency strategies in conversation;

* handwriting, spelling and punctuation in written work.

Try to find areas of improvement in individual students' work and also comment on progress made by the class as a whole - work successfully completed and achievements made.

The ways you give positive feedback can include the informal Well done; praising individual achievement privately or in front of the class; 'publishing' good work by displaying it, including it in a class magazine or using it as a model; operating a more formal grading system as part of a system of keeping track of student progress. You may even consider giving merit marks or small rewards or prizes for good work - though this is more appropriate with a group of children.

2. Correction techniques

How do you decide whether the student has made an error or made a mistake?

In teaching EFL it is common practice to distinguish between mistakes and errors. A mistake can be thought of as a slip of the tongue or the pen. The student is able to correct it himself or herself, either completely unprompted or with the guidance of the teacher or other students. Native speakers make mistakes all the time, even though the correct form is usually known.

An error is much more deeply ingrained. The student might:

* believe what he or she is saying or writing is correct;

* not know what the correct form should be;

* know what the correct form should be, but not be able to get it right.

Errors are usually produced regularly and systematically, so be on the lookout for frequent errors. Asking the student to try again is often the best way of helping you decide whether the incorrect form is an error or a mistake.

Error correction is usually thought of as relating to the form of the language but obviously students can say something incorrectly if they choose an inappropriate thing to say on a particular occasion, or because they have misunderstood the meaning of something when they listen to or read a text. Generally, you should consider an error that shows the student doesn't understand the meaning of the language as more serious than one where the student is not able to produce the correct form.

Are errors always bad?

Obviously both you and the students would rather they didn't commit errors. However, there are positive aspects to be considered:

* At least the students are trying - this is preferable to being so unsure of themselves that they don't want to take part at all.

* By making errors learners are testing out their ideas about the language - they are experimenting. Making errors is part of the learning process: by receiving appropriate feedback students gradually get to know the difference between correct and incorrect language.

* By noting the errors that the students make you can see what needs focusing on in future lessons. Errors that reveal misapprehensions about meaning can help you assess the students¹ understanding. The extent to which students make errors in 'freer' practice activities can tell us how much new language has been absorbed and how much more practice is needed.

How can you anticipate and avoid errors?

Obviously students are less likely to make errors of meaning if the language has been presented well - with adequate highlighting, clarifying and checking of understanding. And they are less likely to make mistakes with the form if they have been given sufficient controlled practice in saying and writing the language.

One way of helping yourself cope with errors that occur in the classroom is to try to anticipate any that might come up. If you know what might come up you are likely to be more alert to the errors that do come up.

Familiarize yourself with all aspects of an item of language you are focusing on. For example, likely pronunciation problems can often be worked out by writing out the item in phonemic script in your lesson plan beforehand: so should have when spoken might be transcribed /JOdsv/, revealing a contraction, a weak vowel for have and an absent /h/! The more you know about the language you are teaching the less likely you are to mislead students and cause 4eacher-induced' errors.

Familiarize yourself, too, with the typical grammatical, lexical and pronunciation problems associated with the nationality of the students in your group. This is obviously easier in monolingual classes than multilingual classes. If you have a chance to observe the group you teach, spend time noting the errors made by the different students. See Learner English, Swan and Smith (eds.) (CUP 1987).

How do you correct?

The ability to correct - sensitively, efficiently and effectively - is a skill that takes time to perfect. You should aim to maintain a co-operative working atmosphere. Don't let students think they are being picked on - correction can seem threatening if done badly. Try not to 'echo' the errors, even in a mocking, astonished way. Some teachers find this an easy way of indicating an error, but although the humour can be beneficial it tends to reinforce the teacher's superior relationship and inhibit the students' ability to work things out for themselves. The basic principle is that students learn more effectively if they are guided in such away that they eventually correct themselves rather than if they are given the correct version of something straight away. The struggle to get it right also helps them understand why they were wrong.

The main stages in the process are as follows:

1 The student must know something is not accurate

But first let him or her finish the utterance. Students find it disconcerting to be interrupted mid-stream. Make a gesture, like a wave of the finger, or give some not-too-discouraging word like nearly. Black looks or shouts of No! will only serve to reduce the students' desire to try out the language. (See Chapter 2 Section 1: Use of eye contact, gesture and the voice.)

2. The student must know where the error is

So you need to isolate for the student the part of the utterance that is wrong. If the student says My wife come yesterday but meant My wife came yesterday, then telling him to try again might be of no use. He has put the word yesterday in to indicate past time so he may think he has made a correct utterance. What he needs to know is that the word come is incorrect. There are a number of things you can say: the second word; not 'come'but....? You can use your fingers, Cuisenaire rods (seep70), or even a row of students to represent each word. When you get to the word that is wrong, indicate that that is where the problem is and see if he or she can get it right.

3 The student must know what kind of error it is

The student will need to know whether the problem is (as above) grammatical, syntactical (for example, a missing word), or phonological (for example, a wrongly stressed word).

You can say, for example, Verb? Tense? Word stress? Wrong word. You can also use appropriate gestures. Common gestures used to indicate the type of error can be found on pi2 and pi56. Finger correction is particularly useful and can be used to indicate a an unnecessary word, b a missing word, or с contraction (see diagrams a, b, с below).



You can no doubt think of other useful gestures. However, it is important that the students understand them and that you use the same gestures each time to represent the same thing. If you share a group of students you may want to get together with the other trainees and agree on a repertoire of gestures to use.

You can also use the board. So if a student says She buy some apples, you can write the word buy on the board, cross it out and/or write up the word past and elicit the correct form.

Who corrects?

Self-correction

Always give the students the chance to correct themselves. If they are going to become more accurate they must learn to monitor themselves. They may have just made a slip and will welcome the opportunity to put it right. Sometimes they need some assistance from you in knowing where the mistake is and what kind of mistake it is, before they can self-correct. (See above.)

Student-student correction

If the student still can't get it right, it's probably because she doesn't know how to, So with a gesture, hold her attention and get another student to help out. This has the advantage of:

* involving all the students in the correction process;

* making the learning more co-operative generally;

* reducing student dependence on the teacher;

* increasing the amount the students listen to each other;

* giving the better students something to do.

Student-student correction must be done carefully. Not Oh, no! Wrong again, Juan. GoonSami, tell him. but Not quite, Juan. Do you know, Sami? Even better, do the whole thing by gesture. Indicate not quite with your face or hands and gesture to another student to help. Try to choose a student who looks eager to help and don't always resort to the class know-all! Always return to the first student and let him or her say the correct version.

Teacher correction

If neither self-correction nor student-student correction is effective you must assume that either the student hasn't understood what you're getting at or doesn't know what the correct version should be. If it's an important point and the others don't know it either, you may have to stop and teach it to the whole class. If not, and the meaning of the item is clear, your simply saying it and getting the students to say it should be enough.

No matter how you have done the correction, get the student who made the error to say the correct version, if possible in its original context. This is a vital part of any correction process. You can do this by gesture or saying something like OK, again. The whole thing.

How much do you correct?

Errors are usually made only by individual students, so correction often has to be on an individual basis too. Even more problematically, in multilingual classes, the types of error can vary according to the students' different mother tongues. The problem for you is how to spend enough time on any one error with any one student without slowing down the pace of the lesson and boring the other students.

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