TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS I MID-TERM ASSIGNMENT

TRAKYA UNIVERSITY ELT DEPARTMENT

2020-2021 ACADEMIC YEAR

FALL SEMESTER

TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS I MID-TERM ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

 

 

Instructions for exam: You are responsible for answering two questions given below in English. While answering both of the questions, you should make a research on the field from reliable resources and consider what you have learnt from this course, then write them down connectively.  Please do not forget to list the references that you have used at the end of your answers.

 

1.      Examine the following extract from Hughes' research (1986) and discuss what very young learners need in order to understand new learning? (Your answer should include at least 200 words) (50 points)

Hughes: How many is two and one more?

Patrick aged 4: Four

H: Well, how many is two lollipops and one more?

P: Three

H: How many is two elephants and one more?

P: Three H: And two giraffes and one more?

P: Three H: So, how many is two and one more?

 P: (Looking Hughes straight in the eye) Six

 

Reference: (Hughes, M. (1986) Children and Number: Difficulties in Learning Mathematics Oxford: Basil Black)

 

We can clearly say that child’s cognitive period falls into pre-operational stage in Piaget’s cognitive development stages. In this period, child is unable to think about abstract things. For that reason, when he was asked to add two with one, he could not do it. However, when the content is contextualized, he was able to.

For a healthy learning procedure with young learners, first of all we have to provide an environment in which the child feels safe and feels no threat.  Under stress, learning does not occur. The more exciting and funnier the lesson, the more learning occurs. Then, because the child is not able to think logically and comprehend abstract concepts, we have to conceptualize (mixing abstract concepts with concrete objects) our topics. To do this, we have to add as much visual materials as much possible. As can be seen above, child is able to do addition problem when concrete objects were presented. Otherwise, numbers for them are just meaningless sounds and they can answer differently although the same question was asked twice. Then, we have to recycle syllabus as much as possible. Because children are generally absent minded, we have to repeat the activity. Important facts are that teacher is the role model for children and learning should be carried out in a routine. Because child has no ability to realize time, they can anticipate the time by activity order in their minds.

 

 

2.      Describe who very young learners are by using “VERYYOUNGLEARNERS” as an acrostic framework and start with initial for each line. Of course, you should find out the characteristic features of very young learners and how to teach them accordingly and then, you will write the acrostics.  (Your answer should include at least 50 words). (50 points).

 

Visual learner

Egocentric

Racket; noise every where

Yappy; talkative

Youthful; always fresh and active

Optimistic; cheerful always

Ubiquitous; they are everywhere

Nonsense rejective, meaning embracing; [Use language, don’t teach!]

Game lover

Loves attention

Experiment lover

Abstract rejective mind

Running, active all the time

Namby-pamby: bored easily

Excited easily

Restless

So curious

Micro-Teaching Mid-term Assingment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trakya University

Faculty of Education English Language Teaching Program

2020-2021 Academic Year Spring Term

Microteaching Course Midterm Assignment Paper

 

Metin Uysal

English Language Teaching

 

 

 

Task 1. Study the following speaking activity.  

 

·         Which of the following working arrangements would be possible which not and why? Discuss each item in detail.                                                (8 items x 5 points = 40p)

 

a)      Students think and then write answers on their own.

To me, this a favorable activity for inductive learning and can be used for discovering grammar rules, as well. Because this is a fluency-based activity and the activity itself gives the student the correct answers which they have no chance to be grammatically wrong. Writing will help to establish connections with dependent and independent clauses.

b)     Students study on their own and take notes regarding each item. Then they present their opinions to the whole class.

I think this activity is not a fully suitable activity for speaking class. Everything is written down beforehand and there is no need to take notes. This working arrangement looks suitable for enhancing listening skills. But presenting the opinion and studying on their own parts look favorable. Each time we speak we think beforehand. By this aspect, students whose mother tongues are from different language families can improve their grammar skills to organize word order. Moreover, student can look their notes during their speaking session. In this sense, this activity turns into an accuracy-based activity and is not recommended for the teachers looking for a fluency-based plan.

 

c)      A whole-class discussion.

This is suitable but partially effective working arrangement. It is true that the teacher gets answers for unreal present events. But it may not be possible to activate all students to respond because in a big class sometimes they may be ones who even cannot get a turn.

 

d)     A pair work discussion.

This is suitable and more effective than whole-class discussion. By this arrangement, students can have more chance to talk and interact with each other. However, if students are not enhanced enough to produce sentences autonomously, lesson can turn into a chit-chat session.

 

e)      Small group-work.

Depending on student profile, this working arrangement can be used. If students have already comprehended the topic, this arrangement can be used as a scaffolding activity, by which students assist each other via social interaction. On the other hand, this arrangement will not be favorable if students generally do not understand or students who have not understood fall into the same group.

 

f)       Students walk around and mingle with other students.

This working arrangement is basically suitable for speaking activities. Only if students have already comprehended the grammar rule and are already ready for production phase, this working arrangement can be used as a part of speaking activity under the condition that they are given a scenario, in which they have to and need to use unreal present “if” form. In other cases, students may complain about not finding anything to talk about.

