UNIVERSITY OF LA SALLE - SCHOOL OF EDUCATION SCIENCES

BA IN SPANISH, ENGLISH, AND FRENCH

TEACHING PRATICUM

THE ABC’S OF LESSON PLANNING AND TEACHING ENGLISH

COMPILATION OF WEB-BASED RESOURCES

HOW TO PLAN A LESSON

(Taken from http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/planning/plindex.htm)

A key aspect of effective teaching is having a plan for what will happen in the classroom each day.

Creating such a plan involves setting realistic goals, deciding how to incorporate course textbooks

and other required materials, and developing activities that will promote learning. This section

shows instructors how to carry out each of these steps.

An example lesson plan and lesson planning worksheet, available as pdf files, provide step-by-step

guidance for lesson development. A supervisor observation worksheet allows supervisors to give

specific feedback on a written lesson plan or an observed lesson.

Before working through this section, beginning instructors may want to check Be Prepared:

Survival Tips for New Teachers.

Be Prepared: Survival Tips for New Teachers

Effective teaching depends on preparation. Here are eight things to do at the beginning of the

semester to help yourself have a rewarding and enjoyable teaching experience.

1. Content: Find out what the department expects you to teach and what materials you are expected

to use. Review the curriculum or textbook to get a roadmap of the semester as a whole. Working

through the curriculum should be a process of discovery for the students, but not for the instructor.

2. Method: Find out what teaching approach you are expected to use. Are you expected to stick

closely to the textbook, or to bring in outside materials to supplement? Is your teaching practice

expected to be more learner centered or more teacher centered? Are you expected to teach grammar

overtly, or just explain it as it comes up in various contexts?

3. Students: Find out what level your students will be. If they are “second year” or “intermediate,”

ask what that means. What have they studied previously? What materials have they used? This will

let you know what to expect from them.

4. Plan: Outline a plan for the semester, even if the department has given you a plan. Know when

and how you will introduce new material and when and how you will review. What will you do

when you get behind? It always happens.

5. Orientation: Find out what facilities are available for students and where they are: language lab,

computer lab, library. Make a reference card for yourself with the hours when labs are open. Then,

when students ask, you won’t look like a doofus.

6. Relationships: Learn the names of your students as soon as you can. Use their names when

talking with them and when giving language examples in class. Attending to your students as

individuals will help you assess their progress more effectively. Also, if students believe that you

care about them, they will care about you.

7. Expectations: Ask how much and what kind of homework is usually given to students at the level

you are teaching. Find out what expectations the department has for frequency and type of testing.

Let your students know what the expectations are in these areas.

8. Guidance: Ask your supervisor or another experienced instructor to serve as your mentor. A

mentor can review your plan for the semester before classes start to be sure you’re on the right

track, and can meet with you on a regular basis throughout the semester to answer questions and

give you support when you need it. Having a mentor is especially important toward the end of the

first semester of teaching, when many teachers begin to feel overwhelmed, discouraged, or

frustrated.

Set Lesson Goals

Lesson goals are most usefully stated in terms of what students will have done or accomplished at

the end of the lesson. Stating goals in this way allows both teacher and learners to know when the

goals have been reached. To set lesson goals:

1. Identify a topic for the lesson. The topic is not a goal, but it will help you develop your goals. The

topic may be determined largely by your curriculum and textbook, and may be part of a larger

thematic unit such as Travel or Leisure Activities. If you have some flexibility in choice of topic,

consider your students’ interests and the availability of authentic materials at the appropriate level.

2. Identify specific linguistic content, such as vocabulary and points of grammar or language use, to

be introduced or reviewed. These are usually prescribed by the course textbook or course

curriculum. If they are not shown there, select points that are connected in some significant way

with the topic of the lesson.

3. Identify specific communication tasks to be completed by students. To be authentic, the tasks

should allow, but not require, students to use the vocabulary, grammar, and strategies presented in

the lesson. The focus of the tasks should be topical, not grammatical. This means that it may be

possible for some students to complete the task without using either the grammar point or the

strategy presented in the first part of the lesson.

4. Identify specific learning strategies to be introduced or reviewed in connection with the lesson.

5. Create goal statements for the linguistic content, communication tasks, and learning strategies

that state what you will do and what students will do during the lesson.

