Tai lieu ve FCE

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE TEACHING
Le Van Canh
Hanoi National University
LEARNING
Think about your experience of learning English. How did you learn? What effect did your English language teachers and the way they taught have on you? Have your experiences as a language learner affected the way you teach your students? If so, in what way?
Factors which affect language learning
What factors, in your experience, affect effective language learning?
Which is more important: learning or teaching?
A good lesson is not assessed in terms of how teacher taught but whether the students learned.
Understand your students
Decide on the suitability of an approach or method
Teach the students, not finish the textbook
Factors which affect language learning
Innate ability
Aptitude
Motivation
Age
Proximity of L1 to English
Opportunity to use English
Learning strategies
Learner type
Relationship to teaching
Relationship to teacher
Factors which affect language learning
Relationship with other learners
Embarrassment and anxiety
Self-confidence
Attitudes towards language learning
Status and value of English in the society
Language learning beliefs
TEACHING
Discuss in groups what an effective language teacher does?
An effective teacher: …..
understand learners’ language needs and respond to them positively;
designs lessons which reflect the learners’ needs and develop their communicative skills;
monitors and corrects sensitively;
provides feedback and encouragement when appropriate;
tells learners not to worry about making mistakes – this is part of the learning process
An effective teacher: ….. (contd.)
encourages good learning habits inside and outside the classroom;
keep track of progress, gaps in learners’ ability, and repeated errors
creates an ‘input-rich environment’ in the classroom.
To become an effective teacher
Becoming a more effective teacher is partly a matter of increasing your awareness of what teaching options are available. It is also about the skilful selection of the most appropriate option at each point and efficiently, effectively turning these into actions. Reading methodology books, talking to other teachers, observing other teachers at work, getting feedback from observers of your lesson – these are all ways of increasing your range of options and your skills at deciding and acting on decisions appropriately,
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
The goal is to learn to communicate in the target language.
There is an emphasis on meaning and using the language rather than on the structure and form of the language.
Oral and written activities may be used from the start, e.g., role plays, dialogues, games, and problem-solving.
Teachers helps learners to communicate in English and motivates them to work with the language.
Learners often interact with each other through pair or group work.
The four skills are developed simultaneously.
Problems with CLT
Pair work and group work can create problems
There may be too much emphasis on speaking and listening.
It is misleading to divide the language into vocabulary, grammar, functions, and the four skills.
Learners do not necessarily learn what they are taught.
Discuss
Work in groups. Look at these typical CLT-related problems. Think of possible solutions that you could use with your learners.

Learners are shy about working in pairs or groups.
The class is very large and the seats and desks cannot be moved.
The class has to prepare for written, not spoken, exams.
Learners often ask for new vocabulary in English which you are unprepared for.
How to vary your teaching?
Remember that what works one day with one class does not necessarily work with a different class or even on a different day with the same class.
Teach the same thing differently
What are the functions of teacher talk?
T: Good morning everybody, please sit down.
C: Good morning.
T: Now, S1, did you watch the game last night?
S1: Yes, I seed it on TV.
T: You did what?
S1: I seed the game on TV.
T: Seed? Is that right? … Remember, it’s irregular … We say watch, watched, but we don’t say see, seed. What do we say…?
S2: saw
T: That’s right, saw. So what did you do S1?
S1: I saw it on TV.
T: Good. Everybody say that please.
C: I saw it on TV.
T: What about you, S3? Did you see it on TV or not?
How to create interesting communicative tasks?
My birthday is on …………..
My favourite month of the year is ………..
The nicest time of the year for a holiday is ……because ……..
The three most important dates every year for me are: ……, ……., and ….. because ….

How to create interesting communicative tasks?
How to create interesting communicative tasks?
Long ago, I used to ….
I have often ….
I have never ….
Three years ago, I … (+simple past)
These days, I often …
Next month, I hope ….
What’s the purpose of the Listen and Read Section?
To get the students to practice pronunciation.
To introduce new structures in context
Focus on the pronunciation of few difficult words and the intonation of some sentences
READING COMPREHENSION
What makes a reading text difficult to the students and how to deal with those difficulties?
Is it necessary to understand every word to understand the whole text?
How to integrate reading with other language skills?
The purpose of reading comprehension
Helps students to develop their reading skills
Helps students to understand the main idea of the text
Helps the students to identify specific ideas (details)
Helps students to use their background knowledge to understand the information in the text
Helps students to develop their grammar and vocabulary
Intensive reading vs. extensive reading
Intensive reading means students are expected to understand everything they read and to be able to answer detailed vocabulary and comprehension questions.
Extensive reading means students have a general understanding of the text without necessarily understanding every word
WORKING WITH TEXTS
Use pre-reading activities to focus students’ attention
Vary the method of reading
Use short questions
Focus on some grammatical structure at the post-reading stage.
Integrate other skills at the post-reading stage
READING: Unit 11, Grade 8
Introduction: You’re going to read a tourist brochure about some places of interest in Vietnam, the places that tourists like to visit
Pre-reading activities