 

g)      Video recorded homework in which students discuss their opinions.

For accuracy, this is a good homework because students can watch again and correct their mistakes. On the other hand, students may not provide perfect conditions for shooting the video. Students with less technological experience may have extra problem apart from producing and uttering sentences. It looks like good assignment but for mid-terms or finals.

 

h)     Written homework.

A suitable homework for accuracy. Students can spend how much time they ever need, and they can reach additional resource in case. What we do in the time of speaking is putting words in an order as in writing. In this sense, this writing activity may help students reduce the time for production and speak fluently in the future.

Task 2. Bearing in mind the activity route map:

 

·         Describe your plans, actions, and moves you will adopt in each step.

 (6 items x 10 points = 60p)

 

 

a)      Before the lesson[MU1] 

ü  Material preparation (board, board marker, course book)

ü  Analyze the content (reading activity/ present simple tense)

ü  Imagine the activity.

ü  What is your role? (guidance, helper, initiator)

ü  Rehearse it.

ü  Assumptions (students know simple present tense and most used 300 English words)

ü  Anticipate potential problems and questions? (pronunciation problem on TH sound and some unknown words)

ü  Solutions (pronunciation activity and word check are put before reading)

ü  Decide on duration. (15 min)

ü  How should it be instructed? (using gestures)

 

b)      Lead-in/Preparation [4 min]
(Make a guess about the previous activity which most probably was a speaking one. If you study the activity instruction carefully you will get it right)

Gathering attention, generating interest, and preparing the students what they are about to learn.

Hello guys! How are you? Today, we are going to learn about a different city from a different country.

            Lead-in Questions[MU2] 

            Where do you live?[MU3] 
            How are the people in your city?[MU4] 
            Do you know Brazil?[MU5] 

 

            Vocabulary Check[MU6] 

1.      Do you know these words? Can you say them.

2.      Now, we are going to fill in the blanks with words from the list.
There are two words you are not going to use.

ask
answer
question
common
research
thing[MU7] 
public transport

 

Layla and Imane ______ a question to thier mother.

But she can't ________ it.

Then they make a ______ on Internet.

They find an answer for thier ________.

Public transportation is very _____ here.

c)      Setting up the activity [1min]

Seating arrangement and giving clear instructions for the activity.

 

No seating arrangement is required.

  Any seating plan is suitable for reading activity. No time spent for seating arrangement.

 

Giving instructions for reading activity

Modelling the activity by showing the reading text with index finger upside down.

Now we are going to read a text about Gill. He lives in Rio. You have 5 minutes. Go!

Running the activity [5 min]

·         Students do the reading activity individually.

·         Monitoring whether it is understood

If understood, the teacher can use discreet monitoring (not helping), or he can do active monitoring (helping if needed not over helping)

d)     Closing the activity [2min]

Evaluation: checking whether students understood the reading text.

Now we are going to do true false activity.

Comprehension check

T   F    People in Rio generally ask for lighter and battery[MU8] .

            T   F    You can see beggars in Rio

            T   F    People ask questions about your personal life

If students do everything correctly, then I pass on the next activity. If they are not successful, then we redo reading activity again or point out the sentences to find answers.

e)      Post-activity [3 min]

In this part students are going to use their speaking skills to talk about topics related with reading activity.

Discuss these questions as a class

Now, I'm going to ask a few questions before we go home.

Would you travel Rio?[MU9] 
Do you share your belongings with others? [MU10] 

OK guys that's all today see you tomorrow!

---

I think we can call this section as lesson plan because of the similarity

The course book seems to be an elementary level. After analyzing the text, I decided not to use any past forms or present perfect tense.

 [MU3]Reminding students the form of present simple tense by asking a stereotype question.

 [MU4]My preparation for reading text because we talk about people in Rio and their behavior.

 [MU5]Getting learners attention to Brazil.

 [MU6]Potential vocabularies that learners may not know.

 [MU7]Check in TH sound pronunciation. If there is problem with that sound, then I do pronunciation practice with other TH sound words like thanks, think and compere them other TH sounded words from reading text such as that, mother, then and there. Because /θ/ and /ð/ are different sounds but written with TH. So that students can start to make some distinction.

Intentionally put for learners to realize the difference between light and lighter.

 [MU9]For asking student ‘s personal opinions.

 [MU10]Question related with reading text. Because in the text Gill says there are many beggars in this street. With this question, students will be able to share their personal attitudes. 

TYPES OF FEEDBACK FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS TO BE USED FOR LANGUAGE LEARNERS

 

In language learning process, making mistakes or errors are inevitable for students. And, correcting their mistakes or errors is a crucial ability, which the teacher must have. So that the students do not build a faulty schema in their minds with some knowledge they believe to be true. There are a good number of types of feedback that teachers use in their classes. However,  with their typical positive and negative aspects, there are well-known eight feedback types for teachers to correct errors of students: (1)explicit correction, (2)recast, (3)metalinguistic feedback, (4)clarification request, (5)elicitation, (6)repetition, (7)body language, (8)explicit correction with metalinguistic explanation.

