Teaching is recognised as one of the oldest professions in the world. It has always been seen as a duty of the society to develop and coach others as far back as the history can remember. Based on the acquired knowledge and experience, I will explore factors of effective learning and why it is important to meet the individual learners’ needs so that the desire outcome is achieved.
I understand that acquiring a second language differs from learning mother tongue hence my approach towards teaching vary. When I teach, I consider factors for effective learning as the most important thing to understand what students need. The key however is the ability to communicate in other language. Based on that knowledge I designed the syllabus which is a combination of learning goals/objectives and content distribution. My approach is adapted to teaching depending on:
I like to consider myself as facilitator (acting coach) who enables the learning process hence my classroom activates are mainly focused on the learners (actor). I let them do the talking and expressing themselves. It can be achieved by asking questions and drills that improve overall language retention.
I arrive 15 minutes (whenever possible) before my class starts, make sure all materials are prepared and goals set for the lesson. Flexibility, positive attitude of mine and student management skills are also important for success rate and, although easily forgotten, play a significant role in learning process.
I took on a challenge of teaching basic Polish greetings to Spanish students as part of their general English course (Upper Intermediate level). All learners in this group are motivated as they want to be able to communicate in English. They also see the opportunity in gaining new skills and be able to improve their vocabulary on a wider scale. Having organised the class in the positive and safe environment, the outcome was easy to achieve. The one that needed to be overcome though was personality therefore I needed to design various activities to allow all students to take part and make sure they are all involved.
I used the learning cycle and teaching approaches knowledge to help me establish methods I wanted to use for the teaching to be effective. Below lesson plan is designed for adults and small groups however, if adjusted, it can also be used for bigger class.
I used a mixture of teaching methods like listening/speaking and direct/audio-lingual approach, although I also blended in reading and writing (including functions of grammar) so they become a habit. There is a fix agenda for each for each of my class:
The above consistency allows me to open and close each session the same way and be flexible on other parts depending on what the objectives and desired outcomes are. Each lesson plan emphasises different approach (e.g. reading/writing/grammar) where listening and speaking is core. My lessons are all in English and no translations is allowed. All words are explained in the new language. I use objects and pictures however in order to expand vocabulary each student need to add a description e.g. a forefinger – the finger next to the thumb, also known as the first or index finger (or show the picture of the hand and discuss it in details).
Session objectives/outcomes:
By the end of the session the student will:
Timing |
Learner Activities |
Teacher Activities |
Resources |
Skills to be developed/Linguistic competences |
Assessment method |
5mins |
Introduction |
|
|
|
|
10mins |
Questions/Answers |
Asking students random questions |
Questions list |
Speaking |
Q&As |
10mins
|
Listening
|
Introduction and explanation of the lesson outcomes |
PowerPoint presentation |
Listening |
none
|
15mins
|
Quiz Questions (Activity 1) |
Listening group discussion/Collecting points/Award winning group |
Map/Hand outs/Realia |
Speaking in groups/Discussion in new language |
Quiz/Q&As |
30mins |
Quiz Answers
|
Ask particular student/s to come to the front and show Poland on the map
Vocabulary activities
|
PowerPoint presentation |
Speaking in front of the class/Listening to different accents/Vocabulary |
Quiz/Q&As |
60mins |
Speaking/Reading
|
Did you know…? Things everyone from Poland has to explain to foreigners Discussion about difference between Spain, England and Poland/Culture Odd one out exercises |
PowerPoint presentation/You tube videos |
Speaking/Reading/Vocabulary/semantic fields
|
Q&As |
30mins |
Listening/Speaking/ Repeating (Activity 2) |
Words that look the same in Polish and English and have the same meanings |
PowerPoint presentation |
Speaking/Repeating/Cognate words |
Q&As |
5mins |
Listening |
Explain one grammar function that was mentioned in the presentation |
Whiteboard/Notes |
Grammar x 1 function |
Q&As |
10mins |
Writing |
Ask students to write 1x sentence with learnt grammar function |
Whiteboard/Notes |
Writing/Reading |
|
5mins |
Wrapping up Listening/Questions/Answers |
Summary/1 thing each student take from a.m. class and why |
Hand outs |
Speaking/Listening |
Q&As |
Total: |
3hrs |
|
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Lunch break |
|||||
10mins |
Questions/Answers |
Asking students random questions which can be related to a.m. session |
Questions list |
Speaking |
Q&As |
30mins |
Listening/Speaking/ Repeating (Activity 3) |
Words that look the same in Polish and English but have totally different meanings |
PowerPoint presentation/Realia |
Speaking/Repeating/Homonyms |
Q&As |
10mins |
Writing/Reading |
Ask students to write 1xword that is spelt the same but have different meaning |
Whiteboard/Notes |
Writing/Reading |
|
15mins |
Speaking/Reading
|
Discussion about difference between Spain, England and Poland/Hospitality Odd one out exercises |
PowerPoint presentation/You tube videos |
Speaking/Reading/Vocabulary/semantic fields
|
|
90mins |
Listening/Speaking/ Repeating (Activity 4) |
Time to play:
Mam si? dobrze, dzi?kuj? [Mam sie dopshey, dsyenkooyeh]
[Chesc, yak sie mash]
Mam na imi? … [Mam na i:mye …]
Jak masz na imi?? [Yak mash na i:mye] |
PowerPoint presentation/Double sided Puzzle/You tube video/Student record themselves when they speak other language/role play |
Phonology/Pronunciation/Word stress |
Q&As/Self-assessment |
15mins |
Listening/Speaking (Activity 5) |
Having considered all above, tell me where you would like to live in the world and why? Remember to use new vocabulary i.e. culture, hospitality etc. |
Notes |
Speaking/Vocabulary |
|
10mins |
Wrapping up Listening/Questions/Answers |
Summary/1 thing each student take from p.m. class and why Students asking questions and other students answering/1 question each student |
Hand outs |
Speaking/Listening |
Q&As |
Total: |
3hrs |
|
The above choices of teaching approaches, resources are based on the principle of meeting individual needs and learning styles (visual – maps, auditory – You tube, kinaesthetic – by doing):
I used discussion and active learning as two key teaching strategies. Both of them are very effective as engaged all participants in direct conversations training them to think in new language. Assessments used were inclusive and effective i.e. everyone had to answer one question and was rewarded for different skills like quiz when students had a change to go to the board and present their knowledge. I also adapted resources to meet individual student’s needs (with dyslexia) and used coloured papers and specific pronunciations in brackets that allow effected students to focus on reading rather than writing.
My role is to ensure that people receiving my teaching reach their full potential and achieve the main learning goals. I am let to believe I am non-judgemental and non-opinionated while teaching and assume nothing when it comes to students. I make learning fun and productive as it is neither about the curriculum coverage nor numbers of books read. This is about promoting quality of teaching and learning as a result of it.
As teachers, we need to remember that we are also students. We need to learn to adapt to the environment, be flexible as a part of the bigger community and understand collaborative working. By sharing good practice with others, discussing lessons learnt we are improving systems, becoming stronger together and making learning outcomes achievable.