Introduction
Pre-questions
Vocabulary
Pre-Questions
Have you ever been to Nha Trang? Where is it?
Have you ever been to Da Lat? Where is it?
Have you ever been to Sa Pa? Where is it?
Have you ever been to Ha Long Bay? Where is it?
Is Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa or Ho Chi Minh City?
Is Da Lat in Binh Dinh or Lam Dong?
If you can, which place would you like to visit: Nha Trang, Da Lat, Sa pa or Ha Long Bay?
Pre-teach vocabulary
Oceanic Institute
Giant Buddha
Offshore islands
Eternal spring
Tribal villages
Magnificent caves
WHILE-READING
Read the texts quickly and answer the questions:
Which place does not have train services?
Which places have many hotels for tourists to choose?
Which places are on the mountain, and which are on the sea?
Read the text again and answer the following questions:
Which place has the oceanic institute?
In which place, do tourists can go mountain climbing?
Which place is nearest to Ho Chi Minh city?
In which place do tourists can go swimming?
Which place is for tourists who are interested in flowers?
Post-reading
Students work in groups and choose one place, Nha Trang, Sa Pa, Da Lat, or Ha Long Bay for your visit. Why are you interested in that place?
For example: We prefer Sa pa because we enjoy mountain climbing and travelling by train.
LISTENING
Pre-listening activity: Discussion; Predictions; Pre-setting questions
Unit 6, Grade 6
Pre-listening
Students work in three groups, A, B, and C. Group A look at pictures A, Group B, pictures B, and Group C, pictures C. Discuss and find the differences between the two house.
Predict the answers to the questions.
While-Listening
Play the tap and pause after the first pair of pictures
Unit 6, Grade 9
The aim of this lesson is to develop students’ skills in understanding the details or specific information. Also, it aims to develop students’ understanding of discourse markers such as, firstly, secondly, … finally.
Pre-listening
Students work in groups and discuss :
What makes the sea polluted?
Then they compare the results of their discussion
2. Teacher writes the following words and phrases on the board:
Ships drop garbage into the sea
Oil spills from ships
Waste materials from factories
Oil is washed from the land
Marine life
The whole class read in chorus.
Ask the students to guess which of these factors pollute the sea
WHILE-LISTENING
Look at the task in the textbook on page 50.
Work in pairs. Try to fill in the blanks with the information you remember. If you forgot, look at the words on the board for help.
Now listen to the tape again and check your answer.
POST-LISTENING
Listen to the sentence:
Many countries are guilty of doing this.
Discuss in groups
What do you think people should do to prevent ocean pollution. Start by saying:
I think they should ……….
I think they shouldn’t …….


TEACHING GRAMMAR
Assumptions about grammar
Students need to be given detailed grammar rules if they want to learn a foreign language successfully.
If students get enough chance to practise using a foreign language, they do not need to learn grammar.
Grammar should be taught to help students to analyze difficult structures in texts.
Grammar should be taught and practised in context.
Knowing grammar is not enough for real communication.
Teaching and learning grammar should focus on practice rather than the study of grammar itself.
Discuss
What is the problem in these situations?
A foreign student staying as a guest with an English family says I want breakfast at seven o’clock. I want two sandwiches and a cup of chocolate.
A student stops someone in the street and asks What have you got on your watch?
Grammar Presentation and Practice
Context
Eliciting
Modelling
Drilling
Dialogue Building
Pair work
Example sentences
Where possible and appropriate , example sentences in the main text (Listen and Read) are real samples of language in use.
PRESENTING NEW LANGUAGE ITEMS
Major language items in coursebooks are functions or grammatical structures.
Greeting people: Hello. Good morning
Suggesting courses of action : Let’s … Why not…..?
Stating / asking about occupations:
What do you do?
What does your mother do?
I’m a student.
My mother is a teacher.
PRESENTING NEW LANGUAGE ITEMS
In order to teach a functional-grammatical item effectively, you must first understand that item yourself. You should know its meaning, how it is used in communication, how it is structured, its pronunciation and spelling, and the grammatical relationships and rules which affect it.
PRESENTING NEW LANGUAGE ITEMS:
WHAT DO YOU DO?
Use in communication.
A Look that’s my brother.
B What does he do?
B He’s a student.
A I see.
Role-play.
A. Hi. My name’s Hung. I’m a student.
B. Hello. My name’s Thang. I’m
PRESENTING NEW LANGUAGE ITEMS:
WHAT DO YOU DO?
Structure. Highlight the use of a/an with occupations as well as ‘does s/he do you’ change’
Pronunciation.
What d’y DO? I’ma STUdent.
What d’s s’e DO? He’sa TEAcher.
PRESENTING NEW LANGUAGE ITEMS: USING CHARTS