Structure the Lesson

A language lesson should include a variety of activities that combine different types of language

input and output. Learners at all proficiency levels benefit from such variety; research has shown

that it is more motivating and is more likely to result in effective language learning.

An effective lesson has five parts:

• Preparation

• Presentation

• Practice

• Evaluation

• Expansion

The five parts of a lesson may all take place in one class session or may extend over multiple

sessions, depending on the nature of the topic and the activities. The lesson plan should outline who

will do what in each part of the lesson. The time allotted for preparation, presentation, and

evaluation activities should be no more than 8-10 minutes each. Communication practice activities

may run a little longer.

1. Preparation

As the class begins, give students a broad outline of the day’s goals and activities so they know

what to expect. Help them focus by eliciting their existing knowledge of the day’s topics.

• Use discussion or homework review to elicit knowledge related to the grammar and language

use points to be covered

• Use comparison with the native language to elicit strategies that students may already be using

• Use discussion of what students do and/or like to do to elicit their knowledge of the topic they

will address in communication activities

2. Presentation/Modeling

Move from preparation into presentation of the linguistic and topical content of the lesson and

relevant learning strategies. Present the strategy first if it will help students absorb the lesson

content.

Presentation provides the language input that gives students the foundation for their knowledge of

the language. Input comes from the instructor and from course textbooks. Language textbooks

designed for students in U.S. universities usually provide input only in the form of examples;

explanations and instructions are written in English. To increase the amount of input that students

receive in the target language, instructors should use it as much as possible for all classroom

communication purposes.

An important part of the presentation is structured output, in which students practice the form that

the instructor has presented. In structured output, accuracy of performance is important. Structured

output is designed to make learners comfortable producing specific language items recently

introduced.

Structured output is a type of communication that is found only in language classrooms. Because

production is limited to preselected items, structured output is not truly communicative.

3. Practice

In this part of the lesson, the focus shifts from the instructor as presenter to the students as

completers of a designated task. Students work in pairs or small groups on a topic-based task with a

specific outcome. Completion of the task may require the bridging of an information gap. The

instructor observes the groups and acts as a resource when students have questions that they cannot

resolve themselves.

In their work together, students move from structured output to communicative output, in which the

main purpose is to complete the communication task. Language becomes a tool, rather than an end

in itself. Learners have to use any or all of the language that they know along with varied

communication strategies. The criterion of success is whether the learner gets the message across.

Accuracy is not a consideration unless the lack of it interferes with the message. Activities for the

practice segment of the lesson may come from a textbook or be designed by the instructor.

4. Evaluation

When all students have completed the communication practice task, reconvene the class as a group

to recap the lesson. Ask students to give examples of how they used the linguistic content and

learning or communication strategies to carry out the communication task.

Evaluation is useful for four reasons:

• It reinforces the material that was presented earlier in the lesson

• It provides an opportunity for students to raise questions of usage and style

• It enables the instructor to monitor individual student comprehension and learning

• It provides closure to the lesson

5. Expansion

Expansion activities allow students to apply the knowledge they have gained in the classroom to

situations outside it. Expansion activities include out-of-class observation assignments, in which the

instructor asks students to find examples of something or to use a strategy and then report back.

Identify Materials and Activities

The materials for a specific lesson will fall into two categories: those that are required, such as

course textbooks and lab materials, and authentic materials that the teacher incorporates into

classroom activities.

For required materials, determine what information must be presented in class and decide which

exercise(s) to use in class and which for out-of-class work. For teacher-provided materials, use

materials that are genuinely related to realistic communication activities. Don’t be tempted to try to

create a communication task around something just because it’s a really cool video or a beautiful

brochure.

Truly authentic communication tasks have several features:

• They involve solving a true problem or discussing a topic of interest

• They require using language to accomplish a goal, not using language merely to use language

• They allow students to use all of the language skills they have, rather than specific forms or

vocabulary, and to self-correct when they realize they need to

• The criterion of success is clear: completion of a defined task.

Example Lesson Plan (from English as a second language)

Lesson Topic

The topic of the lesson is Planning Weekend Activities

Lesson Goals

Linguistic content

Using “going to / not going to” to describe future activities.