Explicit correction

This type of correction is carried out by teacher just as the error or mistake occurs without students’ rectification. For example, the student says “I goed to Paris last summer.”, and the teacher corrects: “I went to Paris last summer.”. As a positive aspect, it can be said that it is time saving feedback, especially for crowded or with-tight-schedule classes. Moreover, it is a good way of correction for enhancing accuracy and announcement the correct form to the whole class. However, because it interrupts the conversation, it is not recommended to use this type of feedback in activities, in which fluency is more important. On the other hand, it may cause students to have low self-esteem because mostly faults are magnified rather than accurate productions of students. By this aspect, it is not far from behavioristic approach to teach language, which is a very traditional way. However, it is undeniable to be useful in individual teaching/learning environment and sometimes is the only option depending on your number or profile of your students.

Recast

In this type of feedback, error is not corrected explicitly but implying. For instance, if the student says “I goed to Paris last summer.”, the teacher corrects responding as if in conversation “So, you went to Paris last summer. How was it?”. Positive aspect of this feedback is that fluency is maintained, and it looks like more natural conversation, which means meaning is more considered than grammatical correctness. It can also be said that self-efficacy is more in this type of feedback than the one explicitly corrected. Because the conversation itself is emphasized rather than the mistakes. On the other hand, by recasting, it is not always possible for students to realize their mistakes. So, in terms of accuracy, it is not fully recommended.  But, for better speaking skills it is crucial.

Metalinguistic Feedback

When self-correction is preferred to the teacher’s correction, metalinguistic feedback is a good option. Teacher simply asks the student to remember the form or the rule itself when mistake occurs and does not provide the correct information as in “explicit correction”. Then, he or she corrects themselves.  For instance, if the student says “I goed to Paris last summer.”, the teacher asks him to remember irregular verbs rule. And the student corrects himself. Another advantage is that the rule or the form in need of correction is reviewed each time someone is mistaken and errors on the knowledge are rectified immediately. However, it can never be said that this feedback is useful for speaking activity because of the mostly interruption of the conversation. However, in grammar-based activities it will be effective. As inferred, this is an accuracy-based feedback and not recommended for fluency.

Clarification Request

Clarification request is a kind of signaling to student that they have made a mistake in their last sentence or phrase. This signal occurs in a conversation seeming way such as “Excuse me!”, “I am sorry. Can you repeat?”, “Pardon me!” etc. and the teacher does not provide the correct answer. He creates chances that students can realize and correct themselves. In terms of speaking skills, this is a favorable fluency-oriented feedback. However, as to accuracy, this feedback cannot be the utmost feedback type because, although the teacher aims to have students correct themself, they may not notice their mistakes. And as a nature of conversation and this feedback type, they could not interrupt to demonstrate the correct form.

Elicitation

Elicitation is another type of self-correction feedback. The teacher creates a gap activity from the sentence the student is mistaken about, and the student corrects himself. For example, the student says “I goed to Paris last summer.”, the teacher says “I …” or the whole sentence without mistaken part ( “I … to Paris last summer.”) and waits for the student to utter the correct form. As a positive aspect, mistaken part of the sentence becomes apparent and no extra emphasis is needed. Apparently, this is an accuracy-based feedback and favorable for grammar practice.

Repetition

Like elicitation, repetition is also a self-correction feedback type. When the student says “I goed to Paris last summer.”, the teacher repeats the incorrect part “goed?”. By this repetition, where problem is demonstrated, and the student is expected to correct himself. As in elicitation, this is an accuracy-based feedback and not favorable speaking skills.

Body Language

In this type of feedback, the teacher does not say incorrect part, but he uses his body language or mimics to demonstrate that student has a problem in his sentence. It can be by a body movement, approaching to speaking student or any other behavior that students can recognize. As students understand the teacher, they build a conditioning, and they can anticipate that they have done something wrong. This is a decent technique that anyone can use in the classroom.

Explicit Correction with Metalinguistic Feedback

When student make a mistake, the teacher provides the correct form and metalinguistic explanation. Or the teacher can ask the student to provide the metalinguistic explanation.

For example:
Student: I goed to Paris last summer.”
Teacher: You should say: I went to Paris last summer.” Why?
Student: Because “go” is a regular verb.

With this feedback, the teacher can examine the student’s knowledge on the topic and correct it immediately. This feedback can be used for individual tutorials.

Dilbilimi Ders Kitabı

The Study Of Language - George Yule

Telif hakkı kendime ait değildir. Aşağıdaki bağlantı adresinden kitaba ulaşabilirsiniz.

Satın alma linki

• Cambridge University Press
• Release Date: October 27, 2016
• Imprint: Cambridge University Press
• ISBN: 9781316776124
• Language: English

This bestselling textbook provides an engaging and user-friendly introduction to the study of language. Assuming no prior knowledge of the subject, Yule presents information in bite-sized sections, clearly explaining the major concepts in linguistics through all the key elements of language. 

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