PRESENTING NEW LANGUAGE ITEMS: CONCEPT QUESTIONS
She’s been reading since I came home.
I’d rather have a coke.
Nam used to smoke.
I’m playing tennis with Hung this evening.
PRESENTING NEW LANGUAGE ITEMS: CONCEPT QUESTIONS
She’s been reading since she came home.
Is she reading now? (yes)
When did she start reading? (when she came home)
Was she reading all the time? (yes)
Will she stop reading now? (perhaps; I don’t know)
The phone is ringing now. It started ringing two minutes ago.
The phone has been ringing for two minutes.
She’s talking on the phone. She started talking at 2 o’clcok
She has been talking on the phone since 2 o’clock
PRESENTING NEW LANGUAGE ITEMS: CONCEPT QUESTIONS
I’d rather have a coke.
Do I want a coke? (yes)
More than something else? (yes)
A lot more? (probably not)
Is it very important to me? (no)
Helen used to smoke?
Did Helen smoke? (yes)
On a number of occasions? (yes)
Regularly? Often? (perhaps)
Does she smoke now? (no).
DRILLS: Substitution drill
I always coffee at breakfast
have
never tea lunch

sometimes chocolate dinner
drink
frequently hot milk supper

This substitution drill is one of eleven types suggested by W.F. Mackey (1965). Language teaching analysis, pp. 268-272
Other sorts of drill



Repetition SS repeat what T says
Addition SS add word/s to the model structure
Completion Ss complete an incomplete model
Replacement Ss replace one element of the structure
Integration Ss join two structures together
Conversion Ss change one pattern into another
Rejoinder Ss respond to teacher’s cue
Contraction Ss reduce teacher’s cue

PRACTICE
Practice may be defined as any kind of engaging with the language on the part of the learner, usually under the teacher supervision, whose primary objective is to consolidate learning (Ur, 1988, p.11).
Mechanical practice vs. Meaningful practice
The most useful practice is likely to be one where the student is giving real information in their answers – in other words, there is communication as well as language practice.
PRACTICE: CHAIN
A: What do you like doing in your free time, B?
B: I like dancing. What do you like doing, C?
C: I like playing tennis. What do you like doing, D?
PRACTICE: Using charts
I think beer is cheaper than fruit.
No, no, I think fruit is cheaper than beer.

Articles: Presentation
Every day I walk to ….town centre. There are always lots of … people there. I usually buy … ice cream, ... packet of … sweets and … newspaper. Then I go to … beach and sit on … bench reading … newspaper. Sometimes I look up at … clouds in … sky and watch … seagulls flying over … sea.
This exercise could be done by students individually in class or at home. What other ways of using this exercise can you think of?
Tips
Do it as individuals – then compare and discuss answers with neighbours.
Work in pairs to do the exercise.
Hand out an out-of-order list of answers to match the questions.
Dictate the sentences leaving spaces where the missing words are.
Hand out the exercise with your answers already written in – some right, some wrong. The students must correct your work.
Every day I walk to the town centre. There are always lots of Ø people there. I usually buy an ice cream, a packet of Ø sweets and a newspaper. Then I go to the beach and sit on a bench reading the newspaper. Sometimes I look up at the clouds in the sky and watch the seagulls flying over the sea.
Fill in the blanks in the following text. Use one of the words given for each blank.
Lesson Type 1
The teacher presents information about a grammar item of language.
The students then work on oral practice of examples of the grammar item.
The students do a written exercise to practise the item.
The students are given the opportunity to use the item, along with other language they know, in communicative activities.
Lesson Type 2
The teacher selects an activity requiring the use of a specific grammar structure. The students do the activity. While they are speaking the teacher listens in discreetly and notes down problems.
After they have finished, the teacher uses the sentences she noted down to focus on and clarify difficulties and teach potentially useful language items that were avoided during the activity.
The teacher follows on with a similar activity to the first one. The students now have better resources to deal with some of the problems they may have faced.
Lesson Type 3
The teacher selects a communicative activity. The students do the activity. While they are speaking the teacher listens in discreetly and notes down problems.
After they have finished, the teacher uses the sentences she noted down to focus on and clarify difficulties and teach potentially useful language items that were avoided during the activity.
The teacher follows on with a similar communicative activity to the first one. The students now have better resources to deal with some of the communication problems they may have faced.