I will present the grammatical form and the pronunciation issues.

Students will do structured practice with workbook exercises.

Students will use the forms in communication tasks.

Communication tasks

Reading event listings in newspapers and magazines.

Providing information about weekend events to others.

Completing individual weekend activity plan.

Students will work in groups to share information.

Students will develop individual plans.

I will observe and act as resource.

Learning strategies

Cooperate

Selective Attention

I will model Selective Attention.

Students will do structured practice with event listings.

Students will use the strategy in the communication task.

Structure Preparation (8-10 minutes)

• As students are arriving, chat with them about whether they like to go to movies, concerts,

restaurants.

• Ask how they find out what’s going on around town.

• Review homework sheet on simple future; ask for examples of other ways to talk about the future.

• Outline goals for today’s class.

Grammar Presentation and Practice (8-10 minutes)

• Move from preparation into presentation of “going to/not going to.”

• Discuss native speaker pronunciation (“gonna”). Stress that they don’t have to do it, but they need

to be able to understand it.

• Use selected items from textbook exercises for student practice and to identify and clear up any

confusion.

Strategy Presentation and Practice (5-6 minutes)

• Hand out photocopied page with sample event listings.

• Read first one aloud, describing strategy for identifying key information (Selective Attention).

Connect to discussion during preparation stage if possible.

• Have class as a group read the others, modifying strategy to fit.

Communication Practice, Part 1 (12-15 minutes)

• Students divide themselves into groups of four.

• In each group, give movie listings to one student, TV listings to another, theatre and concert

listings to another, and restaurant guide to another.

• Give each student an entertainment budget for the weekend.

• Students work together to develop weekend plans. Plans can include joint activities (2, 3, or all 4)

as well as individual ones. Plans can include activities not listed on the distributed materials.

• Tell students that the product of the activity will be a written weekend activity plan.

Communication Practice, Part 2 (5 minutes)

Each student writes an outline of planned weekend activities. The outline should include costs for

each activity to be sure the student is staying within budget.

Evaluation (5-6 minutes)

Bring students back together as a class. Ask members of each group to give examples of ways they

used “going to” in making their plans. Ask members of each group to describe how reading

strategies helped them find the information they needed to make their plans.

Expansion (homework for next class)

Have students bring in 3 examples of oral or written use of “going to” that they find.

Materials Required Materials

• Homework exercise on the simple future.

• Textbook section on “going to”.

Authentic Materials

• Weekend TV listings.

• Newspaper movie listings.

• Newspaper theatre and concert listings.

• City magazine restaurant guide.

Material in this section was developed by Dr. Anna Uhl Chamot (George Washington University)

and Dr. Catherine Keatley and Deborah Kennedy (National Capital Language Resource Center).

HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH

TEACHING READING

Step 1: Engage the student. The purpose of engaging the student is to introduce the theme or topic

of the reading. The student can be engaged, for example, by using visuals or a "warm-up"

conversation. If you use visuals, you can ask a question such as, "who do you think lives here?" The

ESL teacher should elicit responses from the students. Remember that lessons should be student-

focused, so the majority of the talking should be done by the students.

Step 2: Pre-teach new vocabulary. When preparing ESL reading activities, decide the vocabulary

(lexis) that is critical for the ESL learners to know to understand the story. Decide how you will

teach the new words or key words. You don't have to teach every word that you think the student

may not know, just those that are critical to understanding the reading passage. This part of the

lesson shouldn't take too much time.

Step 3: Ask a focus question. A lesson plan teaching reading to ESL students should have a focus

question. Write a question about a detail that is three-quarters of the way through the text for ESL

beginning reading exercises. For advanced level ESL students, ask a "gist" question. This is

something that the students have to deduce from the reading passage. Be sure to write the focus

question on the board so that all students can see it.

Step 4: The students read. Finally, the students read! Be sure to allow enough time for the students

to read the entire passage. You'll have to watch the students to see how they are doing and when

they're done. If one student is taking a particularly long time, you may not need to wait until he or

she finishes.

Step 5: Ask questions about the reading. First, ask the students the focus question again. In addition

to the focus question, ask the students a few other questions about the reading. If the students are

unable to answer the questions, allow the students to read the passage again.

Step 6: Follow up with a task. A lesson plan teaching reading to ESL students should always be

followed up with a task. The task can be oral or written. This allows the student to bring in his or

her knowledge on the topic, and helps to reinforce comprehension and the learning process.

Step 7 (optional): Follow up with an activity. If you have enough time (or too much time left over!),

you can include another ESL activity. This could be additional writing practice or speaking practice.

It's helpful to have a specific activity built in to your lesson plan, but you can also be flexible. If

something comes up that the students seem particularly interested in, use this topic for the students

to write about or to continue with a conversation.

Taken from http://www.teaching-esl-to-adults.com/teaching-reading-to-esl-students.html

Consider the following when designing your reading lessons.

• Purpose: Your students need to understand ahead of time why they are reading the material you

have chosen.

• Reading Strategies: When we read, our minds do more than recognize words on the page. For

faster and better comprehension, choose activities before and during your reading task that

practice the following strategies.

o Prediction: This is perhaps the most important strategy. Give your students hints by asking

them questions about the cover, pictures, headlines, or format of the text to help them

predict what they will find when they read it.

o Guessing From Context: Guide your students to look at contextual information outside or

within the text. Outside context includes the source of the text, its format, and how old it is;

inside context refers to topical information and the language used (vocabulary, grammar,

tone, etc.) as well as illustrations. If students have trouble understanding a particular word or

sentence, encourage them to look at the context to try to figure it out. Advanced students

may also be able to guess cultural references and implied meanings by considering context.

o Skimming: This will improve comprehension speed and is useful at the intermediate level

and above. The idea of skimming is to look over the entire text quickly to get the basic idea.

For example, you can give your students 30 seconds to skim the text and tell you the main

topic, purpose, or idea. Then they will have a framework to understand the reading when

they work through it more carefully.

o Scanning: This is another speed strategy to use with intermediate level and above. Students

must look through a text quickly, searching for specific information. This is often easier

with non-continuous texts such as recipes, forms, or bills (look for an ingredient amount,

account number, date of service, etc.) but scanning can also be used with continuous texts

like newspaper articles, letters, or stories. Ask your students for a very specific piece of

information and give them just enough time to find it without allowing so much time that

they will simply read through the entire text.

• Silent Reading vs. Reading Aloud: Reading aloud and reading silently are really two separate

skills. Reading aloud may be useful for reporting information or improving pronunciation, but a

reading lesson should focus on silent reading. When students read silently, they can vary their

pace and concentrate on understanding more difficult portions of the text. They will generally

think more deeply about the content and have greater comprehension when reading silently. Try

extended silent reading (a few pages instead of a few paragraphs, or a short chapter or book for

advanced students) and you may be surprised at how much your learners can absorb when they

study the text uninterrupted at their own pace. When introducing extended texts, work with

materials at or slightly below your students' level; a long text filled with new vocabulary or

complex grammar is too cumbersome to understand globally and the students will get caught up

in language details rather than comprehending the text as a whole.

Taken from http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/esl/reading.cfm

TEACHING LISTENING

Good listening lessons go beyond the listening task itself with related activities before and after the

listening. Here is the basic structure:

• Before Listening

Prepare your learners by introducing the topic and finding out what they already know about it.

A good way to do this is to have a brainstorming session and some discussion questions related

to the topic. Then provide any necessary background information and new vocabulary they will

need for the listening activity.

• During Listening

Be specific about what students need to listen for. They can listen for selective details or general

content, or for an emotional tone such as happy, surprised, or angry. If they are not marking

answers or otherwise responding while listening, tell them ahead of time what will be required

afterward.

• After Listening

Finish with an activity to extend the topic and help students remember new vocabulary. This

could be a discussion group, craft project, writing task, game, etc.

Taken from http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/esl/listening.cfm

The teacher can facilitate the development of listening ability by creating listening lessons that

guide the learner through three stages: pre-listening, the listening task, and post-listening.

• Engage the learners in a pre-listening activity: This activity should establish the purpose of the

listening activity and activate the schemata by encouraging the learners to think about and

discuss what they already know about the content of the listening text. This activity can also

provide the background needed for them to understand the text, and it can focus attention on

what to listen for.

• Do the listening task itself: The task should involve the listener in getting information and in

immediately doing something with it.

• Engage in a post-listening activity: This activity should help the listener to evaluate success in

carrying out the task and to integrate listening with the other language skills. The teacher should

encourage practice outside of the classroom whenever possible.

Taken from http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/LISTENQA.html

Plan your introduction. To warm up for your ESL listening lesson, you'll want to get your class

thinking about what they're going to hear. This activates passive vocabulary and provides a context,

making the listening easier to understand. Start off by telling students generally what the listening is

about and talk about the topic. To bring up potentially difficult vocabulary from the listening, ask

questions like "What do you call a person who?" or "What's another word for?"

Develop a global listening task. For the first listening, you'll need to make sure your English

students got the gist of the material. Have the students predict something about what they're going

to listen to so they can check their prediction as they listen. Ask students to write ten words that

come to mind when they think of the topic and see how many of those words are in the listening.

Other options are asking students to choose an appropriate title for the listening from a list or

answer a few simple true or false questions.

Create detailed listening tasks. For the second and following listening tasks, students can listen for

specific words or grammar points. Your ESL listening lesson plan will move smoothly from global

to detailed listening if you give your English students increasingly focused tasks. You might start

with writing missing words or phrases in a transcript, move on to synonym matching and then to let

students create their own sentences using words or grammar from the listening.

Provide follow-up practice. Rather than just going from listening to an unrelated activity, create

some continuity. If the listening used future tenses a lot, you might follow it up by having students

write about their plans for the next holiday. After listening to an interview with a chef, you could

practice related vocabulary with a role play about choosing a restaurant for lunch.

Taken from http://www.ehow.com/how_2152900_esl-listening-lesson-plan.html#ixzz1CYth7nWJ

What kinds of listening tasks are appropriate?

There are numerous activities to choose from for developing listening skills. Lund (1990) has

categorized them according to nine responses that can be observed as comprehension checks:

1. Doing: the listener responds physically such as in Total PhysicalResponse (TPR);

2. Choosing: the listener selects from alternatives such as pictures, objects, texts, or actions;

3. Transferring: the listener transforms the message such as drawing a route on map, or filling in a

chart;

4. Answering: the listener answers questions about the text;

5. Condensing: the listener takes notes or makes an outline;

6. Extending: the listener goes beyond the text by continuing the story or solving a problem;

7. Duplicating: the listener simply repeats or translates the message;

8. Modeling: the listener performs a similar task, e.g. gives instructions to a coworker after

listening to a model or;

9. Conversing: the listener is an active participant in a face-to-face conversation.

Taken from http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/LISTENQA.html

TEACHING WRITING

Two writing strategies you may want to use in your lessons are free writing and revised writing.

Free writing directs students to simply get their ideas onto paper without worrying much about

grammar, spelling, or other English mechanics. In fact, the teacher can choose not to even look at

free writing pieces. To practice free writing, give students 5 minutes in class to write about a certain

topic, or ask them to write weekly in a journal. You can try a dialog journal where students write a

journal entry and then give the journal to a partner or the teacher, who writes another entry in

response. The journals may be exchanged during class, but journal writing usually is done at home.

The main characteristic of free writing is that few (if any) errors are corrected by the teacher, which

relieves students of the pressure to perform and allows them to express themselves more freely.

Revised writing, also called extended or process writing, is a more formal activity in which students

must write a first draft, then revise and edit it to a final polished version, and often the finished

product is shared publicly. You may need several class sessions to accomplish this.

Begin with a pre-writing task such as free writing, brainstorming, listing, discussion of a topic,

making a timeline, or making an outline. Pairs or small groups often work well for pre-writing

tasks. Then give the students clear instructions and ample time to write the assignment. In a class,

you can circulate from person to person asking, "Do you have any questions?" Many students will

ask a question when approached but otherwise would not have raised a hand to call your attention.

Make yourself available during the writing activity; don't sit at a desk working on your next lesson

plan. Once a rough draft is completed, the students can hand in their papers for written comment,

discuss them with you face to face, or share them with a partner, all for the purpose of receiving

constructive feedback. Make sure ideas and content are addressed first; correcting the English

should be secondary. Finally, ask students to rewrite the piece. They should use the feedback they

received to revise and edit it into a piece they feel good about. Such finished pieces are often shared

with the class or posted publicly, and depending on the assignment, you may even choose to

'publish' everyone's writing into a class booklet.

Tactful correction of student writing is essential. Written correction is potentially damaging to

confidence because it's very visible and permanent on the page. Always make positive comments

and respond to the content, not just the language. Focus on helping the student clarify the meaning

of the writing. Especially at lower levels, choose selectively what to correct and what to ignore.

Spelling should be a low priority as long as words are recognizable.

Consider the following ideas for your writing lessons.

• Types of Tasks

Here are some ideas for the types of writing you can ask your students to do.

o Copying text word for word

o Writing what you dictate

o Imitating a model

o Filling in blanks in sentences or paragraphs

o Taking a paragraph and transforming certain language, for example changing all verbs

and time references to past tense

o Summarizing a story text, video, or listening clip (you can guide with questions or

keywords)

o Making lists of items, ideas, reasons, etc. (words or sentences depending on level)

o Writing what your students want to learn in English and why

o Writing letters (complaint, friend, advice) - give blank post cards or note cards or

stationery to add interest; you can also use this to teach how to address an envelope

o Organizing information, for example making a grid of survey results or writing

directions to a location using a map

o Reacting to a text, object, picture, etc. - can be a word or whole written piece

• Format

Clarify the format. For an essay, you may specify that you want an introduction, main ideas,

support, and a conclusion. For a poem, story, list, etc., the format will vary accordingly, but

make sure your students know what you expect.

• Model

Provide a model of the type of writing you want your students to do, especially for beginners.

• Editing

Consider giving students a checklist of points to look for when editing their own work. Include

such things as clear topic sentences, introduction and conclusion, verb tenses, spelling,

capitalization, etc.

Taken from http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/esl/writing.cfm

TEACHING SPEAKING

Speaking is the hardest skill to teach English language learners because of the language factor

involved. It is also the most overlooked. Some ELL need time to acquire the language in order to

product anything but that doesn't mean you should start teaching speaking. With a few tips and

practice, your ELLs will begin to feel more comfortable speaking.

P Structure speaking activities in your lesson plan. How much time do you want to work on

speaking activities? A good way to do this is to figure out the number of lessons you have and

structure speaking activities usually either before or after a reading or listening activity. I like the

brainstorming technique as an introductory speaking activity because ELLs read a text. They

usually brainstorm in pairs and then share their answers. By the time they read the text, they have

already shared their prior knowledge on the subject.

P Pair students up when doing a speaking activity. This often makes students feel more

comfortable and not too self-conscious of their language abilities.

P Give a time limit with most speaking activities. Ten minutes is the maximum for most activities.

Gradually, aim for activities that involve more of a dialogue and interaction based on authentic

topics. For example, students can scan a menu and then take turns itemizing

favorite foods according to preferences. The higher performing students can role play a

waiter/waitress and customer.

P Start with a very small activity and then work your way up. Brainstorming is a good activity for

all levels because each student can participant at the level s/he feels comfortable with. Wherever

possible use lots of pictures especially for lower level performing students or very young ELLs.

Taken from http://www.ehow.com/how_4480308_teach-speaking-activities-

eslstudents.html#ixzz1CZ065Kqe

The first thing to keep in mind is that when we are helping our language students learn to speak

English, we are not actually teaching them to speak. Unless they are infants, they already know

how to do that. What we are really helping them with falls into three categories:

1. improving fluency (speaking smoothly)

2. improving pronunciation (saying words properly)

3. improving enunciation (Saying words/phrases clearly - I think this includes word and

sentence intonation)

Improving Fluency

Fluency comes from practice - plain and simple. However it needs to be practice that involves

extended use of the language and use of extended sentences. You can not build fluency by

repeating single words or short phrases. Fluency at its heart relates to being able to speak for longer

periods of time in a smooth way. Broadly speaking, here are a few things that can help build

fluency:

1. speeches or presentations;

2. group discussions;

3. role plays;

4. negotiations and debates;

5. interviews and meetings; and

6. chatting in small groups

Improving Pronunciation

Pronunciation is the ability to say words properly with the correct sounds in the correct places. This

is a skill that can take a VERY long to develop, but with consistent work and practice, it can be

done. There are two keys to proper pronunciation 1) tons of native speaker input and 2) tons of

speaking by the learner with native speakers. However, practice and lessons that target specific

trouble areas can make a huge difference in a student's ability to deal with issues in pronunciation.

1. working on specific vowels;

2. working on trouble consonants (e.g. th for French speakers); and

3. working on understanding movement and location of mouth and tongue when making sounds.

Improving Enunciation

Enunciation is speaking clearly - perhaps better understood by its opposite which is mumbling or

slurring words. Enunciation is a very important aspect of speaking in that poor enunciation can

make someone almost impossible to understand. Again improvements in enunciation come from

exposure to native speakers, and plenty of natural practice. Of course focused work targeting

problem areas can help a great deal as well. Things that can be done to help with enunciation

include:

1. focused work on trouble word combinations;

2. working on reductions (want to –> wanna);

3. working on sentence level stress points;

4. working on word level stress points (e.g. differences between noun/verb forms of same word

record/record); and

5. working on sentence level intonation patterns

Taken from http://teachers-call.com/2008/04/how-to-teach-speaking.html

Here are some ideas to keep in mind as you plan your speaking activities.

• Content

As much as possible, the content should be practical and usable in real-life situations. Avoid too

much new vocabulary or grammar, and focus on speaking with the language the students have.

• Correcting Errors

You need to provide appropriate feedback and correction, but don't interrupt the flow of

communication. Take notes while pairs or groups are talking and address problems to the class

after the activity without embarrassing the student who made the error. You can write the error

on the board and ask who can correct it.

• Quantity vs. Quality

Address both interactive fluency and accuracy, striving foremost for communication. Get to

know each learner's personality and encourage the quieter ones to take more risks.

• Conversation Strategies

Encourage strategies like asking for clarification, paraphrasing, gestures, and initiating ('hey,'

'so,' 'by the way').

• Teacher Intervention

If a speaking activity loses steam, you may need to jump into a role-play, ask more discussion

questions, clarify your instructions, or stop an activity that is too difficult or boring.

Taken from http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/esl/speaking.cfm

TEACHING GRAMMAR

Modern ESL grammar instruction combines practice of structures with practice in communication.

With the variety of resources available, every grammar class can address all learning styles. You

can make each stage of the process of learning grammar interesting.

P Understand and employ the basic steps of teaching grammar. Celce-Murcia and Hilles count four

steps: presentation, practice, performance and feedback. Feedback differs from the other steps

because it overlaps them all.

P Present the grammar as you choose, inductively or deductively. You can explain the rules first if

you like. Then read a story or show a video clip that demonstrates the grammar point. Or reverse the

order by first teaching a skit that exemplifies the grammar. Then explain the rules. For example,

you can use action games such as "Simon Says" either before or after teaching the imperative (used

for commands). Vary the order and the technique to make the presentation more interesting.

P Use the practice stage to allow students to start using the new structure. Many textbooks only

provide sentence practice at this stage. However, Celce-Murcia prefers that these exercises include

more context. The sentences of the exercises can form a continuous story or dialog, for example. Or

give them a folk song with the target forms missing. Providing more context makes practice more

authentic and engaging.

P Give students a variety of creative opportunities in the performance stage. Performance can

include games, songs, role playing, creative writing, narrating comic strip stories and more. Play a

short video, for example. Pause it every few minutes and ask students what is going to happen next

to practice the future tense. Try other activities such as problem-solving in groups. Present a

problem and ask each group to present its solution to the class as a role play.

P Don't forget feedback. While presenting rules, ask if students understand. During the practice

phase, correct all mistakes since accuracy is the focus. However, use discretion about interrupting

too much during a performance. Dr. Roy Lyster of McGill University (see reference 2) says you

should give feedback with humor and a good nature. Correct sparingly to keep the fun in

performance.

Taken from http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_6566908_teach-esl-grammar.html#ixzz1CZ0jqIPh