Adapting Tasks
He stopped studying hard.
going to bed early.
running three miles every morning
He started smoking
going out in the evening.
spending a lot of money.
Write sentences about Brian with used to and didn’t use to.
He used to study hard.
He didn’t use to smoke.
…………………………
…………………………
Revised
Put up your hand if you used to do any of the following things.
You didn’t use to study hard.
You used to smoke.
You used to go to bed early.
You didn’t use to going out in the evening.
Things to remember
Teach only those rules which are simple and do not have too many exceptions.
Do not spend too much time on grammar points which do not appear to be very useful or important. Just make the students aware of the special features.
Wherever possible, teach grammar in context.
When presenting grammar, try to use charts, tables, diagrams, maps, drawings and realia to aid understanding.
Avoid difficult grammatical terminology as much as possible.
Allow enough opportunities for practice.
Do not be frustrated by the students’ mistakes and errors, which are inevitable in language learning.

TEACHING VOCABULARY
One of the most important reasons for failure in learning English is limited vocabulary.
Try to give your students something to read every week.
Read and summarise the story
Read and learn by heart then retell the story to the class
Read and say what you like best about the story
Role of vocabulary
Vocabulary is a powerful carrier of meaning. In communication, vocabulary is often more important than grammar.
Role of vocabulary in the classroom
Vocabulary is very important and needs to be deal with systematically in its own right; it is not simply an add-on to grammar or skills lessons.
Our job does not finish as soon as a learner has first met some new vocabulary; we need to help them practice, learn, store, recall and use the items.
Training in the use of English-English-Vietnamese dictionaries provides learners with a vital tool for self-study.
We need to distinguish between vocabulary for ‘productive’ use and for ‘receptive’ recognition and adapt our classrom work appropriately.
We need to deal not only with single word lexical items, but also with longer, multi-word items.
Working on Vocabulary
A vocabulary item can be more than one word.
Example:
compact disc; paint the wall red; cheer up; put up with; look out for (someone)
How do you do?
I’m afraid not.
I’d rather you didn’t, if you don’t mind.
If you like
The Meaning of Words
Segment the meaning of words into their component parts, using a language that is less complex than the words themselves.
Example
a calf It’s an animal. It’s a cow. It’s young.
a watch It tells you the time. You wear it on your arm.
a clock It tells you the time. You see it on a wall, or a table, or a cupboard.
a poster It’s made of paper. You can put it on a wall in your house. You can see big ones on buildings or beside the road. Many advertises cars, beer, cigarettes, airlines, Coca-Cola, etc.
Working on Vocabulary
Words are often best taught in groups.
Synonyms: enormous/ very big
Antonyms: hot/ warm
Complements: single/ married
Converses: parent/child; employee/employer
Hyponyms: car/van/bus/lorry
Working on Vocabulary
Vary the way you explain
Demonstrate
Use the real thing
Draw or sketch
Use the blackboard to show scales or grades
hot red certainly/definitely
warm orange probably/possibly
cool yellow
cold
Antonyms
Working on Vocabulary
Synonyms
The dictionary
Verbal explanations
Translation
Bring grammar and vocabulary together.
Meaning in context: Vocabulary worksheet
In the following text, fill each gap with any appropriate word.

There was …. traffic all the way from the airport to town and, when we eventually arrived at the hotel, it was …late. Luckily we had phoned up that morning and …a room – so the receptionist was …us.
Vocabulary Practice Activities and Games
Matching pictures to words;
Matching parts of words to other parts, eg. Beginnings and endings;
Matching words to other words, e.g. Collocations, synonyms, opposites, sets of related words, etc.;
Using prefixes and suffixes to build new words from given words;
Classifying items into lists;
Using given words to complete a specific task;
Filling in gaps in sentences;
Memory games
Grade 7, Unit 7, p. 77
Match the verbs on the left with nouns on the right.

feed eggs
collect buffalo
grow rice
Clean vegetables
pigs and chicken
chicken coop

Communicative Activity
Talk about Mr. Tuan’s day
Vocabulary exercises
Please fit the words or phrases from the following list into the story below:
take it for granted export cattle
pollution scarce contract
waste of time literature attractive
destroy
Many people say that studying something like …. is really a… . I know that, if you have a good education, it is easy to …., but imagine what the world would be like if people weren’t educated at all. Because of education, people understand the problems with issues like …. , which could …. the environment, and know that relying too much on beef from … now could lead to food becoming …. in the future. In a way, we are making a …. with future generations. By being educated ourselves, we learn to see the world intelligently. When we travel, we can …. our knowledge as we go. It is an … idea.
Vocabulary in the classroom
How can you help students learn the following words:
1.wink 2. swimming 3. house
4. often 5. chase 6. paint the town red
7. campaign 8. exploitation 9. hope
10. put up with 11. café 12. stapler
13. Catalogue 14. reduction
Vocabulary in the classroom
Facial expression
Gesture/ mime
Draw it on the board
Draw a line
Get students to act it out
Tell a personal anecdote
Get students deduce it from context in a text
Explain it
Read out the dictionary definition
Translate it
Show a picture in a book
Bring it into class to show it
Students look it up in the dictionary
Draw a diagram or